Tag: dresses

Burda 6/2024 #110: Jersey Dress

My first Burda pattern in a really long time.

Pattern Background

Burda 6/2024 #110 is a shirt dress drafted for 2-way (as opposed to 4-way) lower stretch knits. It has short sleeves and an A-line knee length skirt.

Fabric and Materials

I used a 100% cotton jersey from Gorgeous Fabrics. It is mislabeled on the website as a stretchy rayon/lycra jersey so when I purchased it last month I had an entirely different project in mind for it. After getting it and seeing how it had just the slight mechanical stretch of a 100% cotton jersey I decided to pivot to this pattern.

The interfacing was black Pro-Sheer Elegance from the now defunct Fashion Sewing Supply. For this pattern you interface the collar, tie band, and front plackets so you want to pick something with a soft, flexible hand.

The buttons are pink 18L shirt buttons from WAWAK.

Fit and Sizing

This pattern is available in sizes 36-46. I started with a size 44 and made the following alterations:

  • Added 5” width to the hips
  • Changed the sleeves from short sleeve to cap sleeve length, using my Jalie Tina pattern as a guide. I find the diagonal angle created by the shorter cap sleeve more flattering than the longer short sleeves included in the pattern.

Construction

Even though it wasn’t what I expected, this cotton jersey was wonderful to work with and thus construction was a breeze.

I sewed most of this on my Juki TL-2010Q. Since it is a knit I decided to forgo serging the seam allowances. I switched to my Janome 6500P for the buttonholes and used the knit buttonhole style:

For the sleeve and skirt hem I used my Janome Coverpro 2000CPX.

Before sewing the collar I trimmed a generous 1/8” from the shorter side edges of the under collar to encourage the collar to roll better.

I used 1/4” instead of 5/8” seam allowances for the belt. I prefer the slightly width slightly wider.

Burda has you use thread loops to hold the belt in place. For now I decided to just go without. The “grab” of the cotton jersey seems to keep it in place well enough.

Conclusion

This is a great pattern if you want something that is more structured than a t-shirt dress but still easy to care for (no ironing necessary!) If I was still working in an office I’d be making up a ton of these.

Ottobre Spring/Summer 2/2013, #19: Twist Neckline Dress

Overview

Ottobre 2/2013 #19 is a V-neck knee length knit dress with a twist front, three-quarters slim sleeves, pleats directly below the bust, A-line skirt, and gathered waistband overlay. The front bodice is self lined.

Ottobre also offers this dress as a tunic-length top.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Ottobre, they are an independent pattern company based out of Finland. They primarily publish pattern magazines for women and children, though in past years have also had the occasional “family” issue with patterns for men as well.

Ottobre specializes in a Scandinavian sort of style – simple, minimalist, functional basics that are comfortable to wear. Sexy, extravagent Marfy they are not! They often feature a wide range of sizes and use ordinary people as their models rather than professional fashion models as they are adamant that they want to represent the average person sewing their patterns, rather than a fashion world ideal. I once saw someone online scoff at Ottobre as “clothing for housewives.” Well, I’m going to be a housewife/stay-at-home mom soon enough, so that works for me!

Alterations

I started from a size 42 and made the following alterations:

  • 3/8″ sloped shoulder alteration
  • 3/8″ forward shoulder alteration
  • Added a total of 5″ to the hips
  • Removed 1″ from the back waist and transferred 1″ to the front waist

I probably could have cinched in the side seams a little more directly below the bust, but I decided to leave it alone. I went from a 32/34 bra band pre-pregnancy to a solid 36 band, and there’s a good chance my ribcage (along with everything else!) will continue to increase as my pregnancy gets further along. (I’m about six months along at this point). I’m trying to make my clothes last as long as possible these days so I’m all about stretchy fabrics and a slightly looser fit. I am apparently not one of those lucky women that just gets a cute little bump and more or less stays the same everywhere else!

Materials

The fabric I used was a stretchy purple knit from Gorgeous Fabrics (still some in stock). I believe it is mismarked as while the description says rayon/lycra jersey, the dry hand and slightly stiffer drape feels more like a cotton/lycra jersey.

I used 3/8″ clear elastic to gather the skirt pieces at the center front and center back, and superfine Design Plus fusible stay tape to stabilize the shoulder seams and neckline.

Notes

This is a great second trimester dress, especially for the pear shaped. The skirt and gathering provide so much room during a time when regular clothes are getting harder to fit but full-on maternity tops and dresses are still too roomy in the belly. It would also be great for that awkward time earlier in pregnancy where you’re more bloat than baby. It is really, really comfortable! I also like the deep V neckline, which helps a lot with feeling less frumpy. So many RTW maternity clothes are rather modest at the neckline, which doesn’t make sense to me because this is the first time for a lot of us where we actually have a bust!

I found the front twist detail rather maddening, both to understand and sew. I was struggling with some lingering fatigue from my bout of Covid in mid March, and it took me a while to figure out what certain parts of the instructions meant when making the insert at the center front where the twist detail is. Then, I found it just as maddening and fussy to actually sew the front twist detail at the center front, as you are working around a lot of bulk with the twist detail and a small seam allowance. I ended up sewing this section on my sewing machine using a zigzag stitch because it was simply too tight and bulky for my serger presser foot. But once I got that part figured out the dress went together very easily, and I had it done in time to wear for Easter a few weeks ago.