Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Burda 7189

My final piece in the Wardrobe Basics SAL is done! And I accomplished a sewing goal that I have had for several years, so I'm doubly pleased.
I finally made an LBD!! The pattern I chose is Burda 7189, a shirtdress with interesting seaming, which of course you can't see in black. Erm. The fabric is a poly/rayon gabardine from FabricMart. It's quite nice and drapey, so I'm glad I bought a lot. You'll be seeing it again... This dress only took about a yard and a half.
Here is the line drawing, so you can get an idea of what the seaming looks like. Cool, eh?
I lightened a couple of photos so you could see how it turned out in real life. Sewing the back was tricky, as you can imagine. Getting all those corners to be sharp and unpuckered was no mean feat, but I thought Burda's directions were actually really good here. Instead of the Big 4 method of reinforcing, clipping and trying to pivot right at the match point, Burda has you sew the seams in 2 passes, meeting at the point. It usually takes me several attempts to get corners right, but I did these in one try. Love that!

In front, you can see the single point and the neckline and button band. The neckline is finished with a bias strip, which is topstitched down. The pattern calls for an additional 2 strips of bias cut self fabric to be inserted into the neckline seam with "irregular tucks and folds". I could see how this would make for an interesting dress, but I wanted this to be a more versatile piece, so I skipped the decorative elements. The button band is interesting as well. Burda has you stitch the buttonholes into the facing only, then fold the facing back and topstitch it down so that the buttonholes are enclosed within the facing. The point here is to allow for another tucked and folded bias strip, which I again omitted, but the method leaves you with a nice clean line in front without visible buttons. It's a bit of a pain to button though.
I really like that the vertical seams provide a sort of princess seamline to allow for fitting. (I used my usual Princess FBA method described here.) I did make a few alterations to the design as well as for fit. The most obvious is the skirt, which is slimmed from an A line to a straight, more pencil style. I also lengthened the skirt 2 inches so that it would fall below the knee. The pattern calls for the lower front edges to be topstitched together, but I left them open, both for the  more traditional shirtwaist look and also because I needed some walking ease, since I took out the width provided by the A line skirt.
I'll leave you with a little outtake from my photo shoot. I usually take my pictures when the kids are sleeping, but this time I went for it during the day. Duncan was quite the helper. Can you see the purple yoghurt all over his front? Yeah, you turn your back for half a second... Guess I'll go back to the early morning photo shoots from here on out, eh?

20 comments:

AllisonC said...

Fantastic and super flattering dress, I love it! I do my corners that way too now, it might seem to take a bit longer but the results are much more reliable.

Anonymous said...

I enjoyn your blog and am amazed at how productive you are. The black dress is a great style on you.
margaret

Cindy said...

The dress is perfect! And your red belt and animal print heels are the perfect accessories, not to mention the purple yogurt covered Duncan.:)

Myrna said...

Congrats on attaining that goal. Always feels nice. That dress style is very flattering on you. Looks great.

Beth said...

It's a good silhouette and looks like it will work with many things . . . . hounds-tooth jacket & red shoes?

BConky said...

You look amazing in your little black dress. I'm sure it will become a favorite.

Lori said...

Super flattering dress, you look fabulous and I am sure you will enjoy wearing it.

Marie said...

Fabulous dress - the corners on the back look perfect. It is super flattering on you with the changes you made. Well done of finishing your plan.

kbenco said...

You look great in this dress, the straight skirt is a nice variation. I like the clean placket finish

Elizabeth Made This said...

It's so sleek! You look fantastic, and thanks for pointing out this pattern--such cool lines!

The Slapdash Sewist said...

What a great LBD! Not too dressy for day but could totally go evening. I am impressed with your corners, they always give me fits and I have only done a couple perfect ones in my life.

Marjie said...

Great dress!

And I like the picture with Duncan wandering through. adds character and all that. You are a mommy, after all!

gwensews said...

The essential LBD is very pretty. That will be a great addition to your wardrobe for many years.

Digs said...

You look fab in your new LBD. And I say, those little rugrats sure grow fast - it seems only yesterday that you showed little D's entrance to our world, and wow look at him now. What a pair of cuties you two are.

T. Sedai said...

It looks amazing! And congrats on finishing your Wardrobe Basics SAL! The LBD is a great way to end your SAL.

daniKate designs said...

I love shirt-dresses and yours is great! I like it with the red belt and leopard shoes as well--it makes it classy, but fun :)

Anonymous said...

Great dress. Love those back corners! Thanks for sharing.

Dr. Fun (AKA Sister) said...

That is beautiful!

Lynneb said...

Very, very cool dress!

Sascha said...

ohhhhh. Pretty dress. So flattering. Well, you could drape a Hefty bag and still look good, but this is especially nice.