Burda Style 01-2011-133- Done!

The knit dress from the plus section of the January Burda Style is done. And not a moment too soon.
I used a charcoal grey Ponte de Roma knit from Joann's and I cut a 44 from shoulder to hip and a 46 from the hip down. I should have graded down to a 42 through the bodice. It's a knit, after all, and the plus patterns seem to be drafted with a little extra ease. In any case, after making a muslin of the bodice, these are the adjustments I made:

1. Added 1.25" of length at the waist.
2. Made a petite adjustment above the bust by folding out 3/8".
3. Folded out 1/4" vertically from the side front bodice pieces and the back bodice pieces.
4. Made a swayback adjustment by shaving off 1/4" at the bottom of the back bodice, tapering to nothing at the sides.
5. Moved the CF fold in 1/8" and raised the neckline by adding 5/8" to the top of the CF piece.
6. Adjusted the waist and skirt pieces to match the adjustments to the bodice.

I wish I had added the sleeves to the muslin. There is a ridiculous amount of ease in the sleeve cap, so much so that I went back and checked to make sure I hadn't traced the wrong size. If I had known ahead of time, I could have adjusted. As it was, I had to shave off 1/2" from the top of the sleeve pieces after I had cut them. There was still a lot of ease, and it was a challenge to attach them, but it looks okay.

I did not follow the pattern instructions, but just sewed the pieces in the order that made the most sense. I sewed the sleeves in flat and stitched the side seams last so I could tweak the fit if needed.

The pattern went togther nicely (except for the sleeve issue) even if there were a lot of pieces- 14 to be exact. I had a hard time with the neckline. The corners were challenging to sew, and once the facing was stitched to the neck, it was very difficult to press. That's really more of an issue with the fabric than the pattern, though.

If I were to make this again, I would take the sleeves in slightly and shorten them a bit. I have very short T-rex arms and what looks like lovely 3/4 length sleeves on the model looks rather awkward on me.

I like the dress as is, but I'll be on the look-out for a cool belt to wear with it. I think it looks nice with the black tights, but a nice belt or some colorful jewelry would really help keep it from looking too drab.

Now that this dress is finished, I can get back to work on my Vintage Sewalong dress and I can get started on the flutter sleeve top from the same Burda Style issue. Happy Sewing!