Sunday, August 19, 2012

Burda Style 05-2008-125

I finished this dress last Sunday, and it's taken me all week to find the right opportunity to take a photo.  Lucky for me, the sun came out today after a nice rain shower.  Not so lucky for me is the finished dress.


The dress itself turned out fine.  The linen/rayon/lurex blend fabric is perfect for this pattern.  I lined it edge to edge with black poly and it turned out very nice inside also.
 No, I just have a feeling that this is "not my dress."  The tech drawing is very nice.  But the finished dress is just not working for me as well as I had hoped.  The color is wrong for me- too light against my pale skin.  I might be able to fix that, though, once the weather cools and I can add some black hose and a cardigan. 
 

I love the high neckline, the sleevelessness (is that a word?) and the upper bodice which offers a great canvas for showcasing a statement necklace.
 

The waist seam on this is slightly dropped, and that, combined with the horizontal gathers across the front, makes my shape appear more rectangular than it really is, which is not the effect I was going for.

The front skirt overlay droops ever so slightly.  I worked very hard to get the gathers sewn into the dart just so, ripping out and re-doing it at least three times.  Here is a picture of what the dart looks like on the inside:


No matter what I did, though, I could not get the hem of the overlay to match up with the underskirt.  I finally gave up and decided to live with the slight droop.  It's not too bad. 

Here is a photo of the front princess seam.  I clipped the seam allowance right above the gathers so I could press the upper, curved part of the seam toward the center, and the lower part toward the side so the gathers would lay nice and smooth.


All seams were serged on both the fashion fabirc and the lining since both fabrics frayed like crazy.


I'm happy to have this dress finished so I can move on to something else.  I'll wear it, I just don't think it will be one of my favorites.

10 comments:

Catherine Daze said...

Sorry the colour is not working for you, but you got a beautiful fit on the bodice front! Could shortening the skirt help with the blockiness issue?

Lisette M said...

You got a great fit! Try wearing a scarf or a necklace in colors that work with you skin tone, it will make a huge different.

Carolyn (Diary of a Sewing Fanatic) said...

Been there, done that! But if I may, this is a very pretty dress on you and even if it's not one of your Fauves I hope. It gets some wear!

Anonymous said...

You certainly did get a great fitting dress. I'm sorry for you that it's not a style that you're happy with, but it's really great for the rest of us to see the style on a real body. I've had this pattern on my wish list for a while, but I!'m rectangular and don't need a dress style to accentuate this! Thanks for a very helpful review.
-Sewingelle

Ruth said...

The dress is beautiful on you, and the fit is perfect. I agree that it will look great with a cardigan, too.

Sheila said...

The dress looks great on you and fits you to a Tee.

Rose said...

Great fitting job! I think that the dress looks nice on you.

Mommyof2girlz/StephD said...

Fabulous! Love the way it is gathered on the bodice!

Kelley said...

I really like this style on you. I'm sorry that you aren't super happy with it.

I can picture it with a beautiful brightly coloured cardigan to lift the colour for you. The grey is a great background colour.

Lynneb said...

SUCH a great dress. I love the rouching. It's such a flattering design detail. Looks lovely on you!