Burda Style 11-2013-109

My knit dress has been finished for over a week.  It's been way too cold and dreary here to take photos, however.  Today was the first decent weather day we've had in a while.  So even though I felt awful today- frizzy hair, puffy face, bloating, and just all around feeling blah, I seized the opportunity to get a couple of pictures.

This is dress #109 from the November 2013 issue of Burda Style.  It's a fabulous issue with several other dresses I'd like to make.  This dress caught my eye and I thought it would make a comfy, warm, work appropriate piece and would look great in ponte knit.

I used this gorgeous plum ponte from Fabric.com.  I love this color.  I wish I had bought more.  It's a great weight and it sewed up very nicely.  Ponte is one of my all-time-favorite fabrics.  Burda used a stretch wool twill to make this dress, so stretch wovens would be suitable also.

I cut a 42 at the shoulder, 44 at the bust and waist, and eased out to a 46 at the hip.  I had to grade up because the pattern only goes up to 44.  (It's offered in 36 to 44.)  I made my standard adjustments- 1.5" of extra length at the waist, and a 3/8 petite adjustment above the bust.  My muslin told me that I needed some additional adjustments and extra length.  You can read about all my pattern doctoring in the previous post.

I'm pretty pleased with the finished dress.  It turned out a little bit looser than I expected.  It's probably because I made my muslin out of cotton and then the finished dress in the ponte.  I had to take it in from hip to sleeve about about 1/4".  If I made it again I would just cut a 42 from shoulder to hip and then a 44 from hip to hem.

It's still a little loose, but it's very comfortable and I didn't want it to be too fitted.  I've already road tested it by wearing it to work and it was not only comfortable, but kept me warm in the office, and I got several compliments.

It's hard to see in the photos (and it was too windy and I felt too irritable to take close-ups) but I wore the dress with a gold choker and matching bracelet that belonged to my grandmother.  They are probably from the 80's and have a Dynasty vibe to them.  I thought they looked fabulous with the dark plum fabric.

I'm glad I made this dress.  I like that from far away or at a glance it looks rather plain, but once you really take a look, you see all the criss cross seaming.  It was challenging to get the waist seam in the right place, but in the end it turned out fine.  I recommend the pattern, but if you normally make length adjustments (lengthening or shortening the waist) I recommend a muslin to make sure the horizontal seams are in the right places.

And now I'm off to take another look at the February issue of Burda.  There are a couple of things in there calling my name.  Happy sewing!