Skip to main content

Made By a Fabricista: Birthday Behavior


As a young adult, I never worked on my birthday (even though I was a mom already!). And I did (and still do!) consider it "my own personal holiday" :)

Since learning to sew, and now that I do work on my birthday, I make myself a new dress for the day!  The last couple of years, my bday falls on a weekday; so my birthday dress has to be work appropriate. Last year I made a knit shirtdress (still a closet favorite!) and this year, the moment I laid eyes on this button front sheath in the June Burda I knew this was it!


Doesn't she look so happy in her dress?! It could totally be her birthday!

I knew I needed something with some body but not too heavy since my birthday IS in July after all. I went straight to a couple of my favorite groups on Fabric Mart - cotton sateen and cotton twill and found this.

I LOVE this print! It works well as 'work-appropriate' animal print - light colored, small scale, neutral - it's cotton with a touch of Lycra, and is completely opaque - Win!




The description says it's semi-stiff which it is. The hand is similar to a lightweight denim or a heavy chambray (note: denim is a twill weave...chambray is a plain weave).  I'm not normally a huge fan of A-line shapes but on this dress, it just works. I felt the stiffer fabric would work well with the dress silhouette.

It washed up well and takes a hot iron like a champ. It did get more wrinkled during construction than I expected but is easy to press.

There are a lot of pieces to trace. But oh-so-worth it.

Love nice, clean interiors!

I made my standard Burda adjustments:
- Traced a 40 neckline with 42 for the rest
- 5/8" swayback adjustment
- Removed 3/8" from center back tapering to nothing at the waist
- Removed some of the curvature from the side seams. Basically connected a straight line from above the curve to below. I'm not actually sure it was at the hip, as it seems a bit low...but it stuck out in the way that skirts and dresses with hip curvature because I don't have what I call "sticky-outy" hips.



I also did a 3/4" full seat adjustment on the back skirt and sewed the center back seam at 3/8" instead of the 5/8" seam allowance I added. Some time ago, I realized I got a much better fit on skirts if I traced a 16(42) front and 18(44) back. Because this pattern only goes up to size 42, I improvised.

I don't need to lower the bust point or do an FBA with Burda patterns <3

I really love the overall fit of this dress and want another in a solid color!!!


Now, do you sew Burda? Do you ignore their instructions? If you don't sew Burda do you often read about sewers lamenting the instructions? Do you plan to make this dress?

Follow the instructions!

Or at the least, remember that the button bands go on at the end especially if you're attaching the belt! DO NOT ask me how I know! :)

Okay fine! I skipped ahead and had to do a bunch of unpicking AND reaching out for help (Thanks Beth!). I ended up having to pull a Tim Gunn but it does in fact WORK!  



The chalk line is the button band seam line


Then I sewed the top of the button band. I had to turn it and decide where to clip, etc but it works


I am quickly becoming a fan of these all-in-one clean finish facings. Such a lovely finish.



Burda didn't call for the facings to be interfaced - I did it anyway. And, because it can be hard to understitch this assembly, I trimmed my facings down 3/16" at the armhole to encourage the seam to roll to the inside. It generally works very well and especially so with lining fabrics. I ended up going back and understitching at the underarm seam and for about 2" on either side of it. It was bulky and I didn't want it flipping up/out.

Other notes:
I used 2-inch slides (I accidentally ordered slides with a center bar. I was disappointed but they work just fine!) and 5/8" buttons. The pattern appears to use larger buttons, but Burda does not specify. I had buttons that were almost the same bronze as the slides but only had 9 of them and I like to space buttons this size or smaller no more than 3" apart.

They don't match but they go :)


I used my walking foot for the entire dress except for the princess seams. I sewed those first to allow the convex side front piece to feed on bottom; helping the easing along. 

I decided not to topstitch the seams after doing the belt. It doesn't stand out. Perhaps if I would have doubled the thread or did a triple stitch...(though, I plan to use this pattern again in a solid and WILL topstitch!)

It was a lot of work but I absolutely love it!


I have to point out:
1) That's not actual bust gape. That is me being SO focused on having a button at the waist level because of the belt that I started there and then spaced out my buttons. For many of us full-busted ladies, we start with the button at the bust line and space out. Because we need to really lock-and-load! I'll sew in a hidden snap there.

2) That's not actual neckline gaping. It fit fine. But I have a penchant for trying things on again and again and again...and I rarely staystitch so my neckline stretched out just a little. 


I am so excited to wear my new address for my Birthday! 

Nakisha

Comments

  1. It's SO good! So glad I ordered some of this :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lovely! It's very classy and classic. :D I like that you gave the details of the fabric properties.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Super ka-yute! Love your inside finishing. That dress is lovely on you.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Burda instructions confuse me. And I'm not a fan of tracing. But, they have such cute designs, I sometimes brave them anyway.

    Your dress is so cute!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love your dress--perfect for a July birthday. Happy Birthday!

    ReplyDelete
  6. OMG! Your dress looks amazing! You chose the perfect fabric for it and it suits you so well. Happy Birthday!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Beautiful work!! Happy Birthday to YOU! Mine is June 29th!

    ReplyDelete
  8. What a great pairing of pattern and fabric. Enjoy wearing it on your birthday, and I hope your day is as fabulous as your dress!

    ReplyDelete
  9. What a wonderful dress- I love every detail! Hope you have a fantastic birthday!

    ReplyDelete
  10. It's a lovely dress that fits you to a T! Congratulations and early wishes for a happy birthday!

    ReplyDelete
  11. well Happy Birthday!!! and now I want to make one!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Por favor , cual es numero del patrón

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is from Burda Patterns June Magazine, Burda 06-2016-105

      http://www.burdastyle.co.uk/

      Delete
  13. you're like me always trying to move faster that the instructions and end up looking for my seam ripper! Patience is a virtue! This is a super nice birthday dress.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks for leaving a comment! All comments are reviewed before posting to help us eliminate spam. Your comment will be posted within 24 hours.

Popular Posts You Might Like

Made By A Fabricista: Why Sew A Muslin

Here it is, my September blog post featuring Newlook N6692 and this pretty rayon challis from Fabric Mart! This pattern style is so in right now. The square neckline, cute puff sleeves and the tiered skirt are all exactly what I was looking for in a summer dress. As always I started with making a muslin first!  Let’s get into why it’s important to start with a muslin.  A muslin is basically a practice garment. It prevents you from cutting into your good fabric prematurely.  I usually use a muslin fabric (natural cotton) but you should also consider using a fabric that is the same weight as your fashion fabric. This will give you a truer gauge of how the garment is going to lay in the final fabric. Anytime I try out a new pattern company I make a muslin. This was my first time using a Newlook pattern so I need to know what the ease would be like for this pattern. Also I need to see how the bust would fit me and where I would need to make adjustments. Plus there were some new techniques

Made By A Fabricista: The Love of Sewing - Basic Pieces for a Beginner

Happy Friday All! It has been a while since I made myself a dress. I am excited to sew after not making anything since my last post (whew) and finally sharing some photos.  This past summer has been a roller coaster journey with plans to release a small collection and then deciding that right before the launch to postpone. Sewing has brought me joy over the past 8 years and the mere fact to sew daily for orders had me in a panic mode. I really don’t want to walk away from my craft due to burn out  and decided that if I do sew for others, it would be only for local clients. Moreover, If next year I decide to launch, it would be seasonal and not year round. I really want to share my talent and love for sewing with others but don’t want it to be a full time job and lose the passion in me.  After a bit of soul searching, teaching and sharing my talent with my community will always be my first love. For the past 2 summers, I was blessed to partner with two nonprofit organizations’ local sum

Made By A Fabricista: End of Summer

Summer is nearing to an end but here where I am in Texas the heat isn’t letting up any time soon!  I still have plenty of time to get a few more summer looks out of the way.  In this blog I will be sharing two separate projects. The first project is this denim set; I had the inspiration saved on my list of makes to make.  For this project I got this gorgeous denim and matching thread to start my project. Yes, Fabric Mart will match the thread to your fabric perfectly and with my favorite thread brand Gutermann.  The denim had a very great weight and wasn’t too stiff.  It was very starchy when it arrived, so I did a prewash before working with it.  I’m so glad I did because it had a lot of dye saturated in which would not have been great for the skin and other clothes. For the first part of the set, I drafted a corset with the scallop edge cups, such a cute detail!   To start I used my bodice sloper to make the corset, I was not worried about the design details and focused more on