24 January 2016

Burdastyle 09/2015 #108B Shift dress

I have made this shift dress from BurdaStyle.

 The original pattern was to be made in a wool fabric but I wanted to make it as a shift dress for summer.

BurdaStyle describe it as: " This classic shift dress features hidden pockets, which will come in handy more than you will ever think. There are no sleeves and a slight boatneck."  It has an invisible zip in the back and their version is lined.
Their photo:
108a-092015-b_large

My version was made from cotton sateen for the front and back and crepe for the side panels. I am worried about the crepe has it has more stretch than I had realised and it may not wear very well as the centre panels may stretch out of shape.  As I was making this for summer, I wanted it light weight so did not want it lined.  This meant I needed to make a neck facing and used bias binding on the armholes.  I also needed to change the construction from the order given to take these into account.   In the pattern, one pocket piece is attached to the lining, so I needed to cut 2 extra pocket pieces to make a pocket 'bag' to put in the seam.

After seeing scalloped hems on dresses in shops I decided I wanted a scalloped hem.  I searched the internet for tutorials and found this great one on Colette.  

I practiced first to get the size of the scallops right.  The first step is making a template for the scallops.  The first one I made was too small at 1 1/2 inches wide.  When I tried it on my first test fabric, it just looked like a hem gone wrong.  I increased the size so they were 4 inches wide and that seemed to work just fine.  I think if I do another scalloped hem I may make them a bit deeper/ higher, but overall I'm satisfied with how they turned out. I finished the hem by handstitching as recommended on the Colette site.

The photo shows the 2 templates.  The top one was too small, the second almost right.

If anyone is wanting to try out scalloped hems,
 give it a go. It is easier than it looks.











More photos:



This will be a comfortable loose fitting cool dress for summer.  It  is quite possible I'll make another of these.

I have enough fabric left over to make a jacket, using the cotton sateen for the front and back and the crepe for the sleeves.  I don't have enough cotton to do the sleeves as well.  Given the stretch that the crepe has, I will make it in short sleeves, so my elbows don't wear bulges in the crepe.

The cotton sateen was from Centrepoint, 1.5m for $29.90 and the crepe from SmartDress fabrics for $10 for 1 metre.

1 comment:

  1. Awesome. I really like what you've done with the solid side panels.

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