March 2010 Burda picks

The English Burda site is finally carrying the current magazine preview again. Here are the designs that caught my eye for next month:

First up is this cute pencil skirt, 106B. I like the interesting angled pockets in the front and welt pockets in the back. I might opt for a side invisible zipper instead of that front fly to cut down on bulk.

Dress 107 is by far my favorite pattern from this magazine. Love all the fitted construction lines and flirty sweetheart neckline. The pockets are nice as well. I have zero strapless dresses because I tend to think of them as super dressy. But if I made this in a stretch sateen it would be perfect for a summer date night.
I can see this next dress, 111, in a flowy asian-looking fabric. Maybe make the obi belt with a bright coordinating color.
This next jacket 121 is cropped at the waist and has lapels sewn flat in the front yokes. I usually like these shorter jackets because they provide great waist definition.
Blouse 122 is also a favorite. I always love a wrap top, especially if it's fitted. This one also looks to have a collar stand sewn to the collar, another big plus. I'm not a big fan of the extra long sleeves, but that's a simple fix.
Have you had a chance to look through the preview yet? What are your favorites?

Vogue 1150 - A muslin

Okay, just posting this to prove to you that I actually do make muslins on occasion. This fabric is a lavender cotton knit that I've had in my stash forever. I didn't know what to do with it since I'm not that fond of pastel colors, but it finally proved to be useful. I want to use my beloved turquoise wool doubleknit from a recent Denverfabrics.com purchase, but didn't want to take a chance on ruining the fabric if the dress was a poor fit. I cut a 10 on top and graded it out to a 12 at the hips and the fit is perfection. But scandalously short on me, and I didn't even take the 1" hem! I am 5'5", people. So I'll add 3.5" to the length and cut it out tonight. This should go somewhat quickly but does have a fair amount of topstitching. I'm super excited to get started.

By the way, Justin says to me after he snapped this picture, "That sure seems like a lot of work for something you'll just throw away." I totally agree, and don't know how some of you do it for every garment!

McCall's 5470 - Green floral empire-waisted top

So, here's what I've been working on for the past week. This blouse makes me laugh because I set out to make something to wear with this recent jacket. But when I finished making it I didn't love the two together. And instead of a warm winter day outfit, it is more of a spring/summer look. This has happened to me more times then I can count. At least this time I didn't make an orphan.

I'm showing you this first picture with the denim jacket covering a lot of the top because this is how I plan to wear it. I like the proportion of tunic with cropped jacket, especially with the cinched in drawstring of the blouse. Cute?

And here it is without the jacket. Not so cute. It's the sleeves, maybe. They're too long and the puff starts at the very end of the shoulder. Or maybe the bodice is too short and should have been extended farther down the rib cage? Something's off.

Here's the back. This top was actually quite a bit of work - collar with collar stand, all those gathers on the sleeves, making a drawstring and casing, a fair amount of hand sewing. Sigh. Kinda dowdy without the jacket.

You can see on the pattern envelope how it was designed to be longer on the top. After looking over what others had done on pattern review, I thought the proportion was off. I took 2 inches out of the top of it, but now I'm thinking that was a bit much. Don't those puffed sleeves on the drawing look cute? This is why you never trust a drawing! I'll not be making this again. In fact, it has a date with my trash can.

Moving on, it's back to winter sewing for me. Next I will be making a muslin for Vogue 1150. Surprised? I do make muslins on occasion, especially when I plan to use expensive or much loved fabric. I'm hoping to make the finished dress from my recently acquired wool doubleknit. However, I have a deep love and enthusiasm for the Olympic Games, currently occurring in Canada. I might be distracted for the next few weeks. It's hard to sew and watch figure skating at the same time.

***Edited 2/15***

You ladies are brilliant!!! I tried on the blouse with the sleeve band rolled up a few times and that made all the difference! The sleeves are too long and hitting my arm at the same place the drawstring does - not flattering. I have a tiny bit of fabric left to recut sleeve bands (no, they aren't elastic) and will be cutting the sleeve shorter. Although now that they are already attached to the bodice, sewing will not be as easy. Oh well, might as well be perfect, right?