le mani d'oro: Dress

One pattern, two dresses

For the past six to seven years Burda Style magazine has been my main source of sewing patterns. I find their style to be up to date with current fashion trends and mostly they correspond to my taste. The ones I have sewn where very flattering.

The October 2012 number is one of my favorite. Though it was issued 5 years ago, many patterns featured in it are still trendy or "à la mode" as we say in French. The following dress pattern had been in my mind since then. Often, I was looking at it imagining the dress in wool for winter or in cotton for summer. I liked the cowl neckline, the gathered side and the fact that the front is cut on bias. The pattern has texture and movement and yet this is a classic dress.

Burda 2012-10-118A

Those shoes, I tried to find them on the net... but did not succeed...

Here is the technical drawing for this dress, taken on the Burda Web site

Burda 2012-10-118 technical drawing

While measuring all pattern pieces and after correcting the hip curve, waist size and length of the back ( I have a swayback); I was under the impression that the dress would fit like a glove... and it did.

Denim is not only for jeans ...
The first version I have sewn is in dark denim with a grayish wrong side, similar to the fabric used for old 1950's jeans. Here are the piece placed on the fabric.

pattern pieces Burda 2012-10-118.

As you notice the front piece (top right) is curved. The top part is on grain line while the bottom ends up on bias. This is a tiny detail that really pleases me. As you gather the left side, the piece straighten up. It also features a self facing neckline.

Since the front piece was to big to cut on my regular cutting table (the kitchen island) which measure 75x180 cm or 30x72 inches, I decided to cut on the floor... My back does not think that this is a good practice... This is a nice, non stretch, medium weight denim I bought at Tonitex in Montreal. It was 7.65 $ a meter. With the zip, thread and taxes, I have a 10$ dress. No made in China clothing beats that! I haven't asked DH to take official picture of this creation. The only pictures I have are the ones taken at work during an award ceremony prior to the graduation party we hold every year.

At work wearing the denim version of the Burda 2012-10-118 dress.

The students, Sophie and Pierre-Luc look so serious ;-) and I have a goofy mouth... typical of speech-pictures. I let the neck line flow naturally. It is large and can be place in many many ways.

Front view of the Burda 2012-10-118 dress with Sophie and Pierre-Luc.

I love those two students, their energy, joy and commitment enlighten all moments I had the chance to work with them in the past 5 years. Sophie is now working as junior architect and Pierre-Luc is still pursuing is master in landscape architecture. On that they I had gorgeous royal blue suede shoes that add a touch of fun to this serious outfit.

A passion for red
I like to wear red clothes and shoes, I wonder why I do not sew clothes in that color more often. The second version of this lovely dress was sewn in 100% Italian linen. This linen was left form a previous red dress project sewn some 8 years ago. Time flied and I realized looking at pictures that my hair was a little less silver back then. The piece of fabric left form the first dress was a little small, so I made the dress 5 or 6 cm shorter then the denim one. It was the only way to fit that funky front piece on it. I also forgot about the sleeves, I had enough for them... well barely but I could fit sleeves that would have been above the elbow. I change my mind at the last minute. And still kept the shorter length.

Burda 2012-10-118

Funny I wear the same shoes I did in 2009 with the other red dress. I love them and since I am very careful with my shoes, they still look new... they might be out of style, but I like them. I am wearing the dress with a silver brooch holding the cowl neckline in place.

The back is super simple. Not fuss here

Ta da ! My expression on the following picture says it all. I am in love with that dress.

Not bad for a 50 years old woman.

I also wear the dress with flat beige suede Frye sandals or black heals.

Voilà, that's it for today. I have to review polka dots pants next. I found one funny Moschino cotton to make them. My boss thinks that they are a bit psychedelic, but I don't

haaaa yes, one last picture goofing around with my friend Josée's Easter island statue... she has an amazing back yard, I just cannot stay serious too long.

Patterns - Fabric - Notions

Patterns: Burda Style magazine 2012-10-118 size 36.

Fabric: Denim in 100% cotton from Tonitex. Red linen from Madeleine Soie et Laine (now closed, sadly)

Notions: YKK zippers and Gutterman thread from Club Tissus.

20 h 41
10 Comments

My wedding gown

Burda Style

13 h 26
21 Comments

She is my shining star - Vogue 8358 customized

Corrections de patrons

The first garment to be sewn with my new machine is finished and it was worn for the first time last Friday by my gorgeous friend Florence. As I mentioned in my previous post, I used the Vogue pattern # 8358 as a base. This pattern is designed for knits, but I used it with a woven fabric that has 5% of stretch. I gave 1 cm of ease at the bust, waist and hips. The rest of the work was done by the Lycra. The dress needed to stay in place.

The muslin was modified on her so that the neck line, the back and side line would fall exactly where Florence wanted them. She is a professional fashion stylist, she knew what she wanted. I also modified the skirt so that it flairs the way she was imagining it. Meaning a little less than the pattern was intended. I then pressed the muslin so that all line would be pure and perfect and that I would not loose any mark I made with pins. The muslin was then used to draw the paper pattern. I barely had to rectify the lines with French rulers. I added 2 cm at all seam allowances to be certain that I would have enough fabric to correct little flaws or misfits.

Custom fitted dress made using V 8358 as a base. The happy man on the picture is her fiancé,
Brian Ypperciel, the famous Montreal based fashion photographer
Florence O Durand is an also famous Montreal based fashion stylist

Ma première création réalisée entièrement avec ma nouvelle Pfaff est terminée et étrennée par ma magnifique amie Florence. Comme je le mentionnais dans mon article précédent, le patron Vogue 8358 a servi de base pour la réalisation de cette robe. Initialement, ce patron a été dessiné pour un tricot. Je l'ai utilisé avec très peu d'aisance et un tissu tissé dont l’élasticité tourne autour des 5%. L'aisance donnée au buste, la taille et les hanches ne dépasse pas 1 cm. Le reste du travail est fait par le Lycra contenu dans ce magnifique crêpe de polyester. Parfois le synthétique, c'est beau.

J'ai réalisé une toile qui a servi par la suite de base pour le dessin du patron. Ainsi, la toile a été modifiée directement sur Florence afin que la ligne du décolleté, du dos et du côté correspondent parfaitement à ce qu'elle avait en tête. Florence est styliste de mode. Elle sait ce qu'elle veut. La ligne de la jupe a aussi été modifiée afin qu'elle bouge élégamment lorsqu'elle marche et pour retirer l'excès de tissu. J'ai tout épinglé au mm près. Une fois la toile retirée, je l'ai pressée pour ne perdre aucun reperd . J'ai ensuite décousu les pièces pour les tracer sur papier. J'ai ajouté 2 cm de valeur de couture afin de pouvoir corriger l'ajustement une fois le tissu mode assemblé. Le "moulage" sur elle était suffisamment précis pour n'avoir que d'infimes ajustements à faire pour adoucir certaines courbes.

She was very pleased with her dress !! J'ai rendu une jeune femme heureuse, semble-t-il.

Let's Bond is a fundraising event in support to mental health issues among young professionals

Fabric and notions

Pattern: Vogue 8358 with numerous modification
Notions: 1 YKK invisible zipper in 18 cm from Kava in Montreal -

1 meter of lingerie quality elastic straps from Trimcité in Montreal
Fabric: 3 meters of polyester crepe from Couture Elle in Montreal

13 h 05
2 Comments

It glows in the dark

Couture Elle

16 h 11
1 Comments

Sewing a maxi dress for Florence

Dress

Photo taken by Brian Ypperciel

Sewing is a hobby for me. A hobby that dresses me up in a unique, fun and sometimes elegant way, but still a hobby. I have sewn for my younger sister occasionally. She is not a fan of fashion and sometimes I think that she needs one or two peaces that fit well and give structure to her wardrobe.

After sewing a maxi dress for me. This lovely friend of mine, Florence, asked me to make one for her. Aaaaawwww what it ever so worth it ?

If you want to give your shot at this :

I used Jalie 2805 t-shirt pattern as a base for the top. Florence is a perfect size Q. I simply needed to make a sway back correction of 1 cm.
In the center back I drew a perfect straight line down to the length I wanted. (this pattern is cut on fold but I usually prefer to make a full pattern to be right, right, right on grain) In this case it was her back length going to the floor plus hem, since she wanted to wear it with flats or low heals.
From centre back, the hem is curvy and you go up on a slow curve for about two centimetres on the sides. This way the hem is straight on model. If you hesitate, take any wide skirt pattern for knits and use the hem curve as a base.
If you need an example of hem curve use Kwik Sew 3333 dress pattern.
The width of the back at hem is 110 cm and 100 in the front.
From the hip, I drew the side seams freehand.
On this dress the front is shorter so that she can walk freely and dance as well.It might look nicer with a longer front but it is not fun when you walk, I have tried it. I also do not like the look of a dress that falls like a cascade on you feet. It looks like the person did not take the time to hem at the proper length.
I used a bamboo knit with a very silky hand and enough body to fall nicely and elegantly.
For a dress of 1m50 long (Florence is about 1m68) you will need about 2m70 of 1m50 wide knit (without sens). It all depends on the width of the dress.

The front and back pattern pieces look like this: