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Sunday 29 August 2010

Burda 05/2010 103 Shirred dress

Despite all my whining about Burda there are still some hidden gems in there. I suspect most of them stay hidden to me thanks to the sometimes crazy photography and styling, but I think I have unearthed another winner of a dress in the May issue.


This is dress 103 also available as a tunic (104). Burda used lined chiffon but I made mine in a silk print which I left unlined. I made a 38 with no alterations - yippee - the only part where this dress is fitted is elasticated so it's easy to fit.


I made a couple of minor changes - I left off the sleeve bands simply because I liked the look without them for this particular fabric. (The underarm is quite low though so if that bothers you then the drapy sleeves will help). Instead of the self ties in the back I added a few rows of shirring in the centre to match the front of the dress.




I should add that I didn't use Burda's method of zig zagging over the shirring elastic and instead wound it onto a bobbin and used my machine. If I make this again I will join the bodice and skirt seams before doing the shirring because using my shirring method makes it a bit awkward to do the seam afterwards per the instructions.

Since my dress is unlined I had to finish the v neckline somehow and used a strip of fabric to make a binding - I'm really happy with how this turned out. I found this Burdastyle tutorial for a knit binding really helpful to explain how to get the nice v. My method was slightly different since I was doing a narrow silk finish - I used a single layer strip and slipstitched it by hand to the inside neckline before doing the mitre stage. I hope this will make sense when you see their tutorial. Also amazingly for Burda I didn't find the neckline too low on this one.


This is a bit more of a girly dress than I am used to wearing but I really like it and may well make another or even the tunic and take advantage of some of the great silks available here in HK that I always love looking at and never know what to do with.

37 comments:

  1. I am in awe of that V neck.

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  2. Beautiful dress, and I'm head over heels in love with your silk fabric.

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  3. I LOVE this beautiful dress - so much nicer than in the magazine. It looks gorgeous in that beautiful silk.

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  4. Wow, you should've been the model for Burda, your dress is beautiful!

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  5. You look stunning. I think the dress is gorgeous, and not too girly at all!

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  6. It's gorgeous on you! I love the print and colors of the fabric and the fit is perfection. This design was totally skipped by me when I got the issue but since then have seen several nice versions made up. I am convinced I need one as well! Thanks for posting that great tutorial as well.

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  7. This dress looks much better without the added sleeve and without the stupid tie in the back. Those back ties always make me think of childrens dresses. Much better solution. It's a great look for you and I agree, the silk is wonderful.

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  8. I love your version with the shirring in the back, it is perfect for your silk. Thanks for the inspiration!

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  9. This is a great dress and I love how you made it your own!

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  10. Allison, you are so good at finding these patterns and making them! I'm now inspired to dig out this magazine and look for this pattern. Your dress looks great and I love the colors!

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  11. I love your dress --- in fact, I want the same exact one because it is too cute! What a flattering style on you. When I saw it in the magazine I wasn't really interested, but seeing your version has changed my mind. Such a gorgeous fabric!

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  12. Love this dress on you! It's so easy and breezy and beyond flattering!

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  13. gorgeous fabric. Love it. I am about a hem away from finishing two versions of the tunic. guess I better get hopping before summer passes me by

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  14. Oooh, beautiful! It's such a flattering look. I'll have to make this for work. I had skipped over this pattern. So glad you made it and it doesn't look too difficult!

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  15. Great style and color on you!! The neckline finish looks fantastic!

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  16. Fab dress! I have been looking out for a pattern just like that, after drooling over the summer tunics on the Toast website...thanks for bringing it to my attention. Yours looks gorgeous on you.

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  17. This is much nicer than the line drawings would suggest. Pretty silk too.

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  18. Love your dress. You made some great changes to the pattern!

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  19. Nice dress! Looks great on you :)

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  20. Fantastic dress. And truly, so much nicer than in the magazine!

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  21. What a lovely dress-so light and floaty. It looks terrific on you.

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  22. Your fabric is uh-mazing. It's so pretty! The neckline finish is great - I'll have to store this idea away for the future.

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  23. Not to girly for me! I love this. I have never ever been able to get a nice point when I do neck bindings. Yours is brilliant.

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  24. I hear you about Burda and their styling, etc. You really have to look hard at those line drawings and imagine something different than the fashion photo. You've got another winner with this one!

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  25. Gorgeous dress! Very flattering. You have a miniscule waist! *jealous*

    :)

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  26. I LOVE this dress! The changes you made are fabulous (especially the shirring in the back to replace the ties - nice call on that one) and I love the print you used. I skipped over this one, too, but may have to go back and rethink that decision. :)

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  27. I skipped over this one because I *hate* dresses that are fitted with a tie in the back. Too little girl. Shirring in the back is genius!

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  28. this is beautiful, I love the print of course, but the style is very flattering on you

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  29. Wow, fantastic fabric! What a great pairing of pattern and fabric, your dress turned out wonderful.

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  30. You look fabulous. I'm desperate for this dress and warm weather to go with it!
    Yeah, I found the ZZ over elastic to be an odd choice when a bobbin of elastic is much easier, but wondered if that affected the elasticity. Thanks for showing it works. I like your adaptation sans self-ties.

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  31. I don't have this issue in the stash. Ay! But just as well--breastfeeding is so demanding, fashion-wise :)

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  32. your dress is absolutley beautiful! great job :)

    so glad I found your blog - look forward to following along!

    :)S

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  33. Yes, it is a winner; right down to the last detail. Beautifully made and looks great on you.

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  34. What a beautiful dress! Designer and stylish mini dress, I would like to have made the same for me. Thanks for its tutorial.

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  35. Late to the party here - but wanted to say your dress is gorgeous. The tech drawing looked so unpromising but yours is amazing. Well done!

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