Burda Darted Blouse, in a floral extravaganza

This lovely floral blouse (105-04-2018) is the final project in my Burdastyle Academy Advanced Teacher Certification Course. It's an interesting pattern, with lots of detail -- front darts, two piece sleeve with a gathered cuff, collar and stand, and so on. 

It was an interesting make, with lots of challenging bits. Nothing really super hard, but lots of steps. I enjoyed it! I used a floral cotton from my stash, one that I've had for a really long time, and was delighted to finally find the perfect project for this fabric. Not only that, there was a very amusing typo in the selvages that entertained me -- so I had to use it as a garment label. Shout out to my fellow peons! 

This cotton behaved very nicely, taking pressing well, so that the darts and seams all lay nice and neatly. I had to shorten the sleeves quite a lot (thanks to my T Rex arms) and took 1.25" off both the upper and lower sleeve bits. Fortunately, with the cuff, that made them just the right length for me. Whew! 

I didn't shorten the body, although I could probably take a bit off the bottom length. I do like it as it is, however. I cut the inner collar stand and the interior yoke out of a tiny scale yellow gingham, also in my stash -- partly for the vibrant contrast, and partly because I didn't have quite enough of the narrow width floral to cut a second yoke anyhow ;)

I had a bit of a quandry picking buttons, but decided (with the help of many voices on Instagram) to go with this blush tone floral button from the extensive stash of shirt buttons that my sister thrifted for me a couple of years ago. I'm set for shirt buttons for a while!

My Janome is a little quirky when it comes to its automatic buttonholes -- they sew up nicely, but always slightly bigger than necessary. I get around this but testing with a button slightly smaller than the one I'm going to use, and when I get a buttonhole I like, I go ahead. I only put one button on each cuff rather than two, mainly because it's a bigger button and two would have looked squished.

I was so glad to have the extra instruction in the class to finally get the Burda bias strip sleeve opening done properly. It's just a little fiddly with attaching a bias strip to finish the slit, and then turning one side in before attaching the cuff -- makes sense once you do it, but hard to understand beforehand. 

I love how this turned out. I am really pleased with the fit and love the print. It was so great to have this push to make a more detailed project. It was really satisfying to slowly work through each step and make sure it was done and pressed well, then on to the next. And also a joy to use some of the beautiful fabric in my stash that has been hidden away on the shelves for far too long. 

That's it for my Burda classes, but I've earmarked a whole stack of Burda patterns I would love to make this year now that I'm much more comfortable with their patterns. I find they usually fit me well, and I'm planning to make a dent in my Burda magazine stash. For now I'll just swan around happily in my faux-Liberty "Europeon" blouse! 

"Waist Knot" Burda knit dress

I'm working away on my Advanced BurdaStyle teaching course, and the first assignment was this dress with the special "Burda twist" feature at the waistline (Burda 101 01/18)

I used a lightweight polyknit from my stash that I bought ages and ages ago, and because it was so stretchy I could leave out the back zip. A more stable knit would require a zip as per pattern but I went with this stash fabric because it was handy. As my sister commented, it made this dress a real "Waist Knot, Want Not" outfit anyhow!

It was a fun challenge, although the air was a little more blue than green when I was trying to figure out that waist knot. You sew one folded piece, leaving a centre opening, thread the other one through and then sew it up. It's fiddly and requires a lot of fabric shifting to get it to work, then there's the zhushing of the twist once it's sewn together. Argh! But I got it to lay properly, and then basted it to the front. It's a great design, though, just narrower than the bodice piece so that when you wear it, it stretches to fit and doesn't sag. 

One thing I didn't think about was how the vertical stretch would lengthen the dress due to the weight of the fabric. The bodice is about 1/2" too long now, especially in the back -- I'd raise and widen the back waistline a smidge if I made it out of a fabric like this again. Or I'd just use a knit without this kind of vertical stretch. 

But I like the actual length of the skirt; this feels like a 30s tea dress to me now, like I should be swishing around doing the foxtrot or something. And surprisingly enough, I think the oversize flowers work. I wore a cropped orange cardigan with this in the same tone as the orange in the flower and it looked quite cheery and festively autumnal. I did wear the long sleeves pushed up all day though - must remember that I much, much prefer an elbow length and/or 3/4 sleeve over a full length one. 

The rest of this pattern was quite straightforward. I like the fit overall, even if the back waist is a bit too narrow for me. I hemmed skirt and sleeves, and finished the neckline, with a twin needle, something I finally learned how to do in this Burda course. I really like the effect and am going to try to keep using this finish when I can. 

This one is an unexpected hit for me -- I enjoyed making it and it was fun to wear, too. 

Cropped Jacket: Burdastyle Course final project

I finished my last project for the Burdastyle Teacher Certification Course this weekend and am happy to say that I am now a Burda Certified instructor. If I wish to start teaching, that is; at the moment I find my full time job busy enough for me. 

But I'd really wanted to do this course for a while, and since my One Word for the year was "Complete", I am really happy it helped me to finally complete this course. Of course 2020 threw us a few curveballs, but at least this was an online course and seemed like a good fit for life currently! 

My final project was the Burda 109 08/2015 cropped jacket. Funnily enough, this pattern is from the very first issue of Burdastyle magazine I ever bought myself, while on vacation in Montreal -- it's in French, too. I recall seeing it at one of my old hangouts, Tabac Etc. at the Atwater Market, and deciding that it was time to give Burda a try. Of course it's taken me five years to make a jacket from that issue! 

Anyhow, on to the sewing details! It's a cropped, fully lined jacket. And it was surprisingly straightforward to make. I cut it in 42, which fits my shoulders best, and hoped it would fit well enough all over since it is a straight cut, and only just to the waist. I shortened the sleeves by 2" because I thought they would be too long, and I prefer a bracelet length. I also shortened the body by 1" after my flat pattern measurements.

I really like the fit, but if I make it again, I don't think I'll shorten the body, and adjust the sleeve to only 1" shorter. I don't usually have issues with things being TOO short for my petite frame, and I do like this jacket version. But I think a slightly longer one would be just that much better. 

The fabric is a linen/rayon/cotton blend from the drapery section of my local Fabricland, which I bought a few weeks ago. It was a remnant and I had just enough for this jacket (another reason I shortened everything slightly!). I used some black bemberg lining from my stash as well. This is the first time I've done a full lining in a jacket and it went fairly well. I really like the instructions for a centre back ease pleat, and it makes wearing the jacket quite comfortable.

A single clasp at the neckline is an optional feature of this pattern, and I had a silver one I was going to use, but in the end I didn't think it looked right, so left it off. I'll be wearing this open over a dress nearly always anyhow! 

There was nothing too hard in this pattern, and I think adding a bit of trim or mini patch pockets could give you a Chanel feel pretty easily. I'm pleased with the final product (and I so love houndstooth!) and I think it could be changed up to give a different look without much effort. A winner for me, and a great finish to an interesting and useful online class.