Just ignore the blouse. The garment I have just made from the August 2009 Burda magazine is the skirt. (technical drawing from Burda website) It has a side zip and a back walking ease opening not shown above, I think the most fun thing about this pattern is the front shaping and hip pockets.
I had some trouble with this skirt. The reviews for this skirt at patternreview seem a bit lukewarm to me, reporting a very narrow fit at the hips and some other fitting issues. However my difficulties with this pattern were quite different.
I found the hips on this skirt to be huge. I took fully 2 inches from the hips and more from the waist for size 38 on my daughter. To be fair, my daughter has slim hips but a generous backside, considering her BMI of 18, but 2 inches is a lot more than I usually need to remove. It is not so unusual for me to take in the waist for my daughter's clothes, but after removing 3 inches, the waist is still rather large.
I think I may have made a mistake in my tracing of the front waistband. Even after removing 2 inches from the hips, and 3 from the waist of the skirt body, it was too short.
I had trouble making the front pockets sit nicely. Dawn's review of this skirt suggests that the front pockets should be caught in the center front skirt seam as a stay, but the pockets on my version were not close enough to the centre seam for this to occur.
Possibly my fabric choice is not wonderful. I used cotton twill (gabardine) from Michael's fabrics, and it may be a little too light, and a little too stiff, for this skirt.
My other fitting changes included adding darts to the back yoke. Unfortunately this fabric shows the outlines of the tucked in blouse. Maybe I should have lined it.
However, worn with a blouse over the waistband, this is quite a flattering skirt, and having no lining makes it cool to wear.
I am tempted to make this again in denim for a more casual look.
One new thing I have tried with this project is the addition of a stretched out metal eye to the top of the walking vent. I thought I saw this in either the most recent issue of Threads or of Australian Stitches, but a brief flick through these magazines is not showing me this tip. The story is that it will prevent the back seam from undoing. I will see how it works.
6 comments:
I have seen that tip too about the metal eye on the walking vent, but I am not sure where. I must remember it next time I make one. Shame about the fitting issues as it is a nice skirt with good lines and suits your daughter very well.
I like the lines of this skirt, but the negative reviews on PR put me off. But I really like it! Maybe I should go find some big girl pants and just make it. Your version is very nice. I think it could be easily dressed up or down.
Sometimes it seems that Burda gets a bit of a wild hair when it comes to fit. I'm never confident enough just to go with the size I think I'll be even though I probably could by now. It seems there are always surprise alterations required somewhere. I like the skirt a lot on your daughter though, it looks like the perfect mix of young+grown up.
Oh I totally love this skirt on your daughter! It's gorgeous - I have been intending to make it for some time now.. you daughter looks great (and a BMI of 18 - ah for youth eh?)
How does you daughter find walking in it? I know a few reviews found it quite restricting on movement. (If you reply in comments I'll come back to check, thanks!)
Thanks for the metal eye tip. I'd never of thought of that.
Mary Nanna, Thanks. My daughter does not appear to find this tricky to walk or move in, she was chasing new chicks around the yard in it after the photo shoot. I did take a lot off the hips though, so it would not be as pegged as the skirts worn by adults (without that adolescent BMI). I noticed that 2 of the reviewers on pattern review are not very tall people, perhaps they took length from the hem and did not increase the walking vent length at the top end to compensate.
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