Finished - Burda Magazine Bow Skirt!

My new skirt (pattern 125 from April’s Burda Magazine) has a bow, some pleats and a flounce – what more can a girl ask for!

and here's the front -

and the back -

I used a black 100% wool crepe, purchased last December in New York Elegant fabrics, which has just the right amount of drape for this style. I lined it with Bemberg rayon.

Once I had got over the shock of the tracing difficulties with this month’s issue of Burda (see my last post), I have to say that this skirt is very nicely drafted and went together without any trouble at all. The instructions were reasonably straightforward but I did make a couple of ‘improvements’.

Burda tell you to fuse shaped strips of interfacing to the upper edges of the skirt lining to stabilize the waist. This worked well but I also sewed ¼” seam tape to the wrong side of the outer fabric along the waist seam to be certain that it wouldn’t stretch out when worn.

To hem the flounce Burda instruct you to press the hem allowance of 1 ¼” to the inside and sew by hand but I decided to make a very narrow machine stitched hem instead. I would really recommend doing this because it makes the flounce hang much better.

When making the bow you might find (as I did) that you prefer not to press it flat. After sewing the lengthwise edges of the bow together you have to turn it right side out and press it so that the seam is centred on the back. When doing this I very carefully used the point of the iron to press the seam flat but made sure not to press the edges of the bow – this way the bow turns out a bit puffier not flat and sharp edged. Personally, I like a bow to be puffy!

When I saw this skirt in the magazine I knew I just had to have it and now I’ve got it, I’m delighted with it! I’d really like to make another one for summer - maybe a bright pink, or even a flowery print, would be nice?

More soon but, in the meantime ………….

A Very Happy Easter to You All