Friday 2 April 2010

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

44 comments:

  1. Your skirt looks very nice! The loop is an extremely beautiful detail!

    ReplyDelete
  2. DARLING! The fabric is perfect. Excellent job!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Your skirt looks fantastic! And there is even sunshine in your part of England! I actually like your skirt better than the one in Burda magazine. Did it take you long to make?

    ReplyDelete
  4. That's a beautiful skirt. It's the first of that skirt I've seen on the blogs. Love it!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Love the skirt- it is a very nice fit. I just ordered my first subscription to Burda and now am a little anxious about the all the tracing lines.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Your skirt is divine , I love the bow detail .

    ReplyDelete
  7. I LOVE IT!! I'm going to have to sew this one soon. It is really adorable. Thanks for the tips!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Love it! I'm not normally a bow person, but it sure does make the skirt.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Extremely cute skirt! Another way to hem the flounce would be to line it. Sew the lining and fashion fabric at the hem, turn, press, and then treat the lined flounce in the same way you'd treat it if unlined. A very neat, fluid hem results, and the weight of the lining helps with flippiness. You can then line the skirt portion shorter without fear of the unlined flounce getting caught on hose.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I love it. It looks wonderful on you.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Ooh, super cute!!! I was wondering about the right kind of fabric for this and am glad you mentioned it needs some drape. Thanks for all the wonderful tips as well.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Love, love, love. Black skirts can be a bit dull, and this one is fabulous! The bow and the flounce just make it perfect, the fit is great, and you did a marvelous job!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Gorgeous skirt. I am wanting to make this one as well and it's great to see it is as fabulous IRL as in the magazine. Thanks for the tip about the bow.
    Unfortunately I didn't receive my April burda prior to Easter so I'll have to wait til next week - sigh...

    ReplyDelete
  14. This is a beautiful skirt and I'm loving it! Can I offer a sewing tip?! When I use wool crepe for a skirt, 9 times out of 10 I add a silk organza underlining. It helps with drape and wrinkling! Glad you conquered the new challenging pattern sheets, but it was definitely worth the extra effort!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Your skirt is beautiful. I love the style and your choice of fabric worked perfectly. This skirt would be stunning in a pink silk crepe. What is next on your sewing agenda? Happy holiday to you. Gita

    ReplyDelete
  16. Love it! I need to go find this issue!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Very cute! The hang of the ruffle is nice, so I will keep your hem tip in mind.

    ReplyDelete
  18. I so love this! The bow is such a cute yet elegant touch!!!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Happy Easter! You are rockin' that skirt and the top, too.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Happy Easter to you too! This is really a very cute skirt! It's much easier to see it on you than the magazine picture, and this makes me like the skirt much better than when I first saw it. I'm going to sew a little less from the mainstream source of patterns and a little more of Burda magazine. Thank you for a lovely review!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Gorgeous! I love it, and the bow is adorable!

    ReplyDelete
  22. What can I say, super-cute!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Love it!!! That looks so fantastic on you, and the bow!!! Perfection!

    Lynn

    ReplyDelete
  24. Wow, such a well made skirt! It suits you very very well.... The bow, that's a beauty!

    ReplyDelete
  25. Your skirt is awesome. I adore the bow.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Oh my! I'm lost for words here! This is so amazingly beautiful and you wear it so well. I'd love to see a summer-version of this skirt.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Adorable - and glad to see it's Spring:) I love the outdoor pictures. This is definitely one of your more "sexy" pieces. Fantastic fit!

    ReplyDelete
  28. I love this skirt. That bow on the back is such a feminine touch and really makes it something special. Lovely work, as always.

    ReplyDelete
  29. You are totally owning and working this outfit. The fabric for the skirt looks like butter. I LOVE it!!! Beautiful job!!!

    ReplyDelete
  30. The skirt is absolutely adorable. I love it!

    ReplyDelete
  31. PS - I meant to ask, do you have a Janome 6600?

    ReplyDelete
  32. Hi everyone and thank you very much for your kind comments which are much appreciated. A special thank you to KayY and Carolyn for your extremely excellent tips.

    And to answer some questions -
    Karin - I'm not certain how long it took me in terms of hours but I made it over a period of four days doing a few hours here and there.
    CyberGirly - Yes! I do have a Janome 6600 - it's a very nice machine.

    ReplyDelete
  33. You were fast! The skirt looks great, really nice details and shaping.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Gorgeous skirt - and looks like you've done a beautiful job!

    ReplyDelete
  35. Seriously, I think this is one of the cutest skirts I have ever seen! The bow is awesome!!

    ReplyDelete
  36. Wow! This is a must make!!! I love this skirt.

    ReplyDelete
  37. As entertaining as shedding your added fat might look,
    it's a very important purpose to start losing it now. An additional thing is that the longer you preserve it on, the far more challenging it will likely be to drop it and also you can have much more overall health problems create later. These tips beneath can help you began shedding the bodyweight.

    my weblog insane home fat loss workout schedule

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...