6.16.2010

Graduation

It feels like just yesterday that I reminded myself of how much I really like sew-blogging. And yet, almost a month has gone by without so much as a peep out of me. Well, peep, peep, PEEP.

Although the blogging mojo seems to have temporarily disappeared, again, I have been sewing. I bought some lovely fabric from Elliott Berman during their Memorial Day sale and when I got it I knew immediately what I wanted to do with it. You see, last weekend, I had a graduation to attend, mine. Not quite as big a deal as it was from undergrad since I still do have to finish this little thing called a thesis, but it still feels like a major accomplishment. Graduation was on Saturday and I received the fabric on Wednesday. I told B that I was going to sew it up in one day and his reply was, "Are you sure? Doesn't it take you a year to finish something?" Ha, I showed him by finishing this baby up in two days!

burda 05-09-117

The pattern is Burda 05-2009 #117. I cut a size 38 on top and graded to a size 40 in the hips. I know some found that the dress ran small but for me it seemed pretty true to size. I shortened the length significantly and removed the side slits because I ran out of time. The fabric was a bit thin so I used a black rayon from a free Fabric Mart bundle as an underlining. This allowed me to omit the facings (that I really dislike).

(Front View)
burda 05-09-117

(Back View)
burda 05-09-117

(Side View) *I've noticed that lots of dresses have this problem where the upper back extends away from my body. I'm pretty sure this is a fitting issue I need to work out.
burda 05-09-117

(Gusset View) The first time I tried this gusset out in muslin it turned out a total mess. The trickiest part of the dress is the underarm gusset but I followed the directions from The Art of Manipulating Fabric and the results turned out great. After, while searching for links for this post I found another great tutorial that looks very similar to the steps I used here.
burda 05-09-117


More reviews.

9 comments:

Gail said...

Congratulations on both your dress and your graduation. You achieved a great fit and the style and fabric were just right for the occasion. Be proud!

Lakaribane said...

Congratulationsx2!!! The dres is just fantastic!

Rose said...

Great job! for both the dress and the graduation!

Rose in SV

Miss Jackson said...

Looks gorgeous! I find Burda WOF patterns seem to extend A LOT out at the top of the back - very strange.

Mz. Choize said...

That's gorgeous! Oh, and your shoe game is definitely on point too!

toy said...

congrats on both, the dress is very beautiful

Christina said...

Both fun and sophisticated! Looks great on you :) One day I'd like to make that pattern too.

ambika said...

Congrats! & the dress is *gorgeous*!

The Slapdash Sewist said...

GORGEOUS dress. I just love this. I've stayed away from the pattern because of the underarm gusset, but you are really tempting me here. Congratulations!