My First Burda Style Piece

I first want to thank everyone who stopped by and who commented on my orange jacket and on Jessie's trench.I really appreciate your feedback. I think that narrow pants would be a good look with my jacket so I'll be making a pair soon.

Now for my latest project.

I subscribed to BWOF for a year in '08,'09, but since I didn't make anything, I decided to not renew until I'd made at least six items.I often peruse the ones I have and I was looking for a casual skirt to use up the rest of the fabric from this outfit....



I really liked this style



...so I decided to copy the pattern and set to work.Not too hard really because I outlined all the pattern pieces in black before tracing.I didn't follow the instructions but just did things my way.

Here is what I came up with....




I made the skirt about 3" longer by cheating a bit and lowering the placement cutting line for the band at the bottom. I ended up with a length of 22.5"

Another change I made was to the zipper application. I wanted a more exposed zipper so this is what I did....



I cut out a facing, measured the opening I wanted (7/8") wide by the length of the zipper to below the zipper stop and marked it on the facing and sewed around it.

I trimmed it open....




pressed the facing to the inside....



....placed the zipper behind it ( I used Wonder tape to keep it in place) and did a double row of top stitching....



I made a facing piece to cover the inside of the zipper and extended the skirt facing to include this facing so the inside of the skirt has a nice neat look.....



Other details include the reverse coloured band which I finished off with a double row of top stitching on the navy part of the skirt.




I forgot to lay the back piece on the fold so I had to sew a narrow seam which I top stitched for stability.

This skirt only took me about three hours to make ( after making up the pattern ) so it was quick and fun to sew. I like it a lot and it's just the type of casual skirt that I'll be sure to wear.

My hair and face were a mess so I just took photos this way.



My husband's comment was," but the zipper should be in the back,shouldn't it?"But he thought it was cute,though.



That's all for now! We're going to Calgary for a few days where I hear it's even going to be colder and rainier than here.

Where oh where has the sun gone!

Vogue 8605, Remodeled

I absolutely love this pattern!



I've always known the style wasn't for me but I made it once before in a winter knit.




Well,I've worn this to death, but in the house only for warmth. It was just too roomy.

I know this style looks wonderful on tall thin women but since I'm 5'4 1/2" tall and not quite slim,it just didn't look right. I eventually altered it by raising the underarm by about 2" and also taking the same off the sides and the sleeves. It then became quite cute,IMO.

I was just stash cruising one night and I came upon a remnant piece of coat weight orange linen, the same linen I used for this trench coat).Well it hit me like a ton of bricks! A new and improved version of V8605!

Here it is and I LOVE it! (Although I wore it to a meeting today and didn't get any comments,positive or negative!)



I not only changed the depth of the armhole, took 2" off the sides and under sleeve but I changed the collar to a wing collar;




I took away about 1.5" of the center front as there was way too much fabric there;

I eliminated the back seam to save on fabric




Added a sleeve band to make the sleeve a bit longer



I faced the hem to add a bit to the length of the jacket.





And I made my own version of "bound" buttonholes. To see how I made these, look here on my other blog.



A few close-ups of design details;

(the pockets)


(the top-stitching)


(the buttons)


(behind the buttons and buttonholes)



Because this jacket is unlined, I used a pretty batik from my stash to make a Hong Kong finish on all the seams. This was great fun and is really easy to do. It takes a little time but is well worth it.
There's an article in the current issue of Threads about Hong Kong finishes. If you don't get Threads, I have a tutorial on Diana's Sewing Lessons.





I also broke down and sewed in shoulder pads. This style really doesn't look well on sloping shoulders ( which I have).

I wore it with my Marci Tilton skirt which, my husband pointed out and I tend to agree, doesn't do much for it.Now I have to make something to wear with this ,my new favorite jacket.





What do you think?

See more pics here!

More later from

A Trench Jacket for Jessica

Jessica is my 14 year old grand-daughter and she holds a very special place in my heart because she was my first grandchild.As all you grand-parents out there know,the love for a grandchild is boundless. Although at 14, she is a half inch taller than me Jessie will always be, to me, my little sweetie!

I had planned on making a new spring suit this year , but I found a lovely cotton/spandex sateen-like fabric in my stash that wanted to become something for Jessie. When I asked her, she said she would love a jacket.

I had this McCall's pattern 5525 and Jess chose View C.



This jacket was really a labour of love.
At Easter, I took measurements and decided size 10 would fit her OK.I went ahead and cut out,sewed and hoped it would fit her and she would like it.

Today, my DH and I drove the two hours to take it to her.Guess what!. It fit her perfectly and she loved it! So here it is.



Some detail shots...



Jessie loved the way she can sort of mold the collar and put it where she wants it. I interfaced the front and also added interfacing just to the lapel area of the facing. I used medium weight Armo Weft and I was afraid it was too stiff but it turned out just fine.



The buttons were a thrift store find and worked perfectly with the fabric which is a pinky beige and there is a hint of pink in the buttons too.



I made the pockets and pocket flaps a little bigger than the pattern pieces because I thought they were too small.



The sleeves had a little too much ease and the stretch in the fabric helped but I ended up using a method for set-in sleeves that I learned by watching Margaret Islander when she was a guest on Sew Perfect years ago. I posted a tutorial on this method on my other blog so if you're interested, take a peek here.


The lining is an oriental print and is a polyester charmeuse type fabric.



I forgot to take my camera so I took pics with my phone but didn't do a very good job but here is my Jessie in her new trench jacket!



More pics here!

More later from