Lots of ruffles: Burda 04/2019 # 120 in cotton poplin

The Burda April 2019 issue is the proverbial gift that keeps on giving. This is the third item that I've sewn from that issue and I think there are one or two others that might catch my eye. First I sewed the denim skirt # 113, next was the purple flounce hem dress # 117  which is really fun to wear. All along this dress intrigued me and the opportunity came when I was invited to make something for the Minerva Blog network.








This is my idea of wearing a dark color like navy blue or black - to make me happy it needs a dash of a bright colors. Or more than just a dash of bright but a nice scattering of pink roses. It was a warm day but this dress silhouette seemed to call for boots and I can see wearing this in the winter with tights and even a thin layer long sleeve tee.
Which brings me to the big question of this dress, what about those sleeve ruffles??? I am so tempted to remove them now. Even though I sewed the dress with them to see how it looked and to recreate the magazine version.




Perhaps my fabric is a bit more stiff than their example as my sleeve ruffles seem to stick out more. I think I could have reduced the length of the piece and had a result of less gathers but for once I sewed the pattern as it was designed. Although the sleeve ruffles are dramatic and they might look interesting here, I can just see putting on any sweater, jacket or coat over this would be so annoying. So I'm going to think on this for a while :)






I made my usual Burda size 38 and it fit perfectly - which rarely happens. Considering there is no shaping to speak of so that might make this a magic dress!!  Thanks to Nakisha who sewed and blogged this already - I took this line drawing from her post as I don't see it on the BurdaStyle site right now. Side note - I am getting my magazines so Yay! and their site is creaking along with apparent updates so hope it will get back to all the info it had previously.
Also I just noticed that she made it in a small floral print and is wearing it with black suede boots - a great look 😉.

This dress is also shown in the magazine in a longer version, with no ruffles and chest pockets.



In addition to being a magic dress, fit-wise, it is super easy to sew. The button front is a fold over placket, so nothing to attach there, and there is just the small stand collar. No darts at all. Which is nice as I am contemplating making a jacket I saw that has 10 darts on the sleeves alone :)




You can see when worn the sleeve ruffles are very full, and also with this cotton fabric the wrong side shows a bit. The fabric was a dream to sew and just the right weight for this style with the ruffle hem.








Ruffles seem to be everywhere right now, these deep hem ruffles are popular with designers like Erdem or The Vampires Wife and the recently released McCalls patterns, like this example. While they are fun to wear they are starting to give me memories of Little House on the Prairie or Jessica McClintock prom dresses. (actually I never had one of those ruffly prom dresses and thought they were a bit silly looking then. Granted this is from the girl who made a not really in style with the other 17 year olds Vogue designer pattern for her junior prom dress - I wish I could remember the designer and find a copy on eBay) Note - I found the image of that pattern so I've included it at the bottom of the post! And it's selling for around $45. Oh, how I wish I kept all those Vogue designer patterns I had in my teen and college years!! And the labels they used to include.

So a big thank you to Minerva for providing this fabric and giving me the chance to jump on the ruffle trend.





The weather this week just went from shorts and sandals weather to actually chilly with some frost warnings, so wearing of wool coats is an option. Although it's kind of nice to have an autumn chill the wind has been fierce some days as you probably have seen on the news, and the fire danger and actual fires are so terrible. We had a power cut one day here  - they are doing this all around the bay area as a preventative safety measure to prevent fires. The second power cut, which was longer didn't hit my house although in some directions a mile or two it was out. And I know plenty of people who were without power for several days. It seems like a crazy way to solve a technology problem but for now we are all just happy to not have any more of these fires right in our neighborhoods. Plus we had a fairly large earthquake about a week ago where the epicenter was practically in my backyard. (ok not really but less than a mile away and it was quite a shaker - no damage anywhere though). This is just life in the Golden State! We are waiting for the rain - the answer to a lot of things in California.


Up next, another Burda short sleeve top which I wore a lot in October but might be put away for the winter, and then I'm finished a wool jacket I started as an example in my Jacket Tailoring class back in September. I'm doing that class again in late January at Hello Stitch, here's the info.  In fact all my Jan. and Feb. classes are already on the website so you can start planning your 2020 sewing!

Happy Sewing,
Beth

Here's the Vogue pattern that I made for my junior prom dress, the fabrics were a light and dark shade of jade green.