Burda 7057 Dirndl/Halloween/Sound of Music Madness!

FALL FALL FALL FALL FALL!!!

Can you tell I'm a wee bit excited for the season?  There's just so much to enjoy about it!  In addition to all the pumpkin flavored everythings and the excuse to wear every sweater I own simultaneously, sewing's favorite holiday is just around the corner - Halloween!

When else do I get to make completely impractical clothing I'll only wear once?  Well, I actually do that on a regular basis, but now I can acknowledge it and have fun with it!!  And this year I decided to take a little inspiration from one of my favorite musicals, The Sound of Music.

Having short blonde hair, I naturally thought I should dress up as Maria Von Trapp.  But on closer examination, I realized that my favorite singing nun's movie portrayal had a less than glamorous wardrobe.  I wasn't exactly keen on making exact reproductions of such costumes as this:

Iconic? Yes. Glamorous? No.

I know it may seem a little silly, but I decided if I was going to sew a whole costume it should at least be a bit more... well, more!  But there are some costumes I love, such as the ones Maria made out of the drapes for the children.

I always wondered why Maria didn't make one for herself... they're just so cute!

I was also inspired by the made-for-tv movie version of The Sound of Music and the dirndl-style dresses Carrie Underwood wore as Maria.  The original will forever be my favorite, but dang were her costumes cute!

So, I decided to create the hypothetical situation in which Maria did create her own "curtain dress" but in the style of a dirndl because... well, because I can!  

I chose Burda 7057 to create my Maria/dirndl/curtain:

Specifically, view B,D,F

I then went on a hunt online to find some accurate-ish drapery fabric, but to no avail.  I found some cottons that were almost passable but they didn't have large enough patterns for my taste.  In the end I decided to choose a completely different fabric that was drapery weight.  This was my final choice, purchased from Hancock Fabrics:

I was extremely please with the quality of the fabric, plus it's got a lovely sheen!

My mother purchase the white cotton I used, so I am not altogether sure where it is from (JoAnn's perhaps?)  but I greatly enjoy how soft and flowing it is.  I did end up lining the undershirt bodice due to its sheer nature, but that was easy enough to accomplish.

This is my final product:

The Front of the Dress

Detailing of the front bodice

 I used some brown ribbon I had lying around for the laces. I may change it later, but they serve well for now.

Burda 7057 Front Detail

 I chose not to use stabilizer on the bodice as the fabric was already quite stiff; if you were to use a lighter-weight fabric I would definitely use it, though!

Just in case you forgot what the front looked like...

 I omitted the detailing around the collar of the dirndl because I thought my fabric was too heavy to make it.  That, and I'm lazy, haha.

Back of the dress; note that the neckline of the dirndl is lower than that of the blouse in the back.

 If you're new to dirndls, you might want to know that the under-shirt is usually only half a shirt, meaning that it comes down just below the bust and not to the waist.

Detail of the back

Since I was using a symmetrical damask, I spent a bit of time making sure that the panels of the front and back mirrored each other (As in, the right panels all mirrored the left panels).  If you do use a one way designed fabric, make sure to note that you will be cutting half of it upside-down if you follow the suggested pattern layout.

I'm also not exactly sure where the hooks I used were purchased from, but I know someone on Etsy sells them.  They were a bit hard to find at my normal fabric stores, so I'll be sure to figure out where I got them!

*FITTING*
For me, fitting this pattern was really easy.  I cut it out the size I measured out to (10 in Burda) and didn't have to alter anything!  I have found that Burda fits me really well, so I normally have very few fitting issues and this pattern was not exception.  The only thing I might say is that I could have maybe made it wider in the shoulders, but my shoulders are pretty broad and the puffiness of the sleeves makes up for the space I would need anyways.

Overall, I greatly enjoyed making this pattern.  It looks and fits wonderfully and wasn't too difficult to put together!  It took me approximately 2 complete days of work to piece it all together (which translates to 2 whole seasons of Downton Abbey, or approximately 15 hours)  and it took me about 2-3 hours to cut out (I cut out slowly!).  In total, the whole process was about 18 hours long.  Keeping that in mind, I would recommend this pattern for an intermediate sewer as it is a bit of a time commitment and there is some fiddley hand-sewing.

If you're interested in seeing a more faithful interpretation of Sound of Music costumes, I would highly recommend Edelweiss Patterns!  She made an absolutely lovely version of Liesl's curtain dress that also served as inspiration for my creation.

I cannot wait to wear my dress on Halloween and I hope you have an impractically fun (and sewing) filled fall!

But first, ME in the dress!

Until next time!

-The Gretchen

Fall Vogue 2015 Top Picks

Ah! Fall is in the air!

Wait! In July, you say?

Well, according to Vogue Patterns autumn is just around the corner!

In case you didn't know, Vogue just came out with their new line of fall patterns.  There are a couple things I may never make, but I thought I'd give my two cents on the highlights of the group.

Firstly, new vintage!  Yay!! I adore vintage patterns and Vogue's newest releases will most likely be finding their way into my collection.

Here is Vogue pattern V9127:

Vogue Pattern V9127

It seems to be 1940's (ish?) and it might not be my all time favorite vintage silhouette, but look at that detailing:

How?  Just, how?

I'd just buy the pattern to figure out how one recreates that arrow-like stitching.  And is that a pocket on the lapel?  And how does that belt-thing work?  It's a pattern chock-full of mysteries!

An even better question, what the heck would I use a pocket there for?

My only beef with it is it doesn't seem to fix the model in the back.  Take a look for yourself:

Something seems a bit off...

Maybe it's just me, but if I were to make this pattern, I'd like it to be more closely fitted and less wrinkly in the back.  I think it would give it a cleaner look and allow for the eye to have complete focus on the beautiful tailoring.

  

It also has a short-sleeved option (minus the belt of mystery):

But I like the other vintage dress even more, Vogue pattern V9126:

Vogue Pattern V9126

 I'm not sure if it's the pattern itself or the styling of the pattern that I'm in love with.  Very glamorous, and the model is incredibly (and maybe intentionally) similar to Dita Von Teese!

Up Close - look at her perfect make up!

Leopard Print Love!!

Imagine going to a cocktail party dressed like that!  You'd surely be the talk of the town (and for all the right reasons!).  

Although it does remind me an awful lot of this Simplicity pattern 1777:

But shhhh, we'll just keep that between us and Vogue...

Other than the vintage patterns, I have to say that the only other pattern I had a hankering for was Vogue pattern V1460:

Vogue Pattern V1460

I love how simple it is, but I do have one concern.  Is it just me, or does it seem to strangely emphasize the belly?

I'm sure that model is as thin as can be, but the dress makes it look like she's got something in the oven!  It makes me a bit wary of the pattern, so I'm a bit hesitant to buy it...

Anyways, those are my top three picks for Vogue's 2015 Fall Collection!  Are there any favorites you have?

Until next time,

-The Gretchen