Something for the beach: Burda 115-7/2010 and 115-7/2011

Ok, I like to think that this looks better on me than the dress maker's dummy.  I've cranked the dummy out to my proportions, but still, I am arranged differently.  The dummy has much higher hips than me.

It's my intention to wear this on the beach in Costa Rica.  I'd never wear something like this to pick my kids up from school or pop into the supermarket.  It's thin and tight and clingy, so just perfect for poolside.


The skirt is a ridiculously easy pattern from the last issue of Burda mag. I sewed a size 44 with a size 42 waist.  In retrospect, I wish I had added an inch to the girth of the skirt and taken the waist in by a further three inches.  I would definitely sew this again.  I'd love to have it in a lux wool jersey for winter in black or marled grey.  It was ridiculously easy to sew too.

The top is from last year's July Burda.  Is there ever a time to throw out old Burda mags?  I haven't found it yet!

I ran out of vilene bias tape.  I used what I had on the arm-holes and neck of my top and used bonding tape for the hem and then stitched over it once it was ironed together.  This worked pretty well, but not perfectly.  I must have stretched the thin jersey as I ironed the hem up because there is a lettuce edge effect which I wasn't going for.

More Tweed Please!

Simplicity "Threads" 2758, view E

I had a little bit of wool/acrylic tweed in my stash.  It was a birds eye tweed that I bought on sale last year at John Lewis (dept store in UK).  I wasn't sure what to do with it, and then decided I would try to make myself a skirt.  My daughters are always thrilled when I wear a skirt.  It turned out fine.  I thought an A-line skirt would be really great on me, but I feel a little meh about it.  I think I made it with too much ease and therefore it doesn't sit on my actual waist which in this case just means that my waist looks thicker and lower.

Side view, you can see that it has slid down a bit.

It's not the end of the world though.  It is certainly very comfortable and very warm!  Two characteristics that mean it will get wear from me even if it is not the most flattering option.  

There was no lining in the pattern, how annoying.  Anyway, I added my own.  It went OK.  I had wanted to leave the lining hanging free, but I couldn't figure out how to finish the side seams if I did.  I don't have a serger and a french seam finish would have made the side zipper a problem.  So, in the end, I pressed the lining seams open and caught the lining hem in the skirt hem.  Hopefully this doesn't cause trouble when I wash it.

Lining hem caught and sewn inside skirt hem.

The pattern required a LOT of hand stitching for "view e."  I don't mind hand stitching, it is a good excuse to sit in front of the TV and watch something silly.  I toyed with the idea of using a strongly contrasting thread for the top stitching, maybe bright pink, but chickened  out and went with a coordinating brown.  I was afraid a "colour" would limit what I could wear the skirt with.  If I had it to do over, I would be bolder.

But the biggest thing to mention in this post is how nice tweed is!  Wow!  What a joy to sew with.  I want more of this stuff, and for once I am living in the right place- hurray!  It handles so easily and looks so lux.  When you iron it, it smells like a field of sheep in the rain...not an off-putting sensation, if you like to ramble.  In fact, I think I am falling in love with wool altogether.  It irons so well and behaves as nicely in the sewing machine as quilting cotton.  


There are definitely bargain tweeds to be found on Goldhawk Road.  They run at about £12/metre.  For a step up, I found Linton Tweeds selling directly on the internet.  They have a lot of tweeds in the £18 to £22 a metre range.  Linton supplied the tweeds to Miss Coco herself back in the day.  So I certainly have them on my radar now.


Is anyone else in love with tweed?  Am I hopeless?

Nice skirt, wrong size

I was so pleased with my Onion Drawstring Trousers that I launched straight into the Onion Skirt with Pleat Details (Onion 3032). I thought I could sew the same size skirt as trousers, big mistake. The trousers are designed to be roomy, so there is a lot of forgiveness in them. The skirt on the other hand looks horrible pulling across my hips. The pleat doesn't fold properly. Oh the shame! No more cookies for me. Meanwhile, I hope that it fits a friend of mine. And I hope she doesn't mind the bright yellow. The bright cotton duck on an aline skirt does have a Preppy, Northeastern USA vibe, circa the mid-1980s. So it's maybe not for everyone.

The pattern itself is very good. It went together easily, we're talking just a couple of hours, and looks very smart. I can't blame Onion that I have gained weight and don't want to face up to reality by measuring myself!

Style Damsel - New clutches and Dresses

We haven't got much time to update our blog.

SD has just launched our new range of dazzling evening clutches and semi-casual dresses for the uptown girls.
(Click images for direct links)

Keep shopping with us, and yes, we are working our "lives off" to bring you new dresses, blouses, skirts, and bags...

And we need your support to keep us going!

Thank You, SD Lovers!