Fuzzy and Flared for Fall

 I just completed these two garments from one issue of Burda Style magazine.

 I usually average one garment per issue.  And there are a couple other patterns in this issue I liked too.  I started with the slim fit pullover top 112 that is featured in the sewing lesson.

Burda 11 2015 Top 112

  It is semi fitted with French darts in the front and a cut on collar.  There are several variations of this pattern in this issue: sleeveless,  and as a dress  with back darts  and high collar.  I made my top out of a piece of wool blend boucle knit.  I had only 1.33 yards of 54  wide fabric. This pattern caught my eye because it didn't require a lot of fabric.  I put an exposed zipper on one shoulder as shown in the magazine. Without it, the neck opening is too small to pull over my head.  My serger and sewing machine had feed issues with the thick/ thin yarns of this fabric.  They would be sewing along fine until they hit a fat yarn slub and  then no forward motion, but lots of thread buildup.   It took some doing but I got it sewed together

Burda top 112

 

Burda top 112 exposed shoulder zipper

The skirt is shown in three variations. None of them really appealed to me initially. In fact on the  color blocked version, I thought the point of the light fabric at center front was in an unfortunate place. The line drawing convinced me that it might be a good style for me. 

Burda 11 2015 Skirt  105A

The skirt fits closely through the waist and hips, with separate flared sections at the bottom.   The line drawing turned out to be inaccurate. The flare occurs at the center front and back and at the bottom side seams,  not evenly all round the bottom as the line drawing would have you  believe.  The photo's are accurate. If you have ever done the pattern drafting exercise of adding a flared section to a straight skirt, you may remember that the flaring/opening of the pattern has to be done where you want the folds to appear.  The top edges of the  skirt sections would have had to be curved like the one below for  this line drawing to be accurate.

The top shape of the inserts, with a wider angle than that of the center front and back insert points pushes all the flare  to the middle and sides. Interesting to note for future drafting exercises.

Pattern Pieces Skirt 105

 The skirt has darts in both the front and back  that start at crotch level  and extend up toward the hips.  In the back the dart shapes and the curved center back seam create cupping around the wearers bottom.  As someone who had a wide flat butt (as you will see in an upcoming post about pants) I was ridiculous excited to have this skirt create the illusion of derrière curves. My dress form is not too curvy either, and I even tired to pad her to get a better picture, so there are a lot of wrinkles but you can see the darts start under the curve and end at the highest point

 My skirt fabric was a light weight, crepe weave, black wool.  Burda doesn't  mention a  lining. but I wanted one  because my fashion fabric was not opaque.  After sewing the darts and inserting the flared section into angled corners in the fashion fabric,  I decided to simplify the lining.  I rotated the darts to the waistline and extended the sides, center front, and center back straight down to knee length.  It sewed up quickly and worked well as a lining.

 

It was too hot and humid today to wear these for more that the picture taking.  But I am headed to Chicago for a week and the predicted temperatures are perfect for wearing my new skirt and sweater.