This was the biggest sewing challenge I’ve done in a long while. It was just really, really hard getting everything right. This goes for both the pattern (from Burda magazine 3/2009) and the fabric (silk/rayon velvet). The picture might look serene, but I can assure you that there has been a lot of profanities involved in the making of this dress. But I’m very proud of myself now, because the dress turned out even better than I had hoped it would! Also this is a petite pattern, so the only alteration I had to do was adjusting for my sway back.As for sewing velvet without any special helpers, like a walking foot and a velvet pressing board, I will talk about that experience in a separate post where I will share the stuff I learned along the way.
Regarding the execution, I’ll be the first to admit that it’s less than stellar in places, there was a lot if salvage stitching involved, but when I look at the dress now, I think it looks pretty good.
The dress has an interesting yoke that goes all the way to the back.
The lining. Because the bodice and skirt has a tricky shape I treated the lining and velvet as one piece and attached them with a seam that I serged.You can read my review of the pattern over at Pattern Review where I talk more about the specifics. Also I want to direct a special thanks to Melissa who not only wrote a very helpful review, but also took the time to answer my assembly questions over e-mail.
