These are some not-very-good pictures of a dress made from my favorite Burda Modemagazin dress pattern:
I made this a while ago, right after I got the issue, I think. (I was a bit slimmer at the time that I made this dress than at the time of the photos, so it looks a little overfitted here. But I wear it and love it anyway.)
I haven’t seen model 125 from the May 2008 issue of Burda reviewed on Pattern Review, or seen any other versions of it made up. I can’t understand why this pattern doesn’t have a cult following. Just look at it! Elegant, classic, but with just the right smidge of clever detailing to make it fun to sew and distinctive, but still a relatively quick and manageable project:
I know you’re all thinking the same thing right now: Why haven’t I made this dress? (Well, I’m not thinking it. Because I HAVE ONE.) Maybe you weren’t drawn to it because when Burda made it up, they insisted on using that crinkly fabric (yawwwwwn) that they love so much (why would you use this for a tailored style with ruching??) and letting the model swim in the upper part of the bodice:
That photo nearly threw me off too. But thank goodness for line drawings!
My version is made of some $1.79 bargain table fabric that feels like cotton poplin, but was probably too cheap to be 100% cotton. It’s deep olive green and has an interesting cobalt or navy blue sheen to it from certain angles, I think because some of the warp threads are a slightly shiny blue. The dress is fully lined, and it has a mock wrap front. The skirt is actually a regular pencil-type skirt with an extra flap over the front to give the wrap look. The bodice has princess seams and a waist seam in the front but not the back.
I love the style lines and the slim silhouette of this dress so much. Look carefully- it almost gives the impression that I have a waist rather than being shaped like a slightly flattened cardboard tube from the center of a roll of toilet paper! I also used the lining pattern from this dress as a block when drafting my Audrey Hepburn-style little black dress and I suspect I’ll use it again for future variations.
Why are you still reading this? Shouldn’t you be hunting eBay or your giant Sterlite container of Burda back issues in desperate search for this pattern? GO NOW.
22 comments
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December 5, 2009 at 12:26 am
Vivienne
Your dress is gorgeous. And, because I’m selfish too, I need to know where you got those great shoes.
(and yes, what was the deal with Burda and crinkly fabrics in 2008?)
December 6, 2009 at 8:00 am
selfishseamstress
I think some of the crinkly fetish may even have spilled over into 2009, if I recall. The shoe I got from (haha!) Loehmann’s in Chicago, which is one of those designer-names-for-less type places. I’ll have to check when I go home, but I believe they are Max Azria.
December 5, 2009 at 3:16 am
Catherine
You are right about the dress. Classic. Elegant. Perfect detailing. If my body had a shape, I would be fighting you for the magazine to make one up of my own. However, your shoes in that top picture are just so incredibly gorgeous, that I’m sure I would be distracted from my seamstress scuffle and while I was admiring them you would win.
December 6, 2009 at 7:58 am
selfishseamstress
Thank you for the shoe compliment. I’m glad the shoes would work in my favor if it came to a fistfight. The Selfish Seamstress does not like to lose.
December 5, 2009 at 4:04 am
Handmade
Definitely! It’s a classic!
December 5, 2009 at 4:31 am
Rachelle Green
Fantastic dress.
December 5, 2009 at 4:54 am
lin3arossa
It reassures me to see that you occasionally sew from patterns like the rest of all mortals :) The dress fits you perfect!
December 5, 2009 at 5:33 am
Meredith P
LOL “Sterlite Containers”…Ha, mine are in cardboard, but you are right on. I’m putting this on my list. Great dress on you!
December 5, 2009 at 7:32 am
Kayy
I even have that issue! I bow to your insight – as you correctly state, I never gave this one a second glance. Now I’m thinking … hmmm could I make it work for me??
December 5, 2009 at 8:28 am
Melissa
Burda and their bad fabric choices or weird model postures… you never get to see the details of the clothes!
December 5, 2009 at 1:44 pm
Amanda S.
Love it! But sadly, my subscription didn’t start until August. Maybe I will have to find it on Ebay…
December 5, 2009 at 2:42 pm
Venus de Hilo
Oooh, I love it! No Burda needed, I have a pattern in my stash I can adapt to something close (maybe without the mock wrap skirt?). I’m bookmarking this page for when:
1) my fabric budget surfaces from deep in the red, where it is now (I have nothing in that stash that’s appropriate, alas)
2) I’ve done at least 10,000 situps; that ruching might not be friendly to my tummy area…
December 6, 2009 at 1:29 pm
Vicki
Yes, this is a gorgeous dress. Love the whole outfit.
December 7, 2009 at 8:22 am
melissa
Ooh I’ve been eyeing up this pattern since it came out, but never really had the right fabric for it, so THANKS for showing it off! But I completely understand how you feel about unreviewed, unloved BWOF patterns, because I just sewed up 06-2009 #129 (to be reviewed this week) and OMG love love love it. It’s funny, but somehow I always end up making the Burda patterns hardly anyone else falls for…
December 9, 2009 at 2:56 pm
Maja
Oh, I love it. Gorgeous! I agree on the fashion photo. I always choose what I sew based on technical drawing.
December 9, 2009 at 6:52 pm
lin3arossa
Yes mistress! I got mine today… Waiting for the postman :)
December 10, 2009 at 3:29 am
senaSews
Great dress. Thanks for pointing it out!
May 1, 2010 at 9:11 am
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June 7, 2010 at 8:34 am
Megan
So I love this dress and have been trying to hunt down this issue of Burda for a while now. No one seems to have it! Maybe I’m just not looking in the right places, but Burda magazine from May of 2008 just doesn’t seem to exist =(. Any suggestions?
Thanks!
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