I finally got around to hemming Burda 8.2010.128, the “Parisian” dress, and here’s the final product. The temperature today is hovering just above freezing, but worse than that is that it is windy.  REALLY windy.  So windy that t was hard for me to open my eyes all the way and keep them open long enough for a photo, which means I either look sleepy, as I do above, or like I just ate something really sour, as you can see here:

Now, about the dress. I’m reasonably happy with how this dress turned out. There’s a little more extra room in the back than I like, but it’s necessary ease because of the slim sleeves. There’s maybe a tiny bit too much ease in the sleeve caps (you can see some minor horizontal lines resulting from some tiny puckers), but the upper sleeves, which fit nicely with a little slack when my arms are down, bunch up when I raise them, so I didn’t want to take anything out of them. Overall, the ease in this pattern is weird. I don’t have a good picture of it, but when I’m standing straight, the upper part of the bodice isn’t very fitted.  However, when I move my arms out to the sides at all, it pulls across the chest a bit, as you can see above. So, a little loose when my arms are hanging down, and a little tight when I lift them! I think the addition of more ease would make the dress look poorly fitted, but I have to say, it feels a bit like wearing a sloper. I guess this is why you don’t see a lot of fitted dresses with sleeves done up in wovens. If I do this one again, I’m definitely going to look for a fabric with a little stretch in it.

By the way, did I mention that it’s really windy out? Look at me, I’m a unicorn!

I do like the look of the dress quite a bit, even though it’s not the most comfortable of garments. I was concerned about the pleats and whether they would get pouchy in the front, but I think they look fine and don’t give me any more of a tummy than I have. Oh, unless you take the wind into account, which does give me a bit of the five-months-pregnant aesthetic:

Or, even eight months when it catches the skirt just right:

Brrrrrr!