Burda 01-2010-104: The summer of skirts

This skirt pattern has been making its way across the sewing blogosphere with some pretty fantastic results. Amanda, Kristine, Eugenia and Ann have all made some really lovely and downright covet-worthy versions of this skirt. Some even more than one *cough*Eugenia*cough*. ;)

This is actually the pattern that finally convinced me to sign up for a Burda subscription. I own a RTW skirt that is absolutely identical to this pattern (the tan skirt below). I love it, but it's now a touch too big and just try finding something like this in store right now. Yeah, not happening. By owning the pattern, I could just make my own version whenever the spirit moved me. Woot! Of course, that still meant that I had to track down the February issue as my subscription wouldn't include it. Thanks to ebay, I found it for the fairly reasonable price of $15. Yay! [Since then, Burda's site underwent a pretty huge transformation, including a lot of magazine patterns now available for purchase as single downloads. If you missed this issue and want your own version of this skirt, check it out here.]

I traced off this pattern a good month ago and then never had time to actually cut it out and sew it up. As this was my first time sewing a fitted Burda garment and not knowing exactly how their sizing would work for me, I decided to make a wearable muslin before cutting into the really good stuff. I purchased this stretch cotton sateen panel print from Fashion Fabrics Club with the idea that it would make a cute tropical-inspired skirt for our Hawaii vacation this fall.

After seeing the fabric all laid out, I found that the large blue/navy leaves would work best for the skirt and I planned to keep the wave border in my stash to whip up a few O+S lazy days skirts for friends later down the road.

All of the pieces were cut single layer so I could ensure the print was placed exactly where I wanted it to be. The downside of this was I had no idea just how off grain this fabric was until I went to fold up the wave border sections. I should have taken a picture, but no joke, it was off by at least 3/4". UGH. Needless to say, the cute little waves hit the circular file because there was no way they could be salvaged. I went ahead with my skirt though to see if I could make it work. And indeed, I think it turned out quite well.

I pretty much sewed this straight from the pattern. The only small change I made was taking off 1" total from the side seams. After getting most of it sewn up, I realized that this skirt actually looked like something I could wear to the office as it was more Tommy Bahama than Hilo Hattie. I was glad that I had cut the longer length (version A) initially, as this gave me more wiggle room to give it an office-appropriate hem. I also took pains with this version to finish all of the raw edges with bias tape.

Even though the print is off-grain, I was still pretty thrilled with the final skirt. I wore it to the office this week and got tons of compliments. Even better, it was comfortable and I felt really good wearing it. That's a total win in my book.

All of this meant that the pattern was approved and it was time to cut into the good stuff. And here is where I need to make a confession. I've always loved the madras print skirts that J crew releases most years during the spring and summer, but my child-bearing hips and um, "muscular" thighs means that I never buy them. They're just too short, too tight and generally a hot mess on my body. So, when I saw Ann's madras print mini, I about died. I mean, this was totally my chance to own a madras print skirt that actually fit *me*. So, I did what any good blog-reading seamstress would do. I left a nice comment on her post and promptly ran off to her fabric site and scooped up my own bit of madras fabric with full intentions to completely copy her skirt. :D And I did just that. Sure the colorway may be different, but basically here is my homage to Ann and her madras skirt.

She was not lying when she said that this fabric washes up beautifully. It's super soft and light and absolutely perfect for summer. I didn't want to lose the drape of this fabric, so I just pinked the side and back seams (would have used a serger to finish them off, but um, don't have one!) and used bias tape to finish the pockets and inner waistband. Paired with my J crew flip flops and a coordinating tank, I feel super preppy and summery.

After sewing with the Big 4 patterns, it's really nice to be able to use a size chart to determine what size to sew and have it turn out well without any major adjustments. So far, Burda, even with their sparse instructions and lack of diagrams, is quickly moving to the top of my favorites list. I really can't wait to make more garments from the magazine. It's also nice to have another TNT skirt pattern in my arsenal (aside from McCalls 3830). Like Eugenia, I don't know that I'm ready to quit this pattern quite yet. There may very well be another version (or two) that I make before we say goodbye to summer.