Burda 06-2010-133: Bright and Fishy

I really like wearing bright colors and prints when we're in Hawaii. Something about the ocean and the beautiful flowers and plants makes me want to drape myself in turquoise, pink, blue and any other bright shade I can find. So, when I saw this teal golfish print from Patty Young, I had to have it and earmarked it for a mini-skirt.

I loved the Take 1, Make 4 skirt section in Burda's June issue and since I'm trying to branch out from using McCall's 3830 over and over, I tried skirt 133, just a basic mini. I left out the pockets thinking I didn't need any extra stuff around my hips. I'm glad I did as I had to alter the hip curve a bit after cutting it out and the pockets would have just complicated matters.

I like that the straight size 40 sits below my belly button (M3830 sits higher on my waist), but still fits well through the hips. I used french seams on the sides, hem tape and bias tape on the remaining raw edges. After fixing the hip curve, this one is being added alongside M3830 as a TNT pattern!

I freely admit that this skirt is what some of you would call a "craft project." I mean, really, bright quilting cotton with huge goldfish on it is about as far from elegant and sophisticated as you can get. And yet, I kind of love it. It's so wacky and ridiculous that I can't help but smile when I look at it. I'm pretty excited to bust it out on our vacation while enjoying a tropical drink, watching the sunset. I asked Jim what he really thought of it and he swears he likes it. I figure even if everyone else thinks I'm nuts for wearing it, at least the cutie that I'm with is a-okay with it! ;)

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.

BWOF 5-2010-105: Vegas Dress, Retro Style (and a Vegas recap)

Soooo, this is my very first pattern from Burda Magazine!

[jumps around]

[throws confetti]

This dress has been made by several bloggers recently, to great results. We planned a mini-trip to Vegas for July 4th weekend and were originally only going to be there for two nights. I had dresses to wear for both, but when we added a third night at the last minute, I scrambled to find a quick dress that I could whip up that was comfortable, cool and still Vegas-y. After seeing Trena's version, it felt like a perfect fit.

I pretty much completely copied her dress, right down to eliminating the facing around the neckline (using a twin needle to finish it off), cutting the skirt to mid-thigh and adding a lining. Thank you Trena for doing all of the hard work first and summing it up so I could just follow your instructions. ;) Since the other two dresses I was planning to wear were black, I did opt for an emerald/teal green rayon jersey, since my travel wardrobe was feeling very dark and a bit boring.

This dress pretty much sewed itself. It's only 3 pattern pieces and a bit of elastic. Super simple, even with the added lining. Yet, for such a simple design, it yields a very cute result. I cut the smallest size for the bodice (36) and instead of grading down, I just didn't add seam allowances and went from there. While not technically correct, the end result was fine. I did add an inch to the bottom of the bodice to allow a bit of extra room for making the elastic casing, but wish that I had added another inch or so because it didn't blouse over as much as I would have liked. Ah well. I was pleased to have a great experience working with a twin needle this time around, too. I tried to work with one on a knit dress just a couple of months after starting to sew and it was a hot mess. I've obviously increased my skills since then, as it was so easy to use this time and I was very pleased with the finished result.

I wore this dress our first night - it was very comfortable and I felt cute and hip in it. I knew that I'd be killing my feet in heels the next two nights, so I opted for a small wedge sandal and lots of gold jewelry for accessories. Total win!

I think this was a great first foray into the world of Burda patterns. I already have another skirt cut out (just needs to be sewn up) and a few other things that I have my eye on. I've found that tracing out the patterns and adding seam allowances doesn't really bother me. In fact, it's something I can do while I watch TV with Jim and accomplishes two tasks at once - hanging out with the husband and working on sewing stuff. :)

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I didn't take enough pictures for a full Vegas recap, but here are a few tidbits and pictures that sum up the trip:

* This was our first time at Bartolotta and the food was really fabulous. Any time you have that much fish in one dinner and don't taste like fish at the end is huge. We both thought the main fish dish was the best we have ever had. However, it was the dessert course that was so freaking amazing to me - 9, count them 9 individual scoops of ice creams were brought to the table. Three granitas, three gelatos and three sorbets. I thought I had died and gone to heaven! There were two other dishes served, too, but those 9 scoops of frozen deliciousness were so freaking delicious!

* However, there was a huge downside to Bartolotta - the poor service. We were met with a chilly reception upon checking in for our meal and things didn't get any better. We had a small, like amuse-bouche size, pasta dish brought to our table shortly after ordering. We thought it was, indeed, an amuse-bouche and started to eat it. Not two minutes later, our waiter ran up to us, exclaiming "Did you touch that?!" Um, yes, and if we'd said no, were you really going to take it from our table and deliver to the table where it belonged?! EW! We said yes, he gave us a disgusted look and went away. We felt horrible and didn't know whether to continue eating or what. The waitstaff stood behind us whispering and pointing before finally coming back and saying "Well, since you're eating it, here is what you're having." Seriously?! We were at an incredibly expensive restaurant, ordering the tasting menu (+ alcohol) and that is how you treat your patrons? I mean, it's not even acceptable service if we were at a Denny's but damn! This was just ridiculous. The rest of the dinner was awkward and I don't think either one of us really settled into the meal. The guy that brought dessert was incredibly sweet and gracious and was the only bright spot in a dinner otherwise marked by a waitstaff that was both pretentious and quite rude. I'd love to highly recommend the place, but frankly, there are plenty of other restaurants in Vegas that do fabulous food AND have servers and staff that are kind and generous to their patrons.

* In fact, Le Cirque and Carnevino would both fall into that category! It was our 2nd time at Le Cirque and our *mumble mumble* time at Carnevino. We had many of the same servers at Le Cirque and they were again excellent. The food was fantastic and the vibe of the restaurant was formal, but not at all pretentious. We had a French couple sitting next to us and it was really cool that our waiter went back and forth between our tables, speaking english one moment and french, the next. I told Jim that I want all of our dinners to be like that - the accents and european language gave the whole dinner a very sophisticated air. While all of the food was delicious, the indiviual 'fruits de la mer' platter and the dessert wine tasting flight were the highlights. We let the sommelier know we would be splitting the dessert wines and he specifically mentioned that he poured us a bit extra so we'd have enough to share. See what I'm saying? Now that is service done right!

* The one, um, bright spot? to our dinner at Le Cirque was the gal sitting in front of us who proceeded to get completely plastered as the night wore on. At one point, I look over and she is sitting back in her seat and proceeds to lift her leg all the way up to her head. Did I mention her chair was turned to face the restaurant and she was wearing a very VERY short dress? Yes folks, that's right, the gal flashed her lady bits to the entire restaurant! Only in Vegas. You could feel the entire restaurant sort of gasp and then not know what to do. Jim told me to stop staring. I informed him that they were way past the point of having any idea of what was going on. It was like dinner and show folks, I kid you not. It was just so ridiculous that all I could do was crack up. Ha!

* Our last night was at Carnevino and it was a great way to end the trip. Another dinner full of ridiculously yummy food, great staff and a fun atmosphere. If the dinner prices make you want to run for the hills, might I suggest their lunch special burger and house-made potato chips. Literally, the best gourmet burger we've ever had. Ever. Well worth the price of admission.

* We've sorta christened one of the tables at Lavo in the Palazzo as "our table." I swear, we've sat there and had drinks more times than I can count - at least twice a trip. One night we decided that it really needed a plaque proclaiming it as such. Since we couldn't make that happen, we took pictures there instead. :)

* Vino and Spurs were able to meet us for drinks one night and it was great to see them. They had a crazy busy weekend and I'm really glad they were able to come and hang out for a couple of hours.

* Our days were spent poolside - reading, lounging, taking a dip and drinking. We both needed the break, Jim even moreso than me. It was a very nice getaway. :)