Thursday, March 27, 2008

Burda World of Fashion 11/2004 #113 Skirt






Pattern Review

Pattern: BWOF 11/2004 #113 skirt I could not find a fullsize photo on Burda's website. Here is a link for the thumbnails on the Burda site, you can click on the picture. It was not working at the time I was publishing this blog post.



Description: The skirt in this issue is made of suede, so the description pertains to that: “The suede skirt also has that special something: It is outfitted with a group of pleats on one side and with a wide yoke in lambskin nappa worked like a trouser/pant waistband.

Sizing: 34 to 44, I made a 38. After completing the yoke, I tried on the skirt and felt is was too tight at my lower hips (the bottom of the yoke). I let out each side seam about ¼” and the fit was better that night. Well, after completing the garment, I feel this wasn’t a necessary adjustment. But better safe than sorry, now I can eat that bag of Hershey bars I brought home!

Instructions: The instructions are pretty good, in fact the sewing course is for skirt #112, which has the same yoke construction. The only thing to watch is the direction of the pleats (see the line diagram). I marked my pleat direction on the wrong side of the fabric but I should have marked it on the right side as per the pattern piece. I basted and then pressed my pleats only to find out they were the wrong direction.




Likes/Dislikes: I really like the construction of the yoke. The pocket piece is made of lining/quilting fabric and constructed like any yoke pocket. The like is the side hip yoke with pocket piece. This piece is the same size as the front yoke but does not have the curve out for the pocket. Your yoke looks lined from the inside. The pocket is stitched to the hip yoke piece and ta-da the pocket is hidden between the front yoke and the hip yoke. See the picture below for the picture is worth a 1000 words explanation! Can you see the one piece (wrong side) that is the hip yoke piece. Click on the picture to enlarge and you can see the stitching line of the pocket.





I also like the style, a denim skirt with a bit a dressy flair.
My only dislike is the front pleats aren’t laying the best at the hem. I might baste them at the bottom for a few days. You see that in RTW on pleated skirts, this might help hold the shape.

Changes: The fabric was my biggest change, no suede for this skirt. I did add 3” to the bottom to make sure it was long enough. Once again, I took this extra length off and hemmed it with a 5/8” hem turned twice.

Fabric: An incredible denim from Gorgeous Fabric. This is a nice lightweight denim for spring and summer and I think I have enough to squeeze out a pair of Ottobre jeans.

Conclusion: A fun skirt that went together quickly


Front picture, you can see I need to work on the pleats at the hem. The line drawing does show the pleats pressed the entire length of the skirt.

Back view, pleats are behaving better here.
Pocket, waistband and topstitching details.






14 comments:

  1. Nice skirt, Lori. Would a line of stitching down the very edge of the pleat work?

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  2. Very cute skirt! I'm sure basting the pleats and steaming would help them to lay flat.

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  3. FYI--If you want to grab a copy of the skirt (the BWOF styling picture, try looking at the German language version of the page. I just checked and the image is still there.

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  4. A very stylish skirt! Well done!

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  5. Nice skirt. Your topstitching is great. I can see one of your daughters wanting to borrow this one. FYI I found none of the 2004 edition BWOF's have English content (probably because the website wasn't in English back then). Swap to German and the content is there.

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  6. That is a super cute skirt! I can see one of those in my future!

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  7. Anonymous7:31 PM

    Lori, this is awesome! And the topstiching is superb!!

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  8. Anonymous8:25 PM

    Hey Lori,
    Great skirt. I love the pleats and the yoke design. I have a tip for you to make the pleats lie flatter and stay in place. My lovely Dutch neigbour that lived across from us when we lived in the country showed me this once and I was amazed at the simplicity. I hope I can explain it with words. I wish I had Debbie Cook's aptitude with the drawing programs to help me.
    Finish the skirt as you normally would including hemming. Then on the inside fold of each pleat, on the wrong side of the fabric, top stitch just in the hem allowance of the pleat. That forces the inside fold to go the way it should and allows the outside fold to do it's own thing (which you can tame by hammering it flat and then using lots of steam and a clapper. HTH - it worked for me on so many pleated garments - if I didn't explain it well, let me know and I'll try to do it in an email where I have room for more description!

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  9. I think this is a cute skirt. Your topstitching looks great.

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  10. Another fabulous garment Lori!

    ~Pam

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  11. Beautiful job!

    --Leah

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  12. I love that you imagined this so differently than the BWOF version! The construction and topstitching are top notch! What a wonderful skirt!

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  13. That is a cute skirt, Lori! It looks very well made, and a great casual skirt.

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