Photos and Answers

The Burda blouse is done, laundered, pressed (arghhh!) and reviewed, here. As I mentioned in the review, the wind was really howling when I was taking these photos (which was a comedy in itself, try to snap pics between gusts) and the back view shows how it plastered the blouse against my butt. There is actually plenty of ease back there but you'd never know it by this pic.



The Jalie skirt was originally reviewed, here. My expression here looks rather odd, but at least it's a modeled pic, right? And no, Carolyn, I don't have a brown cardigan. But I'm thinking I should since it would blend into my wardrobe rather nicely.

Click on any of the photos to see larger versions.

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Now to answer some questions from recent comments.

Nancy K, (re the Jalie skirt above): "This is view D?"

Yes, view D. The skirt with the 8 gores and non-godet flounce.

Laceflower (re the Burda blouse): "Debbie, you feeling OK? This is the tamest fabric I've seen you purchase."

LOL! Well, sometimes I do need some boring solid colors in the wardrobe. They can't all be wild prints.

Anna Szabo (re the Burda blouse): "Great blouse and I love the fabric I have a question. We appear to have similar shapes. I know you wrote me before that you draft up to the desired size using a similar increment that is used between the sizes of the existing pattern. I got the impression that you also used software to draft your pattern. I do not have the software but would like to do this shirt in my size. 16-18 in the big 4 patterns. Do you think this is possible without the software?"

Thank you! Yes, it's very possible to make this without software and without the pattern. You'll need a fitted blouse that has a side dart and you'll need to be willing to chop up a pattern and make a couple of muslins. The previous posts, here and here, show how to morph a regular fitted blouse into the shapes of the Burda pattern.

Nancy K: "I just looked at your jeans fly front zipper tutorial which is really excellent. How about a tutorial on that great waistband?"

When I make my next pair of jeans/capris, I'll try to remember to take photos. I'm not sure that it's tutorial-worthy though. ;-) Is there something specific you have a question about?

Alison: "… I believe you only want to baste one of them (the one that gets topstitched). This is because the placket is slipped in between the folded-in placket and the blouse and is caught in the topstitching. Now this can't be done if it's already been basted shut (Luckily I'm lazy and only basted one side)."

I did finally figure out what Burda meant, but thank you. I wanted to point out to you, though, that when Burda instructions state to "baste," they usually mean with pins. So, if you keep that in mind, you won't have a problem with something being unmoveable because it's been stitch-basted.

Joanne: "I copied a rtw blouse, got the "V" neckline perfect, but my sleeve doesn't fit my armhole, so I'll need to make another sleeve, that's my problem. Can you tell me how to draft a sleeve that will fit into an existing armhole?"

I've never drafted a sleeve from scratch in my life. But what I would do is to use a sleeve and armhole that I know work for me and then copy them onto the new pattern. Just substitute the good armhole by tracing over it onto the new pattern and then use the sleeve that goes with it. I'm all about doing things the easy way. ;-) HTH

Nancy K: "Thought you might be interested to know how your old posts are a great resource. I am making a welt pocket in pants and I referred back to this post to see where you put yours and what you used for stabilizer."

Thank you Nancy. I'm glad to know that what I write is helpful down the road.

Ann's Fashion Studio: "What pattern do you use for the boys boxers? They look great."
Thank you! I used a now-OOP Simplicity pattern, Simp 8150. I'm sure there must be a replacement pattern available or you can probably find this one on ebay.

Becky W (re the Button foot): "Looks way more functional than my Janome button sewing on foot. Mine does not have the elevation of the button on the garment. I end up getting the button in place and using a sharp pointed wooden skewer (spelling?) from the kitchen to give something to stitch over to give some thread shank to the button. Any ideas for a comperable generic?"

I wish I could be helpful on this but I tend to buy most feet directly from my Viking dealer. I do have some generics, but this isn't one of them. Maybe this one will work?