On the day before Christmas Eve I decided that I should sew something to wear on Christmas Day (ok I should have planned this earlier!). I searched for an easy pattern which hopefully can be sewn within a day. I chose this light cowl dress pattern (no. 123) from Burda’s 01/2013 magazine which can be made up as a dress or a blouse.
Burda 01/2013′s light cowl dress
The blouse version – not my favourite styling at all but a different fabric could work
I used a Liberty Silk Satin fabric which I got from Goldhawk Road back in summer. It seems perfect as the dress version requires 1.5m of fabric only which is what I have with this silk print.
Liberty Silk Satin Fabric – Although it has a denim look but it’s really soft
And here’s the finished blouse (it’s not a dress but I’ll explain later).
The finished silk satin blouse
I cut everything to the dress length and followed the pattern instruction which is surprisingly clear. The front drape has a folded in facing which is sewn to the shoulder seams. Instead of using fusible stay tape as per the instructions, I used strips of selvedge as shoulder stay tapes. This gave a softer result compared to the fusible method.
The shoulder seam – the front facing is stitched to the shoulder seam. The pinked fabric strip is the selvedge stay tape.
The back neck edge is finished with a single folded bias binding and topstitching from the right side of the fabric.
The back neck edge with topstitching on the right side
I tried on the dress half-way and realised that the silk fabric tends to cling to my bottom, i.e. not a nice look at all so I cut off 10″ measured from the hem and left it as a blouse.
The hems are finished using the hairline hem method while the seam allowances are double stitched, pinked and hand over-casted so the seams remains soft and drapery.
The hairline hem
The seam allowance – double stitched, pinked and hand over-casted to finish
To be honest I didn’t finish the garment for Christmas Day as I spent too long hand basting the seams before sewing but I managed to finish it before New Year’s Eve.
Front view of the blouse
Side view of the blouse
It’s an easy pattern to make and it can work with a soft wool crepe fabric as well. It’s also a good pattern to use up a metre of so fabric in the stash.
My gracious, this is lovely! It’s too bad it wasn’t done in time for Christmas, but the extra work you put into it really paid off, I think.
Thanks! I was too ambitious anyway. Happy New Year!!
A lovely blouse. Your choice of fabric makes this an elegant garment.
Thanks a lot! Happy New Year!
Fabulous blouse! And you’ve got a bit of that lovely fabric left for a little project.
Thanks! I saving the left over fabric for future small projects for sure. Happy New Year!!
Simply gorgeous! I love everything about it!
Thank you so much!
What a gorgeous colour – I love a cowl neckline!
Thank you! The fabric is lovely indeed and I guess it works with a simple pattern.
Very pretty! Love the way you finished the seams to keep things soft and floaty…I’m stashing that idea for future reference.
Thank you! I’m glad that the seam finish info might become useful.
Lovely. Why can I never find fabric like that in Goldhawk Road?
Thank you! The fabric is from Classic Textile (the shop opposite the station). They have a bunch of Liberty silk and cotton lawn the last time I went and the price is good too.
This blouse is lovely, that fabric is gorgeous. I think I will be trying this. I can see it being a wardrobe staple – Thanks for the tips re the seams
Thanks! I think this blouse pattern could work in cotton prints as well and it’s truely easy to put together.
This came out very well. Finishing the seams by hand was the right way to go. The fabric retains its lovely drape. This is going to be lovely for you to wear and show off in the Spring, too.
Thanks! The silk fabric is really slippery so I thought turn and stitch wouldn’t be easy without hand basting. Hand overcast probably took slightly less time as I didn’t need to baste the seams before machining.
Yours is much nicer than the burda sample photos
Thanks! I think they overdid the purple theme a little and the styling isn’t their best either. The vintage dresses section in the same issue is much better!
I hope you don’t mind but I’ve linked to your blog today to share your inspiration:
http://pendlestitches.wordpress.com/2013/01/02/id-like-to-thank-my-editor/
Thanks so much for mentioning my blog! Lovely car and I would wear vintage style frocks everyday if I have this car too!
This is lovely! I so appreciate seeing how you finish the insides of your garments. I always think I can finish things much faster than I actually can, so I understand why this wasn’t completed by Christmas! However, the extra hand-sewing and fine-finishing makes a beautiful blouse even better.
Thanks and yes I always told my husband I would finish sewing in x amount of time and join him for tv or dinner but it mostly turned out that he needs to wait a bit!
This blouse looks lovely on you, much nicer than the original! I wanted to let you know I’ve nominated you for a Liebster blog award – check my blog for details.
Sam, thanks so much for the nomination!!!! That’s very kind of you! Look forward to seeing more from your blog this year!
That totally sounds like something I do all the time! I love how you remedied the clingy situation and made the shirt. It is beautiful on you and I love the color!
Thank you! The clinging problem was something I didn’t expected. I’m glad that the design was meant for both dress and blouse version!
It’s a lovely garment and looks super on you. Congrats.
Thank you!
Pingback: Friday Link Love « Design Lived
Thanks!!!