Ikat Skirt- Self Traced/ Drafted pattern

In the way back I made patterns.  I totally hated it.  I much preferred draping to drafting.  I had no patience and didn't want to fuss around with the paper.  For some reason I'm into it now.  And, I think the results are going to be better this time around. 

For this skirt I copied my printed cotton canvas J. Crew skirt that fits well.  I wear it all the time so I thought it would make a good pattern.  I actually wear this more around my hips but it looks nicer on the form sitting at the waist.

First I laid out the skirt flat on top of a piece of pattern paper and then with my tracing wheel I traced around it along the seam lines as well as the waistband.  I really need to get a wheel with the long pins, but I haven't seen one in a while, I think my mom used to have one but maybe they don't exist anymore.

Anyway, then I traced the lines and trued the pattern so the pieces on the front and back walked and then added seam allowance.  I had to make the darts by slashing and pivoting and when I did this I still couldn't find my old pattern book so I'm not convinced that I did it exactly right but the outcome was great.  This sounds like it was fast but I went back and forth between my pattern and the skirt measuring, remeasuring and fixing things and then changing it.  At one point I changed something on the front only to realize I had just measured the back and had to do it over.  BUT, now I have this great skirt pattern.  So I guess it was worth it.

I made a muslin and it seemed too big, the orig skirt is a little big so I took out 1/4" of front and back. Bad idea- because that equals an 1" all around and it was too much.  The orig skirt sits at the hips and is short but with the low waist it is a reasonable length.  The new skirt fits like a glove but is now just a little too short.  And frankly, I have great legs, but I'm not 25 and I'm not Lindsey Lohan, so I have some sense of what is ok for my age group. Although, others might disagree.

I cut the  garment so that the stripe pattern was the same on the front and back.  I realized that I didn't have enough fabric to have the same pattern on the front and back waistband but since they are different, it helps me to remember which way to put it on.  I used narrow seam allowances to counter my pattern adjustment faux paux and I finished the seam allowances with bias tape since the fabric is loosely woven and frayed A LOT when I washed it.  To counter the shortness of the skirt I hemmed it by binding the bottom edge with bias tape and then just barely turned to the inside and hand stitched.

It has an invisible zipper that I did a shameful job of lining up, but it doesn't really effect the over all look of the skirt so I'm OK with it.   I wore this wine tasting last weekend when it was 85 degrees and it was really comfortable.  I think one of my friends has a picture of me in it, I'll see if I can get it. I swear I'm not camera shy but I don't really love pictures of myself and I don't have a tripod either.  I had some photos taken of me in some of the last few garments but that's when I noticed that you can really tell I've gained 5 pounds- blah.  I gotta get back to running more.......... OK, that's it for now. I'm off to Pump IT UP for my nephews birthday.  I'm scared.  Wish me luck.


Next up, planned projects. Fabric is in the dryer as I type this.

Maiden Voyage- Burda pattern 7493 view B

My first Burda!  From the 2010 collection:

I have not made anything from the magazine yet, but that's next. Have tracing paper, will trace. Stay tuned.

Fabric is 100% cotton Ikat woven stripe. Ikat is super hot right now. Mine is very light shirting weight, so I lined it with a 100% cotton lawn in olive color. Both fabrics purchased from the wonderful Josephine's Dry Goods in Portland, OR.

Since this was my first time making a Burda pattern, and the first fitted woven in many moons, I made a muslin.  Also, there was no pattern review yet for this style so I didn't want to risk it. Now there is!

Made the muslin out of, what else?  Muslin. Then put it on the dress form and marked the pieces with their pattern piece numbers. I wanted the side panel pieces to be on the bias, and then the side seams to chevron.  See below the interesting intersection of side seam and armband under arm. Next, I drew the direction of the grain that I wanted on each piece to guide me and marked the tissue pieces, so when I cut the fashion fabric I wouldn't get confused.  I also drew a sketch before hand- several actually.


I constructed the front and back bodice and skirt and then connected them at the waist, as the instructions. Then I also constructed all the same pieces out of the lining material, sewing them right sides together with the body fabric at the armhole and then turning the lining to the inside creating a clean finished armhole. This way I eliminated the facing (hate facings). 

The rest of the garment I made as per the instructions.  After getting hooked on reading all the blogs I was reminded by the lovely Amanda, that seam binding makes the a garment look finished and polished. She has some fantastic tutorials, and finishes everything beautifully.   My mother used to say "a garment should look as beautiful on the inside as it does on the outside."   Advice that I summarily ignored till I was in school and I was graded on it. Also, I realized that this fabric will probably fray a bit with washing as my other ikat project did when I pre-washed and lost about 1" to fraying.  So I used bias tape on the seam where I applied the zipper.

I finished the hem using 2" wide poly lace.  I didn't mean to get such a wide lace and then when I sewed it in it looked super cute, but itched the back of my legs like crazy when I sat down. So I need to take it out and do somethings else.

The fit of this garment was great in the chest and neck and bust. The mid bodice waist needed a little more fitting/shaping so it wasn't a "shapeless"shift.   I didn't go back in and adjust those seams as I didn't want to change the shape of the side bodice and skirt pieces. After seeing pics of me in it, I wish I did, but I've other Burda to conquer.

I know that with some drafting I could have adjusted the center and created more shape but ultimately I was looking for kind of a shift.  Also, it pulled a little at the hips in the muslin, so I sewed the side and cb seams with 1/2" seam allowance i/o 5/8".  I also shortened the skirt 5" so it was just above the knee.  This is a great kicking around doing errands when it's 80 degrees, or meeting friends for lunch dress.

The other advice I have on this garment is that finishing the neck band so that it's even is not easy. Mine looks a little wonky on one side but I think I might be the only one that can tell.  I would probably use a template constructed out of heavy paper to press it so that it's even all the way around. 

Edit... added photo 

Here it is: a photo of me in the dress.  I won't wear those shoes now that I see them.