I’m a loser…

Even with repeated renewal reminders, I forgot to renew my Burda WOF in time to receive the April 2008 issue which is now, naturally, SOLD OUT!

I’ve already checked Ebay only to come up empty, boohoo. If you are reading this and have one you’d like to sell me please contact me at sewingbunny at hotmail dot com. Heaven forbid I should have a gap in my collection!

You can see a copy of it HERE

UPDATE 4/22/08 5:50 p.m.: Thank you all my wonderfully helpful sewing sisters! I have a copy winging it’s way to me as I type! Whew! I’d better check to make sure I renewed my Threads!

Burda WOF 4/07 #107B Dress

Here are some photos of the finished dress. I love it but you can see that the skirt is much straighter than the illustrations would have you believe. The little cap sleeves are adorable and so easy. I love the fact that they are cut on the fold and therefore require no hemming.

I thought I’d copy Phyllis and actually style my photos for a change. I’m wearing this today with some high-heeled black boots. Yes, it’s warm outside but it is still February and I’m talking myself into believing that it’s still winter plus I have an appointment today that requires the strut and I-mean-business attitude only high-heeled boots can give you!

Here’s a better shot of the dress itself:

As you can see, I did not use the elastic finish on the neckline. Instead, I serged some plain lingerie elastic to the wrong side of the neckline and turned it under. The neckline could then be topstitched but I often use my blindstitch machine instead because it gives me a dressier finish. On a print like this you can’t even see the tiny little stitches! Hmm, maybe I should do a quick little tutorial so you can see how easy it is.

The fabric is a fantastic rayon/lycra that I bought last year from Ebay seller Bestonlinefabrics. I’ve purchased a few things from this seller and it’s all been really nice.

UPDATE 2/26/08: The tutorial is up! Here’s a link: TSD tutorial.

Christian Louboutin for the soul

I recently decided that I would treat myself to something ridiculously extravagant once my divorce is final. I already have enough fabric and sewing supplies (although I did consider buying an industrial straight stitch!) so I think I’ve narrowed it down to a pair of Christian Louboutin shoes:

Don’t these look like they belong on the feet of some super-fantastic woman? I love the color! They are different enough to be extravangant yet not so different as to be impractical. I can see myself wearing them with a dress, pants or jeans for years to come. Sold!

On the sewing front, I just finished the dress version of the Burda pattern and will post a photo tomorrow. The only issue I had with it was that I found it a little snug around the hip/thigh area. It’s not as much of an a-line as I thought. I’m pretty narrow through the hip so you might want to allow some “insurance” room there if you make it. Nothing adds 10 lbs. faster than a knit dress clinging to your butt and thighs! I usually change the seam allowances to 1/4″ on knit patterns and did here as well but I left the 5/8″ at the side seams (just in case) so I was able to let it out a little bit below the waist. I will probably flare the skirt out a bit more when I make it again. Still, I am very happy with it - it turned out really cute.

Burda WOF 4/07 #107B

I loved this style the minute my April 2007 Burda magazine arrived but am just now getting around to making it. Surplice tops look really good on me so I can’t resist one that has some unusual detail to make it a little different from all of the others in my closet. Well, when I was in JoAnn’s last week, I noticed that Burda had released this style as a paper pattern, #7828

So, I bought it figuring that the cost of the pattern would more than make up for not having to spend the time tracing. I cut a straight 34 which fit me perfectly right out of the envelope. The only alteration I made was for a forward shoulder, I also narrowed the forearm of the sleeve by 5/8″ on each side during my final try-on. I don’t think my forearms are particularly thin so that might be an area to watch if you make this. The fabric is a beautiful rayon/lycra that I am pretty sure I bought from Textile Studios. I also have this in a red colorway but I thought the purple would look great with jeans.

I used an organza-edged lingerie elastic to finish the neckline - what could be faster and easier than that? The pattern allows for a 5/8″ turn-in at the neckline so I cut it down about 1/2″ because the edge of my elastic is narrow and I wanted to compensate somewhat for the width of the organza edge. That worked out really well.

I really like this style a lot and intend to cut the cap-sleeved dress out tomorrow and probably one more top with the cap sleeve. I highly recommend this as an instant-gratification project!

Oh! I almost forgot to mention that my Japanese Vionnet book arrived today too! You can read about it on Fashion Incubator.

I have been AWOL quite a lot lately and missed Kathleen’s post but I did manage to buy a copy from a Japanese Bookseller on Ebay. Here’s a link to the Buy-It-Now auction: Vionnet book. My copy arrived quickly - in about a week. Mostly, I just enjoy looking at her various designs and how they were cut - pure genius. However, if I ever find myself with a lot of time it would be really fun to copy some of these garments.