Review of Burda 05/2013 and 06/2013

The weather is not very warm in SPb and I cannot make the photos of my new refashioned top%(

So let´s make some Burda reviews%) It is time to make August review but I want to save my favorite picks from May and June issues first, just for me. The review of July number will be skipped because I didn´t like this issue and left it in the shop. 

The May issue was pretty nice! I chose a lot of dresses from it. Look!

Also I like a jacket which was in previous number but in plus size section.

Yes! I like the pockets!

The June Burda was rich with nice dresses too!%))

Also I like 2 outfits - a jacket with shorts and a blouse with a skirt.

But my favorite from this issue is a skirt!!!

Would you like something of this maybe?  

The images from Burda pages were took for illustration and discussion and remain the copyright of the owner.

More of June creations

I made a knit skirt for my friend. She is a big fan of stars so when I saw this fabric in a shop I knew at once whom should had it%))

The most difficult part was to find simple black knit fabric for belt!!Sewing was very easy because this is pretty simple skirt.

Skirt for a friend

Also I made a shopper bag, now this is my favorite one. I made it from my lovely cargo trousers which I bought in the ancient 2004 or may be even 2003%))) I wore them out to the death but couldn't just throw away! So now I have nice bag with pocket for keys and wallet.

Shopper bag

Maxi knit skirt

It is so difficult to post something during a nice summer time! But I should keep tracking my sewing projects!%))

I have finished a maxi skirt in June. I saw the prototype in Jcrew shop in March in Toronto and decided that I should make such skirt!%)) I used a fabric which I bought at a market in Berlin. This was some cheap knit rayon (not very high quality btw).

Jcrew skirt

While I was googling how to make the belt on such skirt, I found the photos of another skirt where the front was made from pieces and made up my mind%)

The sewing process was not difficult but I made a mistake when cut the biggest front piece inside out. So my front piece became from 4 pieces%) I tried to stabilized seams with fusible stay tape but even this way sewing of knit pieces cut in different directions was not easy because the top fabric stretched during sewing. But I like final result!

My skirt!

I added the lining which I made from old t-shirt%)

Lining!%)

The back part is simple.

Facts:

• Fabric:  1.2m (width 1.5m) of rayon knit + old t-shirt.
• Pattern: me-made
• The idea came first then I found a fabric in my stash.
• Notions: thread, twin needle, fusible stay tape
• Time to complete: 7.40 hours. Too much time for a knit skirt but I spent a lot making front piece.
• First worn: 22 June for walking.
• Wear again:  Yes.
• Total cost:  3.6 euro for fabric + 0.5 euro for thread + 1 euro for elastic   = 5.1 euro

Fish fabric

I saw this nice fabric in one shop, I liked it very much, I went home, returned next day and bought it! So this summer I must have new bright dress with fishes!!
They are lovely, aren't? %) How could I leave them in the shop???

From dress to skirt: quick refashion.

Sometimes I want to make anything pretty quick especially when I am struggling with a project%))  This was the same case, I was sticking in my maxi skirt project and decided to finish a dress-to-skirt. it seems to be the easiest refashion project!%))

I bought this dress from ASOS pretty long time ago and worn it just once for new year celebration.  It had too deep decollete and the straps at the end were too wide so the knot looked pretty big and ugly!

ASOS dress

I liked this dress so decided to change it into something more wearable for me. At first I decided to change the top of body, maybe by shortening the straps, adding buttons etc. I realized in process that for changing a body you had to cut new one, eh!

So I decided to make skirt from it, I like the maxi but you need a lot of fabric for them%)) The rest was easy - to rip straps, to cut a belt because it was too wide, to make the skirt shorter because it was too long! So now I have new nice skirt! I think it will have more opportunity for going out%))))

Bad photo, I know%))

 

Me-Made-May, 2013. Week 5.

Final week of May! Final outfits will be here, conclusion and summary will be in the next post%)) Big photos you can see at Flickr.

 27 May. Me-made shirt and me-made dress.

 28 May. Me-made shirt and me-refashion shorts(from RTW capris)

29 May. Me-made skirt. Now only with one pocket, but I will remove it soon because it is ugly%)))

30 May. Me-made dress(second one in time line). I am going to write some retrospective post about my sewing%))

31 May. Me-made dress. Still little bit unfinished(need to add 2 small dart to the back). The third one in time line%)))

Burda Sew-along - Raglan shirt 02/2013 127

In the end of April I decided to participate in Burda sew-along. Almost all my garments were made from Burda patterns so I couldn't miss this sew-along%)

I made a raglan shirt from Burda 02/2013. I liked this pattern from the first moment. I used a fabric from my stash but now I think that this was not the best choice. The fabric is too thin and sheer, I prefer more thick tees. Also I had problems with a neckline and ripping (small holes formed on the fabric, rrrrrrrrrr).

So, my pattern review:
Pattern Sizing: 34, 38, 40, 42, 42. I cut 36.
Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes, the look is pretty the same.
Were the instructions easy to follow? Yes. But I did a neckline a little bit different. I made the shorter stripe for the neckline and sewn stretching the stripe. Also I topstitched neckline with twin needle. But this is not saved me from stretching neckline a little bit%(
What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I like raglan and the gathers on the shoulders, they look nice, and don't like the low armhole.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: I didn't add 7cm at sleeves for hemming. Also I made the tee a little bit shorter. My shoulder seams are 1cm lower because I made mistake and when ripping I made holes on the fabric, so I had to sew with bigger seam allowance to hide the holes. This was not bad because the tee was little bit to big in the shoulders.
Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? I will try to make it with more thick fabric. Also I will cut 34 size next time.
Conclusion: Nice raglan tee with interesting details.

Facts:

• Fabric:  1.1m (width 1.5m) of rayon knit, very thin.
• Pattern: Burda magazine 02/2013 127
• Fabric was bought first, to companion to my blue dress.
• Notions: thread, twin needle, fusible stay tape
• Time to complete: 7.20 hours. I spent a lot of time for the neckline and fixing my mistakes on the shoulder seams.
• First worn: 26 April for walking.
• Wear again:  Yes! Yesterday%))
• Total cost:  8.8 euro for fabric + 0.9 euro for thread + 2 euro for magazine  = 11.7 euro

Me-Made-May, 2013. Week 4.

Soo, this is week 4! It will be new participant this week!%)) As previous time the bigger photos are at Flickr.

20 May. Me-made home skirt (from old long-sleeve)

21 May. Me-refashion jeans. I should make some trousers for next MMM%)

22 May. me-made black skirt.

23 May. Me-made jumper and again refashioned jeans.

24 May. I wear the same outfit as 23 may but at the picture I worn another jumper because I forgot to photo after walking%)

25 May. It was rain so we stayed at home, I in me-made skirt.

26 May. I worn my new me-made tee%)

Me-Made-May, 2013. Week 3.

I am again too late with this post%) But in any way I should continue this challenge! The bigger photos you can see at Flickr.

 13 May. Me-made turtleneck.

14 May. Me-refashioned skirt.

15 May. Me-refashioned skirt. I like it very much!%)

 16 May. Me-refashioned jeans.

 17 May. Me-made blouse and me-refashioned skirt(from jeans)

 18 May. Me-made skirt. I should write about it after Me-Made-May because  it seems that I wear it almost every day%)

 19 May. Me-made dress. Will blog it soon too%)

New sewing list for me!

Only one unsewn item remains in "current sewing list" so I will write the next one! These lists motivate me pretty well!
Really my backlog of ideas, wishing and sewing plans is huuuuuuuuge! Also I have a huge box of different UFOs so I decided to include them too in my current list so not only new projects will be realized.

New projects (from scratch)

• Maxi-skirt from knit - done (22/06)
  
  
  
• Muslin for leather jacket
• Scarf from silk 
  
• Green trousers from last summer - done (27/07)
• Burda sew-along - Raglan Shirt Burda 02/2013 - done! (26/05)
• Knit skirt for my friend - done (28/06)
• Simple bag from linen - need to buy ribbon for handle
• Simple jumper for cold summer nights form finish green fabric 
 

Refashion, changing, repair etc

• To finish summer brown skirt
• Winter dress - need new long zipper
• To fix some technical issues in orange bag
• To finish changing of red Simplicity dress - decided to keep it like this, it is ok!
• To remove pockets on new red skirt (I don't like how they came out) - done (26/06)
• To change Asos dress to skirt - done (05/06)
• To look on the waist of new red dress (belt or alteration?)
• Repair a pocket of the bag - done! (28/06)
• Repair a lining of Semeon's jacket

I have to finish this list quickly because I want to make the next one and sew my coll ideas!%))

Me-Made-May, 2013. Week 2.

I am going well with Me-Made-May!%) Hope, Simeon is not very tired to make my pictures almost every day! The bigger photos you can see at Flickr.

 6 May. Green jumper.

 7 May. Very famous black skirt%)

 8 May. Again BS%)

 9 May. One more time!%) I know this is boring but I don't like to have a lot of stuff in my backpack.

10 May. We are back in Russia so I am very sad. Refashioned home skirt (from second-hand dress).

11 May. Skirt from KnipMode. I have finished it just in the end of April. I am not happy with pockets so should remove them but now the skirt is used as is%)

12 May. I spend the whole day at home so again - home skirt. Also you can see my sewing place%)