Burda 7237: the end is nigh

There are several more things that need to be done before I put the lining in. That's assembled too, less an underarm seam that I left open for bagging but might decide to close.

The fabric wrinkles easily, but it's also being softened up nicely by all the (over)work. I'm told that the shiny coating is more decorative than waterproof; no big deal (she says as it pours here for the next week at least).

One small thing to note (the instructions don't make a point of it, although they're in the correct order for it to happen): you have to complete the pockets before topstitching 4.5cm from CF. That way, the pocket seam allowance will get caught into the topstitching, rather than bumping against it. It's a nice touch that'll hold the pocket bags in place.

The instructions tell you to sew the lining in by hand, but I plan to do it mostly or entirely by machine, although I haven't decided whether that applies to the CB vent as well. It may also get an inside pocket.

"First" project of 2017

Or rather, this is the first project I've done any (more) work on—it remains to be seen what'll be finished first. I bought the pattern probably 3 years ago and just started it last October; being a coat, it feels like it's taking forever. The pattern is OOP Burda 7237 (here it is on the German site, where it can still be downloaded; I don't know how to find it on the English/US site, if it's even there).

It's in their petite sizing; size numbers are halved from their regular misses' European ones. I'm about the right height for their petite standard, although my height proportions aren't distributed identically.

Notable and not-so-notable fit changes:

• The bust darts seem way too low, something I would not have expected of a Burda petite pattern, given the way Burda says to convert their regular patterns to petite. It looks low on the model too—not easy to see, but there if you look at the "Original-Große" photos on the German site. I wonder if they were trying to keep the bust shaping below the View A flap. In any case, it was going to be glaringly obvious on my crisp fabric, so I raised the dart point—by more than two inches! Even on a non-petite pattern, I wouldn't expect to move it up more than maybe 3/4" (at least, if I hadn't done an FBA that lowered it). That being said, I found the armhole depth about right for me as it was, in line with what I'd expect.
  
• I did a large bicep alteration of 1 1/2", and lengthened the sleeves by 1/2" below the elbow. Not too surprising.
  
• I took a generous quarter inch of width out of both the front armscye and front of the sleeve cap. I could have considered taking the same out of the back armscye, but was advised it's just as well to leave it in for reach room when the fabric is non-stretch.
  
• I'll add thin shoulder pads, since the shoulder tips seem a little bit extended.
  
• To stop the lower front edges splaying out, I was advised (by a fellow member of my sewing meetup group, as with the shoulder width) to take in, or maybe I should say lower, the shoulder-neck point on the fronts only. This effectively "rotates" the entire front to make CF hang straight.
  
• I might let out the hips at the back side seams; haven't decided yet.
  
• I may shorten the belt. As designed, it's meant to be tied in a bow of some sort, and seems to have quite a bit of extra length.
  

Dart oddity on this one aside, I appreciate that Burda still makes a few petite patterns. They seem designed to be flattering on shorter people: good proportions, and a nice but not overwhelming number of details.

Burda 8409

This is an out-of-print pattern I got discontinued (thus the X) several years ago. My notes say it's from 2005 or earlier. It's probably not going to be as easy to find in North America as an OOP Big4 would be, although I do see one on eBay at time of writing.

The reason I decided to make this up is that I had these old H&M cargo pants, on the left, that I'd got a lot of use out of, but that finally bit the dust—first the drawstring kept breaking (they never fit all that well in the first place; the rise was too short and the waist too big, so the drawstring must have taken a lot of strain to hold them up), then the zipper got somewhat unreliable, and lastly they got a nice big hole on the butt. The longer view of the Burda pattern is similar in design, if you don't look too closely. I added view B's back pockets onto view A, but otherwise didn't do anything to up the similarity. The H&M pants have bellows pockets with (rather wrinkly) flaps, more rounded bound hip pocket openings, and back knee seams and front knee darts. The latter especially is an interesting detail, but as I was making these looser, I thought it wouldn't serve as much purpose.

My version is in sage green Tencel twill. The color is less versatile and the fabric may not be as durable; it's a little heavier weight but much drapier than the original's cotton. But it's extremely comfortable and feels cooler to wear. I was waffling between two sizes, but decided on the larger one in case of durability issues and because the fabric has significant drape. The larger size sits lower on the hips; if I'd gone smaller I might have had to lengthen the rise substantially. On the other hand, the waist does grow with wear, so I'm not convinced I made the right decision—and I regret not having added belt loops.

I shifted the lower parts of the legs inward as recommended by Jan Minott for knock-knees. In hindsight I probably didn't need quite as big a shift, especially on the front, but this does make the fit much more graceful in back, as otherwise I get diagonal wrinkles there. I didn't alter the length at all, with the result that these are probably a little puffier at the hem than they're meant to be, but I actually like that. At least some extra length should be kept in any case, because of the drawstring hem.

As for other design changes, I left the zippers off the lower legs, since they aren't really needed and would interfere with the drape. I also made sure to get zippers with dangling pulls for the side pockets, so those hang down even though those zippers are sideways. (Maybe that's going a little overboard, but why not take advantage of Dressew's zipper selection?) Instead of having the drawstrings come out by leaving the bottom of the seam open, I put in grommets. The drawstrings are meant to be made of self fabric, and let me tell you, turning them is a real pain even with a Fasturn. Afterward I also found I could easily whack off several inches (didn't want the bows dragging on the floor) so could have saved myself some of the turning hassle. I'd recommend folding and topstitching them instead, or better yet, if you have an easily matched color, buy twill tape. 1/2" is about the right width. Lastly, I used a hook and bar instead of a button on the fly—no buttonhole and no color match required.

In conclusion, I'm pretty happy with these. They may not be quite as versatile as the originals, but the fit is certainly better and I'm happy to have a working zipper. (Actually, I suppose I could've just sewn the fly shut on the old ones, since I certainly didn't need it to get into or out of them. But they're beyond repair at this point.) If Burda fits you well, I would recommend this pattern if you have or come across it.

Burda 8544 (and a swayback alteration I didn't end up doing)

One of my few recent finished projects is this nightgown.

I'd considered doing a form of swayback alteration, which would have shifted the back neckline down, lowering the shoulder-neck point and requiring the shoulder seam to be redrawn. The new cutting line would have been as marked here:

The idea is to remove the extra length at CB by taking it out all the way up at the top of the pattern piece. (Incidentally, I'm not sure my issue is really a swayback so much as a high round hip that can't easily be fit by patterns without princess or waist seams.) In any case, I pin-fit this and found it seemed unnecessary; I think the cut, in my size and this fabric, is roomy enough in the hips that it isn't an issue.
The fabric is a navy jersey of some sort, and the lace is one of the last ones I bought from ELingeriA in Germany before it closed. Here it is in more detail, but less accurate color:

The fabric is meant to be cut away underneath, but I didn't do that here. The lace pattern shows up better against this dark fabric. I also made the long sleeves the usual tapered shape, instead of adding the circular flounce as intended by the pattern.

This pattern is long out of print, but it seems the main details should be easy enough to imitate. It's essentially a loose, lengthened T-shirt with the lace applied across the front, covering the bust darts. The back is plain, which ordinarily might bother me, but I think in this case it's just as well not to put any potentially fragile lace there.