30th Birthday dress - muslin
9 March 2009, 13:12My 30th birthday is fast approaching, and even though I make myself something special every year to wear on the day, this year I wanted to sew a fabulous dress using some emerald green silk charmeuse (satin) I’d bought years ago and stashed away in the hopes that someday I’d recreate that Atonement dress. I was really excited to see in the Burda WOF March online previews that there was a dress that suited me perfectly – gorgeous gathered, yoked shoulders with floaty sleeves, falling down into a deep V neck with a swooshy gored skirt and plenty of back detail, and shown in my chosen fabric – Burda WOF 03/09 #116.
The timing would be tight, though, since I usually only receive my subscription copy on the 15th or so of the month, but I thought I could pull it off. But then Burda updated the website with the full information, showing it was a *&£@^% petite pattern! Argh! It’s always the way that the designs you like the most aren’t in your size, and with the timeline, I really didn’t think this was meant to be…
But then by some miracle, my issue of Burda arrived earlier than it ever has before, on the 5th! So I had a look again and realised I had plenty of time to make this work, so I traced the pattern the same evening the issue arrived, and sewed up a bedsheet muslin this weekend. I don’t often post muslins here, but I wanted some feedback on this before I cut my beautiful silk charmeuse… I’ve marked the waistline with a black marker here to make things a bit easier.
I’ve never done one before, but do you think I need a swayback adjustment? The only wrinkles I’m really seeing are on the lower back. Or do you think that’s okay? I’m really not a fit-Nazi or anything, but I want to do my best on this dress…
Now for the big SHAZAM! moment – this muslin is done with zero alterations to lengthen the petite pattern whatsoever. Yeah – who would’ve thought that I essentially have the torso of a petite woman, despite being 5’8”??
I love the shape of this dress and it feels great on. But in this case, when Burda say “plunging”, they mean it! That V neck goes down right to the tip of the centre of my bra, which is a bit low for the office, but personally doesn’t bother me in the slightest for eveningwear.
What does bother me, though, is the really, really stupid instructions for lining View B (View A, in silk satin, is unlined – wtf?). If you read through, they tell you to sew the lining’s side seams, then treat it as one with the exterior, leaving all sorts of gross seam allowances, and also necessitating the front facing and underarm bias binding. Or, umm, you could just treat the lining as a lining, get nice edges and concealed seams, and omit the fiddly bias binding and front facings as you’d expect? I know which one I’m choosing! Though my charmeuse is quite narrow so I’ll have to see if I have enough to line the skirt, too, or whether it’ll just be French seams in there.
The other reason I posted the muslin photos is that, because this is a Birthday Dress, you won’t be seeing a completed photoshoot until March 25th, no matter when I actually finish!
But until then, have a glance into the past for the other two 30th birthday dresses I’ve made thus far –
A vintage satin black evening gown I made to wear to our friend Emma’s black tie 30th birthday party
A princess dress I made for my friend (and bridesmaid-to-be) Gez’s 30th birthday, down to her exact specifications
Oh, and if you haven’t already, be sure to go vote on your favoured BurdaStyle + Simplicity outfit this week! The winning one will have its BurdaStyle pattern posted as a free download and the Simplicity paper pattern offered at a discount…
tags: bwof, dress, muslin, silk
Thanks for the BWOF 116 review. I’ve been eying this dress for spring/summer. I think the muslin looks good, but as satin shows everything, it might be worth the time and effort to adjust the back a bit. I think it will be a gorgeous dress. I love the color of the charmeuse.
Have a great day,
Elizabeth
— Elizabeth Mar 9, 01:41 PM #
Well, have you ever noticed that the same model in the magazine wears both the petite and the regular sized garments? From what I can tell by the measurement charts, the petite differs only in length (bust to waist, waist to hip) and not width. I do see that wrinkling in the back that you mention, it would be easy to pinch that out for a smoother fit. Very nice so far, and how wonderful that the magazine arrived early, knowing you needed an early start for your birthday dress!
— Christina Mar 9, 02:29 PM #
I do think that there is too much length above the waist in back. Pin it out and see if it looks better. Otherwise, this is going to be a beautiful dress on you.
— Nancy K Mar 9, 02:40 PM #
Ooo… that dress is going to be so pretty! And, thanks for the notation on the petite measurements… I’ve been wondering for awhile if I could get away with using the petite BWOF patterns.
— Emily Mar 9, 04:02 PM #
hmmm… I agree with the other commentors. The excess in the back is very minor, a tiny adjustment is all you need. Great choice of dress! It will look beautiful in that green silk.
— Grace Mar 9, 04:53 PM #
I was very WTF about those “lining” instructions too. Love this pattern and love that it’s petite. I’m glad you’re trying it out for me. LOL It will look gorgeous in green!
— The Slapdash Sewist Mar 9, 05:57 PM #
This dress will be absolutely gorgeous on you! Yes the fabric in the back needs some pinching, but that will be breeze since there is a waist seam to put it in. I have the same issue, even with petite patterns and I think it’s caused by a swayback.
— Johanna Lu Mar 9, 06:38 PM #
Fit Nazi LOL
— luckylibbet Mar 9, 07:03 PM #
Lovely! I agree, do the swayback adjustment, it should be reasonably straightforward.
— anwen Mar 9, 07:07 PM #
lovely, and inspiring :) I must get the tension problems with my machine fixed, so I can get on with revamping my wardrobe. It wouldn’t be a conference without a new piece of clothing to wear (birthdays don’t, for some reason, inspire me to make something new!)
— Ruth Mar 9, 08:33 PM #
I can’t help with fit, but the muslin is pretty – it’s going to look gorgeous in green charmeuse.
— Terri Mar 9, 08:34 PM #
This is going to be so love-ly!
— Rachel S. Mar 10, 09:47 PM #
I saw the Atonement dress at the FIDM (Fashion Institute of Design and Marketing in LA) exhibit. The tour guide said that the costume designer started with white silk, and dyed it green. The director did not find the color deep enough. The designer then doubled the fabric and the director gave a thumbs up. The dress is made with two layers of silk. (I think it was crepe de chine, but can’t remember for sure.)
I blogged about the tour here:
http://badmomgoodmom.blogspot.com/2008/04/not-so-relaxing-mommy-and-me-day.html
And more about movie costumes (slide show of Marie Antoinette costumes):
http://badmomgoodmom.blogspot.com/2007/02/serendipity.html
http://badmomgoodmom.blogspot.com/2008/02/marie-antoinette-costumes-and-more-at.html
— Grace Mar 10, 11:48 PM #
This dress will be lovely in the green silk, and I agree about the swayback alteration, but I also feel it would be more flattering to lengthen the dress to something like mid-calf length. It would give the silk a more ‘swooshy’ feel. What do you think?
— ememtee Mar 13, 04:58 PM #
Great choice of pattern/fabric! It will be a magnificent dress!
I agree with Christina’s comment on the sway back adjustment
— Tany Mar 14, 01:54 PM #
While searching for reviews of this dress I came back to this page, I totally forgot you made this pattern. And I see I didn’t comment. The final version looks great!
— loopylulu Mar 31, 06:27 AM #