As promised a couple of days ago, here’s an almost-finished Burda 7808. Just the hand-sewing and thread-neatening to go, and then it’s done.
As it turns out, I followed the instructions more than I expected to – although there are a few things that I’ll change next time. I added extra gathering to both the front and back panels, to make the skirt more full. I also added longer and wider ties, and attached them to the front panel rather than the back. I decided to make the sleeves, but left off the cuffs because I happened to like the shape of the sleeves left loose.
I think the only additional change I’d make is to round off the neckline and also raise it a little. I have a favourite necklace which is my guideline for where a neckline should sit, and this one’s just a little bit too low.
Half way through putting the dress together I had a worrying moment. I looked at the dress and suddenly panicked that I was accidentally making a dress for an eight year old bridesmaid. Thankfully I think the sleeves and the collar have rescued it from looking too much like a child’s party dress. I’m hoping that the ivory dupion looks summery without being too weddingy – although my own wedding dress was bright pink chiffon, so this doesn’t seem terribly bridal to me!
I’m sure that making a dress with a collar and sleeves during the hottest day of the year must seem quite mad, but I have a lot of walking in the sun to do this week, so I need to be cool but covered in order to avoid frying myself. This should do the job very nicely indeed.