Burda Magazine - expanding the size range

 Back when Burdastyle was Burda World of Fashion, they published a method for sizing their patterns up or down. Most of the time I fall into a range where I need to size many of the regular patterns up or size the plus sizes down, so I've used this often and feel confident about grading up to two sizes different. Beyond that, I'd be sure to make a muslin to check that the pieces go together as they should, just in case there was an incremental error that got compounded.

Here's a quick illustration and explanation of how to do it. In the photo, I am sizing down the pink pattern piece by one size. (It's the center back piece of a princess seam garment.) I've made my markings in black. Ignore the black curve labelled 5 on the right...that's another pattern.

Draw lines connecting all sizes at the seamline intersections. They will be diagonals at all kinds of angles. Extend those lines into the interior of the pattern piece if you're going smaller, or to the outside. 

Now eyeball or measure the distance between the sizes and start to draw your new seamline the same distance from the closest size. You want to echo their lines - so notice that the black line I've drawn for the neck starts out farther from Burda's line at the center back fold, but gets closer at the shoulder, just like all the other sizes do.

When your line reaches the next diagonal that you drew, that's where you will change direction and start another seam line.

Remember to add your seam allowances before you start cutting.

This post was written so I'd have a photo to share on Pattern Review to answer a member's question. It's such a simple concept, and not hard at all to do, but difficult for me to put into words. Maybe it will also help someone else.

Style Arc Bonnie

Style Arc is really making me happy these days. Their Bonnie pattern has two views - one is a plain and very versatile top with darts - like this one here. The other has dolman sleeves that are gathered up with tabs at the shoulders, no darts. Both button down the back.

The size 16 in this pattern line has been fitting me really well for tops and dresses. Technically I should be using a 14, but I like my things looser. The only fit alteration on this one was lowering the darts by 3/8". Because of a fabric shortage, the back opening was eliminated and replaced by a center back seam. It would be absolutely possible to make this simple top even simpler by cutting the back on the fold. It pulls on over the head easily.

The hem is finished with a facing that they recommend you interface. I left it off in this case but depending on the fabric used for future tops, might put it in. An invisible hand hem finishes it off.

The facings are supposed to be stitched down about an inch and a quarter from the edge, which would look great in something like a linen, but this fabric is a fine lawn and so I opted to just do a narrow topstitched edge. 

The pattern as drafted hits below my waist but is quite short. To my eye and on my body, this length looks great with wide pants (or any wide bottom) and is a good companion for the Style Arc Bob pants.

The shoulders fit well, but the armholes are a tad big and can show a little too much when I move around. I'm not likely to wear this in public without a jacket, so I will fix that for next time and not worry about it on this one.

Here's a closeup of the had-to-have-it print. Da Vinci, Seurat, Cezanne, Van Gogh, Manet, the gang is all here! When I ordered it, I thought it was going to be a quilting cotton and I only bought enough to make a bucket hat. It's a lovely fine lawn, though, and by adding a center back seam there was just enough to make this top. According to Style Arc's calculations, you can sew this up with as little as about 3/4 yard of 58" fabric.

No drag lines. With a few tweaks this will become my basic sleeveless shell. Redrafting a slightly tighter/higher armhole and lengthening by about half an inch ought to do it!

I've been sewing a lot lately and am way behind on doing the write-ups on the summer-y stuff. These blog entries are my notes, so I need to get caught up. The first cool weather item has already been sewn!

A 14-piece travel wardrobe

We have not done any real traveling since before 2020, but are headed for Europe soon for a two week excursion. One suitcase and one carry-on are plenty for me to wrangle. I really admire people who can go for that long with a carry-on alone, I just can't pare down that much. Shoes changes alone would fill up a carry-on bag, and frequent changes of shoes makes such a difference when you will be doing a lot of walking.

Anyway, here is what I intend to take. It is mostly sewn by me - some made specifically for this trip, some pulled from the closet, and a few store-bought pieces.

I originally thought the colors would revolve around indigo, classic color for jeans and one that I happen to look good in, but when shopping for jeans, I ended up buying stretch twill. One pair is teal and the other natural. To my surprise, I had enough things that would work with both of them and ended up with a gray/natural/teal color palette. 

Tops: 

The first two are knits, pulled from the closet. The teal Knipmode one is a medium weight rayon blend with princess seams and grown-on sleeves. The Ottobre one is a narrow natural/black horizontal stripe, boxy with set-in sleeves.

The others are all woven.  That Ottobre vertical stripe doesn't bear much resemblance to the original pattern, which fit so nicely and had just the right amount of ease that I have changed it up again and again. The Ballad and Marley were sewn to round out this wardrobe. Both are lightweight cottons. The Aria also came from the closet and is a cotton oxford cloth.

 

Pants:

Pictures of pants on hangers don't convey a lot of information. The first two Simplicity have flat fronts and gathered back waists. The leg is just barely on the slim side. The black pair is cotton/poly and the gray is a light cotton that will be good on the hottest days.

The Burda pair is from an old magazine and is my all-time most sewn pattern. Whether I gain or lose weight, my basic shape does not change and all I have to do is trace off a different size of this pattern and it fits. These are straight leg, made in a gray RPL and will probably be worn for the days on the plane.

The next two are the purchased stretch twill jeans. They fit pretty closely, with a straight leg. I really like the current fuller leg pant styles and especially the funky barrel leg ones, but I can't wear the same tops with them that I wear with jeans, so none of them are going on the trip. For a condensed wardrobe like this, you get more mix & match versatility if you stick to one silhouette.

The last pair is tan RPL, made in case I want a nicer pair of pants for dinner some evenings. They are made from Sewing Workshop's Helix pattern, with the legs cut just a little bit wider so they are not a skinny pant, although they have a close and neat fit at the hip and waist.

Layers:

Rain-repelling hooded jacket from REI. Plenty of zippered pockets.

Light-weight linen topper was sewn AGES ago from an out-of-print Cutting Line Designs pattern. I have worn this for decades and it shows that good quality linen just keeps getting better and better. I really should make this pattern up again because this jacket gets worn so much - not because it is worn out.

Shoes - two pairs of sandals and one pair of sneakers, all with super arch support.


Happy end of summer to anyone reading!

Style Arc Marley

 

This is my second attempt with Marley and this time I didn't throw it in the trash!

The first experience was pure frustration. I was trying to follow the instructions which don't seem to match the drawings. The situation was complicated by the contrasting topstitching I was trying to do, so unpicking was a chore and left my fabric looking raggedy. That part was my own fault.

A clue for the future - the notches on the collar do not match to the notches on the body. They match to the shoulder seam, and the notches on the body match to the little half collar stand.

But I still liked the style and it was the type of top that fit perfectly in my travel wardrobe. I tried it again without any fancy touches. The instructions for the collar and center front still didn't make sense, but this time I just set them aside and did what needed to be done. 

Style Arc means for this pattern to be used either as a top or a light jacket. I will be thinking of using it whenever I want something sort of like a camp shirt. It has more shape (Style Arc describes it as boxy, but it does have gentle shaping) and is cuter than a camp shirt, but I would pair it with the same type of bottoms that a camp shirt would go with.

Shaping is achieved with a center back seam, bust darts, and side seam shaping. There are splits in the sleeve seams and at the sides like in the second photo. 3/4 sleeves. The collar has a little half-stand that is inserted in the back only. This is a touch I've liked on several Burda patterns that helps the collar stand up in the back. Thumbs up for that!

The pattern has a small extension at the center front that folds to the inside to make a narrow band. Unless it is buttoned all the way up, the wrong side of the fabric shows where the collar opens, something to keep in mind when choosing material. It would also be easy to draft a front facing that would cover that area.

My fabric is a seersucker from Miss Matatabi. The print is actually a darkish gray on off-white, which is nice. It gives the effect of black & white, but easier to wear for those of us with low-contrast coloring.

Alterations: lowered the bust point and added width at hip level on side and center back seams. Added width at the bicep, too. The sleeves were narrow, especially for something that you are supposed to be able to wear as a little jacket.

This is such a useful style that I'm sure I'll make again. Glad I gave it a second chance!

good length for Bob & Barry pants

Love Notions Ballad

This top came about because the fabric made such a good coordinate with a travel wardrobe that is needed soon. The print seemed to need a pattern that is a little more femme than the minimalist things I'm usually attracted to. Ruffles and flounces are beyond tolerance, but I felt like some shoulder gathers would be okay. Neither my Ottobre nor Burda collections had what I was looking for, but the Ballad did. This pattern had been pronounced "good" by people I trust (not influencers) so I gave it a chance.

Fabric is a lovely cotton lawn from Miss Matatabi.

A quickie muslin led me to the alterations: chose size L grading out to XL below the waist notch, 3/8" forward shoulder rotating the sleeve cap a corresponding 3/8", and smoothed out the LN trademark scoop in the front armscye. The bishop sleeve is shorter than drafted because of a shortage of fabric. I think I also placed the lower back (which is gathered into a yoke) 1/2" from the fabric fold when cutting, giving me another extra 1" fit insurance there.

Bathroom mirror shot is closer to the actual color. The sleeves are below elbow, which is fine. I didn't make any changes to length, and think it's good to wear with jeans or moderate-width pants this way. If it was supposed to go with leggings, extra length would be required.

I can often just hand baste sleeves, easing them in as I go, but this pattern really needed the double row of machine basting stitches to draw up the excess. The rest of the construction was easy and straightforward.

Buttons. Suddenly getting buttons is so hard! For a while, even though JoAnn's had its shortcomings, you could still get a good selection of buttons there. When that source dried up, there was a thrift store nearby where I could pick up things on special sale to harvest buttons. My last button purchase was on Amazon where I bought a bag of 200? 300? lots of blue buttons for just a few dollars. They were mostly different kinds of shirt buttons and some of them got used for this project.

This top will be a great addition to the travel wardrobe I'm getting together. Originally I thought the key color for the group would be indigo, but after a lot of adding and rejecting the color scheme morphed into gray/natural/teal. That was unexpected! There is both gray and teal in the print of this fabric, and it can be worn with all the bottoms I'm planning to take.

When everything is all firmed up, I'll probably do a little checklist of what I'm taking along with some photos and make a little blog post about it. 

Reaction to the Ballad pattern: I like it and will likely make it again. I skipped the shirring that sets this pattern apart from other similar styles, but would like to attempt that some time with a solid color fabric that would show it off.

Style Arc Hope

 Yet another blue Style Arc dress. 😄

Hope has been a very popular pattern for Style Arc. It has a raised waist and gathered skirt similar to their Montana, but with very full and deep raglan sleeves. Probably most people that are interested in the style have already made it. I had trialed it a couple of years ago but ended up not liking the fabric, so this is my first keeper version.

Hope has actual sleeves which makes it a good dress for transitions between warm and cool weather.

Alterations: this is another easy-fitting style that didn't need much. The only alteration I felt was really required was lengthening the bodice 1 inch below the base of the sleeves. I am tall and long-waisted; the extra length preserves the high waisted look when worn  but suits my natural proportions a little better.

There were some other changes that don't come under the alterations heading: 

    1. The keyhole opening on the back neck isn't needed to pull the dress on over my head, so I cut the back on the fold to eliminate it.

    2. During the pre-visualization stage, I really didn't like the way this print would look with a plain round neckline. A little notch at center front was all it took to change it into something I liked better. The only downside to the notch is that it will need to be pressed flat every time the dress is washed, otherwise the corners want to flip out. That's in spite of stay stitching, understitching, and edge stitching. I blame it on the flowy fabric.

    3. You need a generous amout of fabric to make those sleeves, and I was short. I had to shorten the sleeves quite a bit, to the point where they would have been really unflattering once they had been folded up even shorter to form the elastic casing. I made the sleeves appear a little longer by gathering them into a band. The band was edgestitched like the neckline, again because the flowy fabric wasn't going to hold a sharp crease, even with the interfacing.

The fabric was a recent purchase from Fabric Mart. As of today, they still have some of the Ecoliva viscose. I bought two pieces to try and so far I like it. It is similar to a rayon challis but has just a little bit more body and a little heavier drape. It was somewhat wiggly to cut, but not as bad as lightweight rayons. Easy sewing, needed no pressing after laundering except for the neckline notch. It looks best with a hand-sewn invisible hem, IMO.

My photos make it look as if this dress is ankle length but it isn't. I'm getting more and more annoyed with my dressform, with her velcro-like skin that grabs everything and won't let go, her permanent posture problems, and her inability to stay at the correct height. This form never was very useful for fitting, and now it is even losing its usefulness for photos. I guess it is still better than a hanger.

sleeve gathered into 3/4" band

I have one more Style Arc dress in the works (not blue!) and maybe then it will be time to sew something else for a change.

Style Arc Monty

Monty is another of Style Arc's easy-fitting dresses that I am really enjoying right now - both the sewing and the wearing.

All of them have only needed small length adjustments for fitting. (I am 5'8") Monty here I lengthened 1 inch, just adding on to the lower edge. 

Not having to struggle with fitting problems makes sewing so much more enjoyable! Even loose styles like this one need to sit well on the shoulders and so far the Style Arc patterns do that  for me. Forward or sloping shoulder adjustments have not been required, at least with these dolman type styles.

I did make a couple of minor easy changes. Because I was not sure exactly where the horizontal seam would fall across the chest, I made the faux pocket flaps narrower in case they wanted to project themselves forward. Happy to say that they don't. With this very busy fabric I could have left them off completely because they tend to disappear.

All the corners on the hem were mitered instead of just making the right-angled folds. It doesn't take that much time and really gives a nice result. Being fast is not a big motivator for me. These days I'm more interested in trying to decide what techniques will give the most finished results and are suited to the fabric and style.

The sleeve hems are supposed to be turned and stitched. I finished mine with a 3/4" bias facing instead. The facings were attached before sewing up the side seams, then the sides and the facings were joined all in one long seam. Then the facings were understitched and topstitched.

hem facing inside the sleeve

When cutting out, I moved the center back 1/2" away from the fold, so that the center back pleat is an inch deeper than designed. This was for fit insurance. It wasn't strictly necessary, but I like a little extra ease in the back.

I would have followed Style Arc's directions for the collar but couldn't really understand them, so after puzzling over the diagrams for a while I did it in a way that made sense to me.

This fabric is a Tori Richards dead stock. I've gotten others of that brand from both Fabric Mart and Califabrics, and they all have been very nice. It's too bad that they are all tropical-themed, because there's really a limit to how many aloha-shirt type prints I need. This fabric is really richly-textured and right down my alley - the base is like a seersucker, with a woven in stripe AND a print. All cotton.

This dress is extremely cool to wear, thanks to the airy style with side slits and the light cotton fabric. I think the slits are needed in order to walk, but they make me feel exposed and for that reason this will probably be the only dress I make from this pattern. Would absolutely make the shirt version, though, very likely in one of the Tori Richards lawns that are in the stash. 😉

taking advantage of the mirror in the restroom
while waiting on car repair