Category Archives: Burda

Burda 7017 in cupro silk

I’ve had this lovely fabric earmarked for trousers for ages, and I dug out an old pattern to make ’em happen. They are Burda 7017, which are amongst some of the earliest trouser projects I ever tackled a few years ago, and now unfortunately seems to be out of print. I wouldn’t exactly say it’s embarrassing to look back at those earlier garments, but it was nice to revisit this pattern with all I’ve learned about fit, technique and fabric choices since then and see the improvements.

Having said that though, I averted a near-disaster on this pair when, after executing a lovely fly front completely from memory, I sewed up the side seams and found that I could barely squeeze myself into them. I don’t think I’ve gained a great deal of weight in the intervening years but perhaps I previously traced the pattern with extra safety seam allowance that never made it back to the paper pattern. Whoops.

After sulking for a bit I unpicked and re-sewed every single seam – inner and outer leg, the centre back and centre front below the fly – with a tiny little seam allowance, basically right next to the overlocked edge. That provided just enough extra room to allow them to fit, albeit a little slimmer than I was shooting for. I still don’t think I’ll feel too confident cycling in them in case it puts too much strain on those tiny seam allowances and they split open, but at least they feel comfortable and I can move in them.

I think the fabric makes this pair quite special and is the main reason why I was so relieved to save the fit: it’s a cupro-silk from the famous stall outside Sainsbury’s in Walthamstow market. I bought it over a year ago on a shopping trip with some other sewers; Marilla made up her Bennett dress pattern in it. I’m not sure if ‘cupro silk’ means that it’s a fibre blend or a cupro designed to look like silk, but it’s the most beautiful terracotta colour with a sort of dimensional shimmer and a slightly slubby texture, feels deliciously cool and floppy to wear, and was a dream to work with. I don’t think I’ll find fabric of this nature easily again unfortunately though I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out.

I tried out a little tweak I wanted to test based on some ready-to-wear trousers that I love of inserting elastic into the back waistband to maintain a snug, flexible fit at the waistline. To do this I eliminated the darts from the pants back and added their takeup to the length of the waistband, then stitched in some 1″ non-roll elastic before sealing up the inner waistband. It worked out great so I’m going to retrospectively add elastic to my old black cotton 7017s that have stretched out and become too baggy at the waist, which will help ping them back to life.

Final guts shots to show the waistband, that lovely fly front, and those tiny seams…

Burda skirt

Burda #119

I don’t blog nearly everything that I make these days – too many repeat patterns and boring basics to be interesting! But I did want to share this skirt, because I am pretty happy with it, because I don’t make many skirts, and also because have a question and I get such amazing advice on my comments that I may get some guidance here too.

Burda #119

It’s my second Burda #118 05/2102 – coincidentally I made my first almost exactly a year ago (and it does still get worn, although the brightness and print mean it doesn’t go with a whole lot). There are some pattern notes on my previous post if you’re interested. I didn’t alter the fit at all, and I used a thick crossweave denim which helps hold the nice bell shape.

Burda #119

It was a moment of pride because it was the first time I’ve sewn a fly front completely from memory! Usually I have to have the Ginger sewalong or this Sandra Betzina video in front of me, but I did it all by myself this time. Proud.

Burda #119
Burda #119

My question’s this – because I have quite an extreme sway back and a small waist/big bum, I often feel like my skirts ride up at the back and end up visually shorter than the front, which is more apparent in a fitted style like this. What should I do about that? Lengthen the hem at the back, grading to nothing where it hits the side seam? Or slash and spread the extra length in higher up? Has anyone else made that adjustment?

That aside, I’m pleased with this skirt – it’s very wearable and will be a nice autumn/winter workhorse I think as it goes well with tights and a cardi and is a good alternative to denim pants.

coat progress

Slow fashion coat progress update, while I’m here. I had a total change of pattern plan when Grainline Studio released the Tamarack Jacket – props to Jen for getting it out so quickly and straight to PDF. It’s bascially what I would have adjusted the RDC Bernadette to be like anyway, so I decided to use Tamarack instead. I did a quick toile in my usual GL size (4 shoulder, 8 everywhere else) and it was spot on with no adjusting. I’ve cut my outer fabric, applied the fusible batting, and after a few experiments with lining fabrics decided to go with a matching viscose twill which is on order. I have ditched the idea of making it reversible and will probably bind my inside seams. So now I’m just impatiently waiting for the lining fabric so I can get going!

Double denim

Well, my slow fashion coat-making fun has stalled because Republique du Chiffon are getting into the spirit with suitably slow shipping and my Bernadette paper pattern hasn’t shown up yet. While I wait to get started, I’ve been bashing out a much-needed couple of pairs of jeans. It would’ve been inconceivable a while ago that making jeans could be a mind-switch-off type of project, but I’ve made so many now and have my TNT patterns all set so it really is quite relaxing. Plus they’re just great for doing a little bit here and there as there are clear processes and break points during the making.

Ginger jeans

These are another pair of Gingers; the high waist View B variation. My first pair of blue Gingers were sort of a wearable toile and not quite right – a few fitting quirks and the denim was not stretchy enough, so they’ve been donated. My lovely black pair however are a wardrobe staple and I knew I wanted a replacement blue pair soonish.

Ginger jeans

I got this super stretchy solid blue denim from B&J Fabrics in New York which did the trick nicely. I also made a small fitting tweak, tracing the crotch curve from View A onto View B, which seems to have helpd with the whiskering I got in my first pair.

Ginger jeans
Jeans

Otherwise a dead simple sew. I made life easier by using regular navy thread to topstitch and just serging the raw seams. The pockets and fly shield binding are made from leftover rayon from the top I’m wearing (a beautiful new-release pattern that I’ll write more about soon!): ah, that warm sewist feeling when your shirt matches your jeans guts, amirite.

Burda jeans

Burda jeans

This second pair is another repeat pattern, a second pair of Burda 6978s. I wear my first pair to death – they have held up really well, haven’t bagged or lost colour and are just so comfortable – so I really wanted a slight variation to get more wardrobe mileage. However it turned out that the loose fit looked a bit weird in a stretch denim as opposed to the rigid one of my first pair, so I just kept taking them in until they ended up a bit more skinny than boyfriend fit in the end. I actually love how they look though, so it’s all good. I cut the hems just on the ankle bone as I find this length works better both with all my shoes and I’m constantly cuffing all my other jeans.

Burda jeans

I bought this cotton-spandex denim online from Guthrie Ghani (it’s now sold out) – I was pretty excited when I found it because the subtle ‘feather bubble’ print is exactly the same as a pair of my favourite old RTW Gap jeans which are now completely worn out and too small. It feels nice quality with plenty of stretch recovery, however despite prewashing, it bled indigo all over my hands as I worked with it so I need to chuck the finished jeans into a wash with salt to try and fix the dye.

Jeans

Old and new! :D And oh god, just realised I placed one the belt loops wrong from looking at this photo. Where’s my unpicker…

Chambray Burda

Burda 7078

For this month’s Minerva project I picked out some gorgeous striped chambray to make yet another button-front dress.

Burda 7078
burda7078

The pattern is Burda 7078 with a couple of adjustments. It’s one of those patterns where the sample photographs aren’t particularly inspiring but the line drawing shows promise. I made a mix of the two views – the skirt and sleeveless bodice of A with the button-through front of B – and also extended out the shoulders by a couple of inches to add little cut-on cap sleeves.

Burda 7078

The funny thing is one of the things that initially attracted me to the pattern was the waist ties, but I actually removed them from the final dress because I thought they made it look a bit too twee for me. The fit is too relaxed without the ties so I stitched in some thin elastic to suck in the waist instead.

Burda 7078

I picked this pattern so I could play with the stripe placement over the princess seams. I cut the centre pieces on the cross grain, the sides on the bias and the rest straight. This fabric is absolutely luscious to the touch, almost brushed and silky soft. It presses well and gets that lovely linen-y rumpled look with wear.

Burda 7078
Burda 7078

The pattern fitted me well with no adjusting as Burda often does, though I’d say to check out the bodice length if you’re not short waisted like me – the waistline is quite high. You can’t really tell from the envelope views but it’s actually designed to be a couple of inches above the natural waist, though it’s more like natural waist on me. Next time I’d drop it an inch or so to be right on my waist.

Burda 7078

Anther sweet spring day dress in the bag! You can grab the pattern (currently half off!) and fabric from Minerva.

Burda boyfriend jeans

Burda jeans

Spring’s hit London! And I have yet more jeans to show you. Sorry. At least they’re a new pattern and a slightly different shape to previous pairs! These are my Minerva blogger network project for April, and I used their 100% cotton 7.5oz black denim, which is a great basic light-medium weight denim with no stretch but a bit of ‘give’.

Burda jeans

The pattern I used is Burda 6798, a ‘boyfriend’ type style with a low waist, shaped back pockets, front hip darts, and options for either a buttoned or zip fly.

Burda jeans

Generally Burda patterns fit well on me out of the packet, and this wasn’t an exception. I cut a 14/40 to account for my hip size but ended up sewing the outer seams with a very large seam allowance as they turned out too big, so I’d say size down if you’re on a cusp. I graded down to the second-smallest size below the knee to slim the calves and ankle down, and took 2″ off the length.

I’ll just take this opportunity again to say if the fitting part is putting you off sewing trousers – don’t let it! Honestly, I think I’m making so many pants at the moment because I find them so much easier to fit than dresses. They’re also much simpler to baste and adjust as you go without needing to worry about lining or fastenings. And I don’t even have a straightforward lower half to fit, since there’s a 13″ difference between my waist and hip. Pants sermon of the day over!

Burda jeans

Pleasingly the curved waistband and back yoke of the 6798s fits perfectly with no fiddling – no gapeage at all to deal with. Burda pants patterns are constructed in such a way that it’s easy to alter the back seam right up until the end though, so you can adjust on the fly for a perfect fit. The back pocket shape is a fun change, and I really like where the low waistline hits. The slight puckering you see below the waistband, by the way, is partly because I eased in the waistband tightly to keep it snug and partly because I hadn’t removed the hand-basting I always do to secure the inner waistband before topstitching. I’ve taken it out now and the puckers have smoothed themselves out with a bit of wear.

Burda jeans

I didn’t use the instructions at all because I’ve made so many jeans now I have my ways, ha. I cut-on the fly extension piece and sewed the fly per the Ginger instructions. I do however really like how Burda do the pocket stay/holster, it’s less bulky since just one layer goes right to the fly. I flat-felled the yoke and inseam and serged the other seams.

Burda jeans

I haven’t really worn non-skinny jeans for ages, so I’ve been gathering some ideas for how to wear these. I think they look best with the cuff rolled to show a bit of ankle, so any day it’s warm enough that’s how I’ll wear them – here’s how I wore them on a slightly cooler day. I wouldn’t be surprised if I end up making another pair of these sometime – they’re in regular rotation already, being super comfortable, cycle-friendly and fun to make to boot.

Black n blue 7017s, and how to fix a broken zip fly

Burda 7017 pants

From multi-camisoles to multi-pants: well, I needed something to wear with them, right? This post contains three pairs of my beloved TNT, Burda 7017, made over the last few months. Teamed with a cami or tee and jauntily rolled at the cuff they’re practically my everyday uniform right now.

Burda 7017 pants

Pair the first was made back in April; you might have seen them cropping up in my Me-Made May. I didn’t blog them at the time because they are pretty zzz, but I wear them loads so they deserve a place here. They’re made of a beautiful cotton twill from Cloth House in Soho. I think it was about £14 a metre and totally worth it as it’s so soft, lovely to work with and to wear. For this pair I converted the front pleats into sewn-down tucks. I tried to take some detail shots of the construction but black = nuh uh. They are very nicely made though, honest!

Burda 7017 pants

This second pair uses a poly from my Ecuador haul. These are kind of secret pyjamas: SO COMFY thanks to a bit of stretch in the fabric, and I love that they look like denim chambray. They look especially nice with this tan tee and shoes, non?

Burda 7017 pants

I used leftover ikat cotton for the inner band which I think looks super sweet and adds a bit of rigidity. I have to give a shout out to the fly front directions in this pattern again: it’s now my default method as it’s very fast and accurate. (Except these and my next pair both turned out the wrong way round, ie crossing right over left, man-style, which feels quite odd!) The facings are integrated into the pattern piece so you simply press them back and stitch the zip to each in turn – soooo easy. However, I did very stupidly pull the zip slider right off the top edge as I was testing it. I don’t usually cut the stops off until I’ve sewn on the waistband, and there’s exactly why. See the bottom of this post for how I got it back on.

Burda 7017 pants

Latest pair! These use a beaaautiful Marc Jacobs cloth that I bought from Mood NYC way back last October. I thought it was denim but working with it made me question that: it’s crosswoven with black and blue-grey yarns, frays a lot and creases/presses readily. A silk mix suiting perhaps? It’s perfect light pants weight and feels very luxurious to wear.

Burda 7017 pants

For this pair I hacked the pattern a bit, lowering the rise by 2″ or so and almost eliminating the front pleats. Having learned what I did on Alice’s class I would have approached this a bit differently now; it turned out ok but the tiny pleats left over look a bit silly so I should have transferred them into the side seams.

Burda 7017 pants

I put welt pockets into the back to break up the expanse of bum. I was a bit cocky and went straight into it without practicing, having done welt pockets once before but quite a while ago. Needless to say they are far from perfect – the corners aren’t nicely squared off and they gape pretty badly. I think I’ll sew them closed to prevent them tearing over time. This pair looks less good tucked in due to the low waist so my top will usually hide this mess, ahem.

Burda 7017 pants

The pocket bags and inner waistband are made from lovely tana lawn scraps. (I wore the pants with its matching cami the other day and had secret sewist joy that my inner waistband matched my top.) The fabric had a lovely pastel-striped selvedge which I’ve left raw on the fly shield and cuff.

Burda 7017 pants

I made the waistband a bit wider and added two buttons, as well as a concealed inner button for a snug fit. I’m going to add belt loops as well – I was feeling lazy after doing the welts so left them off but I miss them.

Fix a broken zip

Now here’s how to fix that pesky slidden-off zip pull.

Fix a broken zip

Locate the very bottom of the zip, just above the stop. Carefully (I used my sharp thread snips) snip out two teeth close to the stop.

Fix a broken zip

Do the same on the other side of the zip. Make sure you remove teeth evenly on both sides (ie two teeth up on each side), so the zip will match up when you slide it back on.

Fix a broken zip

Ease the slider back onto one side, pushing it just one tooth up – you’ll feel it ‘click’. Do the same on the other side.

Fix a broken zip

Slide it up a bit to check it’s properly aligned; if not slide it back off and try again.

Fix a broken zip

Now hand-sew a strong bar tack across the hole where you cut out the teeth.

Fix a broken zip

And quick, sew some bar tacks at the tops to stop you doing it again (which will be covered by your waistband). Phew, crisis averted.

My good old 7017s are real wardrobe winners, a bit more interesting than everyday jeans and so easy to wear and style. I hear a lots of sewists say they hardly ever make repeat patterns, but it makes total sense to me as you have all the boring pattern cutting and fitting done and can just enjoy the process of making and wearing. I am, however, going to put it to one side now and try out my block next time I make pants to see how it compares.