More details on the Burda 2014-05-115 dress

13 h 27

It is rare that people wearing retail clothes would turn them inside out to show it's finish. Retail clothing usually has a clean finish but nothing to fall off your chair.

For the present post, I decided to show you the finish of the summer Burda Magazine (2014-05-115) dress I have sewn last June I think.

Burda 2014-05-115
I chose this pattern mainly for it's asymmetrical neckline. The mix of colourful knit and dark woven fabric creating a lively as well as sexy summer dress, also caught my attention.


The pattern calls for a cotton and lycra knit as well as for a textured stretch cotton. The knit I used is from Emma One Sock, while the textured cotton is from Couture Elle in Montreal (my favourite store). The cotton is not stretch. Since I fitted this dress very close to my body, I am very happy that the front panel stretches. If not, I would have a hard time breathing in this dress.

I have sewn so many sheet dresses that were a tad too big, that this time I wanted to nail the fit very well.
It worked !!  Now I want to retrofit two other dresses that are so big on me, but his is another story.

So back to my initial intention, showing the finish of the dress. I used a technique that allows to underline the dress at the same time as you "Hong Kong" finish the seams. This technique is very well explained here on Laura's sewing room. Laura adds an extra seam allowance of 1.6cm (5/8 to 3/4 inch) on each side of each pattern pieces. While I usually had 2 cm (7/8 inch). I want to be certain that the lining does not pull on the fashion fabric.

This technique takes a little more time then a regular lining but the finish is sooo clean and beautiful !!  I love it. I go around in parties showing my friends a tiny bit of the hem and the lower section of one side seam.

The lining and the fashion fabric are sewn together right side together on the sides only and you use the lining to cover 6 mm of the the seam allowance of the fashion fabric, as shown on the following picture. Read Laura's blog, she is excellent to explain the technique. The result is clean and beautiful.


Hong Kong finish. I used a man garment 100% rayon lining.
Hong Kong finish. I used a man garment 100% rayon lining.
Sometimes the upper part and lower part of the fashion fabric and lining might have different length of a few millimetres. It should not be too much. It happened for me at the hem, which was not dramatic since I had to shorten the dress of at least 5 cm (2 inches). I finished the hem with a bias tape as well.

I used a bias tape to finish the hem. The knit was lined with a power mesh

The final look is very neat and comfortable.



Many people do not like Burda Magazine's instructions. I think that they are excellent. You simply need to read them slowly before you start. Make yourself a mental image of all the steps and then start. Sometimes, I even do samples with paper to understand them fully. Burda often teaches me new techniques for simple step I have done numerous time but in a different way. It was the case for this sewing project. Burda suggests to machine bastes 3 times (instead of 2) in order to produce a perfect rush side.
3 rows of machine bast stitches to gather the side


The last row, starting outside the garment, ends up showing after you have sewn the side and centre panel together. As shown here:



You simply take the stitches out after. It worked wonderfully. It was easier to obtain even gathers then by using only two row of bating.

Voilà ! I hope you all have an excellent sewing year !

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4 commentaires

  1. Thanks for showing your beautiful construction details. Fabulous dress,

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  2. Gorgeous dress. The finishing is perfect too.

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  3. Gorgeous dress and the seam finishes are very clever, thank you for reminding me about this technique.

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  4. Lovely dress! I made a dress once using this technique but haven't used it since. I should as it does look very neat.

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