Monday, October 9, 2017

BurdaStyle Overall Skirt 07/2016#109 and Paola Turtleneck Tee.

I'm stuck between being really eager to share this outfit with you and not feeling like writing any blog posts at the moment. Talk about first world problems, ha.




I think we have all noticed the overalls trend by now.... actually the fast fashion world has probably already moved on but who cares! And I really really wanted to sew myself some despite not having the ideal body type for it. No, I'm not saying I can't wear them, I'm just saying it has to be the right cut. 
And being tall is another factor. I tried on an awesome pair in a store, except I could either choose to not close the straps or be very uncomfortable, ahem, if you know what I mean!


Then Gabriela showed me this BurdaStyle Pattern 07/2016#109 and I decided to go for it. I later realized that it's actually a pattern drafted for tall people. Whaaat!? Instead of the regular sizing 36-44, it's 72-88. I don't know if those numbers mean something specific or they are just used to differentiate the tall drafted patterns from the regular ones?

So I bought it, printed it out, taped it together and then.......I did nothing more with this pattern. Until I saw this fabric at Imagine Gnats. It's the wonderful Essex linen/cotton blend from Kaufman with the Arches in Jungle print by Cotton & Flax. And the idea of making those overalls in that fabric started to brew.

This fabric is kindly sponsored by Imagine Gnats Shop.

But then I chickened out and decided to hack the pattern into an overall skirt instead of pants. For some reason a printed dress did not seemed as loud as printed pants. Not sure what that is about?! But that was the reasoning never the less.




And what can I say...I totally love the end result.


The top part of the overall skirt, the waistband plus the shape of the pockets are from the original pattern and then the skirt part is self drafted. I slashed and spread the skirt pattern a bit (so it's wider at the hem than at the top) but then I also added width so it could be gathered too. Those two things together makes the best gathered skirts I think. Do it this way if you want gathers but not too many gathers, you want to avoid it being too bulky but you still want quite a lot of width at the hem. Especially useful when working with thicker fabrics like this. 



A look from the back.


So I obviously can't speak for the pants part but the top/overall flap part is very well drafted. I think the fit is perfect. I managed to avoid gaping with a tiny change to the pattern. I'll show you how further down. I wonder how the fit would be on a person with a bigger bust though?

I interfaced both front and back flaps all the way around, so that means sides, necklines and ties. You want those seams to hold up nicely. If your fabric is on the thinner side, you could fully interface the flaps (instead of just along the edges) but then definitely do it on the inner layer.
 I had enough fabric so both the inside and outside flap layer could be the same fabric but you could play with a contrast fabric that will then show up when you tie the ties.



Okay, there is gaping when I'm twisting. Fair enough, ha!


For a person who is 'allergic' to lines not meeting up, it pains me quite a bit watching this photo, where it looks like the front and back waistbands does not meet up. I'm pretty sure it's just the snap that has twisted a bit though. It's one of the things that adds quite a bit of time to my sewing process. But it's worth it! Checking if lines/seams meet up. Checking that plackets are the same length before hemming. Or that the top of a zipper is finished at the same 'height'. Or that back patch pockets, for example, are placed perfectly symmetrical. 

It's actually something you have to get used to checking and remind yourself to do. It's not like the tutorial will say "now check your two button plackets have the same length before moving on to the next step." And I know you probably cut them both from the same pattern piece but things just happen during the sewing process. It's more normal that I have to adjust one of them than they are exactly the same length. And if you don't and just move on sewing a collar/collarband, for example, at the neckline, hem it at the bottom and make your buttonholes, and only realize that it's uneven when you are about to sew in your buttons, it's suddenly a WAY bigger deal to fix. 
So do little checks along the way and save yourself for much bigger trouble later.



And there are pockets. Glorious pockets!




Here is another photo where you can see how well it fits with tiny alterations. So even though this pattern is drafted for tall people, I still needed to add 3 cm 1.25" to the height of my front and back flaps because I have a very long upper body. Yes, I definitely made a muslin first! The added height placed the neckline the right place for me plus it gave my ties the length I wanted.




Here is a photo of the changes I did to the flap pattern pieces. I did the same to front and back. This is the front one. So you can see the length that I added. Plus if you look at the bottom left you can see that I curved up the seam. That's what you can do if there are gaping when you make overalls


In true BurdaStyle fashion, their tutorial could just as well had been written in a language I don't speak. I'm SO visual and my brain starts to glaze over when I'm starting to read a tutorial without photos, ha.

SO I had to figure out myself how to make those button openings in the side seams of the skirt (which the original pant pattern also has). They did give me some measurements to draft my own pattern pieces but I decided to go rogue - although I think I ended with the same result that BurdaStyle had in mind. Luckily I had done this technique before when making Petit a Petit Patterns' Loveralls. See my post HERE. So that helped a ton on how to do it.



Here are some photos on how it ended up looking. So the front has a facing. I made that extra wide so that the stitching was hidden inside the pocket. And the back skirt has a folded underlay. Notice how the underlay is juuuust 1-2 mm shorter than the height of the waistband. That's done on purpose so it's not showing when the buttons/snaps are closed.

My snaps are from Snap Source as always. 



I love the back and I'm dreaming of making one in some thin denim.
But I also really DO want to make the pants version one day!


The top is another Paola Turtleneck Tee from Named Clothing in the most g.l.o.r.i.o.u.s. and ultrasoft ribbed knit fabric from Nosh Fabrics. It's unfortunately sold out right now but HERE is a link to the same rib in a solid charcoal. I have them both and it's almost like the cream/striped one is softer than the charcoal one. I wonder if it is the dyeing process that did that? But they are both lovely, no doubt about that.
This fabric is kindly sponsored by Nosh Fabrics.

I have previously blogged about the Paola Turtleneck Tee in THIS post but in a slightly modified version. This is the original turtleneck as opposed to the previously one where I used a wide ribbing.



So here we are. My first blog post since August is finally done. I hope this will get blog post writing going again because I've got plenty to show you!

Thank you!

10 comments:

  1. That looks awesome Mie! I don't know what things not matching up perfectly you are talking about because everything looks perfectly matched up to me! Such an awesome tip about reducing the gaping. And I am so with you about the Burda Style instructions. So often I have no idea what the heck they mean. And often the techniques they use are different from what I know. So it's like a double strike. 🙈 it's too bad because I love their patterns otherwise.

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  2. This outfit is so great - the prints, the colors, the styling, everything!! And as usual, you always have the most helpful tips! It's at the point now where I keep thinking, "Okay, I have to keep this in mind - and this, and this, and this" and I worry that I won't be able to remember everything, haha. Lucky for me you have a search function!

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  3. Is the extra length needed not beacause you like to wear the waistlines of your outfits on your hips instead of in your waist? I always wonder why, actually 🤔☺. I think you look lovely! But maybe these low waists are not the most flattering or suitable for your body I wonder.

    Anyway, nice sewing projects again!

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    1. If you look at the model wearing the pants in the pattern listing, you will see that her waistband is not sitting at her natural waist either. I just, proportionally, have quite a long upper body on top of being tall. I think this dress suits me pretty good. :-) Thank you.

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  4. Wow, I love this!! Found my way here via Helen's Closet and I love your style!! These are just gorgeous and I'm very tempted to make a pair myself. Please make a trouser version soon!! Best Named Paola I've seen as well....

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  5. Well, the top is lovely, of course, but the overalls... Man... Love them as a skirt! Oh yeah, please make a denim version, because it will look even more awesome (we all know everything looks better in denim... or maybe it is just me hehehe).

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  6. I think the pants would have been phenomenal, but the skirt is really fun and pretty!

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  7. It's hard to choose but I think this might be my favourite thing you've made. Such a good fabric and pattern combination. I can't wait to see the pants version.

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  8. Great outfit I love the Paola Turtleneck Tee, can you remember if the pattern included seem allowances or if the pattern was layered, I have only ever used a Named pattern once and to be honest it was a nightmare, but I love their styles.

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    1. Hi Diana. The PDF pattern is layered and it does contain seam allowances. I didn't have any problems with it. :-)

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