04 March 2012

I'm Just Not Smart Enough For This

I would really like to make more garments (or any) traced from European pattern magazines. I actually like the process of tracing, I enjoy the challenge of picking my line out of the Burda rats' nest. So far, however, the only project I've finished is a skirt--a rok--from the April 2011 KnipMode, which, however, turned out to be enormous. Even so, it was well-designed and the whole enterprise was fun. I'm thinking of growing into it.

So I subscribed to Burda Plus through Amazon a while ago. A few weeks ago my second and last issue, Spring/Summer 2012, landed in the mailbox.

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Without thinking about it too hard, I decided to run up a blouse, #425, out of some light drapey black stuff in my stash. (I really shouldn't have forgotten what the stuff in my stash is--I haven't been at this that long!) It's a weird blouse, with one long sleeve and one short and a back twice as wide as the front.

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Incidentally, I found this picture at the Russian Burda site, where I also found Cidell of Miss Celie's Pants prominently displayed in her Puffy Sleeve Dress!

Cidell

Anyway, tracing is even more fun when the pattern parts are oddly shaped and too wide to fit on the paper in one piece but I managed to figure it out. Then, the hard part behind me, I proceeded to cut the whole thing in fashion fabric without remembering to add the !@#$% seam allowances!





14 comments:

  1. You, Professor, I believe are definitely smart enough to make that Burda pattern. Just do what you would instruct your students to do. Make it work!

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    1. There's smart and then there's smart. My students would have it done for them!

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  2. It will just be more fitted! Make it work. :-)

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  3. I can sympathise, but it's such a drapey top I'm sure you can make it work like the others said!

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  4. hahah! I have done that SO many times (and not just when I was starting out, sad to say). As for the KnipMode, I've found that in the upper sizes they tend to run large. I've found that with BurdaMode as well. I think they allow quite a significant more amount of wearing ease for "plus". In which case, seam allowance-schmeam allowance. You won't need them!

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    1. You folks are right, no doubt. Thanks!

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  5. I do believe you have a LOT of company in the forgotten SA camp! And I'm sure we are all quite brilliant...we just have that absent-minded creative genius way of doing things, you know? ;-)

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  6. OH KC! SILLY GIRL!! Burda rat's nest made me LOL

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  8. " Burda rats' nest" + the most perfect description ever!

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  9. I'm sure you can make the blouse work, maybe it will just be a bit more well-fitted? Forgetting the seams allowance, we all have done it!
    Thank you for your (second) lovely comment. That was nice of you.

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  10. What a pain after all that work of tracing. I often forget to add seam allowances so I have to add them on to the tracing as well.

    I've nominated you for another trophy for your cabinet but please don't feel obligated.

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  11. Ha! My favourite "wait a minute... did they include SA or not..." moment was making a bra. No, they did not, and no, it did not fit and because it's taking a little out of all those seams, even the proportions just didn't work so I'm not sure who it would fit. How did it turn out?

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