Flounce Instructions for Burda 7225

I made this asymmetrical,  one shoulder dress and wrote a post and review about it here. 

I put it together rather quickly in an attempt to enter it in a contest on sewing pattern review. Alas, I did not get it made in time (stupid 18 minutes late:P). I added a flounce to the neckline of the dress to reflect one I liked. When I made it, I drafted it part freehand, part with my French curve and in a hurry. Becasue of that, I did not explain how I did it in my previous post. In my review of the pattern, I had a request to explain my process in detail.

To be honest, what I did would not make sense to explain now, so I  remade the dress with a flounce that one could replicate.  

Front

Back

This flounce addition assumes you are using Burda 7225 and Mccalls 5579. I will not outline the steps in their pattern instructions here. This is a supplement to the Burda instructions. Here we go!
         
To begin, I followed the steps 1, 2 and 4 of the of the original Burda 7225 pattern.  I went back to step 3, installing the zipper, after I added the flounce do not do it now. Next, I pinned the dress to my dress form ; you can lay the dress on a flat surface if you do not have a form (do I need to suggest you make mine?).

I took a look in my pattern cabinet and found Mccalls 5579, a dress with a neckline flounce that can be modified for this dress.

                 


I took pattern piece number 6 from the Mccalls 5972 and cut it to the largest size in my range which is 14. I then matched the wide end of flounce to the underarm zipper area and pinned it to the top of the dress across to the stitched shoulder seam. I folded the end over to mark the front length and took it to my fabric on the cutting table.

Fitting the flounce to the neckline.

I tucked the excess under and folded the narrow end back to the notch and placed it on the fold. This will open out to cover the front and back of the neckline. I made it slightly longer (about 1 inch) than needed to be sure I had enough to go around the neckline.

Cut the flounce on the fold

I cut the flounce and pinned it to the top of the dress beginning at the zipper seam. (I did not hem my flounce because of the the type of fabric this is. I made a narrow hem on the other dress. If you need to hem your fabric, do it before pinning). I continued pinning, adjusting the drape as I went along. I pinned it loosely so it maintaines the flow.

Pin flounce beginning at zipper. Pin wrong side of flounce to right side of dress.

Continue pinning flounce around back.

Baste flounce. I continued to step 3 and installed an [invisible] zipper on top of the flounce.

  I continued with steps 5 and 6 to add the facing.

Pin facing to top of flounce right sides together. Stitch

Trim facing to reduce bulk in the seam. Turn facing to inside and press.

Stitch facing to the body of the dress keeping the flounce free.

I stitched it the way you see in the photo above, but it is more efficient to do it with the facing up. When you do it, flip it over and keep the flounce free.

Facing stitched to the body of the dress with the flounce free.

The flounce is now done! I continued with the rest of the pattern instructions. I hope this is clear and you can now make your dress with the added flounce too. Feel free to ask if there is something that is not clear. Please pop back and let me know if you have made a dress too; I would love to see it.

P.S.
I enlarged the armsyce on this dress because it is too small. I cut the pattern this time instead of cutting the dress like I did last time. If you make this adjustment, remember to increase the length of the armhole facing you will use later.

That is all for now.

Happy Sewing!
Bianca

New to me sewing contest on Pattern Review

My family has just returned from an impromptu trip to Walt Disney World. It was a wonderful time away making dreams come true for our kids. With all of the planning needed for a spontaneous trip, I did not get much sewing done for the "New to Me" contest on Pattern Review. It requires that you sew a garment from a company, book, or magazine you have not sewn from before.

When I signed up for the contest it was midway along, but I was optimistic that I could get a project done in time. I originally choose a dress from Sew Serendipity, by Kay Whitt. It is a lovely number that has many contrast panels and is wonderfully cute. As I write this, I have six hours to choose fabric, cut it out and construct whatever I make. Making my first choice dress is not going to happen.  

I stealthily went into my sewing room, careful not to wake the napping kids, to find an alternative. I found this dress one shoulder dress by Burda.

 

This is a fun dress that reminds me of one I pinned last month. Isn't it cute?

I decided to shop my stash for fabric. Unfortunately I didn't have a lovely coral fabric, but I found a print I purchased at an estate sale earlier in the year. Here is B.I.R.A wearing the finished dress. (I will update to a photo of me wearing it tomorrow).

Front

Update: I missed the deadline for the contest by 18 minutes! I forgot about East Coast time and I am in Texas! Oh well. Here is me in my fab and fun new dress.

 

 Here is my review of the pattern:

Pattern Description:
One-shoulder dresses, slightly flared and above the knee for warm and sunny days. View A with smart bow-tie, B with big pockets.

Pattern Sizing:
6-18, I made a 10

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? 
The shape yes, but I added a flounce to the neckline.

Were the instructions easy to follow?
Yes. This is my first time sewing a Burda pattern and I found the instructions very easy
to follow. I like that you align numbers rather than notches in this dress.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
I liked the one shoulder style and the large pockets. I like that it can be modified easily if you like.  I found the armscye to be too small and needed to be widened about two inches.

Fabric Used: A rayon/poly(?) blend print fabric that I purchased at an estate sale. The vibrant print reminded me of Emilio Pucci and it screamed "mini dress".

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: I added a flounce to the top angle. I used a dress I saw on Pinterest as the inspiration and I installed an invisible zipper.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?
I will sew this again. And recommend it to others. I have a few other Burda patterns in my stash and I plan to get sewing.

Conclusion: This is a quick and easy dress. Despite this being a "Young" pattern, I think it can be aged up.

Happy Sewing!
Bianca