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| Starburst Skirt Burda 05/2012 |
Which leads me back to the above skirt. Its for stable knits and has no zipper drafted into the pattern. A thing I did not notice until my friend Ilanka said "Wow, that's a tight skirt!". Uh... she was right. Ooooooh. Its for knits. Which led me to the conclusion that they must of photo-shopped out a lot of lumps and bumps cause that blouse is going to show through, I don't care how skinny you are. Drat. So it went on the back burner.
So, during long tedious nights at work I've defended myself but going to my happy place, sewing. I've been thinking about how to construct this skirt to make it as sculpted as it looks here but still retain its allure with tucked-in blouses, and not go OMG PANTY LINE! The only answer I've come up with is underlining.
Aaaah yes. Underlining. You are my new best friend. Its almost impossible for me to make a garment out of woven now without underlining it. Or at least thinking about underlining it. But this would be the first time delving into the realm of underlining a knit of any type, though ponte knit would be the most sensible one to try first, me thinks. In this case it would need to be a fabric that has as much stretch as the ponte itself, and I would probably use make sure the waistline facing had ridgeline stays as well. I realized I could use a silk stretch charmeuse after hitting up the Dharma Trading Co. for my evening gown underlining. I didn't add the stretch charmeuse to my order. I may go back and get some more later in August, depending on how much I can get done on what I shall hence forth refer to as The Gown.
I still haven't done a full post on that yet. *sighs* I shall. Very soon.
So what sewing challenges have you been puzzling over lately?
I love the colours of that photo...
ReplyDeleteI'm rather averse to knit skirts myself (I only wear mine at home at this point)... So I cannot relate there. But I can totally relate to your obsession with this style. Even though I'm not a pencil skirt girl myself, this looks fabulous.
I love knit skirts but I'm very picky about the fit.
DeleteAaagghhhh! I clicked on the pattern link only to find it is on sale for $3.48 today...so I had to buy it...and a few others. Thank you for enabling me today.
ReplyDeleteHahahah, uh... sorry? I live near a JoAnn's so I always go nuts when they have their crazy pattern sales.
DeleteI'm plotting a gown too, and the underlining! It's a structured princess seamed, full skirted affair. Crisp pleats are necessary and I'm using poly taffeta (I can't run to 5yds of silk!). U declining is required due to curves and also, maybe, to add some body. So I've been investigating and picking people's brains! One thing I have found out is that Claire Shaeffer calls it "backing" rather than underlining.
ReplyDeleteI love the Burda skirt too! I may well make it in a stretch twill and add a zip in the side seam opposite the pleating and then a regular lining. Just cos I worry about knits bagging out around the posterior!
If I make them tight enough there's no bagging. That and I have a lot of real estate back there to cover, and a huge sway-back. Sooo... anyway.
DeleteI can't wait to see your gown, it sounds fabulous!
It looks fabulous, I agree---and would look fabulous on you as well. You can totally see where the front placket of her shirt continues under the skirt, by the way.
ReplyDeleteI, too, am a big underlining fan, but I haven't really done it with knits yet. What about using some kind of spandex/"control fabric" with uber-smoothing-power for the underlining? Particularly if your underlining is cut more like a lining, without the pleating. Hmm. I do think the pleats would help disguise some undergarment show-through...
Ah, yes, you know, I see that now. There is some showing through. I feel a bit better then! And I like the idea about the power-underlining, which would be kind of like the Galaxy Dress. If only I could get my hands on one and de-construct it in some way. Hmmmm.
DeleteOooo...yes, an underlining would be brilliant. I'm working on a Vogue knit pencil skirt pattern and it whooped me. Totally whooped me. I learned the hard way that a zipper just wouldn't work - whoops! Other than that, I am puzzling over how to find the time to sew when it's nice outside, even though I could definitely use more pencil skirts and work appropriate clothing!
ReplyDeleteRut Roh! Yeah, I ended up taking the zipper out of the green ponte knit skirt but its still not quite right. And I had decided to use pre-made bias tape for the facing and that shows through. SO I'm thinking I'm going to try a few more things to attempt to rescue it.
DeleteI feel you on the work clothing. Its hot as hades outside and here I am with tights on and a shawl shivering in the office. Its no wonder I came down with a summer cold!
This is a gorgeous skirt isn't it?
ReplyDeleteMarina at Frabjous Couture made this a couple of months ago so you might want to check out her blog/burdastyle. From memory she didn't use a knit, and I think if you cut a size larger (measure the pattern to check) you could make it work in a woven.
Can't wait to see!
Marina did a skirt from either the same issue or the previous one, but it did not have the starburst pattern. I do, however, envy the skirt she DID make and its been responsible for a lot of my plotting and scheming pencil skirts.
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