Review of Burda 8176

Here is my finished skirt!! Like I said in my previous post it donned on me at about noon Wednesday that the scholarship luncheon was the next day, so I had to get in gear and finish.

So after I got off work I came home and started working on it. I just had to sew the facing down and hem. This being my second project I had never hemmed a skirt before so I was a little nervous about the "easing." That all went ok but every time I went to sew the hem on the bobbin side of the seam I would get these little loopy things. First I thought my tension was too loose, then I thought it was too tight. Of course that meant I had to rip the seam out every time. Come to find out it was just my bobbin running out of thread! At least it was a simple fix and nothing more serious.

I posted a pattern review on patternreview.com it can be seen here. Some things I thought I would go ahead and add are that it's a bit longer than what I normally would wear, but for the occasion and with the heals I think it looked good! This is not the patterns fault as I could have shortened it if I wanted. I can't really think of much other that I want to add. It was a good beginner pattern and I am pleased how it turned out!

I Finished!!

Ok so this will be a short post, but I just wanted to say that I FINISHED MY SKIRT!! I realized at about noon that I had my scholarship luncheon tomorrow and this skirt is what I was going to wear. I will have pictures and a review hopefully tomorrow.

A Weekend of Progress

Friday after writing my entry, I sat down and started working on my practice zipper after a couple of not good tries, IT JUST CLICKED!! Take a look I am quite proud of it.

Of course I didn't have a chance to finish the skirt before the reception. Which was OK I had another outfit I could wear. I preferred to finish this skirt slowly and making it look good, instead of just getting it done fast. So I still need to do the facings and hem. I didn't get anything more done because my weekend was completely busy, but good busy.

I also completed my new sewing desk. I wasn't very happy because it did not have beadboard sides or come with the metal cup handles that it listed that it was suppose to come with. Instead it was just plain sides and white plastic handles. I really liked the look of the "metal" handles and I thought the plastic handles would make the desk look cheap. So after the reception on Saturday I went to the Hardware store and bought a metal looking spray paint for plastic to achieve the look I wanted.

Without further ado... The Desk!

Zip Zip Zippers

I am a beginner sewer and I am doing really so far on my Burda 8176 skirt, but the darn zipper is giving me fits!! I was working on it this afternoon and just got soo frustrated. I think my zipper foot is kind of getting stuck on the pull of the zipper. The seam on the zipper is not straight at all. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know. I should also mention that right now I am just trying to make a zipper look good on some scrap muslin. So it's not like I am ruining my skirt.

I was hoping to get this skirt done before the end of Spring Break, but I don't think this is going to happen. I have to get this project done before April 12th. I have a scholarship luncheon to go to and I want to wear this skirt!! I will post pictures when I finish the skirt.

So after being frustrated with the zipper I started to work on the Favorite Things Prairie Girl Tunic. I was originally going to trace the pattern so I wouldn't ruin the pattern if I made the right size. Well I learned I don't really have the patient to trace the pattern. I bought this pattern about a week ago when we went to Lawrence for my Birthday, we stopped in Sarah's Fabrics along with an Amy Butler fabric for this Tunic.

I have actually had a chance to sew again! Thank goodness for Spring Break! My Birthday was last Thursday so I recieved some sewing goodies...

I recieved a large sewing basket. It's big enough to carry three pairs of scissors and a whole lot more. I also recieved a pair of Gingher Scissors which I plan to have for a long time. I also recieved the first season of Project Runway.

In other sewing related news I have completed the Burda 8176 skirt muslin (minus the hem). Here is the Before (nearly finished) Originally the yoke was pulling as you can see in the photos, but after putting in the facings it seemed to work itself out.

After (minus hem and with pretty top):

I have all the skirt pieces cut out for the final skirt I just need to purchase some more interfacing tomorrow, unfortunately I was about an inch short.

So I finished my Capri pajamas about a week ago but have had no time (school) to post the results!

As you can probably tell from the picture I was very excited! I think they turned out well for a first project.

I was able to go ahead and use the fabric I had originally bought to use with this. I am considerably shorter than the person that the pant was made for, but that is OK since I was making Capri's anyways. After wearing these around the house for a week or so, I realized I won't be making drawstring pants again! It takes a bit of work to get the drawstring undone.

I think this pattern was an excellent beginner pattern because the directions weren't' too difficult to grasp. I did make a few mistakes on my muslin, but I learned from them. Basically it was a good thing to learn to begin to sew.

I can't remember if I already mentioned this or not, but I did make a few modifications after completing the muslin.

• I shortened the top by 1.5 inches although now I wish I would have taken another .5 an inch off
• I also took 13.75 inches off of the bottom to make capri's
• And added 1 inch to the drawstring to make it longer

All in all I am very happy with the outcome of these pajama pants, I'm wearing them now as I write this!

Next up is Burda Young Fashion 8176 Skirt!