Friday, February 4, 2011

Patterns in review - Burdastyles Anda

I've shown three patterns from Burda now: Anda, Tara and the Contour Bust Dress and the lovely emmalemma suggested I give the patterns some scrutiny and let you know what I think of them, so here goes, front and centre the Anda dress: http://www.burdastyle.com/patterns/anda


I used the pattern according to my size but I found it even more shapeless than it appeared on the Burda photos. It looked like a hospital smock before I cinched the sleeves. It was easy to sew but a few things I would definitely change about the instructions they give:

The casing for the drawstring I would suggest using a lightweight iron on interfacing (fusing) it will make it easier to sew on to the dress itself and make it more sturdy.

I also would fuse the draw string itself since you're going to be pulling it about it will stay looking sharp if it has a bit more weight to it

The pattern itself I found a little amateur looking, the side seams come to a dipped point at the under arm seam which looks a little off, if like me you used a contrast coloured bias binding.

The pattern was also extremely long, I'm not tiny (5ft 6'') and I initially reduced the length by 5 inches then took the hem up by a further two inches and it sits 4 inches above my knees, It would have been ridiculously long had it not been shortened.

Suggestions: To make it more wearable I would make it an empire line by reducing the length of the pattern above the waist and not below as I'd done. All in all I wouldn't rush to make this dress again, plenty of other people have made completely wearable versions of this and of course fabric choices can make the world of difference.

Overall Verdict: 2/10 a potato sack, not for me
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