ooobop! review: Burda Style January 2013

Burda January 2013 cover

One might be advised to take the following review with a pinch of salt. I am ill and grumpy and should never have ventured out on this cold, wet miserable day to get hold of my belated issue. Belated, not because of any neglect on my part to pick it up sooner but because Smiths clean forgot to put it on the shelves. I think I might have got a poor sales assistant busted as a result.

My glee turned to gloom when I flicked though the first section, before I got to the checkout. The ‘Party’ section. Really? Not my kind of party. What no LBD? No slinky numbers, save the Bacofoil one. Maybe overload of purple has left me unable to think outside of the box. mmmm…. what do you think?

Burda January 2013 partyThere were a couple in this section that left me a little more hopeful. Gosh I am being so negative, soz! Strange though because I don’t really do strides or leggings but quite fancy a pair of leather ones, Given my determination to grow old disgracefully! Still not very partyish though.

Burda January 2013 party in purpleBut hang on. Here we go. This is far more up my street. A section entitled the Aenne Burda Collection. Five reinterpreted dresses and a coat from the 50’s and 60’s. And I love each and every one of them! Though I really want the button band on the pink dress to be narrower. I don’t need my midriff highlighted quite so much!

Aenne Burda collection dresses and coatLoungewear, leisurewear, sporty home knits, whatever… not really a fan of such garments. Even though I could be accused of hypochrisy as I sit here, sniffling in my sloppy pjs and age-old baggy T!

But never say never. These patterns do come in handy from time to time and they whip up quick so long as you don’t have an aversion to stretchy jersey fabrics. I’ve made a few peasant tops but I think one in a lovely drapey viscose jersey with long sleeves might be a more glamourous casual addition.

Home story loungewear

So was the glamour saved for the Plus Section as per usual? Nope! I like the green dress and the waterfall fronts of the jackets. In fact I quite like the layering and the colour palette but I might give the huggy bear waistcoat a miss!

Burda january 2013 plus section

And just in case you need a fancy dress costume…. there is certainly a mixed bag going on here!

Looks like a lot of work to pull of a Hungry Caterpillar costume but wouldn’t that be a hoot?! I always gloss over patterns like these but on closer inspection there is always a bodice or a sleeve pattern that could be borrowed. Not forgetting random dressing up days at school!

Burda January 2013 fancy dressThere are lots of lovely little crafty projects in this issue too, like detatchable collars, a bead-embroidered neck band, bejewelled bangles and shoes plus these adorable teddies made from recycled jumpers and blankets. No actual pattern for these but the instructions and inspiration is all that is necessary.

bunnies from recycled jumpersWell in case I don’t touch base before the new year, here’s wishing you all a fabulous 2013. Thank you for faithfully sticking with me and for all your wonderful comments. It is already so difficult to remember life pre-ooobop! I’m hoping to get more stealthlike in my attempt at stealing sewing time in the new year and so be much more productive. But what good would that be without having you lovely lot to share it with.

Truly Grateful.

Much Love

Janene x

A cape for Poison Ivy

poison ivy front

Meet my biggest little girl! Hardly a villain but seriously rocking the whole Poison Ivy thing!

It’s not often I get asked to contribute to her wardrobe. It is in fact never! So I was very honoured by the request to make a capelet for her Halloween costume. Yes I know this is a bit late in the day, soz, but I wasn’t allowed a sneak preview on the day (something to do with me being an embarrassing mum at her last party I would think!) and had to wait patiently for photographic evidence so I could share it with you.

poison ivy back

It was a very fun and quick project and even ‘biggest little’ was impressed! If you knew her like I do you would know how amazing that is!

poison ivy

Here’s a better picture of the stand-up collar. You cant see it for all the red luscious locks!

cape on manequin

The exterior is a bright green poly satin fabric with red satin lining and I used some glitzy buttons at the neck to cover the ends of the ribbon. Should have sewn them in the collar stand really!

It was a very simple project for quite an effective fancy dress accessory…

First I measured the neck (plus ease) and the measurement from the neck, over the shoulder to just below the elbow. Using Pi (22/7) I worked out the radius to draw the neck hole and from that circumference I could mark the length of the capelet and draw the circumference at the hem (plus SA)

circumference formula

Have you ever wondered what that little hole is for at the end of your tape measure? Well I sure have found a use. If you position and hold down the tape measure at the distance required, on the centre point, or corner of your paper, you can put the point of a pencil in the hole at the other end and draw the arc of the circle. Its not as accurate as a compass but I don’t have a set of compasses that large and this method was good enough!

draft circle

I folded the fabric into quarters and pinned the pattern, making sure it was butted to both adjacent sides.

folded fabric

pinned patternI did the same with the lining and cut out. This is not my favourite fabric to work with, I hasten to add!

cape liningNext up, I pinned the self to the lining, right sides together, using lots and lots of pins. I am telling you, this is soooo not my favourite fabric to work with. It slipped and slid all over the place!

pinned lining and selfThen I cut the front opening. You can see just how far out I was with the cutting/positioning of this slippery stuff!

cut opening

But I saved the situation with a genius idea to round off the corners! And note my next exclusive dressmaking tool…. a dinner plate!

round cornersI stuck in some more pins before I attempted to sew around the base hem and up the front openings. But it still took 3 or 4 attempts. It was like a couple of magnets repelling against each other!

more pinsI left the neckline open while I constructed the collar. First I made the collar stand. The measurement for which was the neck measurement (plus ease) by 5 inches (I think!)

I folded it in half, lengthwise and applied fusible interfacing to one side.

interface collar standTo make the ruffle, I cut a strip the same width only twice as long, folded, pressed and seamed the short ends, right sides facing. I gathered the raw edges to the same length as the collar stand.

ruffleI don’t have pics for the next stage but hopefully it will make sense. I sewed the short ends of the collar stand together and turned right side out. Matching raw edges, I pinned the ruffle to one side of the collar stand, right sides together, careful not to catch the underside.

collar ruffleI turned the ruffle up, hiding the raw edges inside and gave it a press to keep it in place. I then folded in the seam allowance from the remaining side and topstitched in place.

finished collarAgain I am missing a few pics, but to finish off I sewed the base of the collar stand (the folded edge), right sides facing, to the neckline of the self side of the cape. I then folded and pressed in the seam allowance on the lining and top stitched to the other side of the collar, very close to the edge.

poison ivy cape

Buttons and ribbons were then sewn in place.

Hope this gives you some insight. So sorry for the missing pics. I will be more diligent with my tutes next time!

This is indeed a very fun and quick make… but I would advise a woven fabric just for sanity’s sake!

The Daphne dress

In between the quilting and the vintage dresses and the obsessive pattern buying I’m quite often being art-directed by Little Miss Ooobop! for her next dressing up party outfit. Today was her friend’s birthday party, Scooby Doo was the theme and she wanted to be Daphne.

Daphne from Scooby Doo

Burda Style 10/2010 came in handy, and not for the first time, with a great kids pattern for a long T shirt. The original had a button placket and long sleeves which wasn’t an option for Daphne’s dress. Believe me, LMO does her homework good and proper. The only requested variation was that the dress had short sleeves in case it was sunny. She wasn’ t wrong, that daughter of mine… what a glorious sunny day we had today.

The fabric is a mauve stretch cotton jersey which we found in the first shop we went into! And at £3.99 a metre, a bit of a bargain too! The satin bias trim was from my favourite haberdasher stall in Shepherds Bush market for 40p a metre! No other notions. A v-neckline makes sure of that.

Daphne pose

To alter the pattern I simply cut the the body back and front on the fold, ignoring the placket shape. I lengthened by 4 inches and changed the neckline to a V-shape. And shortened the sleeves of course.

I used the trusty side-cutter to do a faux serge on the seams. Honestly it works like a treat! And I used a stretch stitch to finish the hems on the skirt and the sleeves. I have finished a v-neckline with stretch jersey once before, on my spotty top, and it was great to practice it once again. In fact I think I did a much better job this time!

LMO with missL

The hairband is quite literally a tube of the stretch jersey. A head measurement minus an inch. No elastic involved. I just relied on the stretch of the fabric and it was fine. I wasn’t going to get too bogged down with it as it was going to get ruined by orange hair spray in any case!

The neckscarf is half a metre of finest lime green polyester, seamed all round with a gap for turning! Actually I was lucky to be served half a metre. Apparently only regular customers get that deal!

The only tricky thing about this project was getting said daughter to pose. It’s getting harder and harder to get her to willingly and graciously pose. It normally involves hard cash but today we got off light with a double scoop ice-cream!

Daphne with ice cream