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A new favorite: Burdastyle button front skirt

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It’s not often that I call a pattern “genius”. In fact I’m a pretty discerning sewist, that often nitpicks little things that I feel could be better. But this Burdastyle button front skirt pattern from the May 2012 issue, is actually quite amazing. Everything from how beautifully it drapes to the clever pocket construction is spot on. To be honest I can’t find anything that I would like to improve. And it’s stylish in a slightly vintage/1950’s way, while still being incredibly comfortable to wear. Plus I feel it flatters my body, with the high waist helping to elongate my short lower body. And it’s fairly easy to make, which is always an added bonus.

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The skirt has several godets and is quite flared. I was able to hem it 100% on the machine, using a combination of ease stitching and machine blind hem stitching (my tutorial on how to hem a flared skirt).

 

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The original pattern has a hidden closure, but I wanted exposed buttons since, well, I love buttons! I had this vintage ones lying around and felt that they would be a really good match.

However my plan didn’t work out so well as machine stitched buttonholes on this fine linen suiting looked absolutely awful. And since I was under a lot of stress (was finishing this skirt the night before we went to Sicily) making bound buttonholes were out of the question. So I ended up using snaps, with the buttons just being for decoration purpose. Now snaps on a skirt is not the best idea, which I discovered at the airport when my skirt opened itself up after I had rubbed my suitcase against the buttons! Also snaps doesn’t keep the button placket as flat as real buttons do, so there is a little gaping here and there. That little mishap aside, I love the skirt, and with normal use, the snaps stay put.

Burdastyle button front skirt

The pockets have plenty of room and looks quite elegant I think, but are in fact super easy to sew, thanks to a very clever pattern construction.

My review of the pattern

This was my third and last garment from my Sewing for Sicily project. The first piece of clothing was a pair of Burdastyle swing shorts and the second garment was a silk Burdastyle Peter Pan blouse.

8 Comments

  • Vesna
    August 30, 2016 at 3:51 pm

    I was always very drawn to this pattern and your review is only making me wanna sew it even more! It really looks awesome on you! I hesitate because I’m not sure will it flatter me as much – my hips are on a generous side (VERY generous) and I’m afraid this design would accentuate it even more.

    Reply
    • Johanna
      August 30, 2016 at 4:24 pm

      Maybe you could give it a try? The skirt is quite generous around the hips, so there is definitely room and perhaps using something like a border print to distract from the hips? What I like about this skirt is that it drapes/hangs very nicely and I think with the right fabric choice this style could be pretty universally flattering. So my vote is for at least trying it out 🙂

      Reply
  • Andrea
    August 30, 2016 at 9:19 pm

    I’m with Vesna. Your review makes me feel tempted to sew this skirt but I don’t think my generous hips would agree with that. Maybe using black fabric…?

    Reply
    • Johanna
      August 30, 2016 at 10:47 pm

      Ah, what a pity but I totally understand. It’s a bit of bummer when a garment one likes doesn’t jive with the body type, but maybe black or navy with a white border print (I would love to find a fabric like that myself!)

      Reply
  • Esther
    August 30, 2016 at 9:53 pm

    Me , too, have wide hips and if I did sew this skirt I would definitely leave the pockets out! Once that done, I feel it could be flattering on a pear-shaped body like mine!

    Reply
    • Johanna
      August 30, 2016 at 11:02 pm

      Good point about the pockets, yes they do add some width, I noticed that too. And while I’m not a pure pear shaped, I do have a bum and pronounced thighs paired with a more narrow waist and smaller breasts and I too feel it could work for folks with more width in their hips as well because of how it is shaped, but we all have our own preferences about fit 🙂

      Reply
  • Jane
    August 31, 2016 at 1:33 pm

    This looks so great on you and I think you picked the perfect fabric!

    Reply
    • Johanna
      September 1, 2016 at 9:02 am

      Thank you! Yes I really lucked out with the fabric, I bought it off Ebay which can be a hit or miss, but this was definitely a hit!

      Reply

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