Right now it’s just some fabric pinned to the dress form, but what I’m trying to do here is the brilliant dress from Burda magazine’s March issue.
Burda totally outdid themselves with this vintage inspired gem. Melissa of Fehr Trade has already made a wonderful Atonement inspired version and I will also take my cue from a movie with a strong costume department – Henry and June (the actual movie is a bit corny, but I only watch it for the dresses 😉 )

This is the first time I’m sewing in silk/rayon velvet and damn is this fabric hard to deal with! And I haven’t even gotten around to the sewing part yet.
10 Comments
Antoinette
April 10, 2009 at 1:21 pmIt’s looking good! Velvet has been on my “be sure to avoid list” for a long time but I may tackle it someday. Are you sewing this to wear to an event? Or just for lounging around the house in case you faint? 😀
Emily
April 10, 2009 at 3:30 pmThe dress looks stunning! I love that color. You’ve convinced me that I need to work up some version of that pattern for this spring/summer.
Johanna
April 10, 2009 at 3:46 pm>>Antoinette: I might come to the same conclusion about velvet, we'll see how this pans out. No special event, just stash reduction, but yeah, you gotta keep up appearances!
>>Emily: Yes, please do! If you haven't already I strongly recommending reading Melissa's review, it's very helpful
geek sewing
April 10, 2009 at 4:26 pmThat dress looks great so far!
melodie
April 10, 2009 at 5:58 pmVery cute. I love velvet. Hope you have a walking foot. That’s the best way to deal with sewing velvet.
Cindy
April 10, 2009 at 6:30 pmI love the dress! The style looks like one that can flatter a multitude of shapes and sizes too. Can’t wait to see it. Sorry for the hard to deal with fabric that always throws a loop in the process!
Mary Nanna
April 10, 2009 at 7:19 pmwow .. it’s looking stunning already! Velvet is high on my list of fabrics to be sewn only under extreme duress…
gwensews
April 10, 2009 at 10:44 pmVelvet is a beautiful fabric, but it is tricky to sew. Good luck. Make a beautiful thing.
luckylibbet
April 11, 2009 at 3:24 amStunning! I hope you have a walking foot? Last time I sewed rayon velvet, I hand basted, I used the walking foot, and it still moved – very slippery, tricky fabric.
melissa
April 14, 2009 at 4:31 pmOoh ooh ooh I love it! But oh god, after working with silk velvet once I swore never, ever again! I think I’d rather remake this ten times in silk charmeuse than once in silk velvet. 😉 So I’ll live vicariously through yours instead. 🙂 Are you adding a lining as well? If you take your time, making a proper lining instead of Burda’s interlining instructions is really easy.