Grey 60’s dress

The objective of my grey 60’s dress was to get to know my new sewing machine. The Burda 02/2014 model seemed perfect: no zip, no buttons, just a few ruffles.

I added complexity by lining the whole dress, including the sleeves (the basic fabric frayed like hell and it looks much cleaner lined) and, fortunately, decided to baste the dress first. Even though I got to cut the 34 size directly from Burda, several alterations were necessary:

I have taken out 4cm on the shoulder area on both sides, as well as on the whole dress width, lengthened the sleeves by 7cm and shortened the dress body by 5cm.

I believe the Burda guys were afraid people would not squeeze in if the dress was too narrow and contrary to what I have always thought, I obviously have small shoulders and a short back.

The dress is quite short in the end and the sleeve area is difficult to iron. Also, I think I will avoid the raglan sleeves in the future, as it is quite difficult to adjust the form and tend to be quite square (Ok, I am aware of the fact that I have square shoulders).

I was really surprised how certain automatisms get back to you. Obviously, sewing is like riding a bike and you do not forget it. So I am always trying to pick up the sewing foot with my left hand on the back of the machine whereas it is on the right side; or to elevate the low thread with the needle which I no longer need to do.

On the other hand, much of the technique and system in sewing machines did not change in 30 years lying between the old Veritas I used years ago and the new Pfaff.

I also appreciate the small tricks the old Veritas could not do: I can see the spool and the amount of low thread directly, no sticking of the thread in the small holes of the needle or other parts of the sewing mechanism, so preparing of the machine is now much quicker.