Easy burda beach dress and a gathered skirt

There were many beach dresses in burda I wanted to try over the years but never go around to trace any of them... probably because the big pattern pieces and huge fabric requirements were scarry. This summer I finally bought 2 burda issues after a long break and seen this design made and looking spectacular on others so decided to give it a try:

It was nowhere near as glamorous on me. I made the smallest version but was still drowning in it.I didn't had enough fabric so I made it shorter out of necessity but because the dress was designed for tall people it didn't looked shorter on me. Maybe for the same reason I hate that the bat sleeves end on my hip rather then my waist as I think it should. I cut down a bit of the sleeves fullness and added a patch pocket. I had to really push myself to finish it as the 1st try out was a big let down.

When we returned from the seaside I had the inspired thought to ask my mother in law if the wants to try it and even if the is several numbers bigger then me the dress was fitting her and looking way better then on me. So in the end I was quite happy to have someone wanting it.
  I had so little time in energy lately for sewing but when my sister was visiting me one evening and said she wanted a simple gathered skirt I could not resist the temptation to get rid of one my stash fabrics:

I used zig zag over the elastic waistband to make sure skirt will stay even spread at all times. I used the waistband only large enough to pass the hip not the full hem size to reduce the bulk. That took a bit of extra time to first and sew the 2 pieces together. The skirt has 2 panels but I managed to make the side seams pretty invisible!
  I also got a picture of a simple Lekala 4177 white top i made my mother in law this spring:

I could not resist some fabric shopping lately so Sewing 126 - Shopping 112.

Summer blues - a great match StyleArc amber top and BurdaStyle raglan sleeve with tie

Like I said before sewing The StyleArc amber top is quite addictive and it require little fabric so it a great option for busting a few smaller 1 meter cuts.

So while I was flipping through my stash looking for fabrics I got my hands on this beautiful rayon I ordered from China on AliExpress this spring. It had a really nice feel to the touch and I really loved it. I think they still have it in stock here and it is free shipping if you don't mind waiting a lot for it to arrive. In Romania any import under 10$ or so is free of import taxes for I only ordered one meter.

   I was a bit disappointed when it arrived because the colors were a bit darker then the picture they posted - that white is more ivory and the blue is darker than this. I  also was under the impression the print will be larger than it was but still it is a lovely fabric with a great feel and a color scheme I just love. So seeing it I immediately thought this will make a perfect amber top but I wanted some interest and the blocking offered by the pattern was not what I was looking for. I felt this top needs some interest in the sleeve and that front and back needed to be left alone just to showcase the fabric.
   The design 119 from burda 07/2018 already got me intrigued but seeing the lovely top Ellen made convinced me I really need to try this sleeve so I traced the 3 pieces for sleeve from Burda:

The front of the sleeve fit in with the style of arc top without any issues ( size 8 on the top and 36 on the sleeve). As the back in Burda is a really low cut the back sleeve didn't fit in with the back top so I had to improvise and add a small triangle of fabric to the sleeve to match the back as well.

If I will make this again I will used the style arc sleeve for the upper part and just lengthen that with the burda piece instead of using the full burda sleeve like I did.

I really love this blouse and I think will be in heavy rotation:

Sewing 123 - Shopping 99.