Burda 11/2012 #124. Again.

Thanks for your compliments on the last dress for Anna, I'm quite relieved to have it finished and not make it into a UFO, but I do have to say it's probably my least favourite thing I have sewed for Anna.  It looks very homemade to me, a little bit too much Holly Hobbie for my liking but of course Anna loves it and wants to wear it all the time instead of the other great dresses I've made for her!

But back to some grown up sewing.  Of course I should be on with my Burda challenge since it's nearly the end of February and I haven't done the February garment yet.  Actually the reason I didn't do an end of year round up of my 2012 Burda challenge projects like Melissa over at Fehr Trade did is because I still haven't made the December project yet.  But in a fit of procrastination of the useful kind, I decided to remake one of my favourites: #124 from the 11/2012 issue - an a-line skirt with welt pockets and a top stitched centre front seam.  When I made it back in November last year I made it from an emerald green cotton drill which I've worn many times since making it.  I've had to take the skirt in a bit due to losing the baby weight since I made it in November (helped along quite a bit by my recent illness), so it's a definite stayer in the wardrobe.

I recently cleaned out my wardrobe, and one of the garments to bite the dust was a denim skirt I made back in 2010 (ironically from another Burda pattern).  It was looking pretty worn out, and being a pencil skirt style in a rigid fabric like denim it always crept up while I was wearing it and I was forever pulling it back down into place.  But a denim skirt is a good basic to have in the wardrobe, especially in a darker colour, so I decided to make another one using pattern #124 because I figured an a-line shape would be more comfortable.

Because I've made this previously, I didn't need to trace the pattern out (one of the most time consuming parts of using the Burda magazines) and it sewed up really quickly.  I did move the welt pockets in towards the centre a little bit because I felt on the last version they were practically in the side seam, only by a little bit:

but it turns out that doing that means the welts stick out open a bit and the dark blue cotton I made the pocket bag from is visible, so I probably should have left them where they were.  Perhaps the Burda pattern makers do know what they're doing after all!  You can see in the side view how they stick out a little:

A dark denim skirt is hugely versatile.  The day after I made this I wore it out for some child free shopping (the best kind) with a plain white tshirt and a yellow scarf.  Are the matching yellow shoes too much though?

I also wore this to my first Australian Sewing Guild sewing day with the Rhodes Fashion Sewers on Saturday (how was that for a segue?).  Actually I didn't do any sewing, just a lot of chatting with Maria and Sharon, because I went there to check things out but it looks like loads of fun so I'll definitely be back next month with my machines in tow.  How could being in a big room full of like minded women busily sewing, talking and pin fitting each other in a spot far away from distractions from pesky husbands and kids be anything but good?