It was with some trepidation that I opened up Burda 7517 and began cutting out the pattern pieces.  The reviews on Pattern Review covered the whole gamut for this one, from “easy” and “highly recommended” to “absolutely would not recommend”.  But I’d paid less than $10 for the fabric remnant at GJs and thought I’d give it a go anyway.

I absolutely LOVE this dress! It’s so different to anything else that I have. The polycotton is quite soft and it drapes nicely, yet the pleats and darts iron beautifully too. There are only five pieces to this dress – the front, the back, front neck facing, back neck facing, and a bias piece to finish each armhole. All the shaping is done with pleats and darts.

There are two pleats at the front neckline, and two darts at the back. The small cap sleeves are cut on, and there is an invisible zip in one side. I did alter the order of construction with the armhole facings and zip – rather than sewing down the armhole facings before sewing up the side seams as per the instructions, I attached the facings, sewed the right side seam, inserted the zip into the left side seam and sewed up the rest of it, then turned over the facings and sewed them down. That enabled me to get a good finish at the top of the zip, and a smooth finish all around the other armhole.

Waist shaping is all done with pleats that are released above and below the stitching lines. The ribbon ties are sewn into each front pleat at different levels.

The waist is actually slightly raised, which is always a good thing for me. I chose the pattern size (Burda size 40) based on the finished bust measurement printed on the pattern. I fully anticipated that I would have to make the pleats much shallower than instructed to allow for my thick midsection and was all ready to get out my trusty unpicker to alter them, but when I tried the dress on it fitted as it was! Hooray!

Another bonus was that it didn’t take me long to make. I used the machine to sew a blind hem, and didn’t have to do any hand-sewing at all. So this is a dress that I fully anticipated would be a disaster, but is a complete success. It feels great on, I didn’t make any changes to the pattern at all (not even to shorten it through the body anywhere) and it is suitable for many occasions. Yes, I’m going to make another one, but in a solid.