Huon Pine - Burda 7739 + Brooch give-away winners

 

Hello young lovers, where ever you are ...

I'm currently working on a pretty little sewing project which I can't WAIT to share with you guys. (Seriously, I have a real patience issue). It's a bit labour intensive so it's not yet finished, but it will be soon!

So I thought I would share with you a project that I made last Autumn and is an old favourite. In fact, I'm wearing it now as I type (minus the umbrella). It's the lovely cute little dress pattern #7739 by Burda,

But before I get all detaily on you, let's talk ...

Brooch give away winners!

Three winners were randomly chosen using http://www.random.org

A big congratulations to the following three readers who have each won a brooch!

The lovely Anna from AnnaBanana

 The lovely Zoe from ZoSews

 The lovely Fran from Lovely Little Sweetpeas

Congratulations ladies! I will be contacting you shortly with details.

Do not despair if you missed out. You can buy your own fabulous brooch at Ruemiraldi's online store.

So back to the dress! The dress is named Huon Pine because the beautiful buttons on the dress are in fact Huon Pine from the beautiful state of Tasmania in Australia. 

My wonderful friend Theresa had made a trip down to Tasmania, saw these fabulous buttons and brought them back for me. Isn't she the ace-est?

The buttons were so interesting and unique that I instantly went scouting to find the perfect dress to go with the buttons. Check out the middle button, it sort of looks like the map of Australia. Coincidence much?

After searching through pattern books I found a Burda pattern # 7739 which looked playful and cute, and would perfectly showcase the beautiful buttons.

I made version A with the bodice in a size 12 and the skirt cut as a 14 from the hips down.  I shortened the bodice by two cm's to give it a more obvious empire waist.

I used coating fabric for the dress, which was not exactly my most inspired moment; the dress gets hot really quickly. But it's great for those really cold days.

I like the little pleats at the front of the dress and the Peter Pan collar. The dress isn't lined, the instructions are easy to follow and it's a great pattern for a beginners.

I made the epic mistake of inserting an invisible zipper into this incredibly thick dress.

Twice.

As you sewers will expect, the zipper couldn't handle the fabric and broke.

Twice.

Suddenly my brain started working again and I bought a heavy duty zipper and inserted my first centred zipper.

Success! I learn the hard way apparently. My disclaimer was that I made this a year ago and so my sewing brain was still quite under developed (it's a thing).

Look at me hiding my face in shame!

This is one of the easiest dresses that I've ever made, but it sure gets a work out in the cooler seasons. It's lovely.