I’m going to try and say this as calmly as possible. I MADE A NOTCHED COLLAR!!! And, better yet, it doesn’t suck! Even crazier, Burda’s instructions kinda made sense. Although, I was on the phone with Trena and had to hang up to concentrate. The right is a little better than the left. But, for the first time ever, with no muslin in sight — fanfreakingtastic.
I’m taking your advice from last week and trying to find small pockets of time to sew. I just don’t have the six hours of uninterrupted weekend time that I used to and I need to make adjustments. So, following many of your suggestions, I’m going with the 30 minutes to an hour when I can.
So, I’m now working on #127 from the Feb. 2010 Burda:
My only qualm is that Burda says use a stretch woven. Most times, it doesn’t matter. But, it totally did on one old project. I’m hoping this time it doesn’t! If it’s not too snug, it’ll get a lining. If it is really sized for a stretch woven, my mom will be getting an unlined dress.
Miss Celie's Pants 
That is one mighty fine notched collar my friend! Congrats! Looking great. Let me know how the small increments works; I find that it takes me an hour just to get ready to sew. So then if I only had an hour, I’d be screwed! Living in a small 1 bedroom apt in NYC sucks for sewing.
Well, I sort of see now I’m off by 1/4 an inch. But, imma let it slide this time 😀 I think an hour is all I can swing at night. Too sleepy after 10 pm!
I think the only place you may need to worry is the sleeves. If you haven’t cut them out, measure to make sure they are not too snug. And if they turn out to be, just go sleeveless! What a great notched collar – congrats!!
It looks absolutely perfect. Look forward to seeing the finished 127. What an elegant dress.
Lovely collar and lovely dress! Of course, I won’t get to see this issue for another few months, but I have the perfect piece of stretch wool for it already. You’ll be surprised how much you can achieve in half hour increments here and there. That’s why I spend whole afternoons cutting things out. Last night I cut out three knit tops. They’ll get made up during the week in bits of otherwise wasted time.
Congrats. All tricky techniques will fall before you!
Like the dress, very nice. I like grey.
The girl in the photo…. I’m sure we are supposed to think she is hailing a taxi, but she looks more to me like she has just seen someone she’s not sure she wants to and is returning a very doubtful wave!
Cheers,
AJ
congrats on the notched collar! i love sewing milestones! what a feeling of satisfaction:) also, i second leaving the sleeves off if the fit is too tight. summer is right around the corner anyways!
Wow, that collar looks fantastic!!!!!!
Great collar. Ain’t no stoppin’ ya now!
Alleluia! Looks great!
Wow! You did an excellent job with this. I love that dress pattern, it is on my to do list which grows longer and longer.
Oooh! Oooh! Oooh! I want to make this dress, too! Your notched collar looks just fine, and I bet the finished dress will look absolutely stunning!
Awesome collar! That dress is going to look fantastic.
Congrats! You will never notice that 1/4″ when you are wearing the dress!
WOOT! Nice job.
Awesome! Can’t wait to see your progress on this dress.
Nice job!
That looks fantastic!
Very nice!!
I can’t believe you did that with only the Burda instructions. Looks great!
That really does look great! Awesome!
Totally gorgeous!
It looks great! Congratulations!
Great collar! Looking forward to seeing the finished dress. I have that pattern traced and ready to go.. together with about 10 other things. I made a muslin (sort of) and I seem to remember it was fitted around the shoulders but then needed a belt to bring it into shape… but it’s been a while ago. Also the muslins was not suitable fabric at all 😦
Btw, I always enjoy your blog.
Oh, that’s good to know. I’ll baste in the sleeves first and see how it is. Thanks!
You are one of the hugest biggest greatest encourager of difficult techniques! I think your collar is just fab. And I LOVE that pattern. As a new sewest, I haven’t tried any Burda patterns, but that pattern, to die for. I want it. I love it.
Do me a favor, if this turns out to be a gift to your mom, make another for yourself. Please! You will look wonderful in it. Then make another in a brighter color…..grey is good for work, but you need this in a FUN and FAB fabric just because.
Great collar. I have a skinny jacket cut in practice muslin in the sewing basket and I am dreading the notched collar a bit. You gave me hope!
I really *hated* the fashion photos of this dress, and therefore am really looking forward to seeing it on a real person. And yay for notched collar!
At least you have a contingency plan for the dress if it doesn’t fit you! Nice collar!
Congrats! I have absolutely no plans to sew a notched collar in the near future — too hard! It looks great.
This is truly fanfreakingtastic!!! Now, you can do what my instructor taught me one time when I confessed I was not good at lapels….do six jackets in a row, and you will never forget how to do this. They look fabulous and here’s to a lot more good-looking lapels in the future!
Great collar! I love that dress pattern too. I’ve had my eye on that one as well, and am also considering a non-stretch fabric, so I can’t wait to see how yours turns out.