I have been eyeing Burda #101, the cap sleeve & tank dress with gathered rectangle skirt. It’s a basic sun dress, with a basic bodice-block top, but I liked the simple style of it. Basic patterns like these are easy to manipulate, and add small details to make them really unique.
I made a few small changes to the pattern. First, I found the sizing to be quite off. I haven’t sewn a lot of burda patterns, but I cut what was to be for a size 37 3/4″ bust, and I was swimming in it. I probably reduced the whole thing by about 4 inches. Prior to this, I had found bruda patterns usually fit pretty well. Maybe I misinterpreted the pattern and cut the wrong size… I am notoriously bad at reading instructions.
Anyway, I made my dress out of a woven stripe that has some serious stretch to it. Because of that, I was able to omit the zipper completely. This made me very happy because I hate sewing zippers. Yep, I’ll be the first to admit, I’ll go out of my way to avoid installing a zip.
I added ribbon ties to the shoulders. I trimmed back the shoulder seam by about 1/2″ on either side, basted and gathered along the raw edge, then stitched my ribbon to it.
On the back I added a heart cut out, which I bound this time with navy fold over elastic. Bias binding works just as well.
