Burda dirndle dress

I decided to make this in January. Its a dirndle dress that I bought from the german Burda Style site ages ago. Its style 120 Burda Style 07/2010 and I bought it as part of a Buy one get one free offer. I never got round to it because it really does not fit into real life.  I just could not visualise it in any available fabric until I found the black powermesh which was bought to make underwear, but never mind. I cut it out just after Christmas and started to sew it up. Then I got stuck. I did not like the top that is part of the dress. Its a fake dirndle blouse that fits into the mock corset and it looked rubbish so I removed it having spent weeks trying to make it work.

So by then its about March. Lockdown had begun. Still this dress sat there in bits (and in the way!) with me not knowing how to finish it. The mock corset bodice is stretch woven faux leather. I have previously made several pairs of leggings and a skirt from this. Oh and a top which is a bit old now but one of my favourites ever and a dress. The dress was the least successful. I wear the leggings loads. I may make a second pair of green in fact. Maybe with contrast black sides, since I still have lots of the green left and this stuff will of course decay so I do need to use it all up.

Previous experience has told me this stuff is very diffcult to hem. Especially round curves. I thought about stretch velvet elastic, stretch lace and varous different hem options but I could not decide how to finish the edge of the top. I needed to somehow finish the neckline of the leather bodice without making it crumpled looking because its hard to hem this stuff so in the end I just overlocked the edge and turned under once. Its not perfect but I am happy enough and it really does not look too bad when on me.

The skirt and what would have become the mock top are made from powermesh over a stretch lining. I should have made the lining wider. It works but I have loads of it and it would have worked better I think and looked more floaty with a wider fuller lining fabric.

Anyway this dress is sitting there and how to make it work. I showed my partner and he says it just needs one of those little tops they wear in Germany. Well yes its a dirdle! and I already have lots of those Carmen type of tops so I tried it on with one and its really good. Not quite a classic dirndle but worthy of wearing to Oktoberfest. And my stretch faux leather "corset" is far more comfortable than proper corset tops!

So with my skull top:

And a major advantage is it can have several different tops under it and so different looks.

This is my gold top:

Or even with a T shirt which looks like a great Halloween outfit:

I am not so sure this will get too much wear really, though it does have a great Goth vibe with the mesh skirt.

I have always intended to eventually make a dirndle of some description.

Well how can you not if you keep reading Burda?

All I need now is an Oktober festival to wear this too or maybe a Whitby Goth festival ?

Stay safe

Bracken