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Burda 11/2014 Wrap Skirt and Pattern Review

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Burda 11:2014 Wrap Skirt SquareI’ve finished a wrap skirt from the 11/2014 Burda magazine. It’s made from a lightweight cotton with a shiny finish, which I bought from Gebrüder Berger in Berlin.

The wrap skirt pattern itself is brainbendingly cool. The skirt wraps to form center front inverted pleat, and unlike most wrap skirts, this one is not open at the bottom, so no chance of it flying up!

Burda 11:2014 Wrap Skirt Front 2

It took me a while to puzzle out how the skirt worked when I was making it. The right leg of the pleat is sewn in place, but the left leg of the pleat is left open, which allows you to get into and out of the skirt. When you wrap the skirt, you wrap the left side over the right to get the inverted pleat.

Burda 11:2014 Wrap Skirt Front Construction 1

**UPDATE** I’ve made a video to show you how this skirt wraps. Hope this helps out anyone who wants to make the pattern!

Also, here’s a quick diagram of the skirt’s pleats and how it wraps:

Burdastyle Wrap Skirt Diagram

However, one problem with this wrap skirt is that it’s not forgiving if you change sizes. You’d think that a wrap skirt would be perfect to fit a range of sizes, but since center front pleat is formed by the wrap overlap, tying the waistband just a half an inch tighter or looser ruins the look of the inverted pleat. And then the yoke seams also don’t match up, drawing more attention to the problem.

Burda 11:2014 Wrap Skirt Front 3

There were a couple steps of the pattern instructions that I didn’t agree with. One was that the pattern recommends turning under the edges of the CF opening and hemming it by machine. Instead, I finished it with a piece of bias tape made from the same fabric, which looks cleaner from the inside. I topstitched the bias tape down by hand because part of the seam is visible when you’re wearing the skirt. Here’s a view of the CF from the inside:

Burda 11:2014 Wrap Skirt Front Construction 2

I wanted a big, asymmetrical, origami-like bow, so I lengthened the waist band by 1 yard on the right side (it is 4 yards long in total now). I also widened the waistband on the side I lengthened so it is 4 1/2″  wide at the end. It then tapers down to the regular pattern width as it approaches the yoke. The whole waistband is also interfaced to give it a bit more body.

Burda 11:2014 Wrap Skirt Wrapping Closeup 1

Since I added 1 yard to the right side of the waistband, I shifted the waistband so that the the waistband CB seam is now at the left skirt side seam.

Burda 11:2014 Wrap Skirt Waistband Construction

I also left part of the waistband CB seam open so that I can pull one end of the waistband through the other. I think it looks tidier than crossing the straps over each other.

Burda 11:2014 Wrap Skirt Wrapping Closeup 2

Here’s the back of the skirt. The yoke doesn’t have a CB seam, which makes the pattern hard to adjust once you’ve started sewing. I checked my measurements before I started sewing and used the slash and spread method to take an inch out of the back waist and add an inch at the hips before I cut my fabric out.

Burda 11:2014 Wrap Skirt Back 1

In the directions, the yoke is made from three layers of fabric. I used two layers of fabric and interfaced one of them. Maybe I’m missing out on some special trick, but that seemed to me like a more normal way to do it.

Burda 11:2014 Wrap Skirt Back Closeup 1

The last detail is the hem of the skirt. I like adding a facing to fuller skirts because it follows the curve of the hem, so it doesn’t have the puckers on the inside that I’d have if I had just turned up the hem. The hem is almost invisible from the right side because I sewed the top edge of the facing to the skirt by hand using a hem stitch.

Burda 11:2014 Wrap Skirt Faced Hem

I love how this skirt came out with its big bow and a bit of vintage flair. I’d like to make it again!

Burda 11:2014 Wrap Skirt Side 1

Comments
  • Anne

    A few years late, but thanks sooo much for posting this! That skirt looks gorgeous btw.

  • Todorka

    Hi,Helen!
    I really was unable to figure out how to do this Wrap Joke Skirt.The video is very helpful.
    Thanks a lot!

  • Marlies

    It looks beautiful on you. I am making this skirt as well but I stumbled upon a problem; is the skirt side with the front opening completely without pleat? It seems to suggest it has a half one in the discription but I can’t quite figure out how it works. Could you inform me on how you did this? Thanks in advance!

    • Helen

      Hi Marlies, you’re right – the side with an opening doesn’t have any pleat sewn in. Only the side without an opening has a pleat sewn in. I drew a diagram that will hopefully help a bit – it’s the fourth picture in the post now 🙂 Does that help a bit? Good luck with the skirt – I’d love to see it when it’s finished!

  • Sandra

    I love the skirt. In the magazine look good but in your description look super beautiful.

  • melissa e

    This is fantastic. I love everything about the skirt and how you’ve paired it with that blouse.

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