Chinese New Year Dresses: Burda Fatina & Simplicity 1877

Happy Chinese New Year 2013! Wishing everyone happiness and health always.  For CNY this year I wore 2 handmade dresses, which was a first as I have always been wearing RTW previously.  

On the first day of CNY I wore a cheongsam I made using the Burda Fatina pattern, made with inexpensive kain songket fabric.  The fabric has a beautiful sheen and weave to it. Kain Songket is sort of like brocade but thinner and is prone to ravelling fibers.   In the past I have always felt slightly guilty buying pricey RTW cheongsams and only wearing it once for this annual special ocassion but this year I am guilt free as I made my own cheongsam.   This is my second time making this pattern, you can see the the first one here.  As many have mentioned, this pattern is a bit boxy so next time I make it I will make sure I include bodice darts at the back.

A picture of the cheongsam I took using my Iphone.  The collars are piped with orange piping.

On the 3rd day of CNY, I wore my handmade dress from Simplicity 1877, a Leanne Marshall pattern.  The pattern features a dangerously low plunging neckline and also low arm holes which is not for the faint hearted like me.  I prefer not to wear the dress with a tube inside so I raised the neckline by a whole 5 inches and also raised the armholes (which created some slightly noticeable pulling at the side of the dress).

I rather like the ruffly bits at the shoulder which is a Leanne Marshall signature.  The inverted V waistline creates a slim silhouette for the waist and the front pleats are very interesting. This pattern is rather easy to sew up but it took me a bit more time as I chose to line the bodice.