Dirndl Progress

Well, I'm back home from my wonderful Austin Christmas trip and surveying the crazy state of my sewing room. I left it in a mad flurry of different projects: the sew-along knit wrap top (final posts coming this week!), my Christmas dress for my card with Henry, and then the dirndl I've been obsessing about.

I wrote about making this dirndl months ago, and I'm finally doing it. The thing is, it's such a big project--and a type of sewing I knew little about. So of course it's consumed me to the point where I once woke up in the middle of the night to work on because I couldn't sleep! Yep, it's a sewing obsession.

I started with Burda 7443, but I've made about a million changes to the pattern. The lucky thing is that I now have two high-end dirndls that I'm using as research: one from Tostmann Trachten and one from Lena Hoschek. I love them both dearly, but the Lena Hoschek one has been my primary inspiration. It has something about it that I find completely sublime.

I used tiny piping on the bodice back princess seams and all around the neckline and armholes, just like the Lena Hoschek dirndl. The main fabric is one of my fall jacquards and then the piping is in a contrasting shantung.

One of my favorite things about the Lena Hoschek dirndl is the skirt: it's fully lined and has hand-stitched rows of shirring all the way around (except under the apron, where there are pleats).

I debated about whether to imitate this detail for my very first dirndl; it seemed ambitious to the point of stupidity. However, that is often my specialty! So I dove right in. I used polka dot quilting cotton for the lining, which also served as my guide for making the hand rows of shirring.

These rows had to made along long stretches fabric--almost three yards. Great for the middle of the night when you can't sleep. If the stitches somehow get alternated on one row, you have to re-do that part. Ask me how I know!

Anyhoo, the shirring finally came together in a rather lovely way, though nowhere near perfect.

I decided to use hooks and eyes at the center front bodice opening (rather than the called-for zipper). This meant changing the pattern a little (it now needed self-facings at center front), and also adding a placket that serves as a little modesty panel underneath the hooks and eyes.

I used steel boding on either side of the center front. It has another row of vertical stitching next to the boning channel, which helps keep the layers together where the hooks and eyes are sewn (I learned this from my Tostmann dirndl).

I've also been playing around with trim at the neckline, I know I want something very 3D and girly, in the vein of Lena Hosheck. This ruffle won't quite do, but it's on the right track. I also want to try a piped box-pleated trim.

Of course, I also have to make the blouse! I picked out this white with black swiss dots.

And then there's the apron, which will be in the same fabric as the piping on the bodice. 

So there's still quite a lot of work to be done, and I have to give attention to several other things at the moment. But I thought I'd share a bit of my process as I go. Wish me luck!