I’m making Burda 122-09-2010, which is a knit dress with all the shaping in the seamlines, in neoprene. This is my trial run, made from an old piece of neoprene which got creased in storage. I’m wearing it inside-out in the pictures because the right side is black and wouldn’t photograph very clearly, whereas the red side shows up nicely.

Here’s the front view. I had to take a wedge out of the centre front, which is what the short black seamline running from the neckline is for. I also had to cut the front neckline down by about an inch.

The original pattern was a petite and I’m taller than average so I had to add quite a lot of length to it. However I got this slightly wrong. The first seam down from the neckline runs over the bust rather than below it. I measured pretty carefully, so I’m not quite sure what happened there.

The back needed quite a lot of adjustment. I had take three darts out of the top to accommodate my rounded shoulders! I quite like the interest the extra seamlines add so I’ll probably keep this in the final version rather than adjusting the pattern pieces to remove the darts.

I think the back piece needs to come in a little around the waist too, although if I make it too much smaller I won’t be able to get into the dress! I was going to add a zip, but right now it doesn’t need it and I don’t really want to have to put one in if it can be avoided.

I sewed most of the seams by pushing the two edges (with no seam allowance) up against each other and zigzagging over the top, but this would have been practically impossible for the long vertical seams on the back. I did these by using the hinge method that Elizabeth posted about recently for sewing fur. I can report it works a treat on neoprene too.

I’m really liking this dress so far. It’s comfortable and very warm. I think it’s wearable as-is (well, it is if I turn it right side out) but I am going to adjust the pattern pieces and make another version.