Something for the beach: Burda 115-7/2010 and 115-7/2011

Ok, I like to think that this looks better on me than the dress maker's dummy.  I've cranked the dummy out to my proportions, but still, I am arranged differently.  The dummy has much higher hips than me.

It's my intention to wear this on the beach in Costa Rica.  I'd never wear something like this to pick my kids up from school or pop into the supermarket.  It's thin and tight and clingy, so just perfect for poolside.


The skirt is a ridiculously easy pattern from the last issue of Burda mag. I sewed a size 44 with a size 42 waist.  In retrospect, I wish I had added an inch to the girth of the skirt and taken the waist in by a further three inches.  I would definitely sew this again.  I'd love to have it in a lux wool jersey for winter in black or marled grey.  It was ridiculously easy to sew too.

The top is from last year's July Burda.  Is there ever a time to throw out old Burda mags?  I haven't found it yet!

I ran out of vilene bias tape.  I used what I had on the arm-holes and neck of my top and used bonding tape for the hem and then stitched over it once it was ironed together.  This worked pretty well, but not perfectly.  I must have stretched the thin jersey as I ironed the hem up because there is a lettuce edge effect which I wasn't going for.

Knit Tops II

Second try at Burda 2/2011106

Okay, so I couldn't find any patterns I liked better in 2 years of Burda mags!  I tried Burda 2/2011 106 again.  This time in size 42 with a much stretchier fabric from Gorgeous Fabrics.  I wish I had stuck with size 40.  It would have been perfect for this softer, stretchier fabric.  Sigh.  It's wearable, and I like the fabric very much.  I even have enough left over for a short sleeved top.  

The hem of shame!

As you can see, the hem at the bottom looks pucker-y.  First I tried a twin needles and ended up with channels.  Then, I tried a simple zigzag stitch.  A zigzagged finished hem to my mom's generation would scream "home-made."  These days, none of my friends would have a clue.  It would just look like another utility stitch seen on t-shirts.  Sadly, it didn't go so well.  Even with a fancy new sewing machine and lots of fiddling with the tension, it just jumped all over the place.  The stitches were uneven and sometimes not even zigzags but straight stitches!  Finally, I used the machine's stretch stitch which worked fine, but by then the fabric had been stretched an awful lot.  Maybe it will bounce back after washing?  I can always hope.

Just to show that the same stretch stitch worked fine when the fabric hadn't been previously manhandled.

Finally, in my last post several people wondered why a zip was needed for Burda 2/2011 102.  I did not use a zip.  The directions don't call for a zip, either.  You just have to use a zip, if you make the version with a lace overlay.  I am guessing, maybe not even then if the lace is nice and stretchy.

Knit Tops

I want to sew a couple of black and white tops to wear underneath my new yellow jacket. 


First up, I'll show you Burda 2/2011 102B.  It was easy to sew and worked out well.  It fits tightly through the shoulders and bust and then skims the tummy.  (Well, it skims my tummy because I flared out from a 40 on top to a 44 at the bottom hem.)  Not a bad look for a lot of us.  I was glad I made it in a busy print because I find it difficult to precision sew on most knits.  Things stretch and slip and slide, so obscuring that with a print helps.  I would certainly recommend this pattern.  My only caution is that it ends right at the waist, so if you pair it with low slung trousers which are still ubiquitous, you will end up with a couple of inches of your lower belly peaking through.  This is either terribly sexy, or an absolute train-wreck.  In my case it's the later!

This looks a lot better on a real woman to fill out the sleeves and decollate.  I got the fabric from Gorgeous Fabrics.

Here is the Burda 2/2011 102a/b technical drawing.

Next, I tried Burda 2/2011 106.  A couple of years ago I bought 5 metres of plain white, all cotton jersey from Truro fabrics.  I have been using it to "muslin" knit tops.  If it doesn't work out, at least it was cheap.  If it does, hurray! another white tshirt, always useable. 

Burda 2/2011 106

In this case the knit top is barely useable.  The t-shirt fits me like a moulage!  I look like  a fat little sausage in it.  The pictures of the model in the magazine show it to be fitted, but not with negative ease, so I got out my tape measure.  My bust had grown from 36" to 36 3/4".  I am bigger, but not so much bigger that I would go up from a 40 to a 42.  So, if you are considering using this pattern beware.  It would work fine with a stretchy jersey with plenty of spandex, but not if you want something looser.  

I had the hips flare out a from a 40 to a 44- that's the shape I am in!  But this gives you the basic idea of how it would sew up.

This is the detail on the neck line.  You end up with a very thin band of self fabric to finish the neckline.  It looks nice enough.  You can see my booboo in the top left where I failed to catch the binding while I stitched in the ditch.

So, I still have a black and white stripe knit from Gorgeous Fabrics burning a hole in my stash.  I need to find another suitable pattern to try.  I have Burda mags going back to November 2009, so there must be something.  

Simplicity 2554

I didn't sew all the winter clothes that I wanted to sew, but I've cut my losses and moved on to Spring/Summer. Soon there will be so much work in the garden that my sewing time will really suffer, and I desperately need some tops. My first top is Simplicity's 2554 in version B.

Simple knit tops won't set the world on fire, but they are the sort of thing I wear 90% of the time, when I am running around the neighbourhood with the kids.  So, I intend to sew a handful of them and this pattern has a few different versions which is just what I need.  

I intended to sew view B.  In the end I cut out view B and almost sewed view B, but with the instructions for three different knit tops all together on the page, I got confused and followed some of the instructions for view C.  Once I realised that I had the shoulder ruffles extending further down the sides than was intended, I decided to leave it!  I think it looks OK and I didn't want to pick out all the stitches on a thin jersey knit.  I'll try to sew version B again in white and do it properly.  

There is a lot to like about this pattern.  It's quick and easy.  It doesn't require any notions, so it's cheap.  It accents the shoulders and is drape-y.  It comes in several variations.  The only downside is that it minimizes the bust.  I am a small B and that is not welcomed.

Why am I keen on shoulders and drape-y?  Well, all the trousers around here are now tight through the thighs and tapered down through the ankles, where they usually bag up a little.  I am a pear shape and need a little balance on my top half, especially with jeans and pants in this silhouette. I've held out in boot cut jeans for as long as I can.  Now, when I wheel around the grocery store, I definitely feel like I am in "Mom Jeans," and mom jeans that not even the other moms are wearing! 

Just a quick thought on fabric selection.  I used a black bamboo jersey knit from fabric.com which had been in my stash for nearly two years.  (Hey, that's a make for the month of March in Helen's stash busting drive!)  I always wash my fabrics before sewing them.  I am a good girl.  Usually this makes the jersey knits roll up terribly, but this knit wasn't bad at all.  Perhaps because it is bamboo rather than all cotton?  Also, does everyone pre-wash their cotton jersey?  Would it be more sensible not to bother because of the rolling?

Burda 7594

I made myself a snuggly warm tunic last week.  I found the chunky cable knit wool on Goldhawk Road in Shepherd's Bush.  I used Burda's very easy pattern 7594.


The pattern was easy, but the knit material wasn't!  My sewing machine could barely manage all the bulk.  I would sew this pattern again, it's so quick and easy and only requires 1.25 meters of fabric (1 1/3 yards.)  But, I won't be seduced by chunky knit fabric again!


Now and then I run across pretty sweater-type knits, but I don't buy them because I cannot imagine what I would sew out of them.  I always assumed I would need some sort of matching ribbing etc., which I would never find.  Now I think this will be my go-to pattern, if I do bump across a lovely knit.  


A few things to admit here: I lengthened the pattern, I wouldn't do that again.  I think it would look better if I just sewed it as intended (I wanted something that would completely cover my bottom, if I wore leggings.)  Also, my measurements as per Burda patterns are a 40 bust and a 44 hip.  I cut a 40 on top and a 42 on bottom.  I ended up having to take the sides in by inches!  Odd.  Next time I would just cut a 38, despite the fact, that I am only a 38 in my dreams!