Burda World of Fashion 1/2008 blouse 125B

Today I purchased the latest Burda WoF magazine available here in Australia, the March edition which is full of patterns I totally love so it was a good buy. I also finished another Burda WoF creation, my third to date. So let's see what the cost to make ratio is now: 8 magazines @$15 = $120, 3 patterns used = $40 per pattern!!!! Lucky I really love this blouse and the jacket I made recently, and I have plans to make lots more so I will get my money's worth, eventually.....

So on to the latest creation. I made the pin tucked sleeve blouse 125B featured in the January 2008 magazine. Imaginatively, I made in a white herringbone weave 100% cotton that I bought in Bangkok earlier this year for some crazy cheap price, and I bought heaps of it too, which was lucky because with those voluminous sleeves this pattern uses a lot of fabric for a shirt. It was lovely fabric to sew with, and lovely to wear so it was an all round bargain in my books.

The pattern was rather simple, it is just a shirt after all. The pintucks were a bit fiddly, but made easier to get straight because of the stripes in the fabric from the herringbone weave. After seeing the beautiful orange stretch satin version the Peacock Chic made, I realise mine could have been a lot harder to sew but could also have been a lot more brighter and fun too! Ah well, I did need another white shirt.

And here is the finished product, after a full day's wear at work (hence my shiny face):

Boy I look really pale in this photo! I did wear it under a suit I also made (yet to be blogged about) in a royal blue with a gold check wool fabric, and a pair of red shoes (of course!), so it wasn't as dull an outfit as the above photo suggests. Because it was rather chilly in my office I kept the jacket on all day, so no one even noticed it was a new shirt. Perhaps the shirt will be better worn under a tunic (ie a jumper dress) or just a vest to show off the sleeves to their fullest.

Originally I made version A of this shirt, with the extra large cuff that is to be worn turned up. I even went and specially bought the 19 (!) required buttons (a trip to the fabric shop that entailed in me purchasing more fabrics) and made all the button holes, but the sleeves were way too long, and my fabric just wasn't crisp enough for the cuff to turn up properly, so I cut some of the sleeve off and made narrow cuffs as per version B of the pattern. Note to anyone else considering making this - check your sleeve lengths!

I also used this tutorial that I found on on Pattern Review for this blouse to do the collar stand. The lady who wrote this tutorial based it on the David Coffin shirtmaking book that quite a few of you are raving about, and after using this technique I can fully understand why.

Well, I have my next Burda WoF pattern already traced off, a jacket also from the 1/08 magazine and I need to get busy on improving that cost/make ratio!