Burda 02/2013 #126 - the little tshirt that took ages

Thursday 28 November 2013
Happy thanksgiving to all my American readers! It's not something we celebrate here in Australia, but there are a few things I'd like to give thanks to - thanks to Toby for choosing not to sleep at night time anymore, it means we get to spend sooo much more time together! Their childhood is so fleeting why would you waste it on a silly thing like sleeping? Thanks also to Toby for passing on his annoying cough to me - it's a great way to work those abs without doing a single sit up. Thanks to Oscar for pulling through his near death experience last week on my birthday no less and is now practically back to normal. Thanks also to family for their wonderful birthday presents of a Japanese sewing book and some new camera lens, and especially to my husband for organising the kids to have a sleepover with their grandparents while we stayed in a fancy city hotel.

And I'm thankful that I've finally finished my latest project: a simple tshirt that turned out to take a long time to finish. Well actually sewing it up didn't take that long, but sewing on the neckband four times until I got it right certainly did!


I used Burda 02/2013 #126 which was made quite successfully by many bloggers when it was first released:

Isn't that model photo from Burda absolutely absurd styling? The whole point of the tshirt is the gathered sleeves, yet the model has a jacket and a scarf covering them up.....

I sewed mine from a mystery knit found deep within my stash, which is very soft and very stretchy. Like Sharon's version, my neckband was very droopy and too big which I also blame on the fabric, and I ended up taking in the neckband incrementally four times, until I ended up with it a smidgen too short (of course!) so there are a few puckers around the neck. Ah well, I can live with it because there was no way I was going to do it again!

Apart from the neckband issue it's a pretty straightforward project - the sleeves are gathered and then just sewn on raglan style so it can't be much easier. I made the smallest size knowing that the significant ease of the knit meant it would be fine size wise and hopefully take care of any fabric pooling at the back since I didn't do a swayback adjustment. Seems fine to me:


I quite like this top - it's as easy to wear as a standard tshirt but the gathered sleeves make it just that little bit different.  It's really long though, you can see in that photo above that the hem of the tshirt sits halfway down my skirt that I've tucked it into. If I were to make this again I would definitely shorten it a fair bit because it's too long to wear out but too bulky to tuck in.


Overall it's quite a good pattern, maybe I will make another one day when I've worked myself back up to working with knits. For now though it's back to sewing with well behaving woven fabrics, so much easier and more predictable!

40 comments:

  1. Love it, you've made a great version. The pic in Burda is horrible! It doesn't show the best of this tshirt.
    Last week I made it in long sleeve.
    It's very long, so I choped it. Hope you like it: http://quepuedohacerconesto.blogspot.com.es/2013/11/burda-127-022013.html
    :)

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    1. Ooh I really like your version, adding cuffs on the long sleeve version is a great idea

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  2. Very cute tee your persistence with the neckline paid off! And sleep ? Sleeps so overrated - just ask my 3 yr olds ;)

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    1. 3 year olds plural? I cannot imagine how much energy you must need!

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  3. Good for you for being persistent with your neckband as your t-shirt has turned out great. Love the sleeve details as it adds a great touch. I just finished sewing two t-shirts for myself (still to blog about) and I think I'm addicted to them now lol.

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    1. Thanks Chris. I'm still torn between the effort needed to get a good finish on my tshirts and the value they add to my wardrobe. Maybe I need a coverstitch machine!

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  4. Cute! I have been thinking a lot lately about how if the fabric is super stretchy, can't the back be cut in such a way that the swayback pooling is eliminated. That's kind of what happened with the super stretchy stretch lace tank I sewed this summer for the gym, but it has a CB seam. I'm thinking of trying sewing it without a CB seam and seeing what happens.

    I really want to sew up some sweater knits while it is cold out, so I want to get my act together about that and solve the swayback problem.

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    1. You probably could because knit is so stretchy and forgiving. I just went for negative ease to solve the problem in my usual lazy fashion

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  5. This is a cute top with absurd styling in the magazine. I keep forgetting to make this top, so I've just added it to my list. Happy Thanksgiving from the USA! Hope the baby starts to sleep soon and your cough goes away!

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    1. Thanks Andrea, cough is almost gone but still no sign of Toby sleeping more sadly

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  6. Cheers for your patience...my version of that tshirt is sitting in my UFO pile with its excessive length and way droopy neckline...

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    1. oh I'm glad it wasn't just me - I can't understand why other people seem to churn out knits so easily but I can't do them without major effort and yet I can make a tailored jacket turn out perfectly. One of life's mysteries I guess!

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  7. Very cute top! The neckline looks great to me, and the gathers are such a fun touch. I get so intimidated by knits, but they go together so fast it often makes up for the unpredictable and shifty nature of sewing them. But then something like this happens and back to woven cotton it is...

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    1. Thanks Kelly - this is exactly the reason why I sew with woven fabric most of the time, it is far more predictable and better behaved!

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  8. I really like this pattern and white is a colour that I perhaps should have made. I actually didn't use there neckband instructions. Instead using my own method. I can never seem to get any neckband pattern piece to fit correctly, hence my deviation.

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    1. Aha that explains why you were able to make three perfect versions without any troubles!

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  9. This is a very cute top. Would you mind sharing the name of your Japanese sewing book or any recommendations regarding good Japanese sewing books which include patterns as I'm sewing out of Yoshiko Tsukiori childrens book at present and would like to make some garments for myself as well and I always respect any advice you give regarding sewing. Thanks

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    1. Thanks Kay - I'll do a separate post on this shortly because it's really hard to describe the titles!

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  10. Happy birthday for last week! That t-shirt is on my to-do list, it's good to see it properly as opposed to Burda's bizarre styling choices. Sometimes you have to wonder whether they really want you to sew what they put out there.

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    1. Thanks Paola - I sometimes wonder a lot about the contents of the Burda mag!

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  11. That is a cute top. The sleeves are the bit that makes this top look great.
    DH did a great job celebrating your birthday.
    Cheers.

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    1. Thanks Maria. DH was under a lot of pressure to do something good since I passed up on the trip to Melbourne for it!

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  12. I do like this t-shirt... yeah what's up with the models version... how in the world do they expect anyone to see what it looks like? It is a cute t though. Hope you did have a very happy belated birthday! Mine was a few weeks back too. The family spoiled me as they do... the sweeties. It's hard having a birthday so close to Christmas... hard to think of ideas for things I may want after I've already done that. I do like surprises so we shall see what they come up with. I did put a big huge hint in for a dress form! That would be cool!
    Thanks .... we had a nice Thanks Giving... our DD #2 made it for just the 4 of us. Everyone else was at in-laws. Take care

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    1. Thanks Jean. A small Thanksgiving must have been nice, less pressure and frantic running around?

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  13. A cute top - and yes, Burda's stylist seems to have completely missed the point of a short sleeved summery top!

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  14. Top looks great on you. You are right on the styling of the Burda photo. Not only does is cover the main attraction, but she is wearing a massive coat and scarf with short shorts! Silly.

    Glad you enjoyed your birthday.

    BTW - love the skirt.

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    1. Thanks Bev - it's almost as ridiculous as those ladies in Sydney that insist on wearing thongs in winter with their heavy coats! I always laugh at that

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  15. What a week you have had, hope all is starting to settle down. You persevered a lot longer than I did and have ended up with a very smart t-shirt.

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    1. Thanks Sharon - my husband says I'm stubborn but I like to refer to it as perseverance too!

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  16. The gathered raglan sleeves are very flattering to your shape - it adds some dimension to your shoulders, to balance your hips ( I think I recall that you cut 8/10/12).

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    1. Thanks SarahLiz - I hadn't planned it but I'm glad that it works that way!

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  17. That Burda styling is hilarious! The real thing is really pretty, I love the gathered sleeves and if there are neckband puckers you can't tell!

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    1. Thanks Carie - there's always a good laugh to be had in nearly every Burda issue

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  18. Fab top! I may need to check out ths pattern... one that I would have never looked at without blog posts like yours...

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    1. Thanks Sue. I wouldn't have noticed it if others hadn't blogged about it either - our blog posts make the world go around!

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  19. Yeah, Burda's styling is weird sometimes... Your top looks great! The gathered sleeves are a nice feature. Happy belated birthday!!!

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    1. I often wonder are there people in Germany walking around dressed like this? But I guess every country has their super fashionable people don't they?

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  20. I have seen this made a few times now and I love it everytime! The gathered sleeves makes it just that little bit special I think. Congrats on your perseverence! Cheers, Karen

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