I'm part way through making my project from the May issue, but I'm having some annoying fit issues that I'm still contemplating the best way of fixing. So I decided to skip forward to the June issue and make a rather simple top, since nothing else really caught my eye. Funnily enough for a pattern made of two pieces it gave me just as many fit issues as any complicated pattern.
I'm going to say this right up front - this project is a wadder and will not even make it into my wardrobe at all. But for the record, here's my completed project: Burda 6/2015 #116:
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| Burda 6/2015 #116B |
If you are a sewing purist that appreciates fine finishes and proper techniques you may want to stop reading now - because between the unsophisticated pattern design and my dodgy fixes this is not my finest moment.
Let's start with how bad the pattern is - I should have known from the outset that it was going to be all sorts of wrong. It has only one pattern piece - the front and back is the same, and it is cut on the fold.
The v-neckline is created by cutting a slit down the centre of the piece, and spreading the piece open which creates the shoulders, causes the draping of fabric along the front and technically should have straightened that pointy hem out:
I've used a very fine cotton fabric that has been in the stash a long time that drapes very well, so I thought it might be ok. But instead I ended up with this top that gaped open very badly at the top of my arms at the bustline:
But I'm not the only one that had this problem - there is a version on the Russian burdastyle website that looks exactly like the one I've made, although there are two other versions that don't seem to have the problem. I didn't cut my v - neckline as deep as the pattern was designed, so I don't know if that has caused this, but at this point I knew that this was going to be a wadder.
The Burda pattern instructions instruct you to leave the neckline raw, but use a binding strip for the armhole edges which struck me as very strange because the fabric suggestion is for silk satin (view B is for a knit) which would surely unravel and look terrible. Surely Burda could have drafted a facing for the neckline?
Since I thought this was a losing battle, I just turned the overlocked edge under and top-stitched. Which of course on a v-neck doesn't work very well (remember purists I did warn you to look away!):
Anyway I still wasn't happy with that gaping at the shoulders, so I decided to baste in a dart to take out that excess. It took out away the gaping but it didn't really improve the top (look, I can barely crack a smile at this point):
The drape on the front view looks ok, but the side view makes this look like a maternity top which I definitely do not need:
And there is loads of excess fabric in the back:
I tried tucking it in and hiding it beneath a jacket, but that defeats the point of a lightweight, drapey top doesn't it?
My humble opinion - I do not recommend this pattern at all. I like the pleats at the shoulder and the overall idea of the top, but that neckline is just lazy drafting and I'm pretty sure you could find a better pattern for a v-neck top with draping. I just don't think an easy pattern needs to be this poorly designed.
But the good thing about my Burda challenge is that it forces me to try something different sometimes, and nothing has been lost but a bit of stash fabric and a few hours of my time. Onwards and upwards for the next project I say.
By the way it still is bitterly cold here in Sydney, I've just cranked up the heat to take these photos!
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