August Burda of the Month: 8/2015 #120 another pink drape top

In my last post I was lamenting doing horrible things to a nice fabric - in this post I will lament doing nice things to horrible fabric! I picked a long term resident from my stash because I liked the colour and it draped nicely, composition unknown though, maybe some sort of woven polyester.

Unfortunately it's one of those fabrics that creases the second you dare touch or move it, so badly so that when I pressed one section another would immediately crease and so this top looks creased, puckered and altogether terrible. I'm calling this one a muslin, because I did need to do some fitting changes to get the pattern right so it still has some value in that regard and I definitely plan on making another one in a more beautiful fabric. But for now, here it is:

I used pattern #120 from the 8/2015 Burda magazine:

images via Burda Style

I have to say this issue is fantastic - after struggling to pick anything for the last few months this month I struggled just to pick one thing because there were quite a few great patterns. Yay Burda! But (and there's always a but), it does annoy when Burda does what they have done here and treats very slight variations on the pattern as three separate patterns. Honestly, the only difference between view B and C is using contrast fabric on the neckline, and the only difference with A is that the drape is sewn from two different fabrics.

As you can see from the line drawing, the top is rather shapeless. I seem to have an allergy to shapeless, unfitted garments and can never leave well enough alone! I curved those side seams in quite a bit at the waist line tapering out to nothing at the bottom. I think this has made it look very shapely whilst still being loose enough to wear with a zipper in the back.

I also significantly curved in that centre back seam to get rid of the excess fabric at my swayback as usual - I took it in about 5cm in my lower back tapering out to nothing at the top and bottom which has given me a slim fit at the back too. The hem dips slightly at the back too which is a nice touch:

I really like how the drape overlay on the front comes out of the shoulder seam - close to the sleeve but not part of it:

And I've certainly learnt my lesson from previous Burda projects that have a keyhole neckline and I lengthened the opening by another 4cm to make sure it would fit over my head (which I'm sure is normal sized!).

The model in the magazine is wearing her blouse tucked in, but I'm not so sure about this look. Because the drape sits over the waistband it just looks like the top is sloppily half tucked in and half slipping out to me:

The sleeves are a very slim fit, which I very much like the look of but they do mean you have a bit less movement. Which is fine because I won't be wearing this top playing tennis but if I stand with my hands on my hips or arms crossed (which I do far too often), the sleeve cap does pop up:

But overall I love this pattern - it's simple but still interesting. It did take me longer to sew than I expected though - several hours over a few nights mainly because I was fighting the whole way with the fabric but also because I basted those side and back seams several times to gradually take it in and doing a narrow hem on the drape edge is a bit fiddly. I did think about doing a rolled edge on my overlocker except I didn't have enough matching thread to do it.

When I make this again I think I will round out those angles on the drape so that it's one continuous seam instead of having those sharp corners to make it easier to sew. And hopefully I can find a decent fabric in a pink colour because I am still keen on making on a pink top despite two failures in a row now!