Burda of the month: 1/2017 #119 cowl neck top

I made my January Burda project way back in April, but I held off posting about it because I wasn't entirely happy with it and wanted to make some tweaks to it. I'm still not happy with it, so I'm recording here for posterity while I think what else I can do to make it better (probably a complete refashion).

This is 1/2017 #119, which Burda refers to as cowl neck shirt:

It's a typical Burda top which is very low cut thanks to that deep cowl, but interestingly for Burda this time they have included a camisole to wear under for modesty. You just know that if Burda think it needs an top to wear under it then it definitely it scandalously low!

The fabric I used is a cotton knit in dark brown with a metallic gold finish that gives it a bronze sheen, bought from The Fabric Store eariler this year during one of their sales. It really is lovely fabric, which is why I was so keen to make this work:

Unfortunately this top has turned out very frumpy. I do love a cowl neck, but the whole front of this top is essentially draped, and it just feels very big on me:

I cut out a straight size 36, even though according to my measurements I should have used a 42 at the hips and this still turned out huge. There's just way too much fabric across the front, and a bit too much at the back as well:

I did wear this top out to dinner and drinks one night back in April, and I found myself constantly adjusting it all night long. Tucking it in didn't look any good and nor did pinning out excess at the sides work because that just spread out the folds at the front but didn't make it fit any closer.

So I did what I usually do - let it sit in a little ball in my half made projects box for two months while I thought about it. Finally I decided to try sewing clear elastic along the side seams to gather the bottom half of the top and hopefully create some ruching across the middle that would reduce the length and maybe tighten it up a bit.

Well, that didn't work out that well either - it still looks frumpy:

Enough of the negative hey? The things I do like about this top beside the fabric is the shoulder pleats because they are a nice feature at the shoulder but also help the top drape in the front:

Construction wise this is pretty straightforward and simple to make. I didn't have enough fabric to make the camisole style top to wear underneath, so I literally have made a strapless crop top by sewing a tube with an elastic casing at the top, using the last bit of fabric I had left. This covers the necessary bits so it works.

So overall, I don't love this top at all and as I said at the outset I'm thinking of pulling it apart and making it into another top. There is plenty of fabric to work with, and I have loads of other cowl neck patterns that I can use, so I'll add this to my to do list.

But if you have a far better endowed bust line that I do, this top may look great on you so don't let my failure here put you off this pattern!