Burda Challenge: 6/2017 #103 tie neck blouse

My Burda magazines are arriving later and later each month - now they don't arrive until mid to late of the following month. But that's not a problem because I'm quite behind in this year's challenge, but when this magazine arrived I traced out this pattern and started sewing it the very same day. You see, I just bought some lovely Liberty lawn that I was very keen to make into something and this pattern was perfect.

This is Burda 6/2017 #103, a rather simple blouse with some nice piping details:

images via Burda Style

This is a relatively simple project to make, and is also the illustrated sewing lesson in the magazine and a blog post on the Burda website. It is a bit shapeless though, due to the lack of darts and shaping - the recommended fabric is crepe de chine which I guess is needed to make sure it drapes around the body. The Liberty lawn I've used is soft but doesn't drape  as well as a silk fabric would, so it is a bit puffy when worn tucked in. I may put in some vertical darts on the front and back to get rid of some of the looseness, but I'll wear it a few more times before I decide.

It's even worse though if I don't tuck it in. This is a bit wrinkled from wear, but worn out it just looks shapeless and oversized:

It's also a little plain without the neck tie I think, even with the piping details and the cute little collar. I left off the pocket because I was worried it may look like a pyjama top with the print and piping, even though wearing clothes that look like pyjamas in public seems to be in fashion it's not my thing.

The piping is my favourite feature - I particularly like the rounded edge to the collar and cuffs which makes the piping finish neatly. I found some small glossy rounded buttons which are perfect for the shirt, and since I had some extra I decided to add two buttons to the cuffs:

I do think the neck tie could be a little wider though as it seems to be a bit narrow and would look nicer in a fuller bow.

Unusually for Burda there is a drafting error with the neck tie, which they don't acknowledge in their blog post either. In the photo below, the pattern piece (piece 9) as traced is on the left - the instructions tell you to fold in half lengthwise, stitch the edges together and turn the right way out. But as you can see in the photo below on the right, when you fold that pattern piece in half it doesn't line up at all like the diagram in the Burda magazine:

To overcome this, and to make the neck tie wider I think it would be better to cut out 2 pieces and sew the 2 pieces together right sides facing and then turn it right side out rather than folding it in half. I didn't quite have enough fabric left to do this so I've left the neck tie as is.

So apart from the drafting issue, this is otherwise a good pattern. Plus I do love a Liberty print - this one is 'Solar' from the 2016 Silk Road collection that I bought from Tessuti a little while ago on an innocent lunch time walk that ended up in fabric shopping (it's dangerous when both Tessuti and The Fabric Shop are within walking distance of my office!).