My first Burda jersey top!

I have been recently to the Richmond Theater to watch the play "Jeeves & Wooster" and because we arrived early, I had the opportunity to have a look into WHSmith. And what have I found among their magazines? A Burda sewing magazine. There were actually two issue, but I only liked the Burda Style Special autumn/winter No5/2013. So, I bought it.

I never used a Burda before, but heard already a few stories about how badly explained everything is. And forget about any nice illustrations! Never mind, I wanted to give it a try. I chose pattern 0010A, which is a jersey top. I decided to make it with long sleeves because I am always very cold in winter.

They made a fury jersey top.
In the left bottom corner you can hopefully
see the pattern.

The top has little pleats at the front and back of the sleeves and the sleeves go up to the neckline. The neckline is finished with a little strip of fabric and at the back you have a little slit that you have to close with button loops and button. According to my high bust measurement, I am size 34. So, I cut 34 at the bust and graded up to size 37 for the waist and hip. It was my first Burda pattern and I had no idea how good the fit would be on me :) But I think it is not bad!

Fabric: A dark purple jersey, which I bought at Goldhawk Road (which will go perfectly with my planned Beignet Skirt). It is a little bit thicker than the basic T-shirts you can buy in the shops.

Tracing: To begin with I had to trace the pattern (I always do anyway), because there were so many on top of each other. And it took me ages, especially because you have to add the seam allowances and then in the evening with no bright light, it was a bit difficult to see all the lines through my tracing paper. Also, at the sleeves pleats there was some weird shaping going on.

The placket is a bit stretched. Maybe I need a broad shoulder adjustment?

Construction: Apart from the pleats and necklines no problem at all. I used my overlocker most of the time and my twin needle only for the topstitching. As you will notice, my pleats don't look similar at all. I gave my best, but somehow they did whatever they wanted. Next time... (yep, there will be a next!) And the neckline? I think I might have misunderstood the instructions here, because it was very difficult to attach such a narrow neckband and also my neckline stands now slightly up. What about the placket and button loop? Weirdly enough the placket is pulled open. Probably because my shoulders need a bit more room? I might add another button/buttonloop here (the pattern instructions call only for one) and see if that helps.

Watch these pleats! I prefer the one on the right :)

Have I worn it yet? Yes, twice and I like it a lot. The only odd thing is that I can feel the sleeve seams. As the sleeves are not super tight, it can't be that. The seam is just a normal overlocked one, so maybe I can feel the threads? I was hoping the threads would soften after washing, but didn't. Did you ever have such a "problem"?

Will I make it again? Yes! I will make the dress version and I am finally going to use my flamingo jersey that I bought at the blogger meetup in Goldhawk Road in August!

PS: I am still thinking about making garments from my sewing list. But I am sure winter will be long...

Princess seams? I am not ready yet...

This dress was supposed to be my make No 4 from my autumn sewing list. But, as you will read, I didn't make it that far! The pattern is Simplicity 6908 that I got from a swap in August. The dress has princess seams, which I have never sewn before, a drape, a yoke back and front, and little sleeves.

I wanted to make the dress in a dark purple jersey, as the pattern states you can use jersey as well. But readers you know, my experience with sewing jersey is almost nil.Thus I decided to make a muslin first and I used another jersey that I also got from the swap in August.



I decided to ignore the back zipper, and also didn't cut yoke front and back (Here I was a bit confused by the pattern description and thought I might not need the yoke and I think I don't need it with jersey.).
And as you can see there are several problems! The bust darts don't point to my apex and the fabric is doing some crazy things at the hem. I have no idea how to move the darts on princess seams - do they actually have to be there? And I have no idea what happened to the fabric at the hem. I sewed with my overlocker and didn't stretch the fabric, so the hems should look fine. Any suggestion what could have gone wrong?

The bust darts are too high.

I was hoping to sew a wearable muslin, but  don't think I will ever wear it in public with this crazy hem. I also haven't bothered to sew button loops and buttons onto the drape to close it in the back. I am sorry to present you with such an unfinished "garment", but I am hoping  to get some comments that might help me to improve my sewing skills!



Seeing the problems I have with the muslin, I don't think I will make the dress with my jersey fabric. Maybe it is best, when I first learn how to modify and sew princess seams dresses before I try to make them with jersey.

Ahm, the photos were taken after lunch.

And I got the really nice comment from my boyfriend, that I can't gain weight when sewing such clothes. I know they are body hugging. But he made it sound like I have gained a few pounds in the last few weeks. Buhu, guys... Although I have to admit, I hardly left the house for the last month because I have started to write my PhD thesis at home. That is also the reason for my blogging and commenting absence, as I am happy about every PC-free minute at the moment. So, sorry for my blogging silence, but hopefully I will be back to old shape soon.

Some advice please!

I will just leave you with a quick question before the weekend, because my best friend is visiting me for the next four days and I will not have time to make or write something :) Hah, I can't wait for her to arrive!

left: brushed; right: not brushed

A few weeks ago, I bought this lovely brushed cotton in Goldhawk Road. I will make a wintery Colette Beignet from it. However, the cotton is brushed only on one side and now I am not sure which side is the right and wrong one? Intuition-wise I thing the brushed and warmer side will be the wrong one. But then the bushed side looks prettier and maybe it is the right side? It would be great, if you could help me with this, because otherwise I am never going to make this skirt, buh.

brushed side

not brushed side

Otherwise, I have started already to make Christmas presents! For me its only five weekends left before I go home to Germany, so I really have to get started! No more selfish sewing :( For my grandparents I am going to make pillow cases. And you probably know, that my favourite colour for quilting is pink! Not a good choice for them. But I was lucky and won in August the stash match organised by Alexandra from a squared w. So I got a lovely fat eights Hand Drawn Garden bundle  and although these colours are not mine at all, they will be perfect for my grandparents.

Pillow case - not quilted yet

So, here just a little sneak peek of the first pillow case that is still in the make!
Have you started to make presents? Or have you decided what to give whom?

Have a lovely weekend!

Knitted Miette Cardigan: DONE!

After a month only, I finished my Miette Cardigan (in progress here)!

It is all blocked and buttons are sewn on, puh. I am so happy with how it turned out! It still has a few mistakes, but I don't care. I am so proud that I knitted something wearable :)

I wanted to use brown buttons, because they are neutral. But when I went to my local wool retailer, I saw these blue flowers and I just couldn't resist. Also, I made several blue garments during the last two month, so plenty of opportunities to wear the cardigan.

The sleeves are a little bit tighter and shorter than I would have liked. But hopefully they will stretch a bit width-wise. As for the length, I was knitting the sleeves in a crowded airplane and couldn't try them one. They looked long enough to me, so I started the lace pattern.

Lace detail.

I was really worried about the blocking and how I would pull the cardigan in shape. But there was no reason to! I just washed it in the washing machine (I have a wool program) and then put the cardigan on top of an old bathmat that had rubber at the bottom and fabric at the top. I then pinned the cardigan to the bathmat according to my measurements and waited for 2 days for it to dry. I wanted to show you pictures before and after blocking, but I was so excited, that I forgot to take them before. But believe, it is really worth to block your knitted make!

Fits like a glove!

How about you? Have you made any progress with your knitted makes or finished it even? I would love to hear about it :)

Flower buttons! It took me an hour to sew them on.

Next, YES there is already a next, I will knit the owl sweater by Kate Davies. The sweater has owls at the yoke and they look like the ones from my mittens. So, hopefully, that sweater will be an easy knit. I have already chosen the wool: Cascade yarns Eco+ in Merlot. I was having loads of fun winding the wool into balls. I thought it might be difficult, but no, really easy. Happy knitting!

Wool for my next project!