Circles du Sew-leil

My favorite designs from the October 2010 issue of Burda Style are patterns #118 (A/B) and #119.  I also like the jacket on the cover. 

Pattern #118, versions A and B:

Pattern #119, leather top.

Here are some blouses with certain style elements from style 118 A/B: front ties, scarf collars, short sleeves, pull-over style:

Zac Posen's striped silk blouse for $295 at Saks Fifth Avenue.  I like the double bow detail.

Neiman Marcus' cashmere top for $125

Marc Jacob's sketched plaid top for $298

I have not sewn with a Burda Style (formerly Burda Mode or Burda World of Fashion or BWOF) pattern for 7 months after working with any of the Big 4 due to their better directions and not having to trace amongst the more confusing network of lines on the Burda pattern "maps".  I also have not been inspired by recent issues of Burda.  Since the name change from BWOF to Burda Style, it seems that the styles have not been cutting edge or innovative.  Or maybe it is just me? Current Vogues, Simplicities, and even Buttericks have more interesting designs. I am also still hooked on vintage patterns. 

 
My description for 118, versions A and B:

Short-sleeved top with a scarf collar and a bow-tied front above a center slit at the neckline.

Burda's description:

"This short-sleeved plaid blouse may look demure... but it's irresistable with a saucy neck-slit peeping out below the bow-tied scarf collar!"

Pattern Sizing:

Misses' 36-44. I traced and cut a "38" at the shoulders and a "40" everywhere else.

After a day's wear, the fabric is holding up very well!



Pattern Pieces

*Main pattern pieces: front (cut on fold), back (cut on a fold), and sleeve.

* Things to measure (length and width of rectangular pieces) and cut on your own were the front slit facing, bias strip for neck edge, and the tie collar.

118, view B with the larger bow:

Fabric Used:
For my muslin or first version, I used a cotton woven from Fabrics.com called "Deer Valley Meadow Lace Persimmon" that I purchased 8 months ago on sale for $3.99/yard before applying a 30% discount code.  If you look closely at every pair of circles, there is a figure "8" or the infinity symbol.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?Somewhat.


What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?


Likes

*Not difficult to put together. I think I spent more time deciphering the directions than actually sewing the top.


* I like that the top can be sewn with or without the bow tie front.  Pattern #119 ("leather top") actually uses the same main pattern pieces (front, back, sleeve).

*The gathered neckline with its center front keyhole/slit and its bias finished edge.

*The retro style

Dislikes

* Now that Burda's patterns are in one instead of two inserts, I experienced some challenges in delineating the pattern pieces on the more convoluted Burda "map". I confess that I traced a back piece from another style because it was more conspicuous to me!

*The directions were either not well written (or not translated well to English).

*The top turned out like a sack sewn exactly as traced. I took in the seams an additional 3/8" with more shaping at the waist. It still looks like a sack, but a slightly different one.

*Some bunching at the bust which I attribute to the gathering at the neckline.  Maybe bust darts or another adjustment would do the trick to add more shaping.  With 118A's model "covering" her front with a record sleeve and 118B's model sitting in a slump with the leather top (the bust front is quite wrinkled), it's really hard to see the actual details. Maybe Burda intentionally does this to "mask" some imperfections of their garments!

Were the instructions easy to follow?

Honestly, not very much that I strayed somewhere and had to re-do the scarf collar portion because of my silly errors. Sometimes I have a tendency to make something that is easy by common sense, difficult that I laugh at myself later about it.

For a dot and a half level in difficulty or what seemed to be one of the easiest projects in this magazine, I found the instructions to be muddled and cryptic or simply poorly written or translated. I re-read them a few times in order to comprehend the essential steps. Maybe re-reading them added more to my confusion!


Satisfactory Sections

I thought the directions for the center front slit with facing and attaching the bias strip to be satisfactory. If you have sewn garments with these details, then rely on your experience and treat the steps as guidelines.

Collar, are you there?
As for attaching the scarf collar for view "A" which is applicable for the "wide plaid wool crepe", here are Burda's directions: "Fold tie collar in half and mark centre back. Pin shorter lengthwise edge of collar to back neck edge matching centre backs-collar points up and edge of collar lies over seam of neck edge. Stitch edge of collar in place, from shoulder seam to shoulder seam, stitching 5mm from edge."   My first response was "huh"?  Then there seemed to be something missing for the rest of view "A".  Then I looked again at the schematic for view "A" and noted that the tie ends were "unfinished".  So I proceeded to do things "my way."  It did not occur to look at the directions for View B, inflexible person that I am at times...


What a Difference a Day Makes...

I agree with you Dinah Washington!

24 hours later, I figured out how the tie fronts relate to the neckline (what a difference a day makes!). This is not the first time that solutions randomly arrive in my thoughts when I was not at the task at hand. I wonder if it was the subconscious dominating the conscious at the time. After work, I read the collar directions for View B and although they were awkwardly worded, I had a better concept of what to do to rectify my errors when attaching the scarf collar with the ties.

For many of the fabrics, I wish Burda would recommend using the directions for View B because the tops are identical in styling all except that View B has the longer and much wider front bow. The ties were supposed to suspend from the shoulder seams, while being detached from the rest of the neckline (the edge from the shoulder seams to the front center slit). Now it makes sense that the center slit or keyhole neckline is held together by a button and a loophole.




Learn By Un-Doing
I used my handy-dandy seam ripper to remove what I call my "over-eager overstitching" or in this case, sewing the collar portion beyond the start and stop points which were the left and right shoulder seams.

I turned in the tie ends to get them to be temporarily inside, safely tucked in, so that I can turn an adequate portion of the ties inside out and add a few inches of stitches to extend the inner seam of the front ties, stopping as close as possible to the shoulders seams, before turning the tie portions inside out. To close any gaps nearing the shoulder seams, I turned the ties inside out and topstitched (tiny handstitching or slip stitching will do) near the edge.


Now, I do recollect doing something similar to tops that I had sewn in the past such as those from the late 90's.  Next time, I will use these steps to create and attach the scarf collar with the front ties.

(1) Mark the location of the center back and shoulder seams onto the scarf collar/ties, fold the scarf collar in half, right sides together.

(2) Sew the seam of the tie ends up to the shoulder seams.

(3) After turning the tie ends right side out, pin the lower edge of the scarf (non-facing edge) at the back (right sides together) and stitch accordingly. Then I would fold under the raw edge of the upper or facing edge of the collar (up to the seam allowance) and either topstitch or handstitch very close to the neckline seams.

Pattern alternations/modfications
* Shorten the upper back 3/4". I adjusted the sleeves accordingly with a horizontal fold across the pattern.

* The length of my center slit was 5 1/2", which worked for me. There was no mention of the length of the center slit. I finished the edges of the facing, even it was not mentioned in the directions.

*Ended up taking out the extra hem allowance I added and then an additional 1". The top is still fairly long, but I left it for a "tunic" style.

*As a personal style preference, I inserted 1/4" wide elastic with circumference 2" larger than that of my upper arm through the casing formed by the sleeve hems (elasticized casing). I ended up shortening the elastic 1" after sewing its ends together before stitching the hem of the casing closed.

*I used a 2" of 1/4" elastic for the buttonhole loop for the top of the center front slit. It would have been better to use a 1/8" due to the size of my button.


Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?

Yes with more fabric that I just found in my stash. I would still recommend this pattern. It is a good idea to make a muslin.




Conclusion:

Maybe after a few more alterations, I will like the top even better!

"Tie After Tie"