Quick reminder: if you want to throw your name in the hat for a Patrones magazine,
please see my post earlier in the week.
Meanwhile, the last item on my summer sewing list was another loose/unfitted blouse. I picked Burda 07-2012-114 because I had seen several made (mainly on the Burda Russia site) that I thought looked really nice. I am... unconvinced by the outcome, for several reasons.
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| Burda 07-2012-114 (from the magazine) |
Part of the reason I am so unconvinced is that I made a couple of adjustments and then wished I hadn't. I looked at the length and didn't think it was long enough so I added 5cm, but then when I came to try on realized I didn't like the extra length and ended up whacking off the same 5cm from the hem... except then when I hemmed it properly I'm still not convinced by the length. I also did a 2.5cm FBA with a side dart but I am not sure I needed quite that much or that the outcome is what I wanted. Then, on top of the adjustments I made and didn't like, I DIDN'T make some adjustments that I wish I had, notably the depth of that neckline split and the width of the neckline. It makes for a top that can't possibly be worn without something underneath and falls off my shoulders at the slightest/no provocation.
The bigger problem though is the shape of the pattern in combination with the fabric. I really like the fabric as a fabric: it's a very drapey viscose/cotton mix, a great summer weight and although it's rather outside my normal comfort zone for prints (I usually wear mainly solids and the occasional more sedate print) I really like the colours. However, the print proved very problematic to position on the pattern. It was actually worse when the top was 5cm longer, but I really don't like that white line mid-way down the top. It wasn't avoidable short of cutting on the cross grain, and I don't think there was anything I could have made with this fabric that wouldn't have had the same problem, but I just don't like it.
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| Burda 07-2012-114 (my version) |
Overall, I am not sure how I feel about the top beyond unconvinced. In my head it was going to be a great thing to wear in bright sunshine as a top layer over a white tee and
the white shorts I made for my mini-wardrobe but then I've spent most of the last two weeks in jeans and sweaters due to summer apparently abruptly coming to a halt in the British isles. Both sunshine and shorts are a distant memory, alas, so it's not like I was likely to wear it in the next few days, anyway. (Incidentally, amusingly, I came in second to last in the wardrobe competition. Better than last, I guess? I don't really care, I've already worn everything several times before the clouds rolled back in. It does remind me why I don't bother with the PR competitions though! :D )
Mid-way through making this top, when I realized that the print and the length were going to be a problem, I abandoned it for a few hours and cut out a quick second project from the scraps, namely a pair of PJ shorts using Ottobre 05-2011-02, which
I have used a couple of times before. The piece I had left over from the 2m cut I bought was a rather strangely shaped 70cm and I had to make something where matching the print at the side seams was not a priority at all (in fact, I cut to the back in the opposite direction to the front) thus: PJs.
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| Ottobre 05-2011-02 "Sweet Dream" PJ shorts |
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The pattern is extremely uncomplicated. I last made it a year ago and so I did have to retrace two sizes smaller in a 44 rather than a 48. Other than that, I did french seams because PJs tend to get washed and worn a MILLION times and I think it gives the seams on a lightweight fabric a bit more change of longevity. I missed off the decorative elements of the pique around the leg openings and the button hole/tie at the front. A handy use of a funny shaped scrap and the fabric is very soft and well suited to PJs as well as a blouse. :D
PR shows how everyone placed all the way to last place? Oh holy heck no!! I never pay much attention to the contests so I had no idea.
ReplyDeleteThat may be fine for say professional golfers but these contests are different.
On your dress form, the print is giving me the illusion that there is a bulge right across the abdomen. I know there isn't of course but that's my eye reads it. What a shame as the colors are vibrant and beautiful to look at.
Am I the only one?
Yes, you can sort by votes and it tells you how many votes the top 2 or 3 people get and then your own entry. So like, the winners got something like 230 votes each, and I got 7! Since one of those votes was me, I can only assume the other 6 were friends of mine :D Honestly, it doesn't bother me because I knew that the things I made weren't very exciting and it wasn't a very thrilling mini-wardrobe. I enjoyed the making of and like wearing the clothes in question and that is genuinely all that matters in the end sewing/popularity contests notwithstanding.
DeleteI think the bulge is partly the way that the top is hanging on Flossie, but also yes, I just don't like the way the print looks made up into a garment as well. I am not sure what I could have done differently, because the pattern repeated too often to avoid it altogether. It is a bit disappointing that it didn't turn out very well, but at least I got my PJs out of the fabric as well and it wasn't expensive or time-consuming.
Drats! I love the print. I guess now you have a nice loungewear set??
ReplyDeleteI totally voted for you. Loved your mini wardrobe and the carme. Oh the carme! :)
Very possibly! It's certainly loose and unfitted enough to wear as a PJ top if it comes to that :D
DeleteYou are very kind. I honestly don't mind coming in close to last because I liked the things I made so much!
(I am thinking of buying another two Pauline Alice patterns because I have enjoyed making the Carme. I am only holding back because I am not quite sure yet what my sewing plans are for autumn and how they'd fit in...)
I like the top; too bad you're not thrilled by it.
ReplyDeleteI've come in close to last before too. I join for the challenge. If I win bonus, if not ah well. I got some fabulous out of it anyway.
I've become reconciled to my top now I added some fasteners to the neck. Weird how a little detail can change my opinion of something I've made.
DeleteI like your top a lot, but I can sympathize with working with a print where there's really no good placement. The colors on that fabric are so pretty that I'm glad you were able to at least salvage a pair of shorts out of the remnant.
ReplyDeleteI don't remember what contest it was, but I came in second to last in a contest before. Like L, I just do them for the challenge now. BTW--I was one of your votes--I thought that your wardrobe was really cute, and I was extra-impressed that you were able to whip it together in just two weeks.
I kind of think I should have gone for the crosswise positioning. Maybe it would have looked better with that broad white stripe right down the centre of the blouse? I don't know. At any rate, I am less critical of it now I've changed the neck, and also, you are right, I did at least get some PJs out of it in the end. :D
DeleteTY for your vote :D I really am not bothered by my unfortunate second-to-last place, because I love the things I've made and have worn them all several times and that is way more important, don't you think?