Pattern Description:
Burda say: "This top is casually chic like Coco Chanel! It is made from pure, thin silk jersey. The design is essentially simple, but striking with its gathered raglan sleeves. Complete the classy look with opulent accessories like a large hat and pearls."
I say: This is a raglan sleeved top with gathers on the sleeve seams front and back, banded, scoop neck, and choice of two sleeve lengths (short or long) and three hem lengths (shirt, tunic, or dress).
Pattern Sizing:
34-42. I made my usual Burda 42 and the fit is fantastic, exactly how I like my tops!
Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?
Yes it looks very much like the magazine photo and line drawings, except it's not immediately obvious that the hem for style #127 is tunic-length as the model has hers tucked into her trousers.
Were the instructions easy to follow?
I barely looked at them, because this is a very simple design (great for Burda beginners!), there's just three pattern pieces and a rectangular neck band. I had this cut out and finished in under an hour.
What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
This pattern really is fantastic - I love the fit of it, and it's quickly become one of those tops I reach for every morning! It's got a nice amount of fabric in the gathers (there's nothing worse than "skimpy gathering" on a pattern!) and everything matched up nicely. Some other reviews said the sleeves were overly long and the neck was overly low, but both were fine for me. (Photos)
It's also really easy and extremely quick to sew - it literally took me less than an hour to construct this!
Fabric Used:
I bought this plum merino wool jersey on etsy along with some brown as well - the purple is sold out but there's some brown merino wool jersey left and it's luscious and so soft - nice and thing for layering but so warm, too. Amazing stuff! So cheap, too - 5m for £30 is an absolutely steal. I often see Antipodean sewists going on about how lovely merino wool is to sew, but it's something I've never, ever seen for sale in Europe so I jumped on this when I saw it!
Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:
I chose not to bind the neckline like Burda's fiddly instructions but instead folded the strip in half, serged it onto the neckline, then topstitched near the fold to keep it standing upright. Next time I'd either use vilene bias tape on the neckline to stabilise it and/or cut the band a little shorter to pull it in, but it's fine to wear as is, and the merino makes it so nice and warm without being bulky. (Neckline detail photos)
One word of caution - if you use the cutting line for the long sleeve version of this top, it's really long in the body - much more like a tunic than a top! I chopped off about 13cm from my hem to make it more top-length.
Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?
Absolutely! I will definitely be sewing more of this and it's short sleeved sister, because I really want to wear more of these!
Conclusion:
This is such a fantastic pattern - it'd been very popular already and I can see why! I could easily have ten of these in my wardrobe and not get bored. A great pattern combined with this gorgeous, luxe, and ridiculously soft fabric means I really want to wear this every single day! (But that'd be bad, right?)
See way more photos of this top over at FehrTrade.com! |
|Login|Help]
to add a link
Gorgeous color for you! I really need to make this top before winter ends!!
3/5/13 11:17 AM
I also love this pattern and could see it becoming a "best of 2013" since it looks great on everyone, including you. I'm coveting your wool jersey.
3/5/13 12:45 PM
Gorgeous! I'm dying seeing all of the great versions of this top while my sewing stuff is all packed away (prepping to move). I would have been skeptical about making this in a wool jersey with the gathers, but yours looks great!
3/5/13 2:21 PM
Fantastic on you, great job and fit! This is a really cute pattern.
3/5/13 8:02 PM
Another great version of this pattern!
3/5/13 10:48 PM
I like the shorter length because, yeah, I was surprised when I made mine up and saw the length on this. Your version is cute and love the color. I do agree the neck binding is too lengthy on this - I stabilized mine and still had issues with it sagging out...just too long.
3/6/13 9:39 AM