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31 December 2014

It's done: burda style No. 122-012014. My top top of 2014!

Hey everyone!
Before the big fancy party for New Year’s is going to start, at least somewhere - definitively not here, I don’t get the whole forced happiness that comes along with starting a new calendar - I’d like to show you my most favorite shirt of 2014. And from pattern purchase to blogging it took almost all of 2014.
It’s burda style No. 122-012014 and it was on the cover of this year’s January issue (in combination with a hat, hence my choice). Normally I feel a bit ‘meh’ about the patterns burda chooses to put on their cover but this time I was really smitten. I have a massive thing for stripes in whatever direction they are going.
I chose to copy more or less their version, there is a chance my dark stripes are navy and theirs are black, and bought a soft pure cotton interlock jersey in navy and white in March.
Around June I actually found the time to trace the pattern (oh burda, I love and I hate you) and cut the fabric. I traced a 38 on top and a 40 around the hips, both sizes are slightly smaller than my measurements but so far this has worked out fine for me. The tiny stripes of the fabric where doing funny things to my brain while being spread across my dining table. But nevertheless I managed to match almost all seams that could be matched. Despite the amount of gathers the shirt was assembled fast. At first I used my regular sewing machine - so much easier for stripe matching - and switched to my overlock afterwards.
The neckline is a bit wider than the original, totally not on purpose. But my first attempt to finish the neckline with a stripe of jersey ended very wavy.
Since there was no chance to unpick the lightning bold stitch without damaging the fabric, out came the scissors. Next time I went very slowly and it worked out fine. The gathered parts are stabilized with some narrow twill tape.
But then it sat a while to be hemmed. I own a convertible overlocker/coverlock maschine. In general a good idea and it takes only a tiny amount of time to switch between the two modes. But every single time I think it’s a good idea to accumulate a few shirts for hemming while in reality it would be better if I hemmed every shirt on its own because otherwise it will take a few weeks or even months before I can actually wear them. Maybe now that I have written it out I will remember.
I hemmed it in August right before our summer vacation and it even got worn in Denmark. I’m always nervous when hemming stripes because the stripes point out uneven stitching very easily. But by coincidence the width of the stripes was the same than the distance of the needles and the stitching blends in almost invisibly.
Can you spot the seamline?
Fit-wise it turned out fine, but the gathers in the back tend to ride up to the small of my back. Path of least resistance I’d say. But I can totally life with that.

So far I have no idea how to perform a sway back adjustment on a pattern piece shaped like this.
Unfortunately the fabric is already starting to pill a bit, always a bummer when this happens but it is still my most favorite piece of 2014.
I have a bit of catching up to do about my makes from the last two months but that will happen in 2015.
See you next year, have a good one,
Kat

25 December 2014

Merry Christmas!

Hey everyone,
just a quick one:
See you soon, promise,
Kat