Sunday 2 November 2014

Striped Long Sleeve Top: Burda 7066

We got back from our big (more than 6 weeks!) European vacation a few weeks ago, and as those of you who sew can imagine, the urge to sew after being away for that long was very, very strong, even eclipsing my need for sleep. In the first couple of jetlagged days back in Sydney I started 4 new projects - mostly patterns I'd tested before, nothing too tricky - so instead of telling you about what we did in the South of France and Italy, I hope you don't mind if I share my first post-Europe garment.  I know it's very simple:

UpSewLate: Front view, Burda 7066 long sleeved top

Fabric
You probably recognise the fabric - so many Australian sewing bloggers have sewn something with it this year, and many non-bloggers must have too! It's the Jaywalk stretch from Tessuti fabrics; it was on sale in two colourways leading up to this year's Tessuti awards so I bought several metres of each - and I still have some left of both. This fabric is rather stretchy with great recovery and nice drape, but it's quite a heavy fabric. I originally made a dress from the other colourway to enter in the awards, but honestly the fabric is better suited to a top like this or even PJ leggings as I made for my daughter.


Pattern
I used a Burda pattern (BurdaStyle 7066) that I'd picked up on sale at Lincraft a few months ago (seriously, why do I keep buying patterns? I'll never be able to get to them all!).  This pattern is described as an Easy (yes, it is) semi-fitted shirt and dress with broad shoulders, and the pattern illustrations show it to have bust darts, a centre back seam, a choice of round or V-neckline, a choice of sleeve and shirt lengths, and an optional very basic fabric belt. The recommended fabric is jersey, and I don't think this pattern would work in a woven fabric because of the way it's designed to fit (see below).

My timing is a bit off with making a long sleeved top - we arrived back in Sydney to unseasonally cold weather, but the weather quickly changed to summer heat, so I may not get much use out of this top till next year.  Anyway, no matter; I don't have many long sleeved tops that feel like they fit anywhere near well, so I'm sure I'll appreciate this one when the weather cools down again!


UpSewLate: Another view, Burda 7066 long sleeved top
Fitting
I made more effort than usual in fitting this one - there was even an ugly muslin* - and I was very glad to have made a muslin because even though this is an easy sew, there were a few surprises in the pattern. The pattern has dropped shoulders, which weren't apparent to me in the photos and technical drawings, and the sleeves are really tight compared to the fit through the body.  I know this style of top - loose with dropped shoulders and skin tight sleeves - is a bit of a "look", but it's not one I like on myself.  I think dropped shoulders make my narrow shoulders look even smaller, and skin tight sleeves just don't feel good. Needless to say I made a few changes before sewing this up in my Jaywalk fabric.

UpSewLate: Burda 7066 with shoulder fit adjusted

* I say "ugly muslin", but the sewing was decent and in fact, that top fits and apparently looks fine on my mum! She now has both the muslin and the pattern (good luck with it, mum!). Here's what the muslin was like on me - great colour but UGH - weird shoulders, pulling under the arms to the bust, and too-tight sleeves:

UpSewLate: Loved the colour but the fabric and fit were off on this top


Pattern Adjustments
I took an inch out of each shoulder, and took in the body. To do this I translated the arm scye an inch inwards - you could do this by folding out width in the paper pattern, but I just redrew the lines. The shape of the new arm scye is unchanged, but the shoulder seams are now closer to my actual shoulder line, and the body has a closer fit. I also let out the sleeve seams - I sewed these with a 0.5 cm instead of 1.5 cm seam allowance, and graduated out to the 1.5 seam allowance in the body around the bustline.  I'm happy with this fit on my arms and body (apart from the bust darts - they're a bit low on me and I forgot to adjust them upwards!), but I'm still not 100% sure about the shoulders.

UpSewLate: Oh yes, there's that waist - I knew it was there somewhere!
The back view shows some excess fabric so perhaps I am one of the millions that needs a sway back adjustment:

UpSewLate: Back view, Burda 7066 long sleeved top
I made a couple more changed that were less about fit: I lengthened the arms, shortened the body, and removed the CB seam. I made the neckline facing from a different plain black jersey because I was in such a rush to sew that really couldn't be a#$%ed with stripe matching - and you can see clear evidence of that uncharacteristic attitude in the side seams too!

UpSewLate: For once I didn't worry about matching my stripes

Phew! I guess I'm now officially back in blogging mode now!


See you soon
- Gabrielle xx


Oh and a postscript... I mentioned while I was away that I was having trouble commenting on people's blogs due to a login issue, and I'm still having that problem on my mobile phone (which is the medium I use for reading blogs these days). I've been able to comment on a few Disqus-enabled blogs and blogs that accept unauthenticated comments, but otherwise it's been a challenge I haven't managed to conquer. I'm working on it!

21 comments:

  1. Good idea to start simple after a trip, though it seems like there was still a fair bit of adjustment on this one! Looks good :)

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  2. Thanks Chloe, I just would not have been up to sewing something complex after 6 weeks away; it had to be an easy make! Yes, there were a fair few adjustments to make - I seem to be (finally) making some progress in at noticing fit problems :).

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  3. Yes, I have that pattern and thought it just didn't look right, either the sketch or the top. Your final results look good, but what an effort :)

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  4. What a fab pattern to use with that fabric! I have a gazillion metres of the jaywalk too. And you've just given me the idea to use some of it for leggings ... hmmm.

    (And personally I'd much rather read about sewing than Europe! Does that make me weird? Although I am very excited to read about your Europe trip too ...)

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  5. Great looking top. I didn't think the ugly muslin was too bad either.

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  6. I love Burda patterns but find the same as what you say. That the line drawings don't always accurately reflect how the item drapes/fits. I find that they tend to run large, as well, so always make a size smaller than my measurements. The striped top is cute and very practical!

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  7. It's odd, isn't it - to me that shoulder line is in an awkward spot, and the sleeves seem to be drafted very tight! There was lesson for me in there: stick with TNTs if you want a quick make!

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  8. Thanks Michelle, I think it worked in the end :). Yes, the Jaywalk was too good a fabric and too good a deal to walk past, wasn't it! My daughter has been getting a LOT of use from her leggings and they're holding up well with only very minor pilling after a lot of hard wear.


    No, you're very sweet, but I think that makes you normal around here! I do want to get to those remaining couple of Europe blog posts at least for myself and any family members that read this blog, but I'll try to follow them up quickly with sewing stuff :).

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  9. Thanks Gail, the ugly muslin probably felt worse than it looked, but it really felt dreadful on - lots of awkward pulling and tightness! Admittedly that fabric didn't have enough stretch for the pattern, but it was useful to have it point me to the fitting issues.

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  10. So glad you started on such a great top. And that you're happy and sewing again...

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  11. Burda make great, wearable-looking patterns, don't they! I haven't made that many of their adult patterns (the kid patterns are terrific), but it's annoying if the line drawings are inconsistent with what the garment's really going to look like. Hmm actually I have made a few things from the Burda magazine and found things ran a bit big... Thanks for those tips Katja!

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  12. Thanks Maria, it's a bit of a basic, but we all need basics, right? Yes, I am happy and I've been sewing heaps lately - nothing very challenging, but it's been so satisfying to be making stuff again.

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  13. Welcome back Gabrielle! I love the changes you made from muslin to real thing and it looks like it might be a real wardrobe staple for you. A few more in different colours?

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  14. Good choice easing back into things. I"m looking forward to seeing something shibori soon :)

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  15. Love those stripes and the changes you made look spot on - like Jillian said a real wardrobe staple! Looking at the pattern drawing I must admit i was puzzled by the CB seam - why on earth would you put a CB seam on jersey - even if one uses a seger + coverlock the stretch on that seam would be less than the stretch of the fabric - imagine the hem!

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  16. I love the high rounded neck on this. Such a change to what we normally see on a stripe. Great to see you back sewing!

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  17. Thanks Jillian, it's great to be back, and back to normal. I think this *could* be a wardrobe staple, but I don't want to use the pattern again, it was too hard to tame!

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  18. Thanks Christy, I'm looking forward to it too, but I reckon you'll probably get there before me!

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  19. Thanks Sasha, yes, this one is going to be a staple! I know, the craziness of that CB seam! So unnecessary...

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  20. Thanks Kirsty, it's great to be back :).

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  21. Very stylish striped top and I'm sure you are getting some wear out of it now.

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