Green T-shirt

One more short-sleeve T-shirt for my husband. I had a piece of green cotton fabric with almost no stretch, which was a remnant from another project, so in this year's spirit of clearing my stash, I decided to turn it into a blouse.

I used again my true-and-tried Burda pattern, size 50, but with some tweaks. The pattern is tailored, but I made it straight and I also played a little with the neckline, widening it 1.5 cm at the front. 

As I often make t-shirts for husband, based on this pattern, you might think, that I can make these now by heart - but nothing could be farther from the truth. Every time I decide to cut a new t-shirt, I start measuring and tweaking and guessing what had I changed the previous time to get a good fit.

So, I've decided to make a cardboard copy of the pattern and to introduce all of the tweaks and mods I find necessary, based on this latest t-shirt, so that next time I wouldn't need to guess what kind of elongations and other changes I need to make, to get the perfect fit. And as I am really curious how this would work, I am very much inclined to visit my favourite fabric shop and buy a piece of knit fabric, just to try the modified pattern with all the latest alterations. Expect a new men's t-shirt here in the nearest future :)

Pattern: Burda #132 from 12 / 2020

Size: 50 with with added length

Fabric: cotton knit

Time to make: 2 days

Green Burda 6202 Blouse

As I mentioned in a previous posting, Burda 6202 is one of my favourite T-shirt patterns. I like its fitted design, open neckline and feminine puffed short sleeves. The purple blouse, which I made at the end of February, has been one of my go-to blouses for hikes. I wanted one more of these, but out of cotton-viscose fabric, for everyday walks. 

Teal is one of my most favourite colors, so when I saw the teal viscose fabric with lycra at the shop, I had to have it. I bought enough for two blouses and I made an identical one for Gaby, as I know that she loves teal too.

Pattern: Burda 6202 from Burda Catalogue 1 / 2020

Size: 34, shortened

Fabric: cotton-viscose with lycra

Time to make: 2 days

For the new teal blouses I reverted to the 34 size and I also lowered the neckline back to the original line at the front, but lifted the neckline at the back by 2 cm. For my blouse I also graded the front and the back from the waist to the hem to 36 size, as I don't like my blouses hugging me too tight at the hip.

The fabric is divinely soft and comfortable to wear, the fit is as I wanted it and I believe this little blouse is going to be one of my favourites this spring and summer.

Three T-Shirts For The Boys

Whenever I visit my favourite fabric shop downtown, I always check the knit fabrics section for fabrics, suitable for men's t-shirts. Husband and son have plenty already, but I find it so difficult to restrain myself, when I come upon some really good quality fabric, especially when it is also at a good price.

Thus last time I bought a piece of this super soft cotton knit, extremely pleasant to the skin. The piece of fabric was supposed to be 1.8 m, perfect for two T-shirts, but when I came home I found out, that the seller had made a mistake and the piece was only 1.3 m. Well, it's human to err, so all I was left was to figure out how to make two tall men's T-shirts with half a meter of fabric missing. Spoiler alert - I managed!

First I cut the t-shirt for my son, as he wears a smaller size and then I started playing Tetris with the remaining fabric and the pattern pieces for my husband's T-shirt. The solution I came up with was to add decorative elements out of another blue piece of fabric and to cut the back out of two separate pieces.

Pattern: Burda #132 from 12 / 2020

Size: 50 with with added length

Fabric: cotton knit

Time to make: 2 days

The seam at the back is covered with a strap of the lighter blue fabric and I also added another strap for good measure.

I personally love this T-shirt the best of the three I made and I am especially happy that I was left with practically no remnants of the darker blue fabric. It gives me always such a satisfaction to use up a piece of fabric to the last centimeter :)

The lighter blue fabric is a gorgeous cotton-viscose knit with lycra, which I had bought for the lining of a hoodie I made last year for Gaby's boyfriend. After I cut the lining for the hood, I was left with plenty of fabric and I had been planning a t-shirt for him out of it ever since. I had the patterns out and the overlocker threaded, so all I was left to do was to cut the fabric and make a third t-shirt.

Pattern: Burda #132 from 12 / 2020

Size: 46

Fabric: cotton viscose knit

Time to make: 5 days

And this is the first t-shirt, which I made for my son - it is super plain and unadorned, as he prefers them, with just a tiny label added to the side of the pocket.

Pattern: Burda #132 from 12 / 2020

Size: 46 with with added length

Fabric: cotton knit

Time to make: 1 day

 The three men's t-shirts I made this week - time for something girly!

Purple Burda 6202 Blouse

There are patterns that I love so much, that I keep returning to them over and over again. Burda 6202 blouse is one of those patterns - to my utter surprise this is the eighth (for Gaby and myself combined, I went back and counted them) and my fourth with short sleeves and let me tell you - I plan at least two more this year. 

The pattern is a quick sew, flattering and feminine and very easy to wear. The fabric I used for this blouse is a remnant of the long-sleeve Lotte I made last month - it does really have modest fabric requirements and as the pattern is raglan, it would also work well with color blocking, I imagine.

I made my two first short-sleeve versions with the elastic, sewn to the sleeve, as is according to the instructions, but for my third version I came up with a modification, which allows for the elastic to be inserted in the hem and this made the blouses even better and more comfy.

Pattern: Burda 6202 from Burda Catalogue 1 / 2020

Size: 36, shortened

Fabric: cotton fabric

Time to make: 2 days

I usually make this shirt in the smallest size 34, but this time I decided to make it a bit looser and cut into the larger 36 size. However, I think I prefer the more fitted look and my next make will be back to the 34 size and shorter length. I also plan a little remodelling of the neckline - I want to return to the original line at the front, but lift the back by 2 cm. It is always fun to play with a known pattern and see what little tweaking here and there can do for better fitting.

We took these pictures yesterday during our hike on Lakatnik. I had brought the blouse just for a quick photosession, but it was surprisingly so hot, that my new short-sleeved blouse turned a real blessing. More about Lakatnik soon in my next post :)

Purple Sinclair Lotte Blouse

Sinclair Lotte is a hoodie pattern, which I've once made as a hoodie and already twice as a longsleeve blouse. I like the hoodie, but I find that the fit lacks enough easе for a sweater, designed to be worn over other blouses, although I did cut my size according to the sizing table. 

On the other hand, the fit is just perfect for a blouse and my previous color-block viscose Lotte longsleeve is one of my favourite blouses. I especially appreciate its thumb-hole cuffs - they are perfect for hiking in spring and autumn, when my hands get a bit cold when I'm holding a hiking stick. 

Last year I came to the conclusion, that I needed another hiking staple, both with cuffs and a hood. Initially I planned to add some hood and the cuffs to my basic Burda long-sleeve pattern, but then I decided that it would be an interesting experiment instead to make the Sinclair Lotte, but in solid color.

I had to create the front of the blouse out of the four separate color-block pieces, that the original pattern consists of, but apart from that, I followed the pattern without much modifications, I only shortened the sleeves by 2.5 cm

Pattern: Sinclair Lotte Hoodie

Size: Petite (152-160 cm) XS (US 2)

Fabric: stable cotton knit

Time to make: 5 days

The snow from the previous week has almost melted and I hope spring will be here soon,
probably a bit later than last year.

Apart from the hood and the cuffs, the pattern is a simple longsleeve. The hood is very unusual, its two parts completely overlap at the front, covering the neck and creating a polo-shirt effect. When up, the hood reminds me a bit of a headscarf Grace Kelly-style.

The thumb-hole cuffs are very cleverly designed and super-comfy and they can also be "unhooked" from the thumb and folded back, to turn into normal cuffs.

The hood is deep enough, but not too big and it doesn't drag down, as some hoods tend to do.

I plan to test the blouse on our next hike and if it proves to be comfortable, there might be more of these.

Purple Blouse with Flounce Sleeves for Gaby

Last year in the section for precut small pieces of fabric and remnants in my favourite fabric shop I came upon a piece of very soft and beautiful cotton jacquard fabric and made myself one of my most favourte blouses, using a fairly fresh for that time Burda 12/ 2023  pattern. Not long afterward I found another piece of the same fabric and I snatched it for Gaby, planning to make her the same blouse.

However, when Gaby came for Christmas, she decided that she would prefer a more fitted blouse with interesting 7/8 flounce sleeves.

For the body of the blouse I used my tried-and-true Burda 6820, which I've sewn so far in plenty of variations - boat neck, henley neck, short, 7/8 and long sleeves, deep scoop and crew neck, almost every variation on the fitted T-shirt I could think of :) If I've counted them correctly, this is the eleventh blouse I've made out of this pattern!

As far as modifications go, this one was fairly close to the pattern. I changed the neckline, which I raised significantly and closed with a band and I took in the width of the shoulders by 1.5 cm, as Gaby has fairly narrow shoulders compared to the standard Burda model.

Pattern: BurdaStyle 6820

Size: 36, modified

Fabric: soft cotton jacquard, 1 m

Time to make: 3 days

The only interesting moment in this iteration of the pattern were of course, the flounce sleeves. I watched a couple of videos on the construction of such sleeves and in the end decided on the slash and spread method. I took a piece of paper, cut it in the form of a rectangle with length - the length of the flounce and width -  the width of the sleeve at the point of joining. Then I decided on the desired circumference of the hem of the sleeve, cut the rectangle in six pieces, spread them fan-like and the pattern of the flounce was ready - it's so easy. And because I'm a nerd, I even made a mock-sleeve out of a remnant fabric piece, to be sure, that I had nailed what Gaby had in mind.

I think the blouse came out fairly interesting and I actually plan to make myself a similar one for the spring/summer season out of light cotton-viscose fabric.

Grey T-shirt for Husband

One more T-shirt I made for husband, probably the last short-sleeved one I'm making for him this year (for now :).

There isn't much to say about it, I used the same pattern with the same corrections I had made for the previous T-shirt, the only difference is, that I added color elements, utilizing some remnant fabric from his previous red T-shirt.

Pattern: Burda #132 from 12 / 2020

Size: 50 with with added length

Fabric: polycotton knit

Time to make: 2 days

A curious fact - I paid double the money for this grey fabric, compared to the red fabric. Both fabrics are the same length - about 1 m with 180 cm width. However, the red fabric was 100% cotton knit, while this grey fabric is soft and pleasant to the touch, but the burn test showed, that it had some (probably about 25-30% polyester content). So, higher price is not always an indicator for higher quality, you know :)

On the other hand, the grey fabric was very easy and pleasant to work with and has a really nice touch to the skin, so all in all I am actually happy with it, despite the polyester content.