Yellow Cowl Neck Blouse

A new casual viscose blouse for myself, my third this season. As we had a very long warm, even hot Indian summer and I walked some 4-6 km every day, I found my light longsleeves extremely comfy and wearable.

The new blouse is another hybrid, this time between a cowl neck Burda pattern I tried first two years ago and my now beloved slightly gathered sleeves with longish cuffs, adapted from Burda 112 10/2021.

 

My first iteration of the cowl neck pattern was more or less a failure, as I used fairly stiff and thick knit fabric and I've been contemplating ever since to try it again with a more suitable thin viscose knit. So when I grabbed this mustard yellow viscose, I knew its fluidity and drape was exactly what the pattern called for. The construction of the neck is interesting and original and I really like it and I find it flattering and comfy.

Pattern: Burda 103 10/2014 and Burda 112 10/2021 (sleeves)

Size: 34, shortened  sleeves by 10 cm, body by 3 cm

Fabric: viscose knit, 1.2 m

Thread: yellow polyester

Time to make: 4 days

However, I should note, that the pattern runs pretty tight and body hugging, which I do not particularly like. If I am to repeat this pattern again, I would definitely go for a larger size from the underarms down and would probably shorten it a couple of centimeters also.

Now, that the warm days are over, I should probably turn to knitting and sewing warmer, more weather appropriate clothes and leave the light viscose fabrics for the next warm season. Or will I :)) ?

Cowl Neck Jersey Blouse

UPDATE with a couple of modeled photos Gaby just sent me:

 

 

I made a quick jersey blouse for Gaby. Our girl was in Sofia for a week with her boyfriend and I used the opportunity to make her a new blouse :)

The pattern is another BurdaStyle pattern, one of the many I have bought lately in search of the perfect cowl neck T-shirt. This pattern not only features a cowl neck, but also an interesting semi-square neckline with gatherings on both sides of the front raglan lines.

Because the neckline is designed a bit too wide, as is actually quite characteristic for Burda patterns, I made some important modifications to the pattern. First, I raised the neckline by 2 cm, thus narrowing the circumference. Then I narrowed the front, the back and the raglan sleeves by 1 cm each, which resulted in additional 8 cm less neck circumference. And finally, I made the band for the lining of the neck as short as possible. As a result the cowl neck now lies nicely around the neck and does not gape down to the belly button, as one seamstress complained on the Burda ru forum site.

 

Pattern: Burda #105 05/2014

Size: 36, modified

Fabric: viscose jersey

Time to make: 3 days

I like the pattern a lot and I intend to make one for myself, but I'll add some volume to the body, as it is a bit too hugging for me as it is now, after all of the modifications I did to it.

I I absolutely love how the blouse fits her. I could have probably taken some thought on the pattern placement, but I'm not sure if that would have made a big difference.

Cowl Neck Top

Several very awkward flat pictures of a top I managed to make for Gaby at the end of 2020. It is a sort of a Frankenstein of ideas and pieces I borrowed from various patterns and with some minor issues it did turn out fairly nicely.

The basis for the top is my true and tried basic Shkatulka short sleeve top, which I have used for a number of modifications now, as I know how it fits us both. The inspiration for this top came from a video by Stitched up!, one of my favourite sewing vloggers. I followed the instructions word for word and I think they are quite legit, however the neck opening of the starting pattern should be much wider than that of the Shkatulka top. For the cowl neck to drape beautifully it needs width at the neck, so a closed up crew neck is not a good option. Тhis is my only issue with the resulting top - the cowl does not drape enough, it is more similar to a boat neck. Next time I will start from a scoop neck; we live to learn :)

The original Shkatulka has a simple short sleeve and I wanted bishop sleeves, so I took the sleeves of another top I made this year - blouse 101 from Burda 03 / 2020. For this purpose I constructed a new sleeve with the cap of the Shatulka, continuing into the bishop sleeve of the Burda blouse, but shortened and attached to a sleeve cuff.

The side gathering of the blouse was an inspiration from another Burda pattern I bought, but I still haven't made - blouse 103 from Burda 08 / 2020. For the gathering I used black elastic thread in the lower bobbin of the sewing machine and I am truly happy with how it all came out.

Gaby wore the blouse on New Year's eve in combination with the plaid pleated skirt I made for her and I think she looked gorgeous. Pity we couldn't take any nice modeled pictures - before we knew it time flew and she had to catch her plane back to Prague, so I had to quickly take a few flat photos of the blouse literally a couple of hours before her departure.

And another flat picture - my first finished sewing project for 2021. I had plenty of the french terry with the butterflies, so I made another pajama top. This is the same pattern and almost the same top as the pajamas I made at the end of December, the only difference is the shorter sleeve cuffs and the added bottom cuff - I actually like this version better than the first. And I love to use up all of the fabric. Now that I am through with this french terry, I can move on to something new and more exiting. I actually just cut it, but more about it next time :)

Cowl Neck Burda Sweater

This is the second of the Burda patterns for knitted fabric I acquired during the sale - a cowl neck sweater pattern 103, published in BurdaStyle Magazine 10 / 2014. The pattern calls for drapy lightweight knit fabrics and features an interestingly constructed cowl neck and extralong sleeves.

I printed the size 34, as I intended this sweater for Gaby, and the first thing I did was to measure and cut the extra 10 cm of the length of the sleeves - maybe such sleeves were in fashion in 2014, but I thought them ridiculous.

To sum up, though I am very proud of my workmanship on the blouse and the way I managed to comprehend the sketchy instructions in Russian on the construction of the cowl, the sweater was about to be declared a disaster. Firstly, it turned out that Gaby didn't like cowl necks. Yes, I should had consulted with her, but as a maker I prefer to sew things that are interesting to me and this pattern seemed interesting ;) Secondly, my lightly brushed sweater knit fabric - super soft and extra stretchy, turned too heavy for the cowl neck and it just sits there without draping. And thirdly, if Gaby didn't want the blouse, it meant that either I had to wear it or redo it somehow and I never ever wear white. I have always considered it an awful color on me. I have warm olive skin complexion and white, even off white as in this blouse, always seemed my enemy. Not that I don't like it as a color - I love it on other people and envy them for being able to wear it, just I don't like myself in white. Until I saw these pictures.

I like the blouse, I like the fit, I love the softness of the fabric and I think it actually suits me. So I'm keeping it :) I'm planning a second version of the pattern in a teal color and a very fluid knit jersey, to test this cowl neck with a more suitable fabric.

Pattern: Burda 103 10/2014

Size: 34, shortened  sleeves by 10 cm, body by 3 cm

Fabric: lightly brushed sweater knit, 1.2 m

Thread: white polyester

Time to make: 2 days