Tropical Stripes

Last month I bought a few pieces of nice summer fabric in order to make some new T-shirts and blouses for Gaby. We expect her next week for the Orthodox Easter and I was hoping to welcome her with a whole new spring wardrobe. 

As it happened, I wasn't productive at all last month and I only managed to sew one of the fabrics - cotton viscose knit in bright tropical stripes. 

The pattern is a Burda T-shirt pattern with interesting sleeves I bought last year, but never actually made. The pattern is a version of my favourite Burda 6820 (I compared the pattern pieces), the only mods they've made to their original pattern are a bit wider neckline and the cherry of the cake - the sleeves.

As I like the form of the neckline of 6820 better, I actually used my true and tried pattern pieces for the front and the back of Burda 6820 and only the sleeves from Burda 119 07/2019.

 

Pattern: Burda 6820 + Burda 119 07/2019

Size: 36, with corrections

Fabric: striped cotton-viscose knit

Time to make: 2 days

The blouse came out nice and cheery, I hope Gaby will wear it this summer; I can already see it with a few bottoms I know she has in her summer wardrobe that would match the colors of the blouse perfectly.

Striped Longsleeve

My latest make - another hybrid blouse.

Last year in their September issue Burda released a boatneck pattern and I watched it eagerly for almost two months, until I caught a sale and bought it. Unfortunately the pattern didn't live up to the hype - in reality it was somewhat shapeless and the arm opening was much wider than the sleeve circumference - a definite no-no in pattern making. I made the blouse, making corrections in the process, but was dissatisfied with the design.

So, when I bought this soft drape cotton-viscose striped knit fabric, I knew I wanted a boatneck fitted tee, something similar to my favourite Schkatulka tees or the tried-and-true Burda 6820 basic fitted tee, but with a twist - the boatneck design element from the 09/2021 issue.

And thus this hybrid blouse was born - the body up to the armholes and the sleeves are from Burda 6820, and the parts above the armholes of the front and the back are from the #102 09/2021, with the necessary corrections in width, so that the armholes would fit the 6820 sleeves. 

How about stripe matching! :)))

When I cut the body of the 6820, I added 1.5 cm seam allowances, but took off only 0.8 cm on the overlocker, so the body is a bit more relaxed than the usual fit of the 6820 for size 36. I also added 3 cm to the width of the sleeves at the cuffs, so that the sleeves are not so fitted and I can pull them up easily on a warm spring/autumn day.

 

Pattern: Burda 6820 + Burda 102 09/2021

Size: 36, with corrections

Fabric: striped cotton-viscose knit

Time to make: 3 days

As, with my first make of this pattern, I sewed fixed the overlap at the shoulders - the open shoulder didn't sit well at all, but the fixed closure is comfortable and makes the T-shirt just a little bit more unusual than a simple store-bought sailor t-shirt.

Now that I have this boatneck pattern out of my system, I can move on to other T-shirt designs.

Wine Red Hybrid Blouse

When I went fabric shopping a few days ago I came upon this wine red rib knit and immediately fell in love with the color - it is so much me. I bought about 1.2 m with no particular idea for a pattern, but such fabric length is usually sufficient for a simple longsleeve for me.

However, it turned out that the fabric is narrower than the usual 1.4 m. And as it is rib knit and very plastic and fluid, I wanted something not very tailored. But not too oversized too - I have an oversized RTW rib knit sweater, which I never wear. So, after much deliberation, I decided on Plantain. It is a simple free T-shirt pattern, fitted around the bust and slightly flaring at the hips. 

Plantain has a deep scoop neck, but from the very beginning I knew I wanted screw neck and, if possible, something like a turtleneck. So I also took out my Burda #112 10/2021 turtle neck top with bishop sleeves and modeled the neck of the front after the Burda blouse. Once I cut the front and the back, I decided that I didn't actually want 3/4 sleeves, like in the Plantain. However, I did not have a long enough piece of fabric for two normal size sleeves. 

And then I got the brilliant idea to make the sleeves like in the Burda pattern - bishop sleeves with long cuffs. I drafted a new sleeve, using the upper part of the Plantain sleeve, to fit the armhole of the body, but the lower part is from the Burda pattern. I cut the sleeves as long as I could fit them on my fabric and drafted the cuffs and the neckpiece from the last remnants of the fabric. The neckpiece is twice as shorter as I would have preferred it, but that was all the fabric I was left with. In the end I was able to use up the entire piece of fabric with just the tiniest cuts and scraps left - I feel weirdly über-satisfied when I am able to do this :)

Once I assembled the blouse, I became convinced that the bishop sleeves were actually its best feature - otherwise it would have looked too plain and pedestrian. I am definitely keeping the idea in mind and I want at least one more blouse with such sleeves.

Pattern: Plantain by Deer & Doe (body) and  Burda #112 10/2021

Size: 34, shortened, modified neck and sleeves

Fabric: polycotton rib knit, 115 cm

Time to make: 2 days