Monday 3 September 2012

Burda 10-10-118 Work Blouse

My younger daughter is having a week of work experience at a law firm. Naturally this raised visions of a completely new wardrobe, as mostly she wears her school uniform, or the ubiquitous jeans and t shirt. Note I am not saying whether these visions belonged to me or my daughter ;)

 Despite some joint Burda perusal, which was rather fun and gave us thoughts of fancy shirts with collar stands and funky details, and some serious mutual pattern tracing and cutting out, this blouse was the only thing I finished before she started work this morning. This may have something to do with hosting a 10 year old birthday party this past weekend and not considering that this might cut into my sewing time slightly. 10 year olds are a lot of fun but slightly exhausting en mass. SAM_1013 SAM_1014
 Could anything be more simple? Unfortunately it was not as simple as it looks. There is a FBA, square shoulder adjustment,waist shaping and severe fabric pinching in this little top. I added a side dart for the FBA instead of adding it to the gathers at the neck where the rest of the bust shaping lives.

Burda World of Fashion 10-10-118

 You can see from the line drawing that there is supposed to be an attached scarf (on the bias) and much longer sleeves with a cuff. That is why Burda expected me to have over 2 metres of fabric. I squeezed the top from a cotton shirting remnant of about 60 cm and scraps. Scaling down to a size 34 probably helped with this, but the main thing that reduced the fabric consumption was making the bias binding for the neck finishing extra long and turning it into the neck fastening bow instead of the fabric hogging bias scarf (which I rather fancy).

 When the top was finished, I thought it looked pretty dull on the hanger, but on the recipient, I think it is quite cute for an office junior.
 SAM_1012 
It was nicely quick to sew once the fitting and fabric squeezing was over, and she might even get another one before she runs out of clean shirts.......

17 comments:

Amy said...

Very lawyerly. :)

Janine said...

That is amazing - a shirt out of only 60cm !It is very hard to find such appropriate clothes for a young person to wear in this situation but you have done well to sew something suitable for her age and the job - lucky my daughters did work experience at a florist and a nursery - no last minute sewing or shopping necessary.

Anonymous said...

Very smart!
I've been eyeing this pattern off, but with a large bias cut fabric hogging bow.
And not in a size 34.
So I better check the meterage...
-sewingelle

kbenco said...

I was giving myself thrifty points for the 60cm, but should have admitted that the fabric was 150cm wide and I cut the blouse on the cross grain for my petite daughter , so it is not nearly as good as it sounds - no expanding charms here ;)

Lyndle said...

Very cute blouse. And your daughter is beautiful. The combination is a kind of Edwardian look. Lovely!

Karin said...

It looks very cute on your daughter! I hope she has a great experience out in "the real world."

a little sewing said...

I know exactly what you mean that simple does not equal easy. The fitting needs to be spot-on for simple to look fantastic.
This top looks fantastic on your daughter. The epitome of elegance and youth.

pdiddly said...

this little top looks fabulous and as your rightly point out doesn't give a hint of all the extra work that went into it. Very suitable work experience outfit - hope she has lots of fun too.

Mary Nanna said...

oh a very fetching office junior indeed - just the right combination of sweetness and earnestness.

Carol said...

It's the perfect top for a week of work experience. Don't you love it when you cheat a garment out of tiny piece of fabric? I have a remnant of really lush brown cord that I'm trying to squeeze a skirt out of. I will make it happen ...

Sharon said...

Very cute blouse and there are some advantages being petite :)

Tia Dia said...

Oh, best of luck to your daughter! The blouse is simple, smart and attractive. I've made up one in chiffon, and really like the fit of it.

velosews said...

You did a wonderful job with this blouse and your fabric. She looks very smart and she will fit into the law environment.

Bernice said...

Very smart...and sweet with that cute tie.

Gail said...

I like the way you've changed this pattern.

Erin said...

I love the way you have made this shirt. I have made a few of these now and I think I might try your version next!! Well done and thanks for sharing!!

Sew-4-Fun said...

Oh you're good! Sewing work clothes for your DD. My DD starts two weeks of work experience this week (at an advertising firm) and I haven't sewn her a thing. We went the RTW route combined with what she already had.

Nice job, mum! Better than me. :)