Saturday 23 February 2013

Burda 01-2013-110 tunic

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Sometimes I read scathing posts about Burda's homewear/loungewear sections, which are often published in January, but for me, these are some of the most useful clothes in the magazine. It is quicker for me to sew a pair of leggings than to go to Target to buy made-in-China from nasty thin fabric.
This year, the loungewear section had some very luxurious pieces, mixing jerseys with silk satin and silk chiffon. How unusual, I thought to myself, and difficult for washing, such practical considerations being close to the forefront of my mind due to my unfashionableness.
However, the January stashbusting challenge had brought to the forefront of my stash many smallish pieces of lovely fabrics, which are too lovely to throw away, and there just happened to be 80x80xm of off-white cream silk satin (remnant from a christening dress, so you guess how old it is) for which I was very pleased to find a use - and it has been pre washed in the machine with no apparent harm.
 Technical drawing from http://www.burdafashion.com
Essentially this pattern is a raglan a-line t-shirt with a neck insert. It comes in version 109, long sleeves and tunic length gathered over the hips (to increase apparent fatness?), and version 110, with short sleeves and dress length. The magazine photos disguise most of the garment, but are very artistic, so I suspected it might look rather like a sack when worn.

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Here is the sack at tunic length, no hip gathering, and with side seam waist shaping added.
It is quite pretty on a 17 year old with long legs, worn over shorts, although she thinks it will look better over leggings. I changed the self fabric tie to an extra long rouleaux tube as I thought this would look more elegant than the flat fabric tie which I thought a bit clumsy in the magazine photo.

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The neck insert is a nice detail, worn gathered or loose, and the pattern has other thoughtful details such as finishing the armscye with silk satin bias binding- very soft and comfortable against the skin

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I would never have thought of this fabric combination myself, but I think it works well to add a touch of luxury to a knit top.

16 comments:

Karin said...

Oooooooh, this looks lush! Cosy, luxurious and pretty. I failed to notice this pattern in he magazine, but I love your version.

Janine said...

This is one of the reasons I love sewing blogs because I find it hard to translate those burda line drawings into a real life garment.
Your tunic looks much better than the magazines . How lucky your daughter is to have a silk satin tunic as well - must feel divine.

shams said...

Cuuuuuute neckline! A great top.

liza jane said...

That is a really cool neckline. I always like the lounge wear patterns, too. They are usually just a tiny bit different yet really practical.

Steph A said...

Ooooh, it's lovely! I really like the sound of the fabric combination. I saw it in the mag but thought "it looks cold! I'm freezing here!!!" But for the summer it would be fantastic.

Summer Flies said...

I really love this but figure it would look like a sack on me too, but at t-shirt length maybe. I do love the fabric mix and does remind me of expensive brands so well done.

katherine h said...

I really like the neck on this - both gathered and loose - and I love the silk / jersey combo.

fabric epiphanies said...

Great top/dress and I agree with your daughter, it was made for leggings. For those with aversions to all things shapeless, I could also see it gathered into a band at the hips. I must look out for this Burda.

SewRuthie said...

Really nice! I love seeing you use up these small scraps. Thank you.

Sharon said...

What a great tunic for the silk satin to be used on, and the neckline is very interesting.

Carol said...

Cute top and it looks comfortable, too. I'm too scared to mix fabrics like this.

velosews said...

It's a great looking top. Soundwave is on today and if you make this in black, she could also wear it to a summer outdoor concert! They all wear black on black around here:)

Carolyn said...

This is absolutely lovely! I like everything about it, particularly the neckline. I always machine wash silks too, on a gentle cycle :)

Gail said...

I like the neckline worn loose. The mix of textures is great.

Tia Dia said...

This is such a lovely top! It caught my eye in the magazine, and seeing yours made up confirms it's charm.

Joy said...

This is quite a pretty top with a lovely neckline. I agree it would look nice over leggings when the weather turns colder.