Burda 1/2025 #116 again

Here's the second time for this easy to sew pattern from BurdaStyle magazine. The first one was a lengthened version in terry toweling that was made to be a robe/swim coverup, and here's a link to the post.

This time, the pattern turned out to be a great solution for a problematic fabric. I'm pretty sure when I bought this that it was labeled 100% cotton. When it came, I was happy with how rich looking it was, a melange of different colors, with the burgundy predominating. It was flat and smooth like a heavy-ish shirting, and that was what was planned. But look what happened when it was pre washed! It drew up into a texture a little like a large waffle weave which made it even richer to look at, but that dashed my plans. By process of elimination (couldn't be a shirt, couldn't be a dress, couldn't be pants...) it was destined for jacketry.

It was also clear that to preserve the texture there was going to have to be a lot of hand basting and sewing, so I needed a very simple pattern. This little cropped jacket was the winner because with its extended shoulders and deep armholes, it would let me wear dolman tops underneath. I didn't have anything like that.

whole lotta texture

There was indeed a lot of hand sewing. The little patch pockets had to be totally done by hand. All of the seams that weren't vertical or close to it had to be hand basted. In most cases I did two rows of basting - one inside the seam allowance, and one outside. After checking that the seam length still matched the pattern (it was easy to draw up the lines of basting if the seam line had gotten too long), I stitched between the basting lines on the machine. Hems were all done by hand as well as the inside of the front band. I decided to leave off buttons and buttonholes.

I was surprised at how much I like this cropped length. Photo shows it with pants that I would never actually wear it with 😄, but gives an idea of the general look. One of the fabrics Burda recommends for this pattern is sweatshirting, and I'm thinking when fall rolls around I might whip one up using that material. It would be super cozy and comfy, and that one would be quick to make!

I've been on a bit of a sewing jag lately - lots of sewing but no documentation on the blog. Catch-up posts are forthcoming.

Burda 7/2024 #116

Quick project and just a quick note to document it. I have a pile of things that have been culled from the wardrobe that I would like to be able to re-cut and wear. A simple sleeveless shell pattern seems like the way to go for at least some of the old fabric. I have not had much luck trying to piece and/or color block with my out takes.

Surely the old Burda collection would have something? I didn't find a simple shell in my archives, but it was easy to envision lopping off the bottom of this mini dress and having the solution. Sleeveless, a neckline a little larger than a typical jewel neckline, diagonal bust darts. The dress is supposed to have a back zipper, but I was able to pull the top on without it. Yay! 

The fabric for my test garment was from stash. It was a tad rich for my blood when I bought it, so I skimped and only bought a yard. It was just the right amount for this shell. 

Fitting adjustments: forward neck and lowered the dart, done during the pattern tracing phase. I cut huge seam allowance on the sides, so the garment could be basted and let out as much as needed at the hip during construction.  Then modified the pattern for future use.

The neckline and armscye are finished with narrow bias facings from a co-ordinating scrap fabric. I'll draft facings for the future so there will be the option to use them. 

Fits fine. Super fast to sew. Will help me save some favorite fabrics from the scrap heap. The other TNT I need is a sleeveless top with princess seams that would enable me to squeeze the pattern pieces onto narrower scraps. That's on the to-do list!

Burda Caftan 5/2024 #122

For a long time I've wanted something loose and cool to slip on after a hot bath and for some reason never got around to making it - opting to settle for my flannel robe. When there just happened to be the right color thread already on the machine, along with a full bobbin, it seemed like the right time to finally find a pattern and make the thing.

It went together quickly and painlessly, just like a two-dot pattern should. The only tricky part is being precise when stitching in the placket pieces.

There are a couple of features that make this pattern a little different. The two bold placket pieces cross over each other, which gives a little interest. (The original in the magazine has some lovely tone on tone embroidery on the plackets.) The shoulder seams, which are quite extended, are curved rather than straight. I wasn't sure how the curved seams would work out, but they seem to hold the garment on my shoulders securely.

While this is relaxed and loose fitting, it's not oversized.

Alterations - This pattern is drafted pretty much straight up and down. I was not drafted that way so I altered the side seams for an A-line. Added length as the original is just below knee length. Shortened the sleeves to 3/4 length. Did a 3/8" adjustment for a forward neck & shoulders.

there are side vents

The placket pieces are drafted so that if you use the grainline provided, it matches up and continues the grainline of the front. I wanted a change of direction for the stripes of the seersucker I used. My only regret with this project is that I didn't interface the placket pieces. That's not a biggie, though.

I'd very much like to make this again using the placket pieces for the blouse that is made from the same basic pattern. The blouse has some pleating on the plackets, just the kind of detail I really like.

There are some other Burda caftans I'd like to make from older issues that have multiple vertical seams - enough that they'd really add some interest for a plain fabric, as well as fitting opportunities. These wouldn't have to be relegated to at-home wear. I like folkloric type styles and would absolutely wear them around town. Maybe they'll happen some time this summer.

Vintage Butterick 3573

My favorite place to shop for patterns now is Half Price Books. The selection at my store changes all the time, and they are usually older patterns, so it's always fun to browse through them even if there's nothing that I want to buy. That's where I found Butterick 3573, also sold as P150, which has a copyright date of 2002. That may or may not actually qualify for a "vintage" description. Anyway, I picked it up because it's a single layer jacket, finished with binding, that could be used for quilted fabrics.

I was intending to sew up another Half Price find, and pulled a stash fabric that had a table cloth-y look that I thought would make a nice heavy shirt. When pre-washed, the fabric had changed from table cloth-y to more of a textured bedspread-y look. Not a shirt fabric, but a great fabric for testing this jacket pattern. In the scrap pile I had enough cotton jersey to bind the edges. The buttons are just for show. While I could wear it buttoned, I did not take the trouble to add reinforcement to the buttonholes, so I won't be using them.

What a sweet little jacket! I didn't go crazy with fitting adjustments because I did want to see how the pattern actually fit. I pivoted out from the underarm on the side seams to add a little extra with to the hip and shortened the sleeve. That's it. I like the length, I like the amount of ease.

The pattern has some nice features. There are shoulder and elbow darts that would be easy to just ease in if using a loosely woven or spongey fabric. In addition, there is some extra length to the front pieces that is eased at the bust area, providing a little shape there. It's not enough for a full-busted figure, but it's nice to see that shaping in such a simple jacket. There are dots on the sleeve caps that direct the ease to the very top of the cap. How long has it been since I've seen dots to mark the easing? Seems like a long time. The shoulder is not extended and that bit of ease gives a small touch of definition.

I'm really happy with the easy fit and have plans to use this pattern as a block to make a more standard jacket. I'll add a dart, facings, and a collar.

Ready now for spring and summer with my little jacket. Also ready because of that huge winter storm that has pretty much shut us down for now. The white stuff in the photo is all sleet, not snow. We are fortunate that we haven't lost power with this storm. It's cold, everything is closed, and it's a good time to make soup and do some much-needed tidying around the house.

Style Arc Sloane

 

I thought I needed a blazer, but maybe I didn't. Sloane didn't work out exactly the way I thought it would. It does give me a couple of options, though.

From the pattern illustration, I was anticipating a relaxed, boxy, casual blazer. Mine ended up looking a lot dressier, and while it is boxy, the fit seems really slim.

The fit was almost a pleasant surprise. The shoulder width is pretty close to mine, much neater than expected. I picked the correct size for my bust, but there is not much ease there. That's unusual for an unfitted jacket.

Altertions I made to the pattern: shortened sleeves by 1-5/8 inches. They are long! Added 5/8 inch to each side seam at the hip for a total of an extra 3-1/4 in circumference. There are pattern pieces for welt and patch pockets. They blend in, but there are patch pockets on my version.

Comments on the pattern: There is shaping in the back seam, which is nice. The sleeves hang well, with a nice curve that follows the arm. There's a back vent. I might have totally misread the directions, but it seems like the way Style Arc has it finished, the interfacing shows. I made a little facing for the underlay so that it would be covered, and opted to miter where the vent joins the hem.

showing the curve of the sleeve

Sloane is unlined, and the front and back facings are the type I like on an unlined jacket, extending all the way to the armscye. This gives more structure to the chest and shoulder, and a sharper look overall. The pattern has shoulder pads as optional. I wanted to include them, but the ones I had on hand were too thick and didn't work. I may try a thinner pad if I can find where to get a few pair without having to order a dozen.

I took the time to do a hong kong finish on the seam allowances so here are the insides to show them.

The main reason that the blazer doesn't look the way I thought it would is due to my fabric choice. It's a cotton with the merest touch of stretch. It looks way dressier than I thought it would, reminding me of some silk dupioni jackets I wore to the symphony back in the day. So I'm not sure of how I'll wear it. 

I could leave it as is and have it for art openings. I'm a mixed media painter, and when I'm in a show I never seem to have the right thing to wear for openings. You want to have something that sets you apart and lets the crowd know you are the artist, but I'm not comfortable in flamboyant clothing. If I wore all black with this blazer, that would be a look I'd like. Downside of this choice is that it would only be worn a few times a year.

Alternately, I could do some topstitching on this to make it look more casual. It would probably get more wear that way.

Right now I'm inclined to keep it for dress-up.

If I ever make this again, I think I would size up and add darts, and make it in a fabric with less crispness. But now that I've made it, I wonder if a blazer really works for the casual life I lead.

Pattern Emporium Smitten

Here's Smitten, a simplified jeans-type jacket from Pattern Emporium. I liked their About Town popover top so well, I wanted to try another of their popular patterns. This one wasn't quite the success for me that About Town was, but I will wear it and learned a few things for future Pattern Emporium projects.

This was a "semi-precious" fabric, a cotton/linen from Japan, at least that's what the vendor said. I paid a lot for it and then regretted the purchase because afterwards I just couldn't see myself in it. After washing, it was scratchy. It has been in stash for a long time and I finally decided to just go ahead and use it for a tester because it gave me the guilts. Now that it's made up, I can see me wearing it over a simple dress in a narrow blue and white stripe in the summer when I'm feeling spunky.

I took a lot of time laying out the pattern pieces so that as many of the color splotches as possible ended up visible in the finished garment.  I also wanted to avoid yellow near my face, and took care to cut the yokes, center fronts, and center back from areas that had red splotches only.

Although it has plenty of body, the fabric was transparent enough that it would show the color of whatever was worn underneath. I underlined with a soft cotton batiste that took care of both the scratchiness and the see-through problem. It still didn't seem like a good idea to make the patch pockets or even just the pocket flaps because of the see-through issue, so they were left off.

Pattern changes - front pieces are included for a regular version and a full-busted version. I used the regular fronts, and chose the longer length (There is an ultra-cropped cutting line and the ones I've seen at that length are so cute - they're just not for me.) Added an extra 3/4 inch in length. I'm 5'8, but PE's cutting lines for their tall options are too long. I'm better off just adding a bit extra to the regular length.

The main lesson I learned is when sewing PE patterns, I should use the full bust option even though their instructions indicate that I don't need it. Yes, this jacket is wearable, but it is noticeably shorter in the front than the back, and the bottom band sticks out in the front, too. Allowing for the bust would take care of that - and that's something to note about the pattern. All those vertical seams are just for style; there's no shape built into them. I haven't compared the pattern pieces but I suspect that the full bust does have some shape added using those seams.

I didn't have enough red buttons in my button stash, so I used slightly smaller blue ones on the cuff. The pattern has square corners on the cuffs that I angled off. Square corners always seem to poke out and end up getting dragged in my soup...or whatever...

Just for fun, I used the color registration marks from the fabric selvedge as a little tab detail. I put one on the right front where a pocket would go, and another one at center back.

One other thing to mention - that top buttonhole gave me a lot of trouble. I had to rip it out twice, because no matter which way I fed my fabric into the machine, there was a thick seam that jammed the action of the buttonhole foot. I ironed it, hammered it, everything. If the yoke had been just a little deeper, there would have been enough room for the foot to avoid that thick seam. In the end, I had to do a zig-zag four-step buttonhole. Now that I think of it, the problem also could have been solved by using smaller buttons. 🤷 I like my bigger buttons.

I'm calling this my Crayola Jacket, and it will be fun to wear. It will be put away until springtime, and now I know what I needed to know about Smitten. 

Ottobre Woman Trench from 5/2007

Ottobre Woman was a favorite pattern source and I miss them. Maybe they'll come back some day. Here is a version of their short trench coat that was number 20 in the 5/2007 issue.

I've made this before, ten years ago in fact! The idea was to replicate the trench coat Miss Fisher wears in the TV mystery series. It was one of my most fun sewing projects ever, doing the detective work of uncovering the original's details in closeups, sleuthing out an appropriate pattern, sourcing the right fabric and all. Unfortunately, although I love the look of a duster, I hardly ever wore my trench and eventually repurposed the fabric for something else. The original write-up can be read on this blog's old location here: Miss Fisher Coat.

This coat came about because I ordered the cotton/linen canvas to copy a bomber jacket seen in a store window. When the fabric came, it was very nice but heavier than anticipated and would have made a bulky bomber. It seemed like a longer coat would be the answer, and the Ottobre pattern the way I had simplified it would work. I had eliminated all the straps and made the pattern single breasted. 

A little flat-pattern measuring insured that my old tracing would still fit. The coat is underlined with bemberg, the same stuff that used to be sold under the name Ambiance. I used the old line/underline technique learned from Shannon Gifford back in the day, so the inside is all clean finished. I have used that technique so much! It makes lining seem like less of a chore. Seams all edge stitched and topstitched so they look like flat fells.

The edges of the facings and hem were bound using a rayon tape. Doing a narrow fold on the edges would have been too bulky, not to mention difficult with heavy ravelly canvas. Horn buttons came from Wawak.

Unlike my previous version of this pattern, I anticipate wearing this one a lot. It is surprisingly warm and will fit over a sweater, just right for most of the cooler days. Where I live, it sometimes gets really cold, but most of the time this coat will be the perfect weight.

Looking at these photos I can see that the bottom button is pulling. That doesn't seem so obvious in real life but I bet a longer shank on that button will give it a bit more play and solve the problem. Easy fix.

Another jacket is nearly finished and will probably be completed in 2025. I do love jackets! 

About Town, again

When I made my first About Town (Pattern Emporium), I was so happy I wanted to make another right away. The fit was really nice for me, and it's the kind of pattern you can make again and again with all kinds of variations. The first one can be seen here and was made in an oxford cloth that wasn't exactly crisp, but had some body.

This one is made from a double cloth that is soft and cuddly, almost like a double gauze. It has fine indigo and eggshell stripes on one side, and solid indigo on the other. This time I used the facing option rather than the center seam.

Some other design changes: 

• omitted the cuffs, 
• cut the collar narrower just a bit - I think by 3/8" 
• added a back yoke, burrito-style, with the stripes going horizontally
• added a narrow band to the single pocket, also using the horizontal stripes 

showing the underside of the fabric

It seemed a bit of a shame not to utilize the double sided nature of this fabric more, but I didn't want a choppy look. I did take care with the facing so that the inside is all solid. It peeks out a bit around the neck opening. I also used the solid for the undercollar. I forgot to mention in the previous post that there is a separate pattern piece for the undercollar, which is a nice touch and really helps the undercollar to remain hidden when you turn it.

contrast band on pocket

back yoke

pledge of allegiance pose

The lined jacket I mentioned before is underway, a trench-like pattern from Ottobre. Transitional weather is here and this jacket will be perfect for layering, so I'm hoping to finish soon.

About Town - Pattern Emporium

It's not often that a new pattern release gets made at Casa Unzipped, but I happened to watch the Pattern Emporium video for their new About Town and was sold. The video cleverly shows how versatile the pattern is by styling it with a selection of other patterns in their line, and it went with so many other types of garments that I could see it fitting into my wardrobe really well. It was on introductory sale at the time and that didn't hurt, either.

Now that I'm aware of Pattern Emporium and have looked at some of their other videos, I see that showing their new releases paired up in different ways is typical for them. That just seems so smart, a great way to sell patterns. It worked on me, anyway, and I'm glad it did because I'm really happy with my results.

About Town is a boxy popover top with sleeve and length variations. It has a collar and the option of a two-piece front, with a seam down the middle, or front facing with no seam. It has a deep hem, and the short or long sleeves have a clean-finished cuff with optional decorative tab and button. It can also be made dress length. It seems to have been thoughtfully designed to give satisfying results.

The instructions are written for ultra-beginners. Every little step is photographed and described. This was frustrating for me because when I did want to check their recommended method for certain steps, I had to hunt through pages and pages to find the information I wanted. Their instructions for the collar are stellar; following them worked beautifully.

There are also extensive extensive instructions on picking your size. Working through them was tedious, but again, I'm happy with the fit. There are different fronts depending on your bust measurement (darted and undarted) and different heights. Although I could have gone with the undarted front, I chose to have the dart because I knew I'd look sloppy without it. 

Alterations for me - lowered the dart about 3/4" and lengthened the body about an inch (using the tall cutting lines would have been too long). I cut a 14 at the shoulder and blended all the way out to a 22 at the hemline. The sleeves needed to be widened 3/4" at the bicep.

I used the split-front option and two breast pockets because I wanted to do aaall the edgestitching and topstitching on my cotton chambray. I used a matching thread and right now the topstitching doesn't show much, but I think as the piece gets repeated washings the space between the two lines of stitching will bubble up slightly so there will be a little dimensionality going on.

cuff outside

cuff inside

It's a sharp-looking little top and I immediately made some pleated pants in lightweight black twill to go with it (pattern from Burda mag). The shortest length looks great with pants and skirts that have a little volume - that was one of my takeaways from the video.

It's easy and quick to make, so I'm working on another one right now as a palette cleanser after the laborious fit-as-you-go process I took with the pants. I really needed something easy and satisfying before starting the lined jacket that is next up. The only change to this next top is raising the neck opening a little.

It's great to have found a new pattern company and have more options. My Burda subscription came up for renewal and even though I really enjoy getting the magazine and Burda drafting, it's expensive, and I let it go. For the price of the annual subscription I can easily buy more single patterns as I can sew in a year, and there are always Burda envelope patterns. 

It's time to end these reflections and go feed the dogs! (or so they tell me)

Burda Plus shirtdress from 2006

This dress is from the Spring 2006 Burda Special issue, which was a plus-size magazine. I made it once before, way back when it first came out, and remembered liking its easy yet tailored fit. The bodice with vertical darts attaches to a skirt with four sections for a hint of fit and flare. Most of the other dresses I've made lately all have gathered skirts, so this was a nice change.

Only a small style change was needed. I sew a lot from Burda magazines, but almost always end up "dumbing down" their designs to suit my classic tastes. Many of their styles seem extreme to me with details that are just plain crazy. But they have solid drafting and I enjoy getting the magazines, so I stay alert for designs that have good bones. This dress features an absolutely huge collar stand and would probably look lovely on someone with a long graceful neck. I reduced the width of the stand by an inch and it is still oversized, but within my tolerance. I also opted to leave off the collar.

Line drawing to show the style

Tracing a pattern that doesn't have seam allowances makes it easy to alter while you trace. In this case I did shoulder alterations - 3/8" forward shoulder and 1/2" narrow shoulder. Some flat pattern measuring indicated that I would need a much larger size for the skirt than the bodice. That skirt has an A-line shape, but it's a narrow A. To fit the larger skirt to the bodice, I added darts that would line up with the darts on top.

It's not actually floor length. The dress form is a lot shorter than I am.

The fabric is a linen tencel blend that is woven like a lightweight denim. Because of that, and because I just felt like doing some slow sewing with extra nice finishing, I decided to do flat felled seams and have clean finishing throughout.

collar topstitching

Interfacing came from my scrap pile. I've never had much success when I've tried to repurpose old makes that didn't get worn much or that I outgrew, so they go into a pile.  I really prefer sew-in interfacings and have bemoaned how hard it is to find them. Duh! I've got a great big pile of interfacing, every weight imaginable. A compatible piece of linen was just right.

Sleeve and skirt hem finished with a double row of topstitching.
It doesn't show well in the photo but with a bit of washing
and wearing, it should become more pronounced.

Everything was going beautifully until it was time to sew the side seams on the skirt. I did a pin basting and tried it on...and wished that it had more ease. Unfortunately, that was the end of my dream of completely finished seams, because I was going to have to sew them at a mere quarter inch to get an extra 2" of ease all around. (Glad that I had allowed 5/8") After stitching, serging the seam allowances together, pressing to one side  and then edgestitching, I'm confident that they are strong enough to wear well.

This dress will be good for fall and winter wear, with its longer sleeves and long midi length that will hide the tops of my knee high compression socks! Thumbs up.

A Second Jacket From Burda 02.2024 #114

This is a pattern for a jeans-type jacket. All the skinny panels involved in that style, especially when it has two-piece sleeves, make it a good candidate for using up scraps from another project. That's what happened here. I first made this pattern last year - here's the post. It fit really well and I always intended to make it again.

For this version, I eliminated the pockets, cuffs, and bottom band; and included the collar from view #113 in the same Burda issue.

The seams are all flat felled (except the armhole) and topstitched with a double strand of thread to make it stand out against the striped fabric.

That fabric is a black and white stripe cotton that was described as a "suiting". It reminded me quite a bit of a pin cord, but not quite as supple. This had a lot of crispness and body. That helped to keep the flat fell seams nice and straight, but easing the sleeves was a real chore! Now that it's complete, I hope it softens up a bit with washing. It might even get a coke soak to see if that will help.

I was just able to eke out the pieces left over from making a pair of pants. The under collar was cut from a scrap from yet another project, and I had to piece the back. The martingale insert in the center back panel helps make the piecing look intentional.

The inside is pretty because of the flat felled seams. I think I used every foot in my arsenal to keep my stitching straight. The bias binding on the armhole and around the hem is from the same scrap as the under collar. It's a pale grey, not white.

Finished it off with fancy metal buttons that came in a button grab bag from Califabrics. I had tons to choose from but liked these the best.

This project just dragged on and on and seemed like a lot of effort for leftover fabric! But it's a nice lightweight jacket that fits in with my liking for neutral colors. I've known for a long time that it's best for me to stick to grey, taupe / natural, black, white, and shades of indigo; but when fabric shopping, I often got sucked into pretty colors and prints. The trouble is, I hardly ever wear those pretty colors and prints. I don't feel like myself in them. I feel best in neutrals that have some textural interest to them, and really need to spend my money and time on fabrics that suit me. "Pretty" is fun to shop for and fun to sew, but I sew mostly to have things that fit and that I feel good about wearing.

The grey plaid dress in the background of the first two photos was my palate-cleanser project after this jacket was finally finished and I'll blog it soon.

Four Simple Burda Tops

Long post ahead about things I'm very glad to have.

Here are four minimal (quick and easy to sew) tops made from the Burda Style magazine, all made over a long weekend. Tracing them back to back made it easy to compare patterns. I had thought that except for the tee shirt, they would all be basically variations of one basic pattern, but they were not. There were variations in shoulder slope, the depth of the armhole, and of course necklines from style to style. To me this shows that there is some thought - maybe even finesse - that goes into even these really basic shapes.

#113 from 02.2025  is a box top with darts, V neck, and deep sleeve bands.  It's also supposed to have center front and center back seams that I eliminated. The example in the magazine photo cut striped fabric on the bias so there is chevroning down the front and back. Darts in a box top seem like a good idea - they can help that box hang just a bit nicer. Sizing - I used Burda's size charts to pick the base size using my full bust measurement, then traced the shoulder and neckline one size smaller and afterward added about 3/8" at the hem for a total of an extra 1-1/2 inches of hip ease.

The fabric is an all-cotton double gauze.

The photo on the mannequin shows the original width of the sleeve bands. These would be fine if you were making the top in more of a blouse weight fabric, like a rayon challis or some silky type. With the dropped shoulder, it all adds up to a 3/4 length sleeve. The double gauze had too much body for such a wide band, so it was shortened to the elbow length you see in the modeled photo.

with shortened sleeve bands

If you trace #113, you actually have an option of sleeve lengths because you can simply leave the sleeve bands off and have a shorter sleeve. This is what Burda did for the related style, #114. That one is cut on grain, has a round neck with a quarter zip, and the shorter sleeves. The main pattern pieces are the same. So you can mix and match your options to make several different-looking tops from this pattern.

Next up, something even simpler. This one is 5.2024 #120. They don't come much more minimal than this dolman sleeve box top with a boat neck. Front, back, turn under the neckline, sleeves, and hems and you're done. I made a neckline facing and stitched it down because I'm not a fan of a turn-and-stitch finish there.

This was made up in a cotton/linen knit with no spandex. It has drape similar to a cotton interlock but hardly any stretch. A loose style that just hangs from the shoulders seemed to be the best choice. 

Tracing and sizes: again, I traced a size smaller than my bust size for the shoulders and then at the sleeve edge just continued on for two sizes (this lengthened the sleeve a mere quarter of an inch or so) and continued tracing the underarm and body using the larger size. Also added length to the body. I'm very pleased with the way this fits nice and securely on my shoulders. It's very comfy to wear and I like the way it looks, too.

The previous style in this magazine, #119, uses the same pattern pieces but with longer sleeves, longer body, and a V neck. So again, if you trace off all the options you can make a few tops that are not exactly the same.

This brings us to the third top. I sewed a white basic tee shirt. Who does that?? I did and I'm glad. This was a very nice fine cotton interlock. Beefier than the tees in the tees in the shop, it has a quality feel. I solemnly swear not to eat anything with tomato sauce when wearing this tee.

It's #127 from the 2.2024 issue, a very basic short sleeve tee with a round neck, loose fitting, with very subtle shaping in the side seams. Sleeves were lengthened to the elbow. When I use this pattern again, I'll narrow the shoulder seams a bit. 

Lastly, a shirt that is not plain white. It has a gray stripe! So here's a different loose knit top with a boat neck that is meant to suggest a breton-type stripe tee. This one uses the pattern 122 from the 9.2024 issue, which is supposed to be for woven fabric, but it's companion style, number 121, uses the same pattern pieces and is for knits. It's the same except the sleeves are cut wide all the way down and it has a turtle neck.

This stripe is a modal/lycra knit.

Although these tops were not challenging sewing, or exciting because of the print or color, they were not boring to make. Partly that was because the sewing went so quickly. The thing that really motivated me, however, is all the thinking I've been doing lately about a neutral wardrobe. It is fun to sew with pretty colors and fun prints, but I'm realizing that most of those kind of clothes don't get worn a lot. Those of us who sew do it for differing reasons. For some it's all about creativity, for others it's more like puzzle-solving. While I enjoy the activity of sewing, the real reason I sew is to make my own clothes. A collection of clothes made just the way I want them and that make me happy when I wear them is my reason. And that seems to mean a lot of white tops. 😉