Not that my needle hasn't been busy. A girl needs to stay sane, right? Friday and Saturday nights after midnight is my me-time, for however long I can stay awake (shamefully late, most days!). Though it's been mostly alterations and repairs, the fastest way to get a dress back into circulation again. Not a lot of fancy sewing for myself.
What I did get around to making (and photographing, and posting) was this top. Tunika 115B from the Burda magazine May 2009.
I found the pattern from Burdastyle.de, though for some reason it is no longer there now. You see how long it took for me to make it up! It was free, and it looked easy, so easy I thought I'd be able to wing it, in case I wasn't able to make out the translated German instructions. As it turned out, I still don't speak German (in spite of 2.5 years of weekly classes in secondary school), Burdastyle still does lousy instructions, and Google Translate still doesn't work.
I used a gorgeously light cotton lawn from the neighbourhood fabric store - completely fell for the robots! and envisioned a deliciously lightweight, floaty top.
It didn't take very long to make, the only trouble I had was with the neckline facing. Many bad decisions are made at 3 in the morning when my brain shuts down without my knowing it.
I started with a full neck facing, but found that the fabric was so sheer the pattern from the facing piece showed through on the front. Of course I didn't have any plain white light cotton on hand, and of course (at that point) I had to sew NOW! NOW! and couldn't wait for when I was next free to visit the fabric shops. So I cut the facing off, leaving only a thin band around the edge - much like a curved seam binding. Brilliant idea, no?
Not for this fabric, which, as it turns out, was too light to withstand even that teensy weight of extra fabric. Look at how it gapes at the neck!
I also forgot how horribly PREGNANT these floaty tops make me look. Short, not-very-thin people shouldn't wear floaty tops. Simple rule, right? Bleh. I forgot.
I have since worn this top out twice, and both times:
1.Couldn't help looking in every mirror I passed by and thinking how frumpy I looked in it
2. My underwear peeked out of the neck hang when I had the girls in my arms
3. I kept tugging on the back hem so the neck wouldn't gape so much.
The back is the only decent looking bit, though it's a little long. Probably I should walk around backwards more when I wear this.
Summary - it's off to the cutting bin with this one. At least I like the fabric enough to even want to save it.
Adjustments: I cut my usual size 38, omitted the neck closure since it was wide enough to pull over my head. That explains the strange un-utilized back seam. In future (if I ever make this again) I will shorten the hem 7cm (about 3 in) and perhaps change the front pleats to a single inverted box pleat.
Fabric:
A $10/yard lightly slubby cotton lawn. I wonder if this style might look better in a thicker fabric, say a jacquard?
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