Burda.. umm... meh

Blogging has fallen off the radar recently due to a last minute holiday being booked and N having no summer clothes that fit (not that it's been a problem with the British Summer so far!) hence I have had to bring all of my plans for her forward.    Still been reading a lot of other people's blogs but not writing much of my own!

About that Burda top I mentioned previously... As I was beginning to suspect after having battled with the horrible pattern sheet, lack of seam allowances and dodgy instructions, the top ended up being a bit meh.  As I was worried about how hard it would be to sew with knit fabric, I ended up with one that was the right weight (and I actually had no problems sewing it) but it was a very pale lilac and I don't think that helped!  It's also the kind of top where I know the facing will always pop out around the neck.  By the end of it I didn't actually bother to slipstitch the hem - i just machined it.

Although I'm not that happy with the end result I think I learnt a lot with this one.  I discovered that knits aren't as scary as I thought!    I also don't think I'll bother to settle for fabric I don't love as clearly I won't love the finished garment.  The pleated sleeves were pretty complicated, especially with the strange Burda instructions but I managed to figure it out - and also learnt the importance of pinning it all up and checking to make sure it looks right before stitching.  The seam ripper was a good friend of mine by the end of this one!  I was surprised by how big it ended up - I must have taken it down by about 3 or 4 inches all round and it's still pretty big!  I think I was between sizes and went for the larger one but I think after this experience (and reading this blog post from Gertie about pattern ease and sizing) I'll probably go for a smaller size and try to tissue fit until I get more experienced.

I wasn't actually going to post a pic but since I can't find a pic of the pattern online this is all a bit cryptic without one! So here you go:

An attempt to show the fancy pleated sleeves:

Terrible pics, but the top really doesn't warrant proper photos! 

I've got a few projects to blog about - quite a few for N and a full skirt for me which is part of my Summer Palette plans.  So hopefully more to come this week (especially if the weather behaves and I can get N to pose in her clothes!).

Next sewing project is another Burda one (I must be mad!) but much simpler this time.  A plain knit tshirt.  Hopefully it will come out slightly better!