Miss Celie

Pattern Review: Burda Magazine 02-2009-118 Knit Top

Burdastyle Magazine. Your directions SUCK. You may have changed your name to BS, but BWTF!!

Burda Magazine 02-2009-118

I totally forgot what a PITA the sleeves on this were. I first made this up as a dress last year. It’s now with my mom due to my total discomfort in wearing a form fitting knit dress. This top has been cut out since at least December. But, I didn’t have stretch / ball point needles. You would think Joann Fabric wasn’t 15 minutes away from me the way I put off buying supplies!

The polka dot fabric is from Spandex House during my last trip to New York (of which I’ve now sewn with two out of the six fabrics). I actually planned to make bra and panties from these. But, it’s too pretty to be hidden! It’s chocolate brown with irregular pink polka dots. Love. Hmmm, must rethink wearing these with black pants.

The pain I speak of, is the sleeve construction. I used Kay Y’s tutorial and Dawn’s photos to get me through. I also did my typical swayback adjustment. I took out over an inch. But, I could take a deeper one.

As before, I lined the upper bodice with brown tricot for a neat finish at the neckline. I hemmed the bottom with a twin needle stitch. I love this as a top. Just not for me as a dress.

The Poet Blouse really is next. But, I finished this on Monday and it’s warm enough to wear to work today!!

Parting shot: My doorbell hasn’t worked in six of the seven years I’ve owned my house. I decided to finally replace it and get the transformer fixed (which was blown). The electrician was 1.5 hours late on *both* nights he was here. And didn’t leave until 11:00 p.m. the first night and 12:45 a.m. last night. It took two nights and holes in plaster and paneling coming down in the basement because the wiring was so disintegrated in my 70+ year old house that it was shorting out. After rewiring it, I now have a working doorbell! I love the buzzer. It sounds like I’m in school and classes are changing! But, I do not love that it was a quarter of my mortgage payment to fix. I should have become a plumber or an electrician.

32 comments

  1. Hi! I’ve recently started sewing (again). I took a brief detour to learn to knit, but have returned to my first love, sewing. I really enjoy your site. Your sewing is beautiful and your insight on other topics, well, insightful 🙂 Thanks for sharing your projects with us!

    • Thank you for coming by! I treid to take up knitting. But, I’m sadly on the same scarf I started 18 months ago!

  2. Your top looks great. It’s the right sort of shape for pink spots. I agree that Burda directions are very poor indeed. I just tried a knit dress in their March 2010 addition, where I even got confused about how to add the seam allowance because of slashes they have you make.

    • I havea jacket that I abandoned *years* ago because I never could make sense of the kimono sleeve. I should look at it again. Maybe now I might actually be able to make it!

  3. The doorbell looks all shiny and new…and who knew that being a plumber or an electrician would have made us rich back when we were growing up!

    I’m loving the new top! Is this part of the wardrobe you are taking to PR Montreal? Cause it would look great with some jeans!

    • Yes! I’m trying to actually have clothes in Montreal that people haven’t seen me in the last three years 🙂 Truly. I’m working on my casual / travel seperates.

  5. Just clicked on the linkie to your mom-She is absolutely elegant! I wish my mom and I could exchange clothes but alas we have two TOTALLY different body types-she’s a pear and I’m a…Lego block. Sigh…

    Glad you made a top out of this fabric instead of undies, it really is way too cute to not be seen!

    • What’s troubling is that I was once two sizes smaller than her! She’s got me beat in her retirement. But, it’s nice to have someone who will appreciate the clothes you pass on to them.

  6. Or an appliance repair person. We have had to get people out here twice because of our front load washer. Their rates are just as high as those that the plumbers and electricians charge. I think I could work two days a week and make more than enough in any of those three jobs!
    Oh, I like your shirt. I got a little sidetracked by the end!!!

  7. Great top! Definitely the right move to put that fabric out in public. 🙂

    I hear you on the repair charges. Something to be said about the DIY movement, eh? Back in college, a friend joined a yacht club or sailing club or something like that, and he was sheepishly amazed by the number of plumber and electrician members. (Was he expecting the carefree wealthy? I dunno…) Speaking of repairs, I have someone coming on Monday to look at my freezer… wish me luck.

  8. I remember reading how bad these directions were from everyone who made this. It does look great on you, so obviously you made it through. Yeah some of Burda’s directions are pretty obtuse to say the least. Instead of all those bad crafts, maybe they could spend some time on illustrations for some of their designs. I would blame the translations, but there are none of the really bad syntax errors that you see in bad translations.

  9. Lovely fabric indeed! Can I ask which kind stretch/ball point needles you use? I bought some Singer ones (various sizes) at JoAnn’s, but they seem to create holes in my knits. 😦

    • Hi! Thanks for commenting. I tend to go with ballpoint needles. But, some people also will use ‘universals’ when sewing knits. The might make a difference. I also tend to sew most knits on my serger, so I’m sadly not a great expert on the kind of needles to use.

      • Thanks for the very quick reply! Sorry, I wasn’t clear in my question. I was just curious about what brand and sizes of ball point needles you find useful. A couple of knits just have been giving me trouble on sewing machine, serger, coverstitch machine alike, even if I use ball point needles.

  11. “You may have changed your name to BS, but BWTF!!”

    Hahahahahahahahaha! Snort!
    Your top looks fabulous. Despite BWTF’s directions.

  13. Your top is beautiful!! It looks great 😀 Does the Vegan do any electrical? My DH taught himself. I know that sounds scary but we had an electrician check his work. He has rewired half our house. And, I haven’t sewn a thing for him!

  14. Cute top! And triple word score for figuring out those directions. Tell me about the plumber/electrician fees! My mother was so WRONG to send me to a University! so, so very wrong…sigh

  15. You know, I’ve eyed this top for quite a while, but had remembered vaguely that the directions are, well, so Burdaesque. Despite them, you’ve made a super cute top, and too cute to hide as underwear!

  16. That’s a great fabric; you’re right, it was too pretty to be hidden! I hate it when pattern directions don’t really direct.

    When we bought this house, it had a “servant call box” in it, and that’s where the doorbell was. Of course, the servants have been gone for 70 or 80 years, so we smashed the box out of our kitchen, and with it, the doorbell. One of my sons is a talented plumber/electrician, and I hope one day he’ll decide to give me a shiny new doorbell like yours!

  17. I like this top very much. I pretty well ignored this pattern in the magazine and their pictures rarely show a garment in a flattering light, but I like it now I’ve seen it made up on a real woman. I love brown and pink together. I’m surprised you don’t like this style on you as a dress because I think, with your lovely figure, it would look great! I pretty much ignore BWOF instructions. I have considered buying a German copy and asking my German brother inlaw to translate because I suspect a lot is lost in translation. With Burda patterns that end up in print form, you can download instructions with pictures from their website, so every once in a while I trawl through and see if I recognise any styles from the magazines. The pictures make it a little easier for me. As the owner of an equally old house (and probably more poorly built as it was built by a farmer) I wish I had chosen carpentry skills over love!

  18. I hopped over from “Sew a Beginner” and am your newest follower. LuV your blog!! I noticed in this review that you adjusted for a “swayback”. Is there a formula that you used for that? I have inherited the “swayback” gene from my dads side of the family, but have NO idea how to adjust for it! Any light you could shed would be great!
    Happy Weekend 🙂

  19. I hear you on the career choice- we are doing tons of work on the house (ours is 102 years old) and finding all sorts of interesting things. But, if I did it all day at work, I bet it wouldn’t be as bearable to do it all evening at home!

  22. We tell our young sons all the time (especially after a workman has been here) to think about being a plumber or electrician. Neither are glamorous jobs, but they certainly charge a lot! We insist on a college education, but if they ended up doing something else that supports their lifestyle, we’re OK with that!

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