Saturday, February 14, 2009

My first Burda World of Fashion project!!

But before I get to that...
I started on my mother-in-law's jacket last weekend - finally. All I have to show for many hours of work on it is the lining, however, which was quite disappointing. I'm hoping that the more I sew the faster I can put things together. I haven't even cut out the actual fleece for the body of the jacket. Sigh... Here is the completed lining. I'm hoping to work up the motivation to finish up the jacket this weekend.

And now.... I started my Burda World of Fashion subscription with the February issue. In it was #108 - a simple knit top. Perfect initiation project, right? According to their charts I'm a size 46. However, I figured since I was going to serge the whole blouse (which would mean 1/4 in. seam allowances), I'd be okay - and if I wasn't, didn't matter, at least I'd be more familiar with what size actually works for me. I chose a cheap knit fabric that I wouldn't mind wasting in case I ended up with a wadder. Quick and easy project, but WHY did I END UP SPENDING 2 HOURS trying to put the right combination of pencils and pens together to use for making my 5/8 in. seam allowance while I traced?!! I'm not even going to talk about that. Needless to say, I finally ended up taping a mechanical pencil, short color pencil, and my marker together. Yikes!
Everything was straight forward after that. I wasn't sure whether I was supposed to add the seam allowance to the center front fold as well - I just went ahead and did so. I'll have to find out if that was correct.
So here is my completed blouse. It's a gorgeous day here today, so I took my picture outside. Couldn't decide which one to post, so... Anyway, I'll write a pattern review later. Time to go out in my new top!

3 comments:

  1. Wao, you did it. I truly love the top , the color is really summery, and I guess you picked the right size and fits well on you. One day I will have nerve to try BWOF . You did a wonderful job

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  2. Both tops are very cute. Don't have my Feb issue yet so can't help you re: CF seam allowances.

    BUT I can recommend the Seam Tracer. Can't link but I bought mine at Vogue Fabrics Store online, I know clotilde.com sells them too.

    It's basically two plastic pieces shaped a bit like binoculars that have pencils in them, one piece near the point, another at the end.

    The space btw the pencil tips is 1/4" or 5/8".

    I both two of each since I live outside the US and you never know, some dumb marketing person might decided to discontinue them!!!

    And since I cut knits with a rotary cutter, I add the allowances to the pattern paper.

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  3. No center seam seam allowance needed. I have the german version, there it is clearly stated where to put seam allowance and where not. I normally trace on paper, put the seam allowance on the paper pattern and cut out afterwards. Works for me, makes the pattern instantly reusable and paper is easier to mark.

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