Sunday, January 19, 2014










Burda. Burda, how can I count the ways that you are a pita.  Supposedly they have two English speakers who are actually American.  Really?  Kind of hard to believe.  Most of us who sew with Burda magazine patterns complain about the directions but 117 11/13 has got to be the worst I've seen in awhile.  For one thing they aren't just obtuse, they are wrong.  They have you put the zipper in wrong side up and on the wrong panel.  You cannot have the zipper pulls on the underneath panel.  I won't continue, just be forewarned if you are planning to sew this.

The pattern calls for a ponte, and from the look of it a fairly heavy weight one. But my wool (The fabric is from Emmaonesock, one of my favorite online fabric stores) sweater knit is probably  too heavy and it, unlike ponte, ravels.  Consequently I had to change the  order of construction and  some of the construction details.  This fabric is so  thick that multiple layers barely fit under the presser foot.To keep everything in place  I  hand basted all of my seams with cotton basting thread and then used a four thread serger stitch.
There was no way that I could face the peplum with self fabric. It is way too thick for that. Instead I  used a piece of the gray wool rayon jersey from the color blocked top to face the hem. I did not use it to line the peplum because after serging the waist seam there was no easy way to attach it.,  It's very light so I interfaced it with Pro-tricot deluxe from Fashion Sewing Supply.   After sewing it to the hem I hemmed it with my coverstitch machine. It seemed fine when I sewed it, and yes I tried it on. But, as I worked on it the knit has just grew. I took it in before I hemmed it, and thought that that was enough. I'd finished applying the leather and the jacket was still  too big. My next move was to remove the top stitched hem and take in the sides.  Believe it or not I needed to remove another 2" from each side and I had already taken in the sides and the bust before I ever coverstitched anything.  Also, it was too big all the way from underarm to hem, so it really wasn't just the coverstiching.  I  re-hemmed it by hand with a catch stitch. I made another sample from some leftover fabric of the coverstitch at it highest differential feed and measured the piece before and after.  8" grew to 8 1/2 so this definitely caused part of the problem.  I have a Janome cs1000. A question to those of you with other brands of covertstitch, have you experienced the same issue with sweater knits?  

The other problem I had is that the heavy zipper, my favorite Riri zipper of course, really pulls the jacket forward. I ended up ordering two weights of chain when the first piece seemed too light.  This one is from M&J Trim and it does seem to hold the jacket in place better than without it.  



Another issue  I have with this jacket is really more to do with my fba.  It added just too much length in the front panels. I  should have taken up the upper cf panels, but I didn't.  It's ok but as you can see the front is really longer than it should be. I am going to experiment with a Y fba. I've never used it because I thought it would add too much width to my cross front.  The other oddity I found is that even though I added about 3/4" to the length of the peplum it looks shorter than the picture on the magazine.  Maybe it's just the upper curve of my hip which the model certainly  does not have!


I like this jacket much less than I thought I would. Why? Because it's a jacket that has to be 'arranged' when you put it on for the collar to look anything like the picture in Burda. I feel like the jacket is wearing me rather than the other way around. The zipper has to be zipped up just to the right point for both sides of the collar to be even. Mehh.  The pattern calls for two large snaps to hold the under layer in place.  This is where having notions in my stash is lovely. I think that these large plastic snaps came from Botani buttons in NYC.  














I am wearing the jacket open as I type this because it is very warm with two layers across the front!  To wear this jacket comfortably inside the heat needs to be off and it needs to be a cold day!  It will certainly work as an outside jacket in warmer weather,  but I really like to have pockets in outer wear  and I couldn't face adding pockets to this unstable fabric. 

SWAP 2014
This is the first piece in a planned SWAP that's running at the Stitcher's Guild.  I hesitate to mention it because I am afraid of jinxing my  finishing it, which is generally the case with me and these types of things.  However I really like the format. It's very flexible and an easy way to plan a wardrobe.  There are the usual 11 garments required.  Two wild cards, which can be anything with a few restrictions.  Then there are 3-3 packs.  Everything doesn't have to go with everything else but they all have to look like they belong together. In other words, a collection.  I've found that it's a good format for planning.
Next up is a coat, which is one of my wild cards.
More about it next time.

23 comments:

  1. I know the first paragraphs weren't meant to be funny but…I howled. Burda instructions, how can I say this politely, suck. My method is to trace the pattern and use the knowledge I have accumulated over many years to assemble the garment. One night, I finally got out of bed at 3 am to rip and resew a Burda garment sleeve that had eluded me. After an hour, went back to bed and slept peacefully. I enjoy reading your blog.

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  2. Despite the problems with the fabric and the instructions it's a gorgeous jacket.

    I have the Janome cs900. If I'm working with a fabric that's as stretchy as a sweater knit I'll stabilize the hem before I sew, The other thing I do is stitch about 4"-5" and lift the presser foot to allow the fabric to relax. Stitch some more and lift the foot lather, rinse and repeat. PITA, yes, but it keeps the hemline from stretching as much as it could.

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  3. Although the pattern instructions were difficult, those difficulties made your excellent sewing skill shine :-)

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  4. Beautiful jacket. Worth the headache, I say.

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  5. Beautiful. Very flattering, also!

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  6. I love that jacket, and yours is really sharp!

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  7. That jacket really does look lovely on you. You have perfected your color choices and they really bring out your gorgeous hair, skin, etc. I love that you stick with what you know works well. I am sorry the project was such a PITA. I am on pins and needles about your coat!

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  8. Very stylish jacket and you did an excellent job in staying with it.

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  9. From here it looks wonderful on you. Shame it didn't play fair!

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  10. It looks great on you, even if it's not entirely comfortable to wear in reality. With Burda I often wonder if the problem is that the English translators speak English fluently but don't sew, and therefore don't notice the problems.

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  11. All difficulties aside I think your jacket looks really nice on you! Sometimes you just need to get out the whips and chains, right? ;)

    OK, do NOT get me started on Burda. They are not in my good books these days. Grumble...

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  12. Gorgeous sweater jacket. Love the leather trim. Beautiful!

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  13. I didn't mention that before I took the pattern off the back piece I took it over to the ironing board and immediately used fusible stay tape on the back neck so that it wouldn't stretch. That worked perfectly. We're expecting some cold weather for the next few days so I'll be getting some use out of it. We keep the house fairly cool.

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  14. It looks great. Even more importantly, it looks great on you.

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  15. Your jacket looks wonderful, despite all the headaches in translating Burda instructions. I'm glad you made this up - it's one that's been tempting me for a while. And congrats on your first SWAP piece!

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  16. I'm sorry this was a PITA for you, but the end result is sensational, it really works in the sweater fabric you picked. I do agree thought that the instructions for this jacket were not good, I gave up trying to follow them when I realised bits were missing.

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  17. So I have no idea what a pita is (I'm guessing you didn't mean the bread by the context) but I'm assuming it meant there was much shouting in frustration. The jacket looks bad ass. It would be a perfect outer garment in TX.

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  18. The sweater is really cute despite the Burda issues!

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  19. Beautiful sweater Nancy
    Marciae from SG

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  20. This is a great jacket using sweater knit. EOS has some great fabric. Look forward to seeing your SWAP projects.

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  21. Great jacket - I never worry about directions any more. Instinct or recklessness?!

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  22. Don't you just feel like re-writing the directions and posting them? If something is going to stretch...it does...using Emma Seabrook fusible stay tapes in various widths help, in troublesome fabrics, I hand baste the hems up before cover stitching with my Janome 1000 and raising the foot from time to time to let the fabric relax...Lordie, some days I wonder how anyone gets perfect hems without all the fussing and prepping. Your finished jacket is stunning and looks so good with your coloring!

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  23. I understand your complaints, especially with the continually growing sweater knit (ugh, we have all been there), but this jacket is so great. The textured fabric makes it much more interesting than a plain moto, and your leather trim is the perfect accent. It is super stylish!

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