September Burda Challenge - Better Late Than Never

I've fallen sadly behind on my sewing challenges this fall. I think it's a combination of hot weather and being out of town. This is my offering for the September Burda Challenge, and also for the (August) Scary Fabric Theme for the Stashbusting Challenge.

Meet blouse #111 from the 09-2011 issue of Burdastyle. They describe it as a sophisticated blouse boasting intriguing sleeve section seams. Those seams are pretty well disguised by my fabric choice, so here's the line drawing:

My result looks more like something I might have worn to Woodstock than the "splendid couture style" Burda described. But I'm OK with that.

Burda recommends you use polyester georgette, which would be delightfully light and whispy. I actually had a couple of pieces of what I think is georgette in stash, but neither was big enough for this top. Those sleeves are enormous and the bottom section is self-lined, so this top burned up more than two yards of fabric.

I used a polyester silky thing that I got at the flea market here in Santa Cruz. I'd forked over my 6 bucks before I realized I'd been looking at the reverse side of the print. What looked like subtle all-over polka dots from the back were really bling-y gold polka dots that were kind of like little blobs of puff paint. But what's stashbuster to do? The overall color scheme was much nicer from the front, so I decided to embrace the bling and work with what I had.

You can see from the line drawing that I'm supposed to be sporting a slit neck with a drawstring. I omitted that because I did not relish the notion of applying a continuous bias binding to a neck slit in this fabric. Instead, I used a piece of linen yarn to gather things up to my liking and then tied it in what I hope is a permanent knot. Then I tucked the ends into the casing and closed 'er on up.

Back view

The sleeves are fun to wear, but they're not terribly practical. The opening for your had is a bit off kilter, which makes the sleeve swoosh around stylishly when you walk, but they also scoop up bits of things from the kitchen counter. I'm pretty sure there's still some dog kibble rattling around in there from this morning.

The pattern is very well drafted. All the pieces matched up perfectly, with no finicky easing. In fact, since I'd nixed the slit neck there were no fiddly bits at all.

If you fancy taking a whack at some of that 70's boho chic that's floating around out there, this is a fun pattern. I might make myself a pair of high waisted denim flares and totally relive my youth. Or I could try this again in a more sophisticated fabric and pair the top with a narrow black skirt for an evening in the city.

My pattern review is on PatternReview.com here.