Searching for Burda magazine, August 2010

Does anyone know where I can get the August issue of Burda Magazine? I somehow missed it in the shops ... boo! I have September; I even have October. It's just the darn August edition that's missing.

Many thanks!

Burda top in action

Here are the action shots at last, taken by a colleague at the office today. Yes, we're a pretty casual office :-) (and boy are the yellow walls ugly). This top is proving to be very comfy so far.

Oh and you can read my review of this top at PatternReview here. On to the pics!

Front (my hands are there to "shape" me a waist. hahahhaha!):

Back (the way I'm standing makes it look as if I have non-existant hips. My hips are small, but they're not that small ... it's an illusion):3/4, standing on the red carpet (as if! hahaha!) view:

I should do this more often

It's done! Well, almost ... just need to hem it ... but you get the idea ;-) Nobody is around to take a pic of me in it right now, so the action shots will have to wait just a while.

Apart from having to fight with the slippery fabric, this top (Burda magazine 2/2009 #108) came together rather quickly and easily, thank goodness. It fits well enough and I'm rather pleased that after so long, I've finally sewn something for myself again.

Construction notes
Pattern - Burda magazine 2/2009 #108
Fabric - Lovely Poly/Lycra knit from NicoleXavier

• I cut a 40 at the neck, blended it out to 42 at the arms and waist and then back to 40 at the hips
  
• Sleeve cap was lowered by about 3/4 " - i just eyeballed it and cut a wedge off the top
  
• I ignored the Burda instructions cos this is a fairly easy top and I didn't like how they had you insert the sleeves in the round. Doesn't make sense for a knit! So here is how I did it:
  - stabilise shoulder and neck with strips of knit interfacing
  - sew shoulder seams
  - sew neck (i just turned it down and sewed; didn't use a twin needed or coverstitch
  - sew sleeves into armholes
  - sew up side seams, from ends of sleeves to bottom of top
  - hem sleeves (i used a 3-step zigzag cos I was too lazy to set up the serger for a coverhem)
  - hem bottom
• Try on the top and resolve to get less "fluffy". LOL!
  

I'm definitely going to make this again, but in a more stable knit the next time(s). Working with slippery fabric made me run through (in my head) my inventory of swear words in multiple languages. Hahahhaha!

At laaaaaaast

This Etta James song (click here to see a video) keeps playing in my head as I write up this post :-) And you know why -- some sewing-related activity actually took place this past weekend!

I know, it's about time, right?! LOL! It's just baby steps, but at last I'm sewing something for myself.

First up is this Pattern Review #5 Best Patterns of 2009, Burda Magazine 02-2009-108 "Knit Top with Bateau Neckline".I've read the reviews and know that I have to reduce the sleep cap ease and possibly cut a smaller size at the neck. So that's what I did, and hope that it works.

Here is the fabric I'm using:
It's a groovy black-and-white knit -- I think it's poly/lycra -- and it is soooooo slippery. I'm a bit of a fabric snob (ok, I'm the snobbiest fabric snob there is) and don't usually buy anything with polyester in it. But this print (from NicoleXavier) was too cute to pass up.

It was a real pain cutting the fabric though, as it wanted to slip and slide and run away from me. Why didn't I choose a nice stable knit?! Oh well ... this had better look darn good when it's all completed

Now I just need some sewing machine time to sew it up, and that means it probably won't get done till Saturday because I can't sew when my darling little monkey is around as she loves to "help".