Wearing: Burda Square Neck 111



Let's talk about my latest project. I'm pretty sure if I was on Sewing Bee, that this top would see me immediately disqualified from the competition. The fabric is facing the wrong way up, I had a complete disregard for pattern matching, and it's rather obvious that my pattern isn't central either. Oops... But if the amount of wear I've got out of this top since making it is anything to go by, it is a anything but a failure.

The pattern I used was Burda's Square Neck 111. I mainly chose it because I felt like a nice, quick and easy project, and once I got my head around the construction of the raglan sleeves, this was simple enough. Originally, I was planning on making a pair of matching shorts, to make one of those matchy-matchy sets that I have been spamming my Pinterest users with (sorry!). However, halfway through this project, I decided that the remaining fabric would be perfect for upholstering my new chair (which looks fab, by the way). I guess the fact the temperature was dropping really put me off sewing a pair of shorts. There is still a bit of this fabric left though, so we'll see whether I get around to making them for next summer.

By the way, you might recognise the fabric. It feels like a crazy long time ago that I wrote that post, and obviously I changed my plans since then. Sure, this fabric would have made a lovely skirt, but I felt like that was a little too predictable. And I loved the fabric so much, I wanted to make something that I could wear on a daily basis. The Square Neck definitely lives up to this brief.

Whilst sewing it, I had several "How will I actually wear this?" moments, as I worried that when finished, the top would be a little too fancy for day to day wear. How wrong I was. Essentially, this is like an oversized, smarter t-shirt, in that it is super comfy, and is perfect for wearing with anything casual. My only styling rule with this, is to wear something tighter fitting on your bottom half. The top is lovely and slouchy, but if you pair it with anything even slightly voluminous, you lose all definition. Not good. However, this makes this top perfect for teaming with some of my key items in my wardrobe; skinny jeans (obvs), pencil skirts, and my dungaree dress. If it can be worn with my dungaree dress, then all is good.

Okay, so the sewing. I completely overestimated my size, and decided to sew the 38", which led to some serious alterations later on. It's still oversized now, but more in an intentional way, and not in a maternity wear way. The original pattern was a little shorter and cropped, so I added a couple of inches to the length to make it more of a t-shirt length. I also left off the optional sleeve ruffles, because I thought that the patterned fabric made it busy enough. I had a little trouble with getting the facings to match, but it was nothing that my mother couldn't sort out. Thanks mum!

Even though it's definitely cooler lately, I'm still wearing this top like there's no tomorrow. Would I use the pattern again? Absolutely - I think next time, I'd use a plain fabric for the body, and a kooky contrasting pattern for the sleeves. Oh, and I'd try and make it a little smaller from the offset, which is easy enough.

Now that I've finished this top, I'm already planning my next project. Even though the last thing I need is more fabric, I've bought some uh-mazing remnants this week, and I'm itching to start using it. It's fluffy - enough said, non?

I'd love to hear from you if you've used this pattern! Or if there's any sewing patterns you'd recommend (I'm always on the lookout for some new ones!).