Burda 01/2013 #116

These are the next couple of pieces in my LATH wardrobe. I’ve made the tee up twice before. You can see the op-art version here and the second version here. I didn’t have a lot of the graphic rayon knit – about one metre or so. It’s a great pattern, although it tends to fit a bit on the snug side. I added 2 cm at the side seams through the waist, tapering out to an additional 3 cm at the hips. As mentioned in my op-art post, Burda’s binding instructions for the neckline are horrible. I just cannot do a bound neckline in a knit or jersey to save my life. (Mind you, if it was to save my life, I’d probably try a lot harder.) So I just did the simple sure-fire edging that always works for knits.

And what about the skirt? It’s a simple two-piece pattern (Burda 1/2013 #116). Not much to say. The only changes I made to the pattern were to taper from waist to hip to make the skirt piece fit into the rectangular waistband. The pattern is a bit on the straight side, and I require a larger hip:waist ratio than what was drafted. Here’s a pic of the skirt’s waistband with the tee tucked in.

What else can I say about these pieces? They’re both comfy and they look good together. I’m liking the tee – it will go with many other pieces besides the LATH wardrobe. And I confess to wearing the skirt a couple of days in a row because it’s just so easy to wear.

I’ve always had a hankering for making an entire Burda capsule wardrobe for some reason. I just love how they pull together an average of 10-12 pieces and they all work beautifully together. I recently cleaned up my sewing area a teeny tiny titch, and had the sudden impulse to sew a lounge-about-the-house wardrobe, courtesy of the February 2013 issue of Burda, after emptying out a large bag of knits that have been collecting over the last 12 months or so. After laying them all out, I decided on this colour scheme:From L to R: dark purple lightweight RPL, rusty rayon knit from EOS, graphic rayon knit from EOS, lavender lightweight RPL, and silk chiffon along the bottom. After shopping my stash, I decided I’d use the silk chiffon instead of the suggested silk satin. It’s lighter in weight, and I’ll double it if necessary to match the weight of the knits if necessary. I have 3 metres each of the light and dark purple, about the same of the silk chiffon and around 1 metre each of the print and rust knits. Here’s my plan:

1. long skirt dark purple (Burda 1/2013 #116)

2. knit pants in dark purple (Burda 1/2013 #112)3. dress with chiffon in light purple (Burda 1/2013 #110)

4. cardigan with attached scarf in chiffon (Burda 1/2013 #114)

5. ruched long-sleeved tee with chiffon trim in rust (Burda 1/2013 #119)

6. short-sleeve tee in graphic print (Burda 2/2013 #126)

7. possibly a chiffon blouse (Burda 4/2011 #114)

8. and, if I have enough fabric left, this colour block top (Burda 7/2014 #114)And that should give me a pretty good capsule wardrobe for fall LATH (lounge-around-the-house) wear.