Wow, can you believe it’s November already??? I think a mild state of panic is setting in over here at chez Dream.Cut.Sew. Sew many sewing projects sew little time!
Thankfully, I just finished a nice palate cleansing quick make which I’m sharing with you today. It’s Burda 104 08/17 draped collar sweater and it’s my second ever Burda make (the first one is here). I think I can safely say that I’m quite hooked on their modern designs. After a mind-boggling search for the appropriate tracing lines on the maze that is the Burda pattern drawings, I actually found it fairly bearable to trace off. I was given a tip by the lovely Alex of Sewrendipity (I actually met her at GBSB Live and she’s fabulous! Love her) and that useful tip was to use Frixion marker pens to highlight the lines prior to tracing to make them easier to see….I’ve yet to get hold of said pens, but will definitely be giving that a go sometime. The beauty of them is that you can run a warm iron over the Burda pattern sheet afterwards and the marker lines vanish ready for you to highlight the next pattern.
Anyway, let’s talk about this new top of mine, shall we? I only bought the fabric last week at SewBrum sewing meet up in Birmingham UK which is organised by English Girl at Home each year. A lot of chatting and even more fabric buying is to be had. I met so many lovely sewing ladies…some new and some that I’d met before. What a wonderful day! But, I digress….this fabric came from Barry’s Fabrics and is a proper jumper knit as opposed to a jersey knit. I’m afraid there was no content on the label, as I suspect many rolls are end-of-line buys. I’m guessing there are some natural fibres in it because it presses beautifully and drapes like a dream. It’s so smooth too. Perfect for this sweater…but, you know, it nearly wasn’t made in this olive fabric…I had laid out the pattern pieces on some deep red viscose jersey, but it turned out that I didn’t have enough fabric, so this ended up as plan B. I’m so glad though!
There are only 5 pieces to sew together in this sweater design. It’s a raglan style with quite a wide, open neckline and the deep collar is able to be worn in multiple ways as you can see from the photographs. I cut out the smallest size and after the first try on, I found it to be reasonably roomy/fluid in fit, so I made the following minor alterations :
- Shaped the sides in a little at the waistline.
- Narrowed the sleeves a little from elbow to cuff because I have small wrists.
- Raised the neckline a bit to make it slightly smaller in circumference.
- Took about an inch off each centre back collar seam to correspond to the smaller neck opening.
It was an easy to put together make. I used a slight zig-zag setting and my walking foot to stitch the seams first and then I overlocked each one in turn. If you want you could just set up your overlocker with four threads and do it all on that. I didn’t have enough matching threads to fill my overlocker though. All raglan seams were sewn first and then the underarms all in one. Next, I stitched the collar around the neck edge easing it on slightly and then just slip stitched it around on the inside. The centre-back collar seam is gathered by hand for a lovely ruched effect. A final try on and I decided on sleeve and body length before overlocking and stitching them up. Et voila!
The first stage of stitching all raglan seams together 
The inside collar edge is slip stitched and the centre is gathered last.
I can’t tell you how much I adore this draped collar sweater. The collar is so fab and now I’m yearning for one in some gorgeous Merino knit fabric from the Fabric Store. I understand that international shipping is free if you spend a certain amount…Christmas pressie maybe? I need to have a word with Santa…. 🙂
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This is such as perfect sweater on you, Diane! I love the collar detail and the shape with your fitted jeans. So stylish and yet so cosy!!
Author
Thanks, Helen x. I’ve always had a penchant for cowl or drape collars and think this may be my perfect sweater
Well done this looks lovely:cosy, stylish and perfect with your jeans.
Author
Ooh, thanks so much Manju. Glad you like it!
That is a beautiful sweater on you! I’m such a fan of draped collars with pants and skirts and I love the way this one can be worn off the shoulder too! Perfection!!
Author
Thank you, Linda that’s so nice of you to say. I think draped collars are so elegant (and snuggly) to wear.
Lovely to meet you, though too briefly! I absolutely love your sweater, the collar is gorgeous and so versatile. I love Burda’s style though I am less keen to do the tracing than you! I’m going to have to try again though and give this one a go! Frixon pens are great, they are fantastic for fabric marking, I got mine from Amazon.
Author
Oh, I know Mags, way too brief! They’re just such hectic days aren’t they? Thank you for the sweater love, though, I wouldn’t go so far as to say that I’m keen to trace Burda patterns….it’s a bit of a necessary evil eh? I do like so much of their stuff though and the magazines are such good value when you consider the number of designs in them. Will check Amazon for those pens. Thanks!
I love this so much, Diane, it’s a great pattern and it looks awesome on you! I can’t wait to make my own version soon.
Very happy you got into Burda Magazine as well, they really are the best! Re frixions, check out Ryman’s, I got 3 highlighter pens for £2.99.
Author
So glad you like it Alex! You’ll love it for yourself too. Thanks for the info re-Frixion pens. We have a Rymans close by so I can check them out when I’m in town. Cheers!
I totally this colour! It’s a beautiful pull. I would love to make like it. I think it’s a perfect autumn style.
Author
Thank you, Eli cat! I always appreciate your lovely comments x
This IS a lovely colour on you! I haven’t seen a pattern like this before, but then maybe I just overlooked them. I’ll have to take another look and see if I have one in my pattern stash even – it’s quite possible. I like the collar, pull it up, pull it down, so many variations!
Author
Thanks, Linda. I know just what you mean. I love the versatility of this sort of style. I bet you have something you could use. Or with your expertise. I bet you could draft something similar.
Love this top and your blog is beautiful!
Author
Thank you Faye, what a lovely thing to say. I’m glad you like both blog and top xx
Thank you for mentioning all the alterations, very helpful. Lovely colours!
Regards from the Netherlands 🇳🇱
Author
Thanks you! And thanks so much for visiting my humble blog Michèle x
I’m glad you find the alteration details helpful.