A New White Blouse From an Old Burda Magazine

I had a Burda (then Burda World of Fashion) magazine subscription for a number of years, starting in August 2008 and use to sew from it quite a bit. I know lots of you dislike tracing and hate the crowded newer pattern line sheets even more, but for me that was never an issue. I have a background in construction and was trained to read building blueprints, so the lines of the pattern sheets don't make my eyes cross. I stopped my subscription in 2012 because I was no longer inspired by the shapeless garments they were putting out, but would still buy the occasional single issue from GLP international if something on the Russia Burda sight caught my attention. Still, though, I got out of the habit of tracing and my backlot of magazines was left abandoned on the shelf. The good thing about having this collection is that when I want to sew something very specific, I can usually find it in one of my magazines. Such was the case for this blouse, which I made purposefully to wear with one of my favorite jackets. (I posted a few pictures with it and the jacket at the bottom of this post, if you want to skip all the pattern information.)

This is from the November issue of 2010 and is style 128. I always liked the uniqueness of this design. It's a basic fitted blouse with a bit of interest with the double-breasted front and long buttoning cuffs. I wanted something collarless to go with my jacket, and lowered the neckline to fall right below it's mandarin collar. I would have found it too high and choking as drafted.

This is a petite pattern and the first time I've attempted to un-petite one of Burda's designs. I cut the size 19 because it matched up the closest to my normal Burda size of 38. After holding the pattern up to my dress form, I decided to add 1.5" to the waist. I also added that same amount to the sleeve length which I did NOT need. This is kind of a weird pattern that seems to be drafted for an orangutan. Check out how long their sleeves are on the example! Of course you can't tell this in the magazine because the model is wearing a jacket over it. I ended up removing a whopping 2" from the middle of the sleeve, and I have normal length arms. On a petite sized person those sleeves would be comically long!

The shoulders were weirdly long as well, so I shaved about 1/2" from that area. After those alterations to the pattern, I quite like the fit. The center back seam gives it a nice tailored look and there's no bunching under my jacket.

I wanted to wear this blouse untucked and to just peek out from underneath, so I shaved some off the center front and center back hem. This fabric is a long time stash resident purchased online and is a stretch Italian cotton. I only had two yards at 45" wide and was forced to cut the cuffs on the cross grain. The inside facings I finished with bias tape and did french seams throughout. The buttons I purchased locally. I topstitched the fronts, neckline and cuffs with a triple stitch.

Here it is with my much loved military jacket, also a Burda pattern. I made this jacket back in 2012 and usually wear it with another top I made years ago. The purples didn't match but were in the same color family so that was fine for awhile. I thought the styles kind of clashed, though, and was ready to pair it with something else. I added a small clasp to the front of the jacket after I posted it to keep the fronts from flapping open and needing adjusting. Basically I don't like to fuss over re-arranging my clothes after I put them on lol.

I love how there's only a peak of white at the bottom of the jacket and at the sleeves. It gives the jacket some interest in breaking up all the purple.

Being able to fill in missing pieces from my wardrobe is something I really love about sewing. Now that I've got the ball rolling and didn't forget how to make a design from Burda, expect to see those patterns more often.