Burda WOF 05-2008-101

I know Burda changed its name but it's still Burda WOF to me. Thus I sewed Burda WOF 05-2008-101:

Oh goodness. Terrible photo. It's actually the best I have, for now. Had to photograph quickly while my husband was loading the car, with the engine running to warm it up, before we left my parent's house for our long drive back to Chicago. I forgot until last second that I took pieces to photograph because my camera was so rudely stolen.

Of course the front doesn't collapse all concave as in the photo; it actually blouses just as dramatically in the other direction over the chest. A little too much, as other reviewers on PatternReview have commented. And the pocket flaps do lie nice and flat when wearing this, and the buttons don't fall over like in the photo. If they did, believe me, I wouldn't photograph and share this! All bad photo apologies out of the way, let's get down to review business:

Review at PatternReview.com

Pattern Description

Long-sleeve jacket with peplum and center front zipper.

Pattern Sizing

Size 36-44 included in the magazine.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?

Yes, except I skipped a few details discussed below.

Were the instructions easy to follow?
I didn't pay much attention to them. I skipped details like interfacing, zipper and sleeve tab, so I just followed instincts to assemble the jacket in the right order.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
I discovered the same issue other reviewers did -- the jacket is a little blousy to be flattering. I knew this before sewing it, but I still made it because I liked its details and I like the peplum. I added a third set of darts at the neckline to try to tame some strange droopy-drapiness there. As other reviewers did, I topstitched the visible darts to add a bit more detailing.

Fabric used:
The fabric is a viscose blend with metallic bronze finish from EmmaOneSock. It has a slightly faux leathery look to it too. There's a bunch left to make something else. I was originally planning to make a fantastic metallic trenchcoat and wish I had enough fabric left to make one. Someone please make a trench with this! But I wanted a dressy jacket to wear over a dress for an evening event back in October, and this is the fabric that was right to wear. This project started with the fabric. But nothing among my jacket patterns clicked. So I flipped through 5 years of Burda WOFs and this pattern clicked immediately.

To go with the fabric, I made a bracelet exactly like the bracelet below from Sundance catalog to wear with the jacket:

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:
I skipped several details: interfacing, the zipper and the sleeve tabs. I also topstitched the darts.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?
Yes, because this version is dressy and few will see it, I plan to sew it again with a tweedy navy wool to wear to the office.

More photos:
Here's the back, a bit wrinkled from wear. As you can see, I skipped the sleeve tabs:

Here is pocket detailing, of course with wonky seams because this jacket didn't want to cooperate for nice photos. I don't see wavy seams in real life. Or do photos show us things we can't otherwise see? Um, I shudder at the thought. I actually had these buttons in my stash and they matched this fabric well. They also help to keep the faux pocket flaps secured to the peplum, otherwise the flaps would flop around a bit.

Hong kong seam detail. The reverse side of this fabric is nice and contrasts well with the metallic outer side, so I wanted it to be visible and not hidden by lining.

Parting shot:

We lost a sewing assistant for a long while on Christmas Eve. We couldn't find him anywhere. I thought he got lost in the bowels of the basement of my parent's house again. He loves it down there. He didn't even come when called. (Believe it or not, both my cats usually do. They love me.) Finally I looked hard under the Christmas tree. I had looked there before, but he kind of blended in under there! This is what he does in my gardens too. He tucks himself under big hostas and watches the world from there. I am thankful both cats were very gentle with my parent's Christmas tree and all its breakable ornaments.