When I was compiling my 2019 year in review post I was surprised and a bit saddened that I didn’t actually sew any Burda magazine patterns last year despite buying it every month and liking quite a few patterns in every issue. So I resolved to try and sew more from my magazines, and when January’s contained this wonderful, boxy sweatshirt I just knew I had to sew it up!
Burda Jan 2020 #116 (not that it’s available on the English-laguage abomination of a site yet, but here it is on the German version) is a drop-shoulder boxy sweatshirt with no shoulder seam – there’s a shaped panel that runs along the shoulder line instead and up into the funnel collar (which has an integral, folded over facing).
So it’s a pretty straightforward, easy make, not that you would know it from Burda’s overly wordy and frankly, terrible instructions. I mean, I expect nothing less from Burda! Is it even a Burda review at all if you didn’t complain about their terrible instructions?? 😂
I knew I had a tech fleece from Maldon Mills that’s been in my stash for a while and I thought it would make a nice pairing for this since I didn’t really have any other heavyweight knits lying around (I don’t tend to keep many on hand since they take up so much room). Unfortunately, though, when I got it out I realised it was a LOT thinner than I remembered.
This was my first mistake – this pattern really needs something hefty to keep the structure.
I’m going to count this overall as a fail – first and foremost because I chose the wrong fabric (and I kinda knew that as I was cutting it, but I don’t have enough of anything heavier in my stash and I was already in the mindset to make this). So I haven’t bothered to dress this up with a real photoshoot, just some self-timer shots in my little sewing room. The tech fleece tends to stick to everything, which is why it’s wrinkling up everywhere, even if it’s just to my jeans!
The funnel neck looks messy in real life even though the stitching is fine and I took care when stitching in the ditch of the neck seams to affix the folded-over facing in place…
But the main Fail for me on this jumper is that the proportions feel really off on this – it’s really short in the body (brrr) and overly long in the sleeves, which are also way too wide! I wasn’t the only person to say this, too, mind!
I’ll wear this for layering on runs and rides, but I don’t feel I’ll be making it again… but I do have another Burda magazine pattern in my “end of winter” plans which I made last weekend, and it’s as big of a Win as this one was a Fail!
You can’t win them all!