A woman wearing a grey sweatshirt and cargo trousers stands in front of a green fence

What’s in a name? Grey sweatshirt: Burda 121 02/2016

A woman in a grey sweatshirt

I’ve called this grey top a sweatshirt but I have a feeling it’s not quite the right word. It sounds entirely too sporty and energetic. But it’s definitely not a sweater, and has no hood so not a hoodie. Maybe the line art will help?

Line art of a sweatshirt
Burda 121 02/2016 line art, burdastyle.ru

This isn’t part of any of my wardrobe plans, but it was made to fill in a wardrobe gap. I made the grey cargo trousers in the pictures a couple of years ago, but I lack cold weather tops that go with them. I wanted something with some detailing to echo all the bits and pieces on the trousers and this one from Burda seemed to fit the bill. I’ve made it in grey scuba from Minerva. The zips, drawstring cord, and cord stops were from eBay. I went for silver hardware to match the zips on the cargo trousers. The eyelets were some gunmetal coloured ones I had left over from another project, but they aren’t very visible.

The main feature of this top is the high collar. It’s two layers of fabric but no interfacing. I was a bit concerned it would collapse completely, but the drawstring helps a lot in giving it some shape.

The zip detail on the collar was a lot of fuss to sew. The exposed zips are set into section seams so there’s the bulk of a seam allowance to deal with at the bottom of the zip slot. Burda provided unusually detailed instructions for using scraps of lining to face the end of the slot, with pictures, but I’m not entirely convinced by their method. You use a scrap of lining to face the slot on each side of the seam before actually sewing up the section seam. This means you have to match the bottoms of the slot perfectly or the lining shows. I did an OK job but one side is off by about a millimetre and it annoys me. Next time I’d sew the section seam first, to just above the end of the slot, and then face the slot. No danger of mismatched ends that way.

A woman wearing a grey sweatshirt pulling the collar up

One slightly unexpected feature of this garment is the padded sleeve hem bands. I didn’t notice them on the line art or the model photos, and missed that wadding was on the notions list. It was only when I got to the bit on the instructions where they tell you to stuff it into the bands that I realised. I had some wadding scraps so I added the padding, but I’m not really sure what its purpose is. It gives the rather skinny sleeve bands some dimension, but that’s about it.

A woman wearing grey stands with her back to the viewer

This is a Tall pattern so I didn’t lengthen it. I probably should have done; according to the size chart I should still be adding a couple of centimetres. But it was so nice to trace something out and not have to hack it about. The sleeves do feel the tiniest bit short but the body length is fine. Next time I think I’d make the sleeve bands a bit wider and that would be enough.

A woman wearing a grey sweatshirt and cargo trousers

This fills a long-standing wardrobe hole. Unfortunately I don’t think I have much else it will go with other than the cargo trousers. Maybe my silver Vogue 1247 skirt or the silver Vogue 1347 trousers. It’s a bit too casual for most of my other trousers.

Thanks to my husband for the photos.

22 thoughts on “What’s in a name? Grey sweatshirt: Burda 121 02/2016”

  1. Just wondering if the zips are essential or cosmetic? Does it go over your head without undoing them?Would be so much quicker to make without them and I don’t think I’m in the mood for all that fuss at the moment – maybe something else set into the seam for visual interest instead, perhaps colour coordinated to the drawstring cord. I also feel the neckline might be more comfortable without the ‘stiffness’ created by the heavy zips; are you conscious of them when you’re wearing it?

    1. It goes on OK with the zips done up but it’s a bit of a struggle to get it off. I have a very small head for my size so I think it would be a good idea to make the neck a bit wider if doing without the zips. I don’t notice the stiffness at all. I agree it could look good with piping in those seams instead! Or maybe an invisible zip in one side and just sew the other shut, and do the centre front panel in a contrasting colour.

  4. Interesting details on the sweatshirt. Can it coordinate with your black jeans? Or am I remembering your recent wardrobe review wrong?

    1. I think the style would work but the colour is probably too light a grey – I never seem to be able to make a contrasting top and bottom half work. Now if it was black it would be perfect!

  5. I absolutely love this, the
    details are fantastic. You’re really tempting me to get a new Burda subscription. I’d go with sweatshirt but I love to play with terminology. I like the lighter tones on you too.

  10. This is an excellent example of great Burda design – padded sleeve bands, not one but two exposed zips and drawstrings on the neck that don’t meet in the middle. Certainly not a mainstream sweat shirt. Looks good on you too!

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