Burda 9650 review

I was looking for a few girls’ patterns at Joann’s that would work well with voiles.  I stumbled across Burda 9650, and really liked a few of the pieces in the set.  I first wanted to try the ruffled tanktop. After reading through the directions, the pattern seemed straightforward enough.  It took very little time to cut out the pieces, and away we went.  Overall, I think its a decent pattern.  My biggest issue is how they address the neck and arm binding, specifically where both meet the top corners of the yoke/ruffle.  I felt like there wasn’t a clean way to hide all the raw edges where the 3 pieces intersect (see next photo).  I think next time I would make the neck bias piece a bit longer, and then wrap it around both edges to make sure that the other two pieces were sufficiently covered.  I don’t have a ton of clothing experience, so I’m sure there are MANY other, better, ways to finish that edge(s) but that would easily work in a pinch!

I am trying to get as much serger practice as possible, so I used my serger for both the side seams and finishing the raw edge of the bottom.  I didn’t care for having a matching ruffle on the back; I thought that without a tag in the top, it would make it hard to figure out which was front from back.   There are two separate pattern pieces for front and back, and they vary SO slightly that I don’t even know why they bothered with separate pieces at all.  One other issue I have with this pattern is the sizing.  I chose the 12 month size, and this really looks large to me.  I compared it to clothes that are hanging in the nursery, and it seems as big, or bigger than, some of the 18 month pieces that are there. Lastly, I HATE turning spaghetti straps, and so I just used some grosgrain ribbon instead.  These were going to be pretty tiny straps, so if I was doing this again I would probably widen the straps for ease of turning.  After some research, it appears that people have more success with tube turning when the fabric is cut on the bias. I will definitely try that next time I feel masochistic and wish to try tube turning again.  I would like to try this top again, and I am loving that little dress with the ruffles!

Pattern Image, Burda 9650