Burda jacket November 2025, no 117

The weeks flew by again and this jacket has already been worn twice! So much for keeping up with my blog 😳. 

I'm quite happy with the result, it's very comfortable to wear and I don't feel restricted in my movements. The way the sleeves are constructed works well. The design lines would show better with a different fabric. 

The shape of the sleeves is a bit rounded and shaped more narrow at the end. See my previous post about the issue I had with Burda's instructions for adding 4 cm seam allowance to the sleeve hem. I used a facing as described in my post.

Here you can see the inset of the under sleeve and side panel. Needs some extra attention and precision sewing. Again, it would be more of a statement in a different fabric.

The pattern doesn't call for a lining, but with the extra interfacing spots at the points and especially my fabric I liked to have a lining. There were extra steps for the sleeves here too, as the circumference changes quickly at the hem. Won't discuss it here, but something to think about if you would use this pattern and want to line it too. 

An overview of my changes:

• Made the body 3 cm longer, default adjustment for me
• Used a facing at the sleeve hem
• Slightly shaped the waistline to make it less boxy
• Added lining
• Used thin raglan shoulderpads

The photos don't really do it justice, light is a problem at the moment, grey and short days!

Jacket from Burda November 2025 - part 2

The jacket is coming along nicely, but I don't have photos yet of a more complete jacket. Days are getting shorter so light to take good photos is more difficult. So a few more photos of details and observations on the pattern instructions.

This photo shows an extra detail of the sharp corners that have to be clipped to the stitch line. Burda advises to add a fusible interfacing at that point. I fully agree on that but have added small stitches in that corner as extra "insurance", especially for my fraying fabric. Using a small stitch length makes that the fabric remains stable. The corner is exact, the other stitches are within the 1.5 cm (5/8") seam allowance.

Clipping the seam allowance of the neckline. Clips are not made to the stitch line, but remain at a small distance from it (2 to 3 mm). This makes sure that there is enough room to have a nice smooth neckline when turned without any sharp corners. When you clip to the stitch line a sharp corner could be the result. A remark on Burda's instructions: they say to be "extra careful when you use knitted fabric". Why?? You should always be careful when clipping corners, not just knitted fabric. 

Which brings me to another issue: the instructions tell you to use only stretch/knitted fabrics. I really don't understand that and is wrong in my opinion. You probably can use a stable knit like a ponti di roma but it's perfectly fine with a woven fabric like mine.

Then something that is really strange, especially in a pattern that is shown with "step by step" instructions. In the cutting instructions they tell you to add 4 cm (1.5") for the hem of the sleeves. HOW?? The sleeves are tapered and have a rounded hem!! They don't tell you how to cut the hem allowance.

These are the three pieces that construct the sleeve. The red line is mine, not part of the pattern. If you would cut 4 cm in a continuous line, would turn it up you are missing a significant amount in circumference as this sleeves is tapered (quite a bit). And because it's round it wouldn't be easy to do either. 

My solution is to make a facing for the sleeve hem, the red lines indicate where I want that to end. I will trace these parts and cut a separate facing. 

I really love Burda patterns and don't mind their limited instructions. But adding  4 cm and then just tell you to fold it over and sew it would not work.

This jacket is unlined but I prefer a lining. Making the lining is my next step. 

Jacket from Burda November 2025

My current project is a jacket (or cardigan jacket) from the latest issue from Burda, November 2025. It's the cover project and lovely in the fabric they used for it. As I am trying to use stash for a while (cupboard overflowing 😳), my version is made from a fabric that's at least 10 years old. Well matured! I made a pencil skirt from it and always meant to make a jacket from the fabric too, but as things go, it was forgotten.

Today I used for cutting and preparing. Normally I don't use wide seam allowances. This fabric is very loosely woven so I did use 1.5 cm (5/8 inch) seam allowances and used a handy tool to mark them (Burda magazine patterns don't include seam allowances). 

 

This Prym tool has a larger wheel that you hold along the paper and a smaller wheel with a dispenser to mark a line with tailor's chalk. The default markings are 1.5 cm, 2.5 cm and 4 cm. I would have loved it even more  if there had been a possibilty for 1 cm allowances, but alas. It comes in handy though when I want the 1.5 cm seam allowance. Mostly I use carbon tracing paper to mark the actual stitch line, but with fabric like this that's hardly visible, if at all. 

On parts that I want to be exact, the darts, the points that have to be clipped,  I basted the stitch lines. After cutting out, I serged all edges, to prevent the fabric from fraying. 

In the video you can see the use of the tracing wheel.