The Death of the Freakin' Collar.

Long, long ago I was totally defeated by BWOF 04-06-126 and what I came to call the Freakin' Collar. (Click here for the back story) I made a vow to conquer that collar with its poorly written instructions and I kept trying. Finally, I can say the Freakin' Collar has been laid to rest.  I can sew it and barely consult the instructions.  Take that,  Freakin' Collar!

At the end of last summer, I bought shorts without buying tops to go with them.  (They were on clearance - what else could I do? )  I packed them away before I got a chance to wear them.  So this summer, when I unpacked summer clothes, I discovered I didn't have anything to wear with the shorts other than white tops and t-shirts.  So, it became my quest to make a top to match the shorts.  Nothing makes a project more difficult than trying to match fabric to a specific garment I already have.  To make it even more difficult, I went to JoMar  to look for the fabric.  JoMar has terrific bargains, but a shopper is really setting herself up for failure if she is looking for something specific.  But, wonder of wonders, I found fabric I liked in the right color.  That shopping victory made me feel invincible so I chose to use BWOF 04-06-126.  I'd made the blouse at least three times, always with a little trepidation, but this time I was feeling confident. 

The design is deceptively simple, but sewing the collar is a b!t¢#.  At least 70% of the instructions pertain to the collar.  And,  just to taunt me, BWOF uses this collar a lot.

First,  the collar stand is not your typical collar stand.  It involves sewing a concave curve to a convex curve and requires lots of pinning and easing. (Shudder.)

If that weren't bad enough,  a corner is formed when sewing the collar to the lapel.  Not a smooth curve or a straight line, but a corner.  Actually, it's four corners when you consider the upper and under collars





If you are still in your right mind after the collar stand and lapel,  you have to sew the upper collar to the facings and the under collar to the neckline separately.  Imagine doing all this by following BWOF's diagramless and poorly translated text, and you know why I called this "The Freakin' Collar".

Finally, after this blouse, the Freakin' Collar is just a bad memory that has been replaced by the "Burda Collar".  There are more Burda collars in my future; one on a dress (BWOF 05-10-137) and I just might make this blouse one more time.   I can approach this collar with no fear!

Epilogue: After I finished the blouse, I didn't like the way it looked with the shorts.  The shorts were too casual for the blouse; the blouse was too dressy for the shorts;  they just weren't quite right together.    I'm still left with the original dilemma:  shorts and no coordinating top!  I have a big piece of this fabric left.  Hopefully it's enough for a more suitable blouse.