Burda Magazine 04/2009-112 lace knit top

I've been salivating over all of the lovely lace makes on the interwebs lately, but when I saw this on Pinterest, I knew what I wanted to make, like right now.

Obviously, mine is somewhat different than the inspiration piece, but I've seen several other lace overlay tees lately, so this is really more of a conglomeration of all of those.

The pattern I used was Burda Magazine 04/2009-112. I made it a couple of years ago in a striped slinky knit and I wore that one so much I wore the fabric threadbare.

The fabrics I used both came from FabricMart, although I purchased them years apart. I'm thrilled with how well the colors match. For some reason, this color is really hard to photograph. The modeled pic at the top shows the color the best. The solid knit is a rayon-lycra jersey and the lace is poly-nylon stretch lace.

I elected to use the fashion fabric as for the neck, wrist and hip bands. Unfortunately, this fabric has a ton of stretch, so despite shortening the neckband by about 3 inches, it still collapses a little into the cleavage. Meh. I don't think I care enough to rip it off and reattach it again.

Should you be interested in recreating this look, it's really simple! Just choose your favorite raglan tee pattern (although if you use a set in sleeve pattern, that will work as well) - You could use this one, this one or this one. Cut out your knit as usual, then cut the lace (make sure it is stretch!) in just the front and back bodice pieces.

Overlay the lace on top of the jersey (like an underlining) and baste the two together around the edges only, inside the seam allowance. I use a zigzag stitch to baste, then I don't have to pull out the stitches later, since they are hidden inside the seam allowance. Now just assemble your top according to the pattern instructions, treating the basted pieces as one. Easy peasy!

I'm so pleased with this top. It was a really simple make, but I think it has a lot of impact. Mitch was pretty impressed with it, and even mentioned how versatile it would be. I think so, too. The lace allows it to be dressy, even though really it's just a tee shirt.