A whole lot of shirt.

I'm still trying to decide whether I'm wearing this shirt or it's wearing me.  I'm not exactly channeling Seinfeld's puffy shirt, but I feel like it's pretty close to it.  It's #125 from the May 2010 issue of Burda magazine, made up in a crinkle voile that was an impulse buy at Joann Fabrics last summer.  This shirt has it all.  Ruffled collar, puffy sleeves with ruffles, shirring at the waist  and collar, a drawstring keyhole neckline (which I didn't notice in the magazine anywhere)!  I made a size 38 with my usual adjustments.

It's kind of at an odd length where I think it needs a few more inches to be a dress.  I suppose it could work as a swimsuit coverup, but it's quite a shirt to wear to the beach.

You can't see from these photos that the bottom of the keyhole opening falls to the bottom of my ribcage (it's just as well.)  You also can't see how messy this is on the inside.  There's really no way to make a neat finish with all the shirring and gathering, plus the drawstring casing that you make by folding over part of the neckline.

Here's shot of the inside of the collar.  Looks like a mess, eh?

 I don't know what I was expecting, but I couldn't really get an idea of length or puffiness from the magazine photos.  The model is wise to wear something underneath if she's going to leave the ties open.  It's a really deep neckline if you're going to do that.

Too small to see anything!

Now in hindsight, I guess I shouldn't have been surprised by the keyhole.  You can see it right there!

Despite all my fussing about it, I will admit that it's a very feminine cut and it was fun to sew.  If you are looking for something that has a lot of details, this is your friend.  You have to shir the collar pieces, then gather them to attach them to the front of the shirt.  Next, you have to make a casing for the drawstring, which I think is a little redundant; you could just sew the ties to the collar opening; the casing is only 1" long.  You have to sew the ruffles to the sleeves, then make a casing and insert elastic.  Lots of busy work!

It is one of a kind, and because of the cut really has to be worn with something tight on the bottom to balance it out.  I experimented with a couple pairs of skinny jeans and found that these long boot cut jeans (I always have to wear heels with them) were the best match for the volume and length of the shirt.  I'm sure that there are some taller readers out there who won't have this problem, though!