Review of Burda 6893

I couldn't find this pattern on Pattern Review and wanted to leave a note somewhere. It's a double-breasted smoking jacket, a reissue of a vintage pattern, and the plan is to make a patchwork banyan inspired by Bilbo Baggins's dressing gown as seen in the film of the Hobbit. (According to the book Bilbo had a walk-in wardrobe. He loved clothes!)

Anyway, this pattern is not it. I made a test out of a length of £1 a metre fabric. The lapels are narrow.  It doesn't fit Andy across the back. The cut is very narrow and it has set-in sleeves, which mean that only a man with narrow shoulders can wear this dressing gown. It was tight across the back and he couldn't lift his arms in the largest size, which should have been too big for him. He just didn't like it. I did like the separate cuffs and pocket tops, which I'm trying to transfer to the next pattern I'm trying. It has a nice long belt, which Andy liked more than the short one on the McCalls pattern,

The Mcalls pattern had a couple of good tips:

•  Reinforce the shawl collar before assembling, which makes it a lot easier to sew.
• Add belt loops.
• Use bias binding to neaten the seams.