I’ve seen a lot of hate for this issue online, and after the fabulous February issue, well, it was certainly going to be a hard act to follow. But if you look beyond the bridal and the strange styling (ankle-length lace vest, anyone?), there are some truly great patterns hiding in these pages…
First up is something so good I’ve already traced it and mentally assigned stash fabric to it – a cardigan with a gathered front, shown here in stretch lace, but also elsewhere in a different jersey. Cardigans aren’t something I’m usually attracted to, and in fact, I’ve never sewn one that I can recall, but I really like the look of this one, and I even like the idea of a lace one as a dressy coverup for a few weddings I’ve got coming up…
I will probably never make them, but big up to Burda for including a pattern for leather trousers. Often sewists complain that there are too many “easy sew” sack patterns in magazines, but Burda really are including difficult patterns in here, too. (I’m not even going to mention the unspeakably ugly cape, though.)
And to go with the leather trousers, a biker jacket! Though not in leather, I still love the seaming and topstitching details in this, and it’s uncommon to see a biker jacket pattern with a centre-front closure instead of diagonal.
There’s a whole section devoted to wedding dresses in this issue (as is Burda’s March tradition), and on the whole, the designs neither excited nor offended me, with the exception of this little number, which is a shapeless A-line dress with a bizarrely-placed cummerbund over the boobs. I mean, I know it’s oddly traditional to dress your bridesmaids in ugly dresses they’d never wear again, but really? Really?
I’m a big fan of cowl tops, and Burda have been also clearly in love with them over the past year, and here’s another – this time a basic, sleeveless jersey top. I’m sure it’ll be popular as an easy alternative to a basic teeshirt come summertime, but I don’t really feel the need to sew this myself right now. I am interested in the trousers though, if only because Burda tend to latch on to the new trousers shapes months before anyone else does (remember the carrot trousers and how we laughed in 2008?), and these might prove to be something I go back and sew at a much later date.
To me, this looks like the quintessential tourist outfit, and not in a derogatory way. The shirt has some nice touches in the various bands and the button placement, and the shorts are a variation on the trousers above.
The Plus designs have been getting better in the last few issues, and I like the bold geometric and monochrome direction they headed this month. This blouse is totally made by the contrast bands!
And finally, out a children’s section with some truly odd designs comes some amazing basics for older children (thank god it’s not another set that stops at 128cm!!), including jeans, a retro jacket, and this retro-style raglan sleeved baseball teeshirt. And I’ve already traced this one for my nephew, too (and graded up one size to a 164).
I’m off to Paris for the weekend, so I may succumb to the fabric shops in Montmarte again, but sadly, I’m not well enough to run the half marathon again like last year, so I’ll be cheering on my friends and consoling myself with mountains of macarons and pastries instead. Au revoir!