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Inspiration, Magazine

Burda magazine March 2016

I know this issue is a bit old now (replaced by the April issue which I’ll be reviewing shortly), but it’s got some really great designs in it and I didn’t want it to just drop by the wayside because I was ill. Besides, I’ve even got the German edition, too (scroll down to see why!).

This cover makes me pine for Spring already!

First up is a pattern for a dress which looks like separates. I like that it’s both casual and can hide a large dinner underneath, which makes it pretty practical, too.

This dress cleverly has an integrated side tie like something out of Pattern Magic. I’m super excited about this pattern because I’ve kept a note of a very similar dress from the July 2012 Manequim magazine that I’ve been wanting to make for several years but frankly, I trust Burda’s drafting more, and I like the raglan sleeves on this one better than the sleeveless Manequim one, too. Definitely high on my To Sew list!
Inspiration, Magazine

Burda magazine February 2016

Thank you all so much for your enthusiasm and excitement over my Tessellate Tee pattern and Add On Pack! I’ve got so many different versions of this top to show you, both casual ones and workout ones, too. I’m really behind on photoshoots due to us sailing our boat to a new mooring (for the first time in 9 years!) and the associated stress making me vulnerable to some nasty bug that’s going round. But I’m hoping I’ll feel well enough to take some photos this weekend, and you’ll get to see some new backgrounds to the photos as well!

But in amongst all the moving melée (plus some added fun in sorting out a new gift subscription), the latest Burda magazine arrived so I thought I’d share my picks with you before it’s out of date!



Burda tend to have their style feature types they run at least once a year, and apparently this is the issue for the “done to death” urban safari styling for 2016. I’m really bored with the concept after so many years of subscribing, but there are some nice patterns here if you look beyond the khaki. I particularly like this boxy blouse, which I think looks fantastic made up in silk or any other soft, flowing fabrics. The wrap skirt isn’t terribly practical if you live in a windy city since that wrap is fully open in front and not just a deep pleat.

They’ve crammed a lot of safari separates into a single page here – a long sleeved blouse, trousers with an interesting silhouette (these two are also offered together as a jumpsuit), plus a dress version of the boxy blouse (funny how lengthening it just turns it into a big ol’ sack!) and a really tragic belted men’s safari jacket. Just… no.
Inspiration, Magazine

La Maison Victor magazine Nov/Dec 2015

My bestie Pip recently travelled to Belgium for a pre-Christmas trip round the markets and spotted this for me on her way back through Eurotunnel Calais (the WH Smiths on the Calais side regularly stocks La Maison Victor, which is handy if you’ve got friends or family who regularly travel through there). This is their holiday issue but there are a surprising amount of casual patterns included, too.

First up, this is my absolute favourite pattern in this issue – check out the back on this dress!! It’s actually a really simple effect to sew, too, with two deep pleats in back and a simple hook and eye at the neckline. The front is very plain (wisely leaving the interest to the back) and the dress has an overall shape which is very trendy right now. Plus it’s offered up to size 56, and the silhouette would lend itself to disguising a few extra holiday mince pies, too.

LMV always include as many boys patterns as they do for girls, though this sweet little hoodie could easily work for either gender, depending on your fabric choice. (The men’s pattern this month is just a boring waistcoat).
Inspiration, Magazine

Burda magazine January 2016

It’s the first of the 2016 Burda magazines! Burda have been really hit and miss for me in 2015, but let’s take a peek inside and see what the future may hold…

On the left, we’ve got a slightly odd “dress that looks like separates” with a nice cowl back. Only thing is that there’s an extra layer underneath the cowl, which just kinda makes it look frumpy. On the right we see a casual sweatshirt cape that a lot of sewists have been going nuts over, but to me it just looks like it would be cold with that massive open bottom. Something more close fitting and longer like Paprika Patterns’ Zircon sweatshirt dress would be much warmer IMHO.

Burda are really getting into this separates-as-a-dress thing, as we see the top and skirt seen in this dress later in the issue as separates, too. Though in my opinion, they actually work better together as a dress. And on the right we’ve got another oversize sweatshirt, this time with an asymmetric bit of gathering at the hem.
Inspiration, Magazine

Burda magazine December 2015

It seems Burda has been holding out on us – the last few issues were pretty good but WOW there is a lot to love in this last issue of 2015!

I’m a big fan of cropped jackets, as you know, and I like this one has a full closure as well as full-length sleeves (though if forced to choose, I think I prefer the longer, biker version). But what is with the tight trousers without a waistband? How on earth would they stay up?? They just sound like a wardrobe malfunction waiting to happen to me.

Since this is the Christmas issue, we get patterns for the whole family as well as some smaller projects that could be gifted. The selection for boys is particularly strong this time around, with this great jacket/hoodie and a knitted woolly hat that I’d wear myself if it wasn’t too small!

The boys jacket here is just a variation on the one above, but I love the men’s bomber jacket (though James is less enthusiastic). Look at the shape of the raglan sleeve joined with the yoke on it!

Inspiration, Magazine

Manequim magazine September 2015

This Manequim magazine arrived a few weeks ago but got a little buried under the others in my magazine pile, to be honest. There are a few interesting patterns in it, but nothing that particularly screams “Make me!”, though some of that may be just seeing lots of shorts when we’re thinking about winter in this part of the world.

I’m digging the Frida Kahlo-influenced cover though!

In the celebrity style section I was drawn to the surplice-back shirt – it’s a look I’ve seen a fair amount of in RTW this year, but not very many patterns have used this detail (apart from the other view in the Sew Simple pattern I sewed recently, of course)

There’s only one page of Plus patterns this month, but you get a shift dress, some basic shorts, and panelled skirt that is so similar to Muse Patterns Tahi Skirt pattern!

I’m not sure I quite understand the point of a “blazer cape” hybrid, but the double exposure photo is cool I guess?

Inspiration, Magazine

Patrones magazine 354

My inlaws were visiting Spain last month, and I’ve got them so well trained that I don’t even need to ask anymore – they just keep an eye out for Patrones magazine and buy it for me if they see it! They weren’t even phased by the redesigned logo on this one (that’s literally the only change I can see, so that’s kinda odd), and I’m so pleased they grabbed it, because it’s this year’s Coats Special!

If I’m being honest, this Coats Special didn’t grab me quite as much as last year’s, but I did find a lot of interesting details in coats that didn’t otherwise excite me, like the coat from the magazine cover which has an interesting tie/slide closure.

I’m not sure how many parts of Spain warrant a full length, long coat like this, but I know many places in Northern Europe where a coat like this would make wearing dresses bearable in winter!

Out of the way, fur gilet! You’re covering up all the interesting seam lines in the shirt!

My favourite for this entire issue is definitely this asymmetric draped shirt (though the tech drawing is wrong at shoulders when you compare it to the pattern pieces). The hip pleating would require some really precise pattern marking, but I think this would be just stunning in a silk satin for a different Christmas party look…

Inspiration, Magazine

Burda magazine November 2015

I’m slowly working through my pile of magazines (another four more to go!) but I wanted to share my picks from the latest Burda magazine before it becomes outdated and off the newsstands. But the short version is that this is another pretty good issue, and a fantastic one if you’re in the Plus size range!

I really liked the choice of orange and camel in this feature, but for me the standout is this pullover, made in felted wool, which also has the colour illustrated instructions this month. It’s paired with an interesting skirt which was colourblocked in another example, really showing off the V panel. On the right we’ve got a cape, which is really similar to Seamwork’s Camden cape in the current November 2015 issue (except the length, obviously).

I’m not quite sure how I feel about the top on the left with its unsusual, gathered collar area, but the trousers look just a bit too 1970s to me. It’s easily overlooked, but the cardigan on the right has a really interesting construction that isn’t apparent from just the front tech drawing or the photos. Check out those pattern pieces!

Inspiration, Magazine

Patrones magazine 342

While we were in Argentina in August, I kept my eyes peeled for Patrones issues whenever we passed a newsagent. It didn’t take long before I found this one on a newstand in Mar del Plata (and 343, which I already own), likely from last winter but who cares? Patrones do the best coat patterns, and this is a Coats Special!! I’ve made so many of theirs in in the past, most notably my winter coat (still my main winter coat several years later!), the silver tweed jacket I throw on in summers, and my duffle coat, which I wore until it was literally in tatters. I’ve got some wool coating burning a hole in my stash right now, so it’s likely I’ll look to Patrones for this coat, too.

I was mostly drawn to the top, but the Armani blazer is also worth a note for its razor-sharp lapels! On first glance, the top has a shape very similar to a lot of other patterns (like that Lekala top I made a few years back) but a closer look reveals it’s actually got two layers – a satin layer underneath and a gauze layer on top.

This menswear-inspired sheath dress would be a great alternative to the clichéd skirt suit for business meetings! Apart from the curved waist seaming, I love the waist-lapel – it feels more like a blazer than a peplum (which we’re all so over by now, right?). This also reminded me of Charity Shop Chic’s recent spectacular Dior-inspired refashion, too.

Ok, now on to the coats feature, and, ignoring the bubblegum pink colour, I just love this dolman sleeved cocoon coat! It fastens with a hidden zipper placket and only uses 2m of wool, which is conveniently the exact amount of my navy wool coating… This is now top of my list to muslin!

Inspiration, Magazine

Look magazine – August 2015

I briefly mentioned the Argentinian pattern magazine, Look, when I told you all about buying magazines in Argentina last month, but it’s time to take a deeper look into what’s inside!

I totally love sewing pattern magazines – you get so many fashion-forward styles for such a low price, and it’s fun to see what fashions are like in different parts of the world. So far I’ve bought pattern magazines from Germany (Burda!), The Netherlands (KnipMode and My Image), Belgium (La Maison Victor), France (Fait Main), Spain (Patrones), Italy (La Mia Boutique), Brazil (Manequim, Moda Moldes, and Molde & Cia), and now Argentina, how exciting! It doesn’t matter if I can’t speak the language the magazine is written in – as long as I can translate enough to pick the right size and fabric, and identify the pattern pieces, I can sew together most garments without instructions (though usually you can just look at another similar pattern’s English instructions and follow along with those instead). The Google Translate app can translate most text on-the-fly if you point your phone’s camera at the magazine text, too, which saves you from having to type in all the text yourself.

But back to Look! This was the current issue when we were in Argentina in August, along with a “mother and baby” issue from the previous month which I didn’t bother to buy (having several kids pattern magazines already and nieces and nephews into adult sizes now). This particular issue just captured my heart, as it features a huge amount of SS15 runway designs! Remember back in the 1990s and early 2000s when Burda used to do International Collections magazines knocking off all the runway looks? Well that’s precisely what this issue of Look is all about!

I’d say a good half of the patterns in this issue are straight off the runways. Look is a bit different from the other pattern magazines in that the instructions are in a separate booklet from the glossy magazine and the pattern sheets. This means you kinda have to have both open at the same time to see tech drawings next to the runway photo, but is a bit easier than flipping back and forth in the same magazine. If you buy Look on a newsstand, make sure you get all three pieces! Even though the instructions are in their own booklet, these are the briefest I have ever seen in any pattern magazine, so clearly they’re not intended for beginners…

Another observation – like Manequim magazine, most of the Look patterns are only offered in one or two sizes, and the sizes are tiny!! Like, Japanese tiny. Which is strange because even in Buenos Aires the people on the streets seemed to be fairly normal European-sized… Seriously, I’m a size 48 in this magazine, which means I could only fit into one or two of the patterns in this entire issue. (By comparison, I’m a 42 in Burda, La Mia Boutique, La Maison Victor, and KnipMode, and 44 in Patrones and Manequim). Usually with Manequim, most patterns I like are either in my size or a size up or down, which makes it easy to just fudge into fitting, but grading up a bunch of sizes is just too tedious to me.