Month: January 2015

Blog

Inspiration, Magazine

Burda magazine January 2015

I hope you’re not too sick of my magazine reviews just yet – a bunch of them arrived all at once and I know a lot of you find them as a great source of inspiration, not to mention a guide as to whether it’s worth buying the issue or not! This is the first of the 2015 issues to grace my postbox, and Burda have really started the year off right!

omg omg omg, this is the short coat/jacket pattern of my dreams!! This is exactly what I was looking for – it’s perfect for my navy wool and vintage Italian silk I’d already bought, plus look at those seam lines! The back view is even better, with amazing seaming at the upper back, plus the asymmetry?!? I’m in love. And yes, I’ve already traced this out and dumped the other pattern (sorry, September 2010 short coat!).

I can see this boxy sweatshirt pattern being a really versatile design (with or without the notched neckline), and I think the skirt is a seriously nice, too. The side panels give it a nice bit of flare and motion, but there’s no risk of it being blown around in the wind, either, since they’re secured into those front seams. The only thing I don’t like is that the edges are kept raw, but that could be fixed easily enough.

There’s an unexpected maternity feature in this issue, which features a lot of casual separates. This shirtdress looks to be really versatile, but I’m not sure I buy into Burda’s suggestion that you could wear it after pregnancy, too… Maybe with a massive obi-style belt, but you’re still pushing it!

Yes, I really am that predictable – as several of you have already let me know(!), these trousers are totally me. And you’re right, I do really like them!

Inspiration

Happy 2015! (My year in review)

As I do every year, I like to spend the first of a new year to take the opportunity to look back on what I’ve sewn in the previous year. So without further ado, here’s a visual reminder of 2014!


Click the image to see it better, or right-click here to see it in a new tab to get a better look!

Tip: If you’d like to skim back through the posts for the above projects, you can click Gallery in the upper left menu, which will only show you finished projects, without all the magazine reviews and in-progress reports getting in the way!

The Year in Stats

In terms of pattern companies used this year, I made:

  • 29 FehrTrade patterns (no surprise, really!),

  • 7 Burda magazine (aka Burda Style),

  • 5 Self-drafted (including traced from RTW),

  • 4 KwikSew (well, the same one pattern four times!),

  • 3 Manequim magazine,

  • 3 Cake Patterns,

  • 2 Style Arc,

  • 2 Vogue,

  • 2 Orange Lingerie,

  • and 1 each from Simplicity, McCalls, ThriftyStitcher, Christine Jonson, Seamster, Named, Sinbad & Sailor, Drape Drape, House of Pinhiero, and Jalie.

By my count, I made: 31 tops, 19 trousers (including leggings & shorts),
5 dresses, 4 pieces of lingerie (bras, panties, slips, etc), 3 skirts, 3 jackets/coats/cardigans, and 4 bags. James also did well this year, being made a winter coat, 2 shirts, 2 cycling tops, and a dop-kit bag.

And I realise I’ve been sewing a lot of running gear but the total number even surprised me – 34 of the above were for running (though not all for me)!

The above may sound like a lot of sewing, but even this is only a fraction of what I’ve actually sewn – I couldn’t really include all the garments sewn for the Great British Sewing Bee, for example, or those made for custom clients (of which there’s been a LOT!), or for the book I’ve been working on, either. In all honesty, I think you could probably double the amount shown above and it’d be closer to the total output!