The latest edition of the Brazilian pattern magazine Manequim arrived in my postbox and I was rather pleased to see the publisher switched to a staple-binding (like Burda magazine) instead of the more awkward-to-scan and leave open on the table glue binding they’d previously been using. The pattern sheets are still loose in the magazine shrink wrapping (and not stapled in place like Burda, KnipMode, Patrones, etc), but this is a nice improvement as far as I’m concerned!
Straight from the start and we’re in a Brazilian summer with this amazing Plus swimsuit with gathered front, and gorgeous twisted ties in back. I totally love that a) they’re making Plus-sized swimwear patterns (AFAIK only KnipMode has also done this) and b) the design is so flattering!
And on the next page, we see some evening gowns, including one on the left with a top not dissimilar to that last swimsuit!
I love Manequim’s little silk blouses, and I think this one has the opportunity to become the most perfect silk tee! Though I had a look at the pattern layout to see what’s going on with those sleeves, and each sleeve is four pattern pieces! Very cool.
The designer style feature this month is Matthew Williamson, with patterns for a collared cowl top, the wide, white blouse shown here and the lovely red wrap skirt with horizontal seaming. Not anywhere as awesome as his (official) dress pattern in the September Burda magazine, but not bad either!
Manequim call this a blazer, but I think it looks more like a comfortable overshirt. Though I’d never make it in lime green myself!
And now, onto the Plus section! In most issues, there are only one or two Plus patterns, but a few times a year, Manequim do a full spread and offer more like 8-10 Plus-sized patterns. There’s some great ones here, like this casual maxidress in striped linen…
…and this ridiculously cute jacket with cropped sleeves, which I’d wear in a heartbeat…
…and finally, while I hate the printed fabric, these look like fantastic basic trousers, and they’ve available in the full range of Plus sizes, too.
And I haven’t even picked out all the Plus patterns, either!
There were some questions in the comments last time about where to buy these on eBay – the sellers are all based in Brazil, so you need to make sure that your search doesn’t automatically exclude international sellers, so something like this should work for you (I have no experience with any of the eBay sellers, as I have a subscription direct with Abril).
Coming up: Hoo boy have I got some good stuff for you next week. GET EXCITED!