I’m in the process of moving at the moment so all of my possessions (including all my sewing stuff) has been packed away in boxes for the past 3 weeks. My boyfriend and I have bought a massive Dutch barge (103 feet long by 16 feet wide, built in 1933), so I’ll have my own dedicated sewing room once we move in, but we’ve got to sail it across the North Sea from The Netherlands back to London and we’ve been stuck with very bad weather since the purchase completed. We were told by our skipper that last weekend should’ve been perfect so we all went over, only for the window of good weather to disappear before our very eyes, which was unbelievably heartbreaking.
So I did what any sewer would do under the circumstances – I bought a ton of sewing magazines! I managed to pick up the February and March issues of Knipmode magazine (March was a special double issue with a full supplement of sailing-inspired clothes! Perfect!), plus the Dutch language version of the March issue of Burda World of Fashion magazine. I figure I never read the instructions in the English versions of Burda anyway, so it didn’t matter much if it was written in Dutch as long as I could see from the photos what sort of fabric to use…
I’d only just vaguely heard of Knipmode before, but I had a chance to thumb through a copy in the supermarket before I bought it and I was delighted to discover it’s very similar to Burda WOF – about 40 patterns, all very fashion forward with glossy model photoshoots showing the finished products, plus one pattern where they go in-depth with lots of step-by-step diagrams, a plus section, and a few fashion mag-esque pages on how to accessorize what you’ve sewn. One thing I really liked is that Knipmode show a technical drawing next to the glossy photoshoots so you can see what it’s like right there without having to flip to the center section. And Knipmode’s step-by-step pattern has the largest diagrams ever!
If you’re not familiar with Knipmode (as I wasn’t until the weekend), here’s a few of my favourites from the February and March issues to give you a feel for their style… a hooded, zippered sweatshirt with kangaroo pockets, a denim skirt with a kilt-inspired styling, a perfect wrapdress for woven fabrics and a button-down shirt and khaki cargos for men, a knit long-sleeved top with an assymetric neckline, a v-necked, half-surplice top with a collar, a pair of sailor trousers with the button-up flap in front, and a woven shirtdress with a belt and band collar.
And in other non-English language news – my arse is famous! I was approached by a nice woman from IKEA’s head office in Sweden asking if I wouldn’t mind if they used the skirt I made from an IKEA pillowcase in their in-staff magazine. I was delighted and sent them some hi-res photos and answered their questions about why I hate IKEA (answer: I love their goods, I just detest everything about their store experience), and I got a copy of the newsletter today. Not only am I featured inside, but my arse is on the cover!
Anyone care to translate for me?
UPDATE: My fantastic Norwegian friend Susanna very kindly stepped forward to translate the article for me:
“they just say basically that you’re a young funky seamstress living in Shoreditch, making things from IKEA things that would make the Von Trapp family go pale. – and that you love IKEA but you think that the warehouse shopping thing is a bit annoying because you might go all the way to the warehouse only to find it’s sold out so it should say as soon as you’re browsing whether there are items available in the warehouse or not. it says you saw this pattern and thought it would make a great garment etc( basically you’re telling the story about the skirt), and then it says you’re planning to expand your IKEA clothes collection – because you bought a shower curtain for the same reason and that “i can’t wait to make a summer garment’” out of it.”