I’m not normally a fan of “summer” sewing since the styles printed by the likes of Manequim, Patrones, and Burda for the summer months tend to all be focused on super hot, beach weather that’s just completely impractical for English summers. Case in point: today in London it’s sunny and warm, high of 23C (73F) and for the most part, that’s a pretty average summer day. In other words, it feels like Spring or Fall do in most places, and I love it. You all can keep your disgustingly hot and humid summers, and I’m happy to take a few useless sewing magazine issues each year as a trade-off!
But surprisingly, this July issue of Burda actually isn’t half bad! There are, of course, a few wholly impractical, wispy beach styles, but there are also designs I could wear…
Speaking of designs which work for English summers, this one’s got ours written all over it! The details of this boxy, yoked shirt are just fabulous – I can’t recall ever seeing rounded placket before, for starters…
Ugh, the fabric choice here just makes this look like a cheap and awful nurse’s costume! And those insipid sleeve flounces, gag.
In my eyes, the best pattern of this entire issue comes from designer Antonio Marras – it’s a great silhouette, and the neckline and hem length are bang on trend. But even better are those angled seams, which are only really revealed in the tech drawing!
I’m not usually drawn to maxi-dress styles, but this halter dress (for Tall sizes) with its fantastic, sweeping full skirt really catches my attention in a way that a shorter hemline version just wouldn’t. In fact, it reminds me most of ballroom dance gowns!
Burda have been dipping their toes into the backless trend for a few months now, but IMHO they’ve finally nailed it with this one. It’s still not particularly bra friendly, but the design of both the top and the dress version are so on trend and really quite flattering, too.
This sarong-style dress just screams summer holidays! It’s got a structured, strapless dress underneath with a sarong-style overlay to change up the look.
And finally, this Plus-sized gown is just stunning – it looks to be really well designed with curving, sweeping seamlines to really show off a curvy figure.
What do you think? Is there anything worth your summer sewing time here, or are you just camping in front of a fan and dreaming of sewing Fall styles instead?