I’ve suddenly become inundated with pattern magazines, which is an excellent position to be in, especially since the Big 4’s recent offerings have been dull, dull, dull (really, how many times can they restyle the exact same sack dress?).
First up is the Italian pattern magazine La Mia Boutique, given to me by the lovely Anwen, who’s soon going to guide me around a few London fabric shops I haven’t been to yet! She’s clearly a very good lady to know!
This is the May 2008 issue, and there are dresses galore in it. I really like the navy blue dress with the extra cowl layer on the bodice, and the spotted dress with the interesting scoop bust detail (click on the big photos to see the technical drawing). The last dress is a Plus, but I just love the bust detail and the curved skirt seams. I know La Mia Boutique patterns run way smaller than the other magazines, but I’d still have to grade that down quite a bit to make this worth my while (don’t get any ideas, Mom!).
Next up is a Spanish Burda magazine, bought by James’s parents for me while they were holidaying in Spain a few weeks ago. I sent them away with instructions to buy as many Patroneses (Patronii?) as possible, but they felt bad since they could only find two and so bought me this as well. I’ve seen German and Dutch editions of BWOF before and found them to be identical to the English version apart from the text and an odd page here and there, but the Spanish version is like a different magazine entirely! Luckily I can show you how it compares to the regular English edition of Burda World of Fashion (BWOF) magazine, since I already have the June 2008 issue to directly compare it against.
The first dead giveaway is that they’ve chosen a different pattern for the cover photo!
Here’s an example of the Spanish (top) vs English (bottom) layouts. They use the same photoshoots, but the layout of the magazine is completely different, and like La Mia Boutique and KnipMode, they show the technical drawing right alongside the photos! Argh, I’ve been wishing the English version did this for years!!
They’ve also retained the special “focus on fabric” feature that English BWOF used to have, this time focusing on how to sew with nylon.
And here’s a comparison of the instructions for #109, which I made earlier. They seem to have roughly the same wordcount between the two, so it’s not like we’re missing out of full instructions or anything!
The big addition in the Spanish version (and, I believe, the German version) is the designer premium download pattern, which I got very excited about until I realised it was a pay-for download pattern. So they get an extra pattern, but there’s no interviews with the exclusive design or childrenswear designers like I really enjoy in the English version.
I was happy to see the pesto recipes appear in the English June BWOF, but now I feel shortchanged to see our Spanish sisters get a ton of chocolate recipes!! Oh, and “Burda sudoku”, hahah!
Luckily, James’s parents were able to grab me one issue of Patrones magazine, which is really difficult to get ahold of outside Spain, but contains an amazing array of designer patterns. I’ve very excited to say I’ve just made a new online friend in Spain so I may be getting a steady supply to show you all through a harmonious “Patrones for penguins“ exchange! Heehee!
This is issue #269, a special vacation issue with loads of summery holiday clothes!
These are a few of the ones that really jumped out at me from this issue (in the third photo it’s the small Mango dress I prefer over the cover issue dress), but for me, the real star here is the formal Prada dress!
I’m not a big label slave or anything, but I do absolutely adore Prada and this dress is just stunning. I’ve included the technical drawing and layout here so you can see how the pieces fit together and just how much is on the bias! Sooo lovely! I shall now be on a mission to buy reams of crepe gorgette and throw that dress a party…
In “July is Knit Month!” news, my frankenpattern dress is neeeeeearly done but I’ve had to stall it this week to do a big rush project in time for Saturday. Which actually doesn’t involve any knits. And isn’t for me, or for James. All will be revealed in due course, and hopefully along with the frankendress (not nearly as scary as it sounds!)