Tag: bwof

Blog

Gallery

Yellow merino turtleneck sweater with thumb cuffs

After my success with the test version of that Burda turtleneck (polo neck) pattern in the black and white scribble fabric, I figured I’d just use the same pattern for some of my precious merino jersey. Because seriously, what’s better that a super warm, snugly turtleneck in a cheery colour when it’s cold and dark outside, eh?

I bought a bunch of merino jersey from The Fabric Store last year, because, frankly, no one has a better choice of colours, and finding a source more local than New Zealand was next to impossible (unless you want beige or black). The bright and cheery “Citrus” colourway spoke to me first, and I love it!

Magazine

Burda magazine Jan 2017

I think Burda Towers must’ve taken a break for the holidays or something because everyone I know received this issue really late for some reason! But better late than never to kick off a brand new year of Burda sewing patterns, and this one’s not only got the traditional January carnival costumes (and nary a “recycled water bottle lady” bonkers one in sight!) but also… activewear! 😝

Gallery

A super quick sparkly cowl top

Happy new year everyone, and a big welcome to everyone who’s visiting for the first time after reading my “Personal Best” article in this month’s SewNow magazine (issue 3)! I realised when I was putting together my end of year roundup that I had a fairly ridiculous amount of unblogged projects from the final few weeks of the year, so I’ll be sharing these with you throughout January.

Gallery

A monochrome turtleneck

I’ve been absolutely swamped with work recently (and when you’re self-employed this is no bad thing!) but I still managed to squeeze in a little Me Sewing on the side. I’m a big believer in sewing up a “quick knit top” when you need a mojo boost, and this top probably took an hour in total, from tracing to cutting to sewing to wearing, split into several ten minute segments snatched here and there – the busy woman’s way to getting stuff sewn!

Magazine

Burda magazine December 2016

I know it’s a cliché, but my god, where did the year go? I mean, I know I basically lost the first three months of the year but still. Overall, it’s been a fantastic year of Burda magazines, in my opinion, and I’m pleased to report that there’s no letup for the final issue of 2016. I’ve ended up picking a lot out of this one so grab a mug of something hot and settle on in…

Gallery

A teal wool cape

After a few weeks, a head cold, and a lot of hand stitching through two seasons of Ru Paul’s Drag Race, my cape is finally finished! I’ve made an awful lot of coats over the years but this is my first cape. I thought perhaps it was a cloak, having mistakenly thought the difference was that cloaks have hoods, but in fact it’s a hem length distinction, so this is indeed a cape!

I covered a lot of the details of the making of this cape last week, so you’ll already know that it’s entirely underlined in cotton flannel to cut the wind, and that it uses this Burda magazine pattern from 2011 (still available to buy as a pdf). Funnily enough, there’s actually a fairly similar hooded cape pattern in the current December 2016 issue, too, which I’ll cover in my review post soon…

In Progress

A cape in progress

I don’t tend to post about in-progress garment much anymore. I think part of the reason is that I tend to make projects quickly, so there’s not much to document and I roll any construction notes into the finished garment post, but also because I’m not not exactly light on garments to post about and it takes enough time putting together the ones I do share without adding any more to the To Blog pile!

But I’d been making a lot of quick garments in the past few months and decided I wanted something a bit more involved to sink my teeth into, so I started making a cape, using this Burda magazine pattern from 2011 (still available to buy as a pdf). I had some gorgeous teal wool coating a friend had bought for me in Tokyo in January, and I thought it paired really beautifully with some black and pink abstract tartan fabric I chose from Sew Essential as my #sewphotohop prize draw. It’s a lightweight John Kaldor satin with a lovely hand that you really could believe was silk, but alas, it doesn’t appear to be on the site any longer!

Magazine

Burda magazine November 2016

November is the start of winter in the Northern hemisphere and for Burda, this also means the start of the glitzy holiday party patterns, too! Thankfully, this issue also has a good variety of warm, wearable separates if you’re Billy No Mates and haven’t got a Christmas party to attend this year (waaaah! Anyone want me to come gatecrash their party??). So let’s take a look at my highlights this month…

Article, Magazine

Burda magazine September 2016

It’s September and that can mean only one thing – Oktoberfest and an issue crammed full of ugly dirndls, yay. Luckily for us, the rest of the patterns in this issue are continuing on Burda’s 2016-long winning streak so let’s take a look inside…