Tag: magazine

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Inspiration

Bravo, UK Vogue!

I don’t read many mass market magazines, but when I feel the itch for something glossy, I nearly always reach for Vogue. Sure, I can’t afford to buy anything in it, but I never fail to take inspiration from the designs, and the articles are generally of a higher intelligence level than “eww doesn’t celeb X look fat??” you find in most fashion mags.

So I was utterly, utterly thrilled to discover that the November 09 issue of UK Vogue is almost entirely about DIY fashion, sewing, and customising. Quite literally, Make Do and Mend, though Vogue for some reason insist on using their awful “More Dash Than Cash” tagline (ick). In any case, this is seriously the best issue of Vogue that I’ve ever seen, and is a must buy for anyone with even a passing interest in sewing or DIY fashion.

Inspiration, Magazine

Patrones 282

This issue of Patrones appeared in my postbox completely by surprise, as apparently my future-mother-in-law has been persuading all her holidaying friends to buy them for me while they’re in Spain! How lovely!

I didn’t bother to scan any images from the “Nuevo Hippy” feature, because, as it turns out, Nuevo Hippy is exactly like Viejo Hippy – fugly tiered dresses and kaftans we’ve seen a thousand times before. Gross. If there’s one style I hate, hate, hate above all others, it’s hippy.

Thank god, then, for the bikini feature, which is at least something different for pattern magazines!! There’s about ten styles in all, some with structured bra cups, others with soft, and about four different bottom shapes and styles that you could easily mix and match according to what you prefer.

Inspiration, Magazine

Manequim magazine

If you were building your dream pattern magazine, what would be in it? Maybe some swoon-worthy evening gowns? Designer fashion homages? Patterns from exotic locations? An upmarket twist on casual fabric? Or maybe just some really sharp Fall/Winter fashions?

Well, someone clearly saw my wishlist, because all of this is in the April 2009 issue of the Brazilian pattern magazine Manequim!

The first feature in the magazine is Oscar fashion! I don’t know how they did such a short turnaround, but they took six designer dresses that big celebrities wore to the 2009 Oscars in late March, and made patterns to replicate them! Included are the dresses that Angelina Jolie, Anne Hathaway, Kate Winslet, Natalie Portman, Jessica Biel, and Meryl Streep wore (I wasn’t as keen on Ms Hathaway and Biel’s dresses)!

Inspiration

Boredom busters!

I’ve been keeping myself busy within my four walls, and a lot of this is down to you all who sent me boredom busting parcels and activities to open up each day! So I thought I’d share some of the seewing and crafty ones so you can see what I’ve been up to (though there’s way more yet to open!).

First up is from Rachel, who sent me two “retro” issues of BWOF from her stash, 07/2000 & 12/2002, with a note challgenging me to find some hidden gems and just giggle at the rest. I’m up for a challegne!

(sorry for the iPhone photos – it’s the best I can do since I’m away from the scanner and the DSLR)

In the 2000 issue I absolutely fell in love with this skirt:

In Progress

Hospital activity packs

To accompany my my little red sewing machine on the inside here with me, I made up some “activity packs” in advance that my mom or James could just bring to me when I got the sewing itch. Into each gallon ziploc bag went all the cut fabric pieces for that project, plus the thread and bobbin, any notions, and the scanned line drawing & instructions. That way I should hopefully just be able to get down to business when the feeling strikes me without having to do all the boring prep stuff!

First up is already in my activity drawer (I’ve only got four drawers and a tiny wardobe in the room, so one is designated for fun!), a hat from the May 09 Burda, with all the pattern pieces cut out in the red & white floral cotton poplin, with all the appropriate pieces fused to some super heavyweight canvas interfacing.

I’ve also got this top and trousers from the May 09 KnipMode ready to go…

Inspiration

Patterns from a suitcase

My mom arrived on Friday morning, bearing a ridiculous amount of American cookies, candies, chocolates, cakes, and kitty treats, but also a few patterns that were on my wish list!

Vogue 1109 is a Sandra Betzina pattern for a knit top/tunic with really interesting seam lines. It kinda feels expected for all sewers to love SB without question, but to be honest, I don’t find her “all that” and this is the first pattern of hers I’ve even remotely liked (though not in either of those fabric choices, ugh) so I wanted to give it a try.

Simplicity 2647 is a knit dress with varying lengths and bodice treatments, but I really liked the short version with the wrapped side even though it’s quite similar to a Vogue pattern I already have.

Inspiration, Magazine

KnipMode May 2009

Last Tuesday I had the extreme pleasure of meeting fellow sewer Sigrid as she was visiting London with her family and had a short break in their sightseeing to come and stop by the moorings! It’s so funny, within minutes it was like we’d known each other for years, even though we’d never met in real life before, only observing each other from our respective sewing blogs…

Besides the great opportunity to blather on about sewing with someone whose eyes don’t glaze over within 5 minutes, she also brought me some really nice gifts! Oh Sigrid, you can definitely come visit again, you didn’t have to bribe me!!

First up was a gorgeous silver and black Kantje Boord lingerie kit for my birthday!

Inspiration, Magazine

FIMI magazine

Most of my sewing patterns come from pattern magazines these days, partly because they’re so much cheaper than envelope patterns here, but also because I find the variety of styles so much more appealing than the Big 4 these days. So when a pattern magazine comes along that I’ve not tried before, I find it difficult to resist! I’ve already shown you the insides of Patrones, Burda WOF, and KnipMode and also La Mia Boutique, so I thought a lot of you might be interested to take a peek inside F.I.M.I. Magazine, too!

What you’ll see here is the Summer 2009 issue of FIMI magazine – they appear to only print four issues per year, one for each season. It’s Dutch magazine, but instructions are in Dutch, English, German and French, which is something I applaud for getting new sewers into pattern magazines, as they don’t seem quitue so scary when they’re in your native language. The pattern sizes are simply S-M-L-XL rather than the numbered sizes I’m used to, but I haven’t had a chance to make anything from this issue yet to see how true to size they are. The physical size of the magazine, however, is bigger than most magazines which are A4 (UK) or 8.5×11 (US) and big, thick, glossy pages – I couldn’t fit it all of this in my flatbed scanner!

Here’s the cover:

Inspiration, Magazine

August 2006 – the best Burda issue ever

I’ve heard quite a bit of talk from other sewers that the February 2009 issue of Burda WOF magazine is the best one yet. I really don’t know what’s wrong with me (ha!), but I’m just not that into it. I mean, there are a few basics I like, but nothing that’s really screaming make me now!

For me, the best issue of Burda will always be August 2006. Let’s start with the evidence, in chronological order…

The first garment I made from this issue was BWOF 08/2006 #101:


Velvet jacket

Inspiration, Magazine

Recent KnipMode roundup

Last week I went on a bit of a spree and bought the November through March issues of KnipMode in one go. I usually get a couple at a time to save on shipping, but in this case I hadn’t bought since October so I was playing a bit of catchup (I should really just bite the bullet and subscribe already!). While I was on Naaipatronen.nl anyway, I figured I’d try another sewing magazine I’d never seen before and also bought FIMI magazine, too (more on that later).

I’ve spent the last few evenings thumbing through these and picking out my favourites, so I’ll let you in on a few gems here now in case you want to grab them before they go out of stock (it seems like the issues I write about tend to sell out directly after, ha!). So, working on chronological order, here’s my picks.

First up is KnipMode 11/08 #8b, a really gorgeous silk and gorgette dress that’s in the running for my birthday dress.