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…
Burda magazine November 2016
La Maison Victor magazine Sept/Oct 2016
The Belgian pattern magazine La Maison Victor is usually something I hunt down while we’re in France (the Eurotunnel Calais newsagent being an reliable stockist!). But LMV expanded last year into translating in German (on top of Dutch/Flemish and French), meaning it’s available in Germany now, too.
It wasn’t quite as easy to find as the many flavours of Burda, or even Ottobre, but the major train stations in Berlin seemed to stock it, and it was the only pattern magazine I purchased during our trip. Boxing up all of my pattern magazines when I moved into my new sewing room showed me how many I have already, so I’m a bit more judicious in buying them these days – there’s got to be at least one “Must Make!” in an issue for me to buy it.
Luckily, I know La Maison Victor always has a good range of patterns, excellent illustrated instructions (you really don’t need to speak the language, honest!), and beautiful presentation, and I wasn’t disappointed.
Burda magazine October 2016
Hoo boy. Last month’s Burda roundup sure divided opinion! Thankfully, October’s edition sees us deep into Fall fashion, with hardly a dirnd- oh wait… 😒
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…
Burda magazine August 2016
The August issue traditionally signals the start of Fall fashions in Burda’s world, and I’m pleased to report that this is yet another great issue! You can probably tell this by the sheer amount of designs I’ve pulled out to show you, ha.
Even in my first flip through the magazine after it arrived, I was so struck by the beautiful and unusual tab closure on this jacket! It’s such a great idea that I feel it must surely be a vintage-inspired detail, but the shape of the 3-piece(!) rounded sleeves really gives it a good balance of modern design, too.
Burda magazine July 2016
Burda definitely keep up with the seasons, but I still kinda miss the reliable rhythm that the issues used to have back in the day – January had loungewear, March was always the wedding special (the only one they’ve reliably kept!), some menswear in April, May had tons of dresses, August was the Fall fashion previews (and usually maternity, too), cocktail dresses every November, and evening gowns in December. But my least favourite was always the summery beachwear in the June and July issues, because there was pretty much nothing I could wear in an English summer, where it rarely gets about 70-75F (25C)!
But in recent years Burda have been mixing things up, and the old scheduling has given way to more unpredictable features, which I think gives more variety and appeal to a wider rare of sewists. This issue certainly has a lot more than I’d usually like from a July!
Burda magazine June 2016
Apologies for the delay in reviewing this issue, but as I mentioned in my last post, I’ve been spending pretty much all of my sewing-related time and effort into getting the new site ready (and running a little race in Transylvania as well!). Handily, this issue is still on newsstands for a few more days so if you see something you like, you should still be able to get a hold of this issue – or you could always buy the pattern pdfs from the BurdaStyle site if you’d rather.
Burda magazine May 2016
It’s May already, can you believe it!? It’s finally getting warmer here in London, and Burda have started their summer patterns, which usually means disappointment for me – but let’s take a look inside!
I really like the tech drawing for this asymmetric cocktail dress (which also comes in a maxi-length), but all the photos of it just look rumpled and a bit wrinkly. I’m not sure if it’s their fabric choice, or what, but I prefer my cocktail dresses more on the clean lines and sleek end of the scale…
Burda magazine April 2016
I’m catching up with the Burda magazine issues I missed while I was ill, so even though I showed you my picks from March’s issue last week, here I am with April already!
This isn’t the best garment photo, but I love the seaming on this dress, which Burda have very cleverly accentuated further with their use of stripes. Well done! I also live the asymmetric neckline, which makes me think of the neckline I chose for my wedding dress back in 2010!
Burda magazine March 2016
I know this issue is a bit old now (replaced by the April issue which I’ll be reviewing shortly), but it’s got some really great designs in it and I didn’t want it to just drop by the wayside because I was ill. Besides, I’ve even got the German edition, too (scroll down to see why!).
This cover makes me pine for Spring already!
First up is a pattern for a dress which looks like separates. I like that it’s both casual and can hide a large dinner underneath, which makes it pretty practical, too.
This dress cleverly has an integrated side tie like something out of Pattern Magic. I’m super excited about this pattern because I’ve kept a note of a very similar dress from the July 2012 Manequim magazine that I’ve been wanting to make for several years but frankly, I trust Burda’s drafting more, and I like the raglan sleeves on this one better than the sleeveless Manequim one, too. Definitely high on my To Sew list!
