Burda Sew-a-long

The curious kiwi and other Wellington bloggers have had a great idea! A Burda magazine sew-a-long. 

This got me thinking about all the Burda Magazine patterns that I wanted to try.  I love the Burda magazine, get the newsagent to save me a copy every month, and at least half my sewing projects are from the magazine. If you haven't tried sewing from here this is a great opportunity to give it a go.  Drafting the patterns from the magazine can be intimidating, but once you've done it you'll wonder why you were worried about it.  The instructions are not always as clear as they could be, but if you follow the numbers and apply a little common sense anyone can sew them.

Last weekend was wet and windy, so it seemed an ideal time to make myself a pot of coffee and sit down with my pile of Burda magazines.  My goal was to identify five possible candidates for the Burda sew-a-long and put their pictures on my studio wall, so that by the time the Wellington bloggers launched the sew a long I would be able to select the pattern that I wanted to do.  Of course, the biggest challenge was identifying only five, as I have copies of the magazine going back over ten years!  Starting with the more recent ones I got to five:

THE JUMPSUIT 

 I’m having a bit of crisis about the jumpsuit from February 2013. I do like it, and can see me wearing it, but...

I remember being told that one shouldn’t do a fashion if one remembers it the first time round, and I do remember the jumpsuits in the early eighties ...(Charlie’s angels anyone???)  I’m embarrassed to admit that I wore jump suits like theirs. 

Well not exactly like these, more like...

...but the Burda version does look more modern and I have a few fabric options, including a really vibrant tie-dyed sort of look, a soft grey crinkle fabric, a black and cream print or a plain brown tencel.

CARDIGAN

(Project 28) Away from the jump suit option I do have a lovely drapy black merino knit that would really lend itself to a drapy cardigan like...

T-SHIRTS

I’ve got heaps of T shirting from my $1 haul, but to prevent it becoming a boring I’m in search of slightly different T shirt cuts...

and the shoulder line on this does look a little bit interesting (although, unlike the model, I would wear a bra with this top).In the same black merino this would be project 29.

And I soooo fell in love with this ... from the latest Burda (at least, the latest to us here in NZ).

and I do have a lovely red lycra that would look great in this.  I did have this fabric ear marked for Project 20, but I think it might look better in this pattern

 

KAFTAN

 

Here's another one that I (just) remember last time, but I have a strange urge to do again; the hippy Kaftan.  It just looks so easy and relaxed.  I can see me lounging on the couch reading a book, listening to music in this:

 

 

 

All these patterns are from very recent mags, but I also know there are patterns I'd love to do in the older magazines too.  The Wellington bloggers are looking at kicking the sew-a-long in May, so I haven't got long to settle on a pattern.  I haven't even looked at the really old magazines.  The very old ones are written German, with my translation notes scribbled in the margins.  I wonder whether I should look for an original version of the kaftan and the jumpsuit to compare them...

 

 

I'd be interested to know if anyone else has older Burda Magazines?