February Burda picks

This month's magazine has some truly awesome dresses among the offerings so I had to purchase another single issue.

Up first is tunic 108 A. It's a typical Burda design that I've seen before, but the thing that caught my eye was that little inset of contrasting fabric at the sleeve hem. It looks particularly pretty done in a shiny silk charmeuse as well.

Dress 110A I wasn't sold on until I saw it in person. It is so on trend with all the color-blocking you see these days. Plus I adore how they used the same hue for the top and the same for the bottom, but one side is shiny and the other is matte. Fabulous! I am thinking of doing it in hot pink and red or maybe red and orange.

Dress 111 is the reason I bought the magazine this month. It is a modern take on a traditional Asian style and I especially loved the black with yellow bands they made it up in. Love the neckline. Love the hemline. Love the little cap sleeves. Did I mention how much I love this dress?!

Dress 117B is another awesome design totally in line with the color-blocking trend and the neon color trend. Check out those design lines! Check out that back exposed zipper that goes from the neckline to the hemline. The only thing that gives me pause is that this dress is made for stretch jersey, and I am imagining some problems with getting the zipper to behave in such a stretchy fabric. It might need to be a doubleknit instead. Oh, and I'm not sure the seam across the left bust is going to be all that flattering. But it's an awesome dress non the less.

 Some of the little girl dresses from this issue are nice and I can see the maternity designs being very popular too. I liked the colorblocked jacket 122 but it has no shape to it and I'm not a lover of boxy jackets. I thought skirt 123B was going to be really cute but it turned out to be just a square with belt loops.

How about you - did I miss any of your absolute favorites?

December Burda picks

I told you last month I'd be purchasing the magazine for December as well. If you are interested in where I get them, I order from GLP International. They charge $10 per issue, and that's with the shipping included.

The reason I had to have this month's copy is because of this coat:

I love all the seaming, the Peter Pan collar, the oversized pockets. I really want the exact ivory color as seen on the example, but lighter color wool coatings are hard to find. There seem to be an over-abundance of dark and muted colors available from the online fabric stores I frequent, but hardly any bright or light hues.

Skirt 105 is also a pretty, flattering style. It reminds me a lot of this skirt, but without the front ruffle. I also very much like the skirt suit they've created with the shortened version of 104, but think all the beautiful seaming on the jacket is lost by using such a textured fabric.

Dress 107 is gorgeous! Love the intricate tucks of the bodice, fitted & shaped midriff panel, double ruffled sleeves. There are a few things I'd tweak about it - mainly those front gathers below the midriff panel and the unnecessary vertical seams in the front and back bodice.

Faux fur jacket 113 is the sewing course for this month. I have seen these little fur jackets popping up everywhere lately and want one too! It should be an easy project to whip up using some fabric that's been languishing in my stash for at least 5 years.

 Lastly, I really like the looks of gown 129, even though I have no where to wear it nor any possible reason in the future to need an evening gown. Maybe I could use it if I cut it knee length...

The January preview is already online here, but there's really nothing much that interests me in it. Perhaps this is the last copy I'll purchase for awhile. Are there any of your favorites that I've missed?

I was going to post Rachel's new overalls earlier this week, but she got them dirty before I could take any pictures. Kids are so messy! Anyway, they have been laundered so I should be able to snap some pics later today.

November Burda picks

Yeah. I ordered another one. And I really like the looks of the December issue too. Now I am thinking about re-subscribing. But you can bet the minute I do they will go back to pillow-cases-posing-as-dresses and already-seen-it-a-thousand-times designs. As long as I don't buy the subscription they might keep up the trend toward more interesting clothing, right? You may all chime in with your thanks now.

Wait, what was my point for writing this post? Oh yeah.

Up first is jacket 104. Lets see - fitted jacket, interesting design lines, really cool collar and shoulder tabs - it pretty much has my name all over it. I will have to un-petite it, though.

Next are some rock'in leather pants, 108. I'm posting the picture of the garment as the drawing is pretty ugly looking. These are made from metallic leather, but I do have plenty of cream leather hides that would work. Do I need leather pants? Where the heck would I wear them? I've never had a particularly warm leather jacket, but I'm wondering if leather pants would make me hot (temperature wise). Lots of questions for this one, but I like the looks of them non the less.

It's a jacket - no wait, it's a cape. It's a jape cacket jacket-cape. Well, whatever it is, design 118 is definitely interesting looking.

I reserve my final opinion of dress 119 for when Allison finishes hers. It's hard to see how this dress looks from the magazine pictures. Both the short and long versions have the model sitting down; one is made up in black and the other photographed half hidden in shadows. Again, though, I'm intrigued by originality of the design.

Dress 120 is THE REASON I bought this issue. I love a dress with long sleeves and that ruffle down the front is perfection. Love. It.

Dress 123 is certainly a sexy little number. It's relatively simple but still interesting with all those front pleats coming together at one focal point. The one on the model in the magazine doesn't fit her all that well, so I'm anxious to see this made up.

Dress 126 is a formal gown that I have nowhere at the moment to wear it to. You never know, though, I might decide to make it up for some future theater show. Again, this dress does not fit the magazine model. I am wondering where they got this poor woman. All of the clothing they gave her to take pictures in are skin-tight and puckering at the seams. Except for the long blue taffeta one, where she appears to be sans clothing and is holding it up to herself while smoking a cigarette. Bizarre. I do think this dress is really pretty, despite the fit issues.

So there you have it. I'll be purchasing the December issue as well because there is a coat in it that I just cannot live without.

October Burda picks

Look what arrived in my mailbox last week:

Love this issue! There are a ton of styles I can see myself in, a few of which I previously blogged about. BTW, I ordered this single issue directly from GLP News, and it was $10. The price on the front is 6 Euros - that's around $10 US, right? So I'm not sure how much less expensive it would be to buy it in a store. Not that I can find a store that sells them anywhere in San Antonio.

(I like to document the styles I like from each issue, as they're easier for me to look through here on my blog instead of going through 3 years of magazines for a specific design.)

This is design 101, the same cape as the magazine cover photo, except slightly longer. I really like the shape of it. Other capes I've seen have more volume coming off the shoulder; this one has narrow shoulders and fans out at the hemline. I'm also liking the front zip and hood.

For a long skirt, 103 definitely has a lot of shape. Love the bias plaid paired with a chambray button down.

Pretty and interesting blouse. The Peter Pan collar is a fun girly touch.

This dress is the same pattern as the blouse before it, but cut longer. I'm not sure I'd need one of each in my closet. I have been looking for a 3/4 sleeve like this one for awhile now. Most have too much volume but this one looks just right. Even if I never make the dress, I will certainly be tracing off the sleeve to use with other patterns.

Cute! Like the black and white. It's a simple dress that can be worn lots of different ways.

Nice basic skirt with front buttoning pockets and topstitching. Reminds me of this skirt without the front pleats, which I have gotten a lot of wear from.

Love. Sleeves have too much volume to me with all those ruffle and tie going on. Maybe I'll use the sleeve from the white blouse.

Pretty, although I've been over puff sleeves for awhile now. This dress is sized for petites, so I'd have to figure out how to un-petite it.

Nice pants. I like the leg shape and front welt pockets.

This is a pretty tie-neck blouse. I would love to find the same fabric for mine.

This vest looks like a great layering piece. Not sure I'll ever make it, but I do like it.

That makes 11 designs in total that I could see hanging in my closet, an all time record from a single issue I believe. I am so pleased to be able to buy single issues of Burda. Thanks again to everyone who chimed in about where I could purchase it!

August Burda picks

In answer to a few commenters from my last shorts post, yes, that was a Burda magazine pattern. Whenever you see me write Burda with a string of numbers behind it, the first number stands for the month, the second the year, and the third number is the pattern number in that specific magazine. So Burda 06-2011-111 is pattern #111 from the June 2011 issue. I had several questions about that and wanted to clear up any confusion.

This is my last magazine unless I renew my subscription, which I'm not planning to do anytime soon. Those white shorts I just made were my first use of the magazine this year, and I don't feel like I'm using it enough to warrant the cost. Plus the designs just aren't that innovative lately. There seem to be lots of repeats. I still LOVE the magazine, but will be taking a little break from it for awhile.

Jacket 101 I really like. It has interesting design lines and detailing with that double buttoning front,  and y'all know I love topstitching. 

 Jacket 102 is my favorite from this month's designs. What an awesome military look with the shiny brass buttons and red piping. I would love to copy the example and use a navy wool. It's just gorgeous!

A while back I over-did it on the puff sleeve and couldn't get enough of them. Now I'm totally over that design element and don't even want to wear what I've already made. So blouse 107 isn't an obvious choice. But once you look past the puffy sleeves this really is a cute top. It's fitted, has ruffles but no collar so could be worn under a tailored jacket for fall/winter. (Duh, Amanda, see how they've styled it above.) Leaving off the sleeves and finishing the armholes with some bias tape should be easy.

 Skirt 121 is a fun little pencil skirt. And I always love tummy ruching on garments.

I'm really not sure why I'm drawn to dress 125. It's not very practical with that scarf thing around the neck (winter) and short cap sleeves (summer). Plus it's a tall pattern. Maybe I like it because they've made it up in such a fun black and white fabric. I'll probably not make it but do like it.

Okay, dress 126 is super cute! I love the shape of it and the use of two different fabrics. A little bit of camisole showing through adds a nice layering look. I'll be shortening it to the knee.

 Honestly, when I started looking at these patterns previewed on the Russia Burda site, I was a little miffed. How dare they go from hum-drum to interesting for my very last month?! Are the next few magazines going to be awesome now that I've decided not to renew? Then I looked at the September preview in the back and saw that folk-styled designs are back again and thought - Nope! Same old Burda! Now it feels like a really nice send off instead.

Did I miss any of your favorites?

July Burda picks

Well, I've had a dress finished for several days but keep forgetting to take any pictures before twilight. Hopefully I'll get those taken tonight and posted before we are off to the lake for July 4th. In the meantime, here are my favorites from this month's Burda.

One of my favorites is top 105. I like the front folded ruffle-type treatment and that the bottom and skinny strap are made from a solid color. It's not that fitted but is sheer so that some body shape can be seen through it.

Dress 122 is a simple jersey style with cinched waist. I bought a really fun belt from Target several months ago that needs a simple solid colored dress to wear it with. The armholes of this dress have two different widths of bands - each folded together so that the unfinished edges are not showing (hard to explain) - but I'm wondering if 5 layers of fabric might be too thick in one area.
This next one is blouse 113B. The sheer fabrics along the neck, sleeve edges and ties are left unfinished. I like it - it's different and interesting.
Okay, so I love the IDEA of dress 130 - the colored lace, unlined sleeves, piping down the sides forming the outsides of the pockets. Theirs is too boxy for me and the neckline too high. I might decide to use this design with a more fitted pattern.

I've already seen dress 131 made up on patternreview.com with piping along the neckline and sleeve edges. LOVE! What a cute square neckline and cap sleeves!

Five designs that I really like from one month's offerings is great for me. I also appreciated their organza butterfly DIY instructions as well as the fabric necklace shown on page 58. (Am I crazy to like it? Would you wear something like that?) The preview for next month doesn't look too promising but maybe Burda will surprise me again.