Library ~ Sewing And Style Den

Burda Style
Patrones (Spanish)
Knip Mode (Dutch)
My Image
La Mia Boutique (Italian)
Manequim (Portugese)
Fait Main (French)
Altered Couture
Diana Moden (Russian)
ШИК (Шитье и Крой) (Russian)

Burda Style

My name is Juliette and I am a Burda Style addict.....

I grew up sewing with this wonderful magazine, back in the days when Anne Burda herself participated in creating every issue. It is like home sweet home to me. Burda Style (formerly: Burda Moden, Burda World of Fashion) is a fashion magazine published in 16 different languages and in over 89 countries by Hubert Burda Media. Each issue of Burda Fashion contains patterns for each design in the issue. (From Wikipedia.com) .

The magazine comes with up to 60 multi-sized patterns, including those for plus-sized, men and children. However, the patterns styles repeat a lot throughout the issue and you probably ony get a third of that number in original patterns. Overall, it is aimed on beginner-intermediate level, however there are Craft ideas come plentiful in every issue too. The technical instructions are very comprehensive, there also masterclasses in every issue and tips on different techniques and working with different fabrics. Burda Style measurements seem to be drafted for larger busts and wider hips. There is NO seam allowances included in the patterns.
Here is the size chart:

There are also specialized editions like Burda Easy Fashion, Burda Kids and Burda Plus Fashion, which come out twice a year.

Burda Communities:

As my first language is Russian, I am very lucky to be an active member of Russian Burda site, which is the biggest recourse of everything-to-do with sewing and Burda magazine, which was the first western magazine to be published in the Soviet Union in 1987. Is was taken to, quite full-heartedly, by Russian speaking/understanding seamstresses all over Estern Europe, who traditionally seem to be very crafty in general. On their Burda community site they have a great Photo forum, where real people showcase their Burda pattern based creations. It is very useful as some models look absolutely different in real life than on the Burda pages.

Another site is English BurdaStyle.com, again superb online community, however not as loyal to Burda style magazine as the Russian one. This website is run by a small independent team of enthusiasts in New york. They claim

BurdaStyle to be the largest DIY fashion and sewing community with over half a million registered members and nearly 7 million pageviews a month. A “sort of Facebook for sewers” (The New York Times), the average age of our readers is 29.

They aim to bring the craft of sewing to a new generation of fashion designers, hobbyists, DIYers as well as inspire fashion enthusiasts. The website offers thousands of stylish handcrafted clothes, downloadable PDF sewing patterns, including those from Burda Style magazine, tutorials, project ideas and a community passionate about fashion. Press coverage on BurdaStyle can be found here.

With all huge respect I have to the guys doing an amazing job on BurdaStyle.com, the prices they charge for individual Burda Style magazine patterns are way too high, comparing to the price of the whole issue. But, I suppose, buying the magazine is not available to anyone ( here in Ireland for a few years there was only one store in the centre of Dublin (Eason's) that stocked Burda Style, so for years I had to resort to subscribing. Gladly, as I discovered a few month ago, they now stock it in every store, and I am able to pick a copy the day it appears on the shelves and not 3 weeks later as with subsrciptions. Yey!)

Official BurdaStyle website
Subscribe to Burda Style magazine here from their German website, or here is a good company to subscribe to Burda in Russian if you live in Europe too.

Patrones

I have a good few Patrones issues, and I love the magazine, The style offered are very trendy and they offer patterns from such names as Prada, H&M, Gucci, Jil Sander, Dolce & Gabbana. Their coats are to die for and dresses are simply fabulous

Their sizing is very different to Burda Style. The bust is quite large, so are the hips, but the waist is really small. The technical instructions are not very thorough, so you will need to have all your basic skills nailed as there will not be holding anybody's hand there. Also the markings on the pattern are not as good as Burda's. But then the patterns are better and the styles are definitely worth giving a go. The downside- there is only 3 sizes given for each pattern, so you need to know how to grade. ( But it is not THAT hard, actually) There is NO seam allowances included in the patterns

There is 12 annual issues, each has a theme ( eg: Joven- Youth fashion, Fiesta - evening wear and more glam styles, Ninos- Kids fashion, and their Extra issue has mega amount of patterns and styles.) The positive side- all patterns are individual- there are no repeats. Here are a few handy tips on taking measurements for Patrones patterns- they are in spanish, but do what I do: look at the name of the measurement on the chart and find it on the taking measurements instructions- and let the picture do the talking.

Official Patrones Website
Subscribe to Patrones here
Buy individual Patrones issues here or over here.

back to top

Knip Mode

Knip Mode is a Dutch sewing magazine, only published in Dutch. It is a new discovery for me (thanks to Melissa from Ferh Trade). I remember checking it out a few years ago and I wasn't really impressed. But Melissa's regular blogs about Knip Mode helped me change my mind- the models offered are quite in tune with current fashion trends and also their sizing is a bit larger on the hips and flatter on the chest, than Burda Style's.

I will be honest, I haven't tried it out myself. I have an issue from 6/2010 which has an amazing bathing suit, that is on my list for October holiday in Spain. I aslo must mention that all their patterns start at size 34- again a big plus for me! Models look good, but are they as interesting as Patrones or Manequim to go out of my way that far? I haven't really been tempted yet. Here is the chart

Knipmode Official Website

How to subsribe to KnipMode ( from Fehr Trade)
KnipMode English pattern discussion group
Buy individual KnipMode issues here

My Image

My Image is a new sewing magazine from Netherlands It claims that every issue contains patterns according the latest trends. Well, I bought an issue out of interest and I have to say, I am a bit disappointed. The patterns offered have little to do with the latest fashion trends. They are more timeless classic patterns adaptable with a clever use of fabric. None of them looked super trendy, just average housewife looking clothes. They offer 16 patterns, I would only choose one or two of them but merely to justify buying the magazine, not because I wouldn't find something similar in my stack of old Burda Style magazines ( I would like to make an emphasis on OLD, as their fashion style looks very 90's to me) They also have a kiddies edition. There is a good review about My Image on Fehr Trade, but Melissa's opinion is not quite the same as mine.

Here is the chart:

Buy or subscribe here

La Mia Boutique

La Mia Boutique initially didn't really impress me, I found a lot of recent models too wacky. Nothing to do with the beautiful classic italian fashion . Over the top- but then it was just my own opinion. I had 3 issues and I sold them all on ebay (no regrets) I couldn't find their original website either.

HOWEVER, there has been an amazing change in the magazine's styles recently, bringing back exactly what it was lacking before. So good- I would love a subscription. I have a list of things to make from LMB and will keep a close eye for future issues.

Their chart and the guide to take measurements are here:

You can buy individual issues or subscribe here

More on Fehr Trade

Fait main online community

Buy backdated issues here (international orders accepted)

I was looking through my blog reading list and to my absolute delight I discovered there is one more sewing magazine out there that definitely worth more publicity and attention of the dressmakers in the world. With one small, but significant detail- it is totally geared towards up-cycling and re-fashioning. I give you ALTERED COUTURE. I came across this gem while reading the latest post from Ruffles and Stuff who's stunning projects is featured in this magazine regularly, and in my opinion so rightfully deserved. And this is how I went to check out what that publication is about, and how oh so amazing it seems to be.

The issues are full of superb ideas on up-styling, the instructions are so comprehensive and the photography is superb!!! One of my absolute favourites is this Parisian Rose Shoes up-styling project:

Here is another very easy super stylish ideas:

check out more and subscribe here

Diana Moden is a German sewing magazine. It is also available in Russian, and it is a very popular magazine for all Russian speaking seamstresses. The main attraction of the Russian edition of this magazine is the fact that they feature original Simplicity patterns (4-5 full patterns per issue - around 35-40 models altogether) and this makes Diana Moden top value sewing magazine for anybody, even if you don't speak the lanquage. Unfortunately, I am not sure if they do the sam in their German version. They also offer their own patterns, which are really not too bad, however I found them to be more suitable for beginners- they seem quite basic, although cute enough. Very similar to Fait Main or KnipMode.

To my absolute delight, recently I found out that a company in Germany that arranges subscriptions to magazines published in Russian (I had a Burda subscription with them before it became available in my local bookstore) allows Diana Moden subscription as well.

3 month subscription cost me 17 euro including international shipping (76 euro for a year). Even if just 1 of the 3 issues featured Simplicity patterns, that are sold for average 10 euro each, I see the benefits of subscribing already!

Buy/subscribe to Diana Moden in German here

Subscribe to Russian Diana Moden here (Germany based Russian press company)

Lastly, but not at all in any way the least is this little Russian number, ШИК-Шитье и Крой, which translates into English as "Sewing and Cutting". Years ago when it first came out it published their own designs, which I usually found a bit amature-ish and sometimes wacky to bother. Something you would see in a provincial fashion design students runway show.

Well it is not the case anymore! Each issue now features patterns from leading international sewing magazines, like La Mia Boutique, Patrones, Look (Argentina) - even though they might be a couple of months old models, it still makes this magazine amazing value, considering you can get all that for 70 euro annual subscription ( and this is an international price quote!)

Subscribe to ШИК here

back to top

These are only a few major sewing magazines that I've found, but there is more! There is a couple in Brazil, i am still hoping to get my hands on and that Look from Argentina seems interesting- I am definitely going to look into getting a copy. And please, if there is any other sewing magazines with patterns out there in the world that you think I should include here, please feel free to tell me!

more useful links on sewing magazines: