Burdastyle Magazine 02/2012

Guess who received a Burda subscription as a Christmas gift? ^_^

So, starting with the February issue, I won't have to decide whether buying the magazine or not. And I don't know if I would have bought this issue, because there is very very little that impressed me.

First of all, this dress. Although I really dislike the matt/shiny contrast of the fabric, it seems a very nice silhouette. There is also a black version of it which looks very elegant. The pockets are a nice touch.

I think this might be interesting. I really hate the multitude of colours they used here; there is a black version of this dress as well, but the design lines disappear. The neckline is gorgeous on the model, though, and the chunky zipper in the back looks very nice.

There are some very cute pants in this issue. These are high-waisted and have a nice detail in the back. Since one of my goals for this year is to sew a pair of trousers, I might consider this pattern.

A little off topic: don't you hate it too how sometimes (often, actually) Burda chooses fabrics and photos that don't showcase AT ALL the garments? I mean, black trousers under a long top? How are we supposed to see them? The same thing applies for the black versions of the two dresses above.

And lastly, just like when I liked the pattern for a Wilma Flinstones costume, I found myself eyeing these children patterns and wanting them for my size (sorry for the terribly cropped image). Aren't they cute?

More images will be soon available in the Burda Archive Project page.

Burda 12/2011

With my computer broken and all, I completely forgot about Burda! The December issue is already out, but I'll share my picks anyway. Maybe it'll help you make a choice if you don't know whether to buy it or not.

Of course the first issue after my subscribtion expired had to be great.

Just look:

For me, this dress alone is worth buying the magazine. I litterally went "Ooh!" when I saw it. The details around the neckline and the midriff are gorgeous and I have a soft spot for fluttery sleeves. I'm sold.

This, again, is beautiful. It reminds of something I've seen in the book Pattern Magic, but this has the advantage of not having to draft the whole pattern from scratch.

I've been looking for a blazer like this for a long time. There's something about the shape of those lapels that really attracts me.

I think I've already written at some point that I'd love to make a trench coat one day, and this is a pattern I'd really like for that.

You can see the patterns of this issue here, as part of the Burda Archive Project.

The Burda Archive Project

The first Burda magazine I've ever seen was back in 2006. I couldn't sew yet, but I had asked my mom to make me a skirt for a formal occasion and she told me we could find a pattern for it in that magazine. I was immediately charmed. It wasn't just the begininning of a learning process, but also of a small collection. After that year, I bought Burda magazine randomly until 2010, when I started to buy it regularly

Granted, some issues are really not worth buying. But looking at the previews on the site and leafing through the actual magazine every month has become a sort of ritual for me.

Now, the number of issues in my possession is starting to be diffucult to manage. I sometimes look for a specific pattern but I never remember in which issue it was in. I had started to make copies of the central pages, the ones with all the technical drawings of the patterns, to be kept in a binder in my room, but then I thought, why not to share with the Internet?

You can find all the issues from 2010 and 2011 in my Flickr (January and August 2010 are missing, sorry). All the titles and stuff are written in Italian, but you don't really need them if you're using these pages like I do. I will update the sets regularly and I will also add the few issues pre-2010 and the few issues I own of La Mia Boutique, in case anyone might be interested.

This is a great way for me to keep track of all my patterns, but I do hope that someone can find this useful!