Burda 11/13 and Patrones 329 Review

WARNING – This post is picture heavy!

After a weekend catching up on odd jobs (you know, the sort you really try to avoid by doing anything else), and collecting hedgerow fruit for jelly, I felt I deserved time on the sofa to do a proper review of these two magazines.

Patrones 329 Contents Right

Patrones 329 Contents Left

Patrones is given to me by my wonderful friends on their return from Spain – but I don’t get every copy so it feels like a treat every time. This issue has a number of garments I would love to make though i suspect I will have to be selective.

I really likes the top and jeans that are on the cover – but why is the detail on the front hidden by the models hair. So frustrating! I turned the page and discovered that the blue top (Model 9) was also really nice, I probably prefer this one, but the trousers wouldn’t be so good for me.

Great top, not so sure about the trousers

Easy to change the balance on this skirt

There are a number of really nice garments, all pretty current, that would be good to make but I really liked the skirt shown with the pink top. I wouldn’t make it exactly as it is but since this is just a full circle skirt with the waist hole offset it will be easy to move the balance so that it is longer in the front. The top is nice too, but I think I would prefer to wear this with something that was a little more fitted. Since this is so simple I will almost certainly be making this sometime soon. I think it could be made in something ‘casual’ and work really well with boots for the winter.

Great plus-size dress

The last garment in the magazine is a great (subtle) colour blocked dress. It is in the section marked ‘Tallas Grandes’ so I will have to grade the pattern down a little if I make this. It is a really useful shape, and all of the seaming (though curved) gives lots of opportunities to alter to fit. I don’t speak, or read, Spanish so I have no idea what their model was made in but I could see this in a wool crepe or even a ponte jersey. Fabulously flattering, and probably likely to stay in your wardrobe for years. This may also be a make – but it has competition in the Burda magazine.

I haven’t included the cover picture – there are going to be lots here – but the contents pictures are here for you to enjoy.

Great top with shoulder wrap

By the time you get to this t-shirt/top you have already passed a number of very wearable garments – but I was just picking out the ones I hoped to make at some point. This top appealed as it has princess seams which make it very easy to adjust for people with non-standard pattern sized busts. It is shown made in stretch crepe satin but I reckon it would work just fine in any jersey. The shoulder wrap is made separately so you could wear this with or without to give a different appearance. Nice!

Lots of seams on this one!

Only one page further on was this dress. Made in a stretch wool twill, it has about a gazillion seams. Seriously, take a look at the tech drawing on the page. Again, this is great if you have to adjust the dress anywhere (have you ever tried to fit a dress from the ‘fast and easy’ department that has few seams and probably no darts? What are we – paper dolls?). I am slightly doubtful that the seam down the centre front of the skirt is necessary and will check to see if it is cut on the straight grain before making a decision, but if it isn’t contributing to the shaping I will probably cut without a seam. This is a strong contender for this winter. However.

Great dress in the plus size section.

This dress is available in the plus size section and starts in my size. It is also shown (in black) with a cute collar but the photograph was ‘faded’ over a section which made me wonder what it was hiding. The model is striding out in the picture I chose – but is that a bit of pooling over the stomach? The darts all point to the mid point on the waist and I wonder if that may be a problem for someone (like me) who has a tum. I really like this so I may just have to try it in something not too expensive to see how it works. Sadly, time is always at a premium and there are two other possibles here.

Slim jersey trousers

Something that is almost certain is that I will be trying these slim trousers which are made up in jersey. I already have the jersey in my stash (with a reasonable amount of lycra included so I shouldn’t get a soggy butt) so I will trace this pattern very soon. And probably pair them with the Patrones top.

I have missed loads of other great garments from these magazines – both were really good and had loads of extremely wearable (and wantable!) garments this time which is not always the case. All I need now is the time to make them up!

I have decided that I am going to try to be more organised but also kinder to myself. If I don’t get todays  ‘to do’ list finished that isn’t a reason to beat myself up (as so many of us do). It is a reason to celebrate how many of the things on the list we did manage.

Bye for now, and be kind to yourself too 🙂

Patrones 324 and more

My dear friends G & H have brought me another Patrones magazine back from their travels – this time 324. I have had a quick scan through the magazine and feel that this issue is perhaps filled with things that are a bit ‘young’ for me.

Patrones 324

And there are a lot of ‘onesies’. I really don’t think I am ‘onesie’ material. I might try the purple shorts in the hope that the sun will grace the UK this summer enough to wear them. I like the short trousers, excitingly described as Piratas, which may be a good warm weather compromise between ordinary trousers and shocking the public in shorts with my gleaming white skin.

Contents pages

Contents pages

I might spot something that I feel is more ‘me’ when I have more time to sit and study this magazine, but I suspect this will not be one of my favourite issues.

I have also started having the Burda Style magazine delivered so that I am not scouring the local news stands to find the issue with the ‘perfect pattern’ seen on someone else’s blog that I just must have! I used to get this magazine delivered regularly but eventually felt it had become a bit predictable so cancelled the order. Since then I have seen lots of things I liked, and had to track copies down before they vanished altogether. Anyway, I was very happy to find the first copy on the doormat and settled down with my breakfast cuppa to scour the pages. I regret to being a little underwhelmed. I like the cover dress, and there are a couple of details on other garments that are nice – but my favourite item in the magazine?

Not the dress – the dog!

Maybe next month.