It's bookweek - Burda Moden flashback

It's bookweek in Australia. Sadly, I can't show you photos of the costumes I made my children, because I didn't have my new camera then. I have a new camera now, so I can show you a few pictures from my bargain finds at the bookfair. I only ducked into the bookfair because it was near my house. I'm not usually one for op-shopping. I think I have mentioned before that everything in Townsville goes mouldy in the end, so op-shop treasures are rare...which is why I felt like I struck gold on Saturday. I picked up 5 Burda moden magazines from the seventies for 10c a piece. (I also picked up a pile of Burda modens from 1981, but the 80's were no kinder to Burda than anyone else.)


I think I really need a trouser-and-tunic suit in matching fabric. There is a big selection to choose from. Perhaps not this safari-style.

Maybe more like this summer version, which was made up in a grass green and a sky blue.


This coat pattern is one that I would make today, if I lived in a cooler climate.


And I like this tunic-length vest.


There is an issue from 1975 with patterns just for jersey (from what I can guess, it is a long time since I studied German). Some of these reminded me of the styles being made by Johanna over at The Last Stitch.


I have a Kelly-green knit that I have been meaning to make up into a skirt suit with a white trim, a la Samantha from Bewitched. This pattern might be just about right.


So how does the magazine compare to today? Well, the format is remarkably similar. It still has a number of fashion patterns, made up in different fabrics. There are a lot less sizes, with most styles only given in one or two sizes. There is a plus section and sometimes a teen section and often a knitting/crochet pattern. There is an English supplement, with instructions for making up the patterns and one pattern has an illustrated sewing course. I like the names of the patterns...flattering dress, pretty dress, blousette and pants, smart designs, summer dress, young-style suit, attractive dress, charming dress, practical outfit and so on. I haven't read through the instructions to see how they compare to today's instructions. The main differences that I can see are that advertising content is included and there is a recipe collection in each issue. The editorial by Aenne Burda is quite philisophical....in one issue she makes clear on her opinion about people who give pets as presents without thinking of the consequences! And if you find tracing patterns confusing now, check out the pattern sheets then...


I also picked up 2 Japanese So-En sewing magazines from 1973; 2 Dressingmaking International magazines from the same year, published in Spanish; and The Co-ordinates Collection published in Great Britain, also from 1973. I might do a post on these another day.

Give-away winner

Lori, you have won the blouse in my give-away. Email you address to katherine dot peter at bigpond dot com so that I can pop it in the post for you. Enjoy!

On another note, I have just borrowed the Burda 5/2009 magazine from the library...I am so impressed. I have heard a few grumblings about Burda magazine lately and I am wondering if they are about more recent editions, because I really enjoyed this one. My newsagent doesn't stock them anymore, else I would buy this...there are 3 distinctly different features. My favourite is the "Road movie", which is as good for style inspiration as much as for patterns. I love seeing the same patterns made up in different fabrics and styled differently...just shows how much you can do with one pattern.

I've been measured

I must confess to a slight obesession with slopers. I started with Winifred Aldrich. Not bad, but that was between pregnancies and my slopers are a little out of date now. Also, I never got the sleeve right. Then I made a replica of myself out of duct tape and tried to drape a sloper on that. Not hugely successful due to my inexperience with draping. Next I moved onto a duct tape skirt, which worked fine. It got a bit expensive after that when I purchased the Wild Ginger software. Not the best money I ever spent. My fifth attempt at a Wild Ginger sloper is crumpled at the bottom of my sewing cupboard. Now my journey is over, having stumbled on The European Cut by Elizabeth Allemong. Drumroll please....



I'm pretty happy with how they turned out. I got a little bit of advice from the author, Elizabeth, who is lovely, and tweaked the sloper a little to get rid of the wrinkles on the backside, the pulling at the front thighs and small amount of gaping at the neck. I'd like to show you a proper photo, but now that I am in the market for a new camera (thanks Belinda and Kristy for your info), you will have to make do with a twisted-in-the-mirror shot.

I've never been one for fitted dresses, finding them impssible to buy and elusive to fit, but I am encouraged by this sloper. And after all, it is the year of the fitted sheath. But then again, where would I wear a fitted sheath?

The methods for drafting the slopers are quite detailed, based on 38 measurements. We made a night of it! The directions given for the measurements are very comprehensive. The illustrations are all hand drawn and based on real sized person. It took me a weekend to do this, but after reading other reviews, it sounds like the process would get quicker each time. The author says that she can draft a bodice sloper in 10 minutes.

I have started drafting the sleeve, but it has been sitting on a table for a couple of weeks now and next weekend I will be sewing my children costumes for book week, so it may be a while off yet. After that I will move onto the torso sloper. I'm not sure if I will try the pants sloper, because I am pretty happy with my Marfy pants patterns at the moment.

Buttons

An older friend of mine has decided that she doesn't want to sew any more, so she offloaded 5 boxes of stuff to me. I must confess, I passed a lot of that on, but there were a few treasures. Have a look at these buttons. They are like press studs, so that they can be removed for washing. I haven't seen anything like them before, but then, I am not a button collector or even an earnest retro / vintage shopper. There were 4 green buttons and 4 pearl buttons. I have no plans for them at present, but I am sure the right project will come along one day. Maybe a sweet, little clutch?


There was also this sheet of buttons. I read an article in Threads last year about buttons, but I can't tell if these are ordinary or special buttons.

Blouse to give-away

I made this blouse a few months ago, but I have not worn it. It is not quite the right colour or style for me, but the fabric is lovely, so I would like to give it away to a good home if possible.







The pattern: Burda WOF 6/2006 122. I drafted my own collar as I was not fussed on a jewel neck.

The fabric: A paisley cotton eyelet from Emmaonesock. It is a medium weight cotton, so can be worn as an overblouse.

The size: I haven't kept detailed notes on my pattern alterations, but it is most likely that I started with a Sz 40, did a narrow chest alteration and widened at the hips. Sz 40 has bust, waist, hip of 92 cm, 74 cm, 98 cm. My measurements are 89 cm, 74 cm, 102 cm.

If you think that this might fit you, leave a comment telling me how you will wear it.

A springtime dress

I wanted to show you photos of my new dress, but my camera doesn't want to play today. Groovy effects, though. Does anybody know what all these stripes are from? Perhaps the kids have dropped the camera.

This fabric is actually a bright blue and black print on ivory, purchased from a local fabric shop. I have only visited this shop once or twice, and mostly it is not to my taste, so I was quite delighted with this find on Saturday.

There will be other versions, so let me tell you about my plans instead. Next year, when all my children will be locked away in the education system, I am thinking about producing my own patterns. Design-wise, I want to produce simple patterns to serve as a blank canvas for gorgeous fabrics or creative expression. Construction-wise, I want to choose techniques that allow for a lot more fit-on-the-run. Size-wise...I am still gathering data, but there is a good chance that my size base will be more pear-shaped than the major pattern companies (let's face it, pear-shaped is what I know). I have a lot to learn, about a lot of different things, but it should be fun.

I have about half-a-dozen styles in mind, including this dress. I haven't got this dress just right yet. For the next version, I want to play around with the neck-line and strap width. I'm still trying out different pocket ideas. It is hard to see, but on this version I have gathered a larger pocket shape onto a smaller pocket. This makes the pocket sort of bubble out from the dress. It also means that you can't see the stitching, so it is sort of a floating pocket.

Here is another photo, which doesn't show you much other than the fabric colours. Also, I am wearing a shorter version of my vest. You can't see the detail, but it has real welt pockets (Mary Nanna, I am talking to you!). I am coming to love vests, I think I will make more.

Now, what to do about the camera.

Me and Suri

I've just had a weird fashion moment. I was flicking through an OK magazine in a cafe (pickings were slim), when I saw my fabric on somebody else. Only the somebody else was a toddler, Suri Holmes / Cruise. My fabric was sewn into a camisole, hers into a frilly dress. I love my camisole (featured in my first post, and later here). I think I'm going to forget about this and keep wearing it.

Sewing without pins

So my little girl turned six in the holidays. I gave her a sewing machine and we got straight into projects. She made a bag with a ribbon handle, a pin-cushion, an elastic-waisted skirt and she and her little brother each made one of the library bags above (I sewed on the applique badge).

At this stage, it is all about driving the sewing machine. She does not quite have the foot control to stop and start where she wants, so for the sake of the machine, this means no pins. Which is not too bad, I'm pretty scant with pins myself. I remember getting in trouble at school for sitting down to the machine without pinning my seams. I also remember my response...but my Mum doesn't use pins when she sews...and so skills are passed down the generations.

The skills we are working on are
- tracing patterns onto fabric with texta and cutting them out
- marking seam-lines with texta and sewing straight lines
- reversing at the start and end of seams (I'm a bit slack about this myself)
- pivoting at corners

For the library bags above, we used a neat little technique that I read about in Amy Butler's InStitches. For this method, the lining and bag are made out of the same fabric. Two rectangles of fabric are sewn right sides together, all around the edges, leaving a gap of about 10cm in the middle of both long sides of the rectangle. The bag is then turned right side out and one end (lining) is pushed into the other end (outer bag). A line is then stitched across the top of each side of the bag, forming the casing. Pretty nifty. We modified this technique a little to sew tabs to the bottom of the bag, for the straps to pass through. This allows the bag to be worn as a back-pack.