New Free Patterns from German BurdaStyle

Hmm... what do we have here?  It looks like Burda (via Burdastyle.de) has some new free patterns up.  Don't get too excited though, as one of them seems to be a tutorial? to create a pair of destroyed jeans like the ones Carrie/Sarah Jessica Parker wears in SATC II.  

 

Images from Burdastyle.de

The photo on the right is Burda's interpretation.  I don't know they're just not the same without the Uggs and tiara-headband are they?  heh.  Well, if you're still interested, you can find the tutorial? pattern? here.  Be forewarned, you will need to register as a user on the burdastyle.de site first.  

Now for the good news!  Burda has also gifted us a lovely blouse pattern available here.  

  

Images from Burdastyle.de

I'm glad to see a couple new free patterns up on the site, but I hope they will also add patterns for purchase, as I've let my subscription lapse again.  I really miss the old Burda World of Fashion some days, as the new trendy reincarnation of the magazine is not as satisfying.  If I'm going to spend the time sewing my own togs, I don't usually pick very trendy styles.  

That said, I am still hoping for a pattern for the pleated trousers featured in the June issue.  After a closer look at the technical drawing, though, I suppose I could try my hand at drafting something similar myself.

 

Images from Burdastyle.de

Alright, that's enough of my rambling.  This has been a nice break from outfit posts, no?  Now back to cutting out some new projects!  Happy sewing :)

Me Made Days 9 & 10

Yesterday I wore a surplice bodice dress inspired by Diane Von Furstenberg's wrap dresses.  The leggings I finished on Saturday morning are also quickly becoming a staple in my wardrobe as you can see:

Dress by me

Cardigan - TJ Maxx

Scarf - Stein Mart

Leggings by me

Boots - Timberlands via Piperlime

Today I wore a dress I made a couple years ago, #105 from Burda 10-2007.  It's been a bit cooler here since Saturday evening, which has allowed me to start wearing cozy layers again.  I rather like it!

Dress by me

Top - Kohl's

Necklace - Tord Boontje

Stripey Tights - H&M

Boots - Timberlands via Piperlime

Stay tuned for sewing project updates very soon.  I am currently working on a jersey romper, and should be able to post some photos tomorrow.  I can't believe that 1/3 of me-made may is over already.  This just means I better get to work on some new outfits.  Happy sewing!

Day Two

Deco tankdress by me

Grey cardigan - TJ Maxx

Woven leather belt - Stein Mart

I started off day two of Me-Made-May by waking up slowly with homemade bread, a full french press of coffee, and the New York Times.  After finishing my coffee and flipping through some old Burdas, I donned my favorite hot-weather dress (it was predicted to reach 90 F in D.C. today), and headed out to GStreet fabrics.  During the time it took me to metro and walk to the store, I somehow rationalized spending all of my clothing budget this month on fabric and notions.  It should come as no surprise that I came out of the store with 8 spools of thread, 3 zippers, one piece of madras shirting and countless other notions.  

Newly inspired by freshly cut fabric, I returned to my sewing studio-cum-apartment, ready to put my rotary cutter to fabric and my foot to the pedal.  While I can't say that I completed a new project, I have nearly completed a dress and a skirt that had been been neglected for the past year or so.  Hopefully in a couple days I will have finished projects to show you!  

Burda Blouse 117 From 8-2009

Here is the result of my day off- I finished a wearable muslin of Burda 117 in metallic poly chiffon.  We will call it a wearable muslin because fabric came from the 75% off table at Hancock Fabrics about two years ago, and I only bought it for the colors.  Without the bits of ochre and rust in there, this might well have been the ugliest fabric I ever laid eyes upon!  The blouse was a dream to stitch up, even though my lack of a serger necessitated flat-felling to ensure that the seams don't unravel.  I am already planning a second blouse in silk chiffon.  Maybe even in a springy hue.  A couple fabrics I have my eye on for the project:  this lovely iridescent chiffon in seafoam, currently my favorite color, and also this bright yellow print- what a jaunty summer topper that would make!

And now, dear friends, I'm off to sleep.  Must get lots of rest, as there is another full day of projecting ahead of me!

End of Summer Mini Wardrobe

August did its best, and all it took was a couple major stressful events to derail my best-laid sewing plans. Thankfully, I made it through, and even completed a mini wardrobe while I was at it!

I stayed up all night before a 6am flight to make these high-waist trousers from Burda 3/2009 in bright cherry red:

And I patterned this skirt after a much loved vintage wool plaid skirt (it needed a summer counterpart) The top is from Burda 2/2009, in rayon jersey:

Summer seems to be coming very quickly to an end this year. It is already getting chilly in the evenings, and I am already planning which cozy sweaters I want to knit, and which yummy yarns I need to buy to make them. I've been looking at Rowan's Swaddle for quite some time, but am not convinced that there is an affordable substitute for their Kid Silk Classic yarn. I have been eyeing some angora blends over at Colourmart for awhile--hopefully my favorite colors won't be gone by the time I make up my mind to purchase! In terms of autumn sewing, I am imagining slim sweater dresses, and elegant blouse and high-waist skirt combos. Especially inspiring was this feminine blouse in the September issue of Burda.

Thank you for stopping by to take a look! I hope to be posting more than just once a month from here on out, so please stay tuned. Happy sewing!

Pattern Organization

I've been working away at organizing all of my Burda patterns. Tracing patterns out of the magazine is time consuming enough that I knew I needed to organize them properly. It has only taken me five years to decide how to do this properly. Firstly, I saved the line drawings of all my patterns from the burdafashion.com archives. Next, I uploaded these images to flickr. Then I printed them out on brown paper from grocery bags. Once I had the images printed out, I tore them apart using a straight edge. Finally, I glued them onto envelopes that I found on sale at Papersource. They have some great porfolio envelopes that easily fit my larger patterns, like those I have printed out on letter paper from burdastyle. I also purchased some medium sized envelopes that work fine for smaller patterns like skirts and tops.

Here are photos of each of the steps are below:

Update: Burda

As I suspected, the vintage dress I was ogling in Burda's August edition preview does not come with the magazine. It is a premium download. I might buy it after all, except that seam allowances are not included in these "premium" patterns. Please explain to me why I would want to pay € 3,99 for a pattern, only to have to print it on my own paper, with my own ink, and then cut the pieces out, tape them together, and THEN retrace them, adding the requisite 5/8 inch to all the seams. That said, this is how I went about my spring jacket. I am that dedicated to the craft. Sometimes.

ETA: I just looked at Burda's download page again, and it seems that the pattern is free with subscription. In Germany. I subscribe in the U.S. It appears that this makes me ineligible for the extra pattern. I feel some letter writing coming on.

August Burda Preview

Exciting News! I just checked Burda's German homepage, and they have a full preview of August's magazine up! I've noticed lately that the German page has newer content than the English version, so I make sure to check it out when I get restless for sewing news. The most intriguing feature in next month's edition is this vintage dress:


Could Burda be receiving my telepathic requests for vintage pattern goodness? As a pattern company with a long history, surely Burda has pretty awesome archive of vintage patterns. I don't want to get my hopes too high for this pattern, as I've seen some features offered specifically in the German edition of the mag. Fingers crossed until my copy arrives in the mail!

Other lovelies that are definitely arriving in the August edition:

This adorable cape

And...this gorgeous blouse!

My only gripe about this issue is that Paris is used as one of the main fashion stories. I believe that Burda used Paris as inspiration for a story just last November, so this isn't exactly the freshest idea. There are other fashionable cities in Europe (and the world, for that matter!) How about featuring a different one for a change?

Weekend Project Progress

I was really busy this weekend! My list of current projects keeps getting longer, though I haven't been finishing much. This past weekend I cut out:

1. Jacket from Burda 5/2006
   
   
2. Strapless swimsuit
   
   
3. Top 118 from Burda 2/2009
   
4. Franzi vest from Burdastyle

I don't have pics yet for the last two, but I will soon-promise! For the jacket I am using a silk/cotton blend from fabricmart fabrics, and a great vintage button that I found at Exquisite Fabrics. For the strapless swimsuit I'm using poly/spandex jersey from fabric.com. The photo on the left is Norma Kamali's Walter MIO suit, which inspired this creation. If you haven't seen it yet, you should definitely check out http://normakamalicollection.com.

I've also been combing through my stash to identify possible projects. There is so much fabric that I really love, but am not sure how to use. My sewing space is quite small (about 5ftx7ft, including sewing machine, ironing board and storage) so it can get a bit chaotic when i bring out too many projects at once.

Yesterday I found this post by Katharine, in which she mentioned how she deals her small workspace. I know I need to be better organized, but of course I'm not sure where to start! How do you keep your sewing space tidy? If you have any suggestions I would love to hear from you.

Now I'm off to find some fabric to go with this:

But more about upcoming projects later! Good luck on all your current projects and fabric hunting :)

Inspiring Summer Projects

I've found quite a few lovely projects this week and last. If you're looking for summer sewing inspiration, be sure to check these out:

From Casey: Shorts Story

From Anna: Mociun Knock-off

From Cidell: BWOF 6-2009-107


From Sigrid: Top for my Daughter

Casey and Anna's creations have inspired me to try my hand at some more pattern drafting. I'm in love with the idea of having creative control over an entire project, from the conception of an idea, to the design of the pattern, and the final hand stitched hem. Often I am too timid to make the leap of faith and trust myself to do this. This is where Burda's patterns are so wonderful; They let me create trendier pieces without spending as much time working my measurements into a pattern. Cidell and Sigrid's gorgeous posts remind me that I need to take another look at Burda's June issue. These are both examples of garments that I might have been a bit wary to try if I hadn't seen other attempts first. Thank you to Casey, Anna, Cidell and Sigrid for the inspirations! I'm ready for a weekend of sewing now!

Burda Spring Jacket

Technical drawing from burdamode.com

I took a few photos of recent projects over the weekend, and have finally gotten the chance to post them. The pattern was a breeze to follow, since most of the seams are straight. The toughest part for me was the pocket construction--setting those babies in took me a couple weeks! I really like the vintage-y feel of this one, and the large snaps keep the front placket unfettered by over decorative buttons. While I love every kind of button, they just don't work well everywhere. The cotton/rayon jacquard was sourced from Emma One Sock and the cotton butterfly-print lining came from fabric.com. I didn't use the recommended silk fabric because I wanted this to be a good everyday jacket, and I don't like to dry clean clothes frequently. The pattern is available as a download from Burda.

There are more project updates to come, a tunic and a button-up beach top, both from Burda WOF patterns. I will post them as soon as I get the chance!

July Burda Excitement

Last month I finally treated myself once more to a Burda World of Fashion subscription. Although I have subscribed to the magazine in the past, $80 a year became too much as I made the transition from high school to college, and then college to life in the "real world". This spring, however, I really have gotten back into sewing in a major way, and have thus been chasing down back issues from February and March. After ordering the original German version of the March issue from Burda Direct and trying to figure out how I would pay the publisher using my non-existent German bank account, I decided it was high time I reinstated my subscription. (One other justification I gave myself was that even if I only like 4 of the 12 issues each year, procurring them as back issues at $15 a pop adds up very quickly.)

Well, all that drama aside, I peeked at the Burda web site last night and was very excited to see that Burda WOF already has their July preview slideshow online! [Please be forewarned: There are spoilers in this post.] It seems like I just received my June issue in the mail, though I am of course very excited to see hints of the next issue. I do admittedly feel as though I have indulgently cast aside that last issue. The fashion stories were lovely, and they did inspire me. The problem is that they inspired me to purchase more fabric over anything else! After flipping through some of the photos of next month's Burda I think that some of those patterns will be more conducive to stash busting.

I definitely have some cotton/lycra poplin that may work well for this one:

Dress from upcoming Burda WOF July 2009

And I'm not sure what fabric I would use for this skirt, but it would be lovely made up in a cheerful color (think lemon yellow or a vivid green) with some vintage buttons. This is definitely going on the project list!

Skirt from upcoming Burda WOF July 2009

Aside from my giddy joy at the prospect of new patterns, I thought that I would share one of my recently completed projects:

This was one of the patterns that made me purchase the August 2008 issue of Burda WOF. The feminine details of the peplum, puff sleeves and rounded yoke really appealed to me. Although the fashion story featured the top in a silk charmeuse, I thought that a crisp cotton would do just as well (and be MUCH more affordable!). Once I found this lovely piece of sapphire cotton sateen at Gstreet on the discount table, I just had to make it. It is also very satisfying to me when I can pull these projects off for such a reasonable price:

2 yards of blue fabric =$5.94
2 cards of tiny shank buttons =$1.60

In total, the blouse materials cost only $7.54 !

Here is the technical drawing of the blouse, which shows all the little details more clearly then my photos:

Burda Blouse 103 08/2008

Introductions

Hello, world! My name is Megan and I am an avid seamstress and knitter. I created Hanging by a Thread so that I have a place to share my thoughts on sewing, knitting and other pearls of wisdom. I have been sewing for about 14 years, and knitting for five. While sewing is my first true passion, I find knitting to be a great stress-reducing activity. My first sewing projects included dresses for my dolls and historical costumes for myself. These days I make many of my own clothes, drawing inspiration from Anthropologie, Burda World of Fashion, Japanese pattern books, and designers like Anna Sui and Norma Kamali.

You can find me on craftster, burdastyle, and ravelry--my handle is littleweasel. I really enjoy participating in these online communities, and have recently enjoyed reading individual sewing and crafting blogs even more, and so I thought I would give this a shot. Here I hope to be able to share not only photos and and descriptions of my creations, but the inspirations behind them. I also have plans to share some patterns on burdastyle, so stay tuned!

In the meantime, you should definitely check out some interesting posts from these crafty blogs:

Blue Sky sewing, from Melissa Fehr (of nytimes fame) -shows off her new super cheery top

Stashaholism Confessional, from The Slapdash Sewist -detailing her latest fabric purchases and plans for sewing projects.

Hom Spun, from Anna Allen -she shares some inspiration from one of her most recent Japanese pattern book acquisitions

Whew-time for me to get sewing! Hopefully this weekend I'll have a chance to take some photos of my most recent projects to share with you.