Ottobre Woman Trench from 5/2007

Ottobre Woman was a favorite pattern source and I miss them. Maybe they'll come back some day. Here is a version of their short trench coat that was number 20 in the 5/2007 issue.

I've made this before, ten years ago in fact! The idea was to replicate the trench coat Miss Fisher wears in the TV mystery series. It was one of my most fun sewing projects ever, doing the detective work of uncovering the original's details in closeups, sleuthing out an appropriate pattern, sourcing the right fabric and all. Unfortunately, although I love the look of a duster, I hardly ever wore my trench and eventually repurposed the fabric for something else. The original write-up can be read on this blog's old location here: Miss Fisher Coat.

This coat came about because I ordered the cotton/linen canvas to copy a bomber jacket seen in a store window. When the fabric came, it was very nice but heavier than anticipated and would have made a bulky bomber. It seemed like a longer coat would be the answer, and the Ottobre pattern the way I had simplified it would work. I had eliminated all the straps and made the pattern single breasted. 

A little flat-pattern measuring insured that my old tracing would still fit. The coat is underlined with bemberg, the same stuff that used to be sold under the name Ambiance. I used the old line/underline technique learned from Shannon Gifford back in the day, so the inside is all clean finished. I have used that technique so much! It makes lining seem like less of a chore. Seams all edge stitched and topstitched so they look like flat fells.

The edges of the facings and hem were bound using a rayon tape. Doing a narrow fold on the edges would have been too bulky, not to mention difficult with heavy ravelly canvas. Horn buttons came from Wawak.

Unlike my previous version of this pattern, I anticipate wearing this one a lot. It is surprisingly warm and will fit over a sweater, just right for most of the cooler days. Where I live, it sometimes gets really cold, but most of the time this coat will be the perfect weight.

Looking at these photos I can see that the bottom button is pulling. That doesn't seem so obvious in real life but I bet a longer shank on that button will give it a bit more play and solve the problem. Easy fix.

Another jacket is nearly finished and will probably be completed in 2025. I do love jackets! 

About Town, again

When I made my first About Town (Pattern Emporium), I was so happy I wanted to make another right away. The fit was really nice for me, and it's the kind of pattern you can make again and again with all kinds of variations. The first one can be seen here and was made in an oxford cloth that wasn't exactly crisp, but had some body.

This one is made from a double cloth that is soft and cuddly, almost like a double gauze. It has fine indigo and eggshell stripes on one side, and solid indigo on the other. This time I used the facing option rather than the center seam.

Some other design changes: 

• omitted the cuffs, 
• cut the collar narrower just a bit - I think by 3/8" 
• added a back yoke, burrito-style, with the stripes going horizontally
• added a narrow band to the single pocket, also using the horizontal stripes 

showing the underside of the fabric

It seemed a bit of a shame not to utilize the double sided nature of this fabric more, but I didn't want a choppy look. I did take care with the facing so that the inside is all solid. It peeks out a bit around the neck opening. I also used the solid for the undercollar. I forgot to mention in the previous post that there is a separate pattern piece for the undercollar, which is a nice touch and really helps the undercollar to remain hidden when you turn it.

contrast band on pocket

back yoke

pledge of allegiance pose

The lined jacket I mentioned before is underway, a trench-like pattern from Ottobre. Transitional weather is here and this jacket will be perfect for layering, so I'm hoping to finish soon.

Burda Magazine Options

 The regular monthly Burda Style magazine has become a little too expensive for me, and I decided to let it go when my subscription expired. I think that I will still get December’s issue, but that is the last one. It was a sad decision, because the magazine is fun to get, and because I probably sew more Burda than any other pattern company (we’ll see when it’s time for the year-end tally).

But there’s hope! Data Media Publications/Roltek sent me a list of all the German language magazines they carry, and both Burda Style Easy and Best of Burda Curvy are inexpensive enough to be contenders. (Updated this post - you can also contact Data Media Publications and request a 3 month trial subscription to the flagship magazine, another option.)

Some notes: both of these publications are in German only, but that might not be such a big deal as Burda has much better step by step illustrations than they used to, in addition to video tutorials on Youtube. They use European sizing. The patterns are printed on large newsprint sheets stapled into the center of the magazine and are nested so that you can blend from one size to another when tracing them off. Patterns do not include seam allowances.

 I did a little research to see which magazine might be best for me. The sizing difference isn't an issue because I generally use sizes 44-48 and am confident about scaling patterns up and down. Let the comparison begin. 

BURDA STYLE EASY

First impressions, looking at some YouTube flip throughs and internet images, is that this magazine is aimed at youthful beginners. I have nothing against simple patterns and routinely strip my Burda makes of frippery, so the “easy” aspect is definitely not a negative. However, the models look more like girls than women, and I saw a lot of halter tops and slip dresses - unstructured stuff that I would never make. Here are a couple of overviews. (The Easy magazines don’t seem to have all the line drawings shown together, but do have the “styles at a glance” spread.)

The Easy magazine is issued every other month, so 6 per year. Sizing seems to range from 34 (bust 31-1/2") to 44 (bust 39-1/4").  I didn't do extensive research, but it doesn't look like larger sizes are ever included.

There are 5 basic patterns in this issue, each with three variations.  Potentially the elastic-waist pants (without the ruffle) and the boxy white T, but there's nothing that moves beyond a "maybe".

Again, 5 basic patterns with variations. I'd use the sweatshirt, the coat/jacket (the ones in tan), and the shirt. I can't tell much about the dress without a line drawing.

BEST OF BURDA CURVY

Burda Curvy magazines are issued only twice a year. They also usually feature patterns without all the exaggerated details and random hardware that often appears in the flagship magazine. Sizing ranges from 44 (bust 39-1/4") to 52 (bust 45-3/4"), and sometimes up to 60 (52" bust).

From this issue, I'd make the shirt, the sleeveless top, the elastic waist pants, sleeveless dress, and folkloric-looking raglan sleeve top.

And from this one, the sweatshirt, drawstring pants, quilted vest, and tunic/dress at lower right.

Scoring: looking at just these two issues from each magazine, looks like I'd be likely to use 3 from the Easy mag and 9 from Plus.  OK, Plus wins and I will place my subscription order forthwith.

 If you've read this far, you must be somewhat interested in pattern magazines. I've toyed with the idea of doing a little how-to series for people who aren't sure how to use them. If you'd be interested in reading something like that, please drop a comment saying so.

About Town - Pattern Emporium

It's not often that a new pattern release gets made at Casa Unzipped, but I happened to watch the Pattern Emporium video for their new About Town and was sold. The video cleverly shows how versatile the pattern is by styling it with a selection of other patterns in their line, and it went with so many other types of garments that I could see it fitting into my wardrobe really well. It was on introductory sale at the time and that didn't hurt, either.

Now that I'm aware of Pattern Emporium and have looked at some of their other videos, I see that showing their new releases paired up in different ways is typical for them. That just seems so smart, a great way to sell patterns. It worked on me, anyway, and I'm glad it did because I'm really happy with my results.

About Town is a boxy popover top with sleeve and length variations. It has a collar and the option of a two-piece front, with a seam down the middle, or front facing with no seam. It has a deep hem, and the short or long sleeves have a clean-finished cuff with optional decorative tab and button. It can also be made dress length. It seems to have been thoughtfully designed to give satisfying results.

The instructions are written for ultra-beginners. Every little step is photographed and described. This was frustrating for me because when I did want to check their recommended method for certain steps, I had to hunt through pages and pages to find the information I wanted. Their instructions for the collar are stellar; following them worked beautifully.

There are also extensive extensive instructions on picking your size. Working through them was tedious, but again, I'm happy with the fit. There are different fronts depending on your bust measurement (darted and undarted) and different heights. Although I could have gone with the undarted front, I chose to have the dart because I knew I'd look sloppy without it. 

Alterations for me - lowered the dart about 3/4" and lengthened the body about an inch (using the tall cutting lines would have been too long). I cut a 14 at the shoulder and blended all the way out to a 22 at the hemline. The sleeves needed to be widened 3/4" at the bicep.

I used the split-front option and two breast pockets because I wanted to do aaall the edgestitching and topstitching on my cotton chambray. I used a matching thread and right now the topstitching doesn't show much, but I think as the piece gets repeated washings the space between the two lines of stitching will bubble up slightly so there will be a little dimensionality going on.

cuff outside

cuff inside

It's a sharp-looking little top and I immediately made some pleated pants in lightweight black twill to go with it (pattern from Burda mag). The shortest length looks great with pants and skirts that have a little volume - that was one of my takeaways from the video.

It's easy and quick to make, so I'm working on another one right now as a palette cleanser after the laborious fit-as-you-go process I took with the pants. I really needed something easy and satisfying before starting the lined jacket that is next up. The only change to this next top is raising the neck opening a little.

It's great to have found a new pattern company and have more options. My Burda subscription came up for renewal and even though I really enjoy getting the magazine and Burda drafting, it's expensive, and I let it go. For the price of the annual subscription I can easily buy more single patterns as I can sew in a year, and there are always Burda envelope patterns. 

It's time to end these reflections and go feed the dogs! (or so they tell me)

Burda Plus shirtdress from 2006

This dress is from the Spring 2006 Burda Special issue, which was a plus-size magazine. I made it once before, way back when it first came out, and remembered liking its easy yet tailored fit. The bodice with vertical darts attaches to a skirt with four sections for a hint of fit and flare. Most of the other dresses I've made lately all have gathered skirts, so this was a nice change.

Only a small style change was needed. I sew a lot from Burda magazines, but almost always end up "dumbing down" their designs to suit my classic tastes. Many of their styles seem extreme to me with details that are just plain crazy. But they have solid drafting and I enjoy getting the magazines, so I stay alert for designs that have good bones. This dress features an absolutely huge collar stand and would probably look lovely on someone with a long graceful neck. I reduced the width of the stand by an inch and it is still oversized, but within my tolerance. I also opted to leave off the collar.

Line drawing to show the style

Tracing a pattern that doesn't have seam allowances makes it easy to alter while you trace. In this case I did shoulder alterations - 3/8" forward shoulder and 1/2" narrow shoulder. Some flat pattern measuring indicated that I would need a much larger size for the skirt than the bodice. That skirt has an A-line shape, but it's a narrow A. To fit the larger skirt to the bodice, I added darts that would line up with the darts on top.

It's not actually floor length. The dress form is a lot shorter than I am.

The fabric is a linen tencel blend that is woven like a lightweight denim. Because of that, and because I just felt like doing some slow sewing with extra nice finishing, I decided to do flat felled seams and have clean finishing throughout.

collar topstitching

Interfacing came from my scrap pile. I've never had much success when I've tried to repurpose old makes that didn't get worn much or that I outgrew, so they go into a pile.  I really prefer sew-in interfacings and have bemoaned how hard it is to find them. Duh! I've got a great big pile of interfacing, every weight imaginable. A compatible piece of linen was just right.

Sleeve and skirt hem finished with a double row of topstitching.
It doesn't show well in the photo but with a bit of washing
and wearing, it should become more pronounced.

Everything was going beautifully until it was time to sew the side seams on the skirt. I did a pin basting and tried it on...and wished that it had more ease. Unfortunately, that was the end of my dream of completely finished seams, because I was going to have to sew them at a mere quarter inch to get an extra 2" of ease all around. (Glad that I had allowed 5/8") After stitching, serging the seam allowances together, pressing to one side  and then edgestitching, I'm confident that they are strong enough to wear well.

This dress will be good for fall and winter wear, with its longer sleeves and long midi length that will hide the tops of my knee high compression socks! Thumbs up.

A Second Jacket From Burda 02.2024 #114

This is a pattern for a jeans-type jacket. All the skinny panels involved in that style, especially when it has two-piece sleeves, make it a good candidate for using up scraps from another project. That's what happened here. I first made this pattern last year - here's the post. It fit really well and I always intended to make it again.

For this version, I eliminated the pockets, cuffs, and bottom band; and included the collar from view #113 in the same Burda issue.

The seams are all flat felled (except the armhole) and topstitched with a double strand of thread to make it stand out against the striped fabric.

That fabric is a black and white stripe cotton that was described as a "suiting". It reminded me quite a bit of a pin cord, but not quite as supple. This had a lot of crispness and body. That helped to keep the flat fell seams nice and straight, but easing the sleeves was a real chore! Now that it's complete, I hope it softens up a bit with washing. It might even get a coke soak to see if that will help.

I was just able to eke out the pieces left over from making a pair of pants. The under collar was cut from a scrap from yet another project, and I had to piece the back. The martingale insert in the center back panel helps make the piecing look intentional.

The inside is pretty because of the flat felled seams. I think I used every foot in my arsenal to keep my stitching straight. The bias binding on the armhole and around the hem is from the same scrap as the under collar. It's a pale grey, not white.

Finished it off with fancy metal buttons that came in a button grab bag from Califabrics. I had tons to choose from but liked these the best.

This project just dragged on and on and seemed like a lot of effort for leftover fabric! But it's a nice lightweight jacket that fits in with my liking for neutral colors. I've known for a long time that it's best for me to stick to grey, taupe / natural, black, white, and shades of indigo; but when fabric shopping, I often got sucked into pretty colors and prints. The trouble is, I hardly ever wear those pretty colors and prints. I don't feel like myself in them. I feel best in neutrals that have some textural interest to them, and really need to spend my money and time on fabrics that suit me. "Pretty" is fun to shop for and fun to sew, but I sew mostly to have things that fit and that I feel good about wearing.

The grey plaid dress in the background of the first two photos was my palate-cleanser project after this jacket was finally finished and I'll blog it soon.

Bye Bye Big 4?

 The discussions I’ve seen about the recent sale of the legacy sewing pattern brands to a liquidator mostly seem to focus on them not keeping up with modern methods and preferences - meaning their late adoption of pdf files and lack of projector patterns. I do think it’s characteristic of our times that customers more than ever expect their individual preferences to be catered to, but I’m happy to go along doing things the way I’ve always done them, so what do I know?

My own preference has been for the pattern magazines. I really like getting Burda or Ottobre in the mail (snail mail!) and having a little fashion magazine with 20-30 patterns included. Browsing them is fun, and not much storage space is needed for the magazine format. After the magazines, my choice has been Style Arc, but that is because of their styles, not because I heart pdfs. And then there are a few other indies that I will try if I like the style  

So, along with the rest of the crowd,  I’ve been buying way fewer of the big 4 than I used to. Last year I think I bought 6 patterns, and whether they were Simplicity, Butterick, McCall’s, or Vogue, is anyone’s guess. Except for Vogue, the difference between the brands seemed negligible. 

When I heard the big 4 might be going away, I would have loved to have a last catalog browse for old time’s sake. But Jo Ann’s is already gone. So I headed to Half Price Books, where they usually have a bookcase of patterns to look at.

And look what I found for $15! It’s even in my size. I can’t wait to make it.

I hope that the pattern companies find a way to continue on and wish I had some advice that would save them. They’ve given me much, much enjoyment as well as a special bond with my grandmother. If they must die, I’m glad to have had one last thrill of anticipation and exciting possibilities looking at patterns.

But I really hope that they won’t be gone for good.