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European Fashion at Your Fingertips with Burda Pattern Magazineby Valerie Gibson The first time I became aware of the Burda Pattern magazine was back in 1992. I was standing next to a lady in a news agency and glanced over to see her eagerly flicking through the pages of an interesting fashion and sewing magazine. I asked her if she had made many of the patterns included in the magazine and she replied “most of the time”. Occasionally there would be something specific that she couldn’t find in any of her issues and then she would look to buy a regular commercial pattern. I took the plunge and bought my first Burda Magazine and now thirteen years later still get great enjoyment and inspiration from this terrific fashion magazine. See photo 1 – Current Autumn 2009 Burda Pattern Magazine I can’t say that the whole process of tracing the pattern off and then remembering to add seam and hem allowances wasn’t daunting at first, but the more you do it the faster and better you become at it. I found tracing my choice of pattern from the myriad of lines and colors on the sheet could be done two ways. See photo 2 – Pattern Sheet Firstly, with carbon paper placed face down on non-iron Vilene, with the pattern on top and traced off using a tracing wheel. Burda used to make packets of red and blue carbon in large sheets but I have only been able to find yellow and white, which is pretty useless on white Vilene. I therefore bought a packet of paper carbon from the office supplies and stuck three rows of four, with size A4 carbon, onto butcher’s paper, which works very well. The other method I found works well uses a gadget called “Roll-a-Pattern”. It is a rotary marker and is readily available, with refills, from “Punch with Judy” (www.punchwithjudy.com.au). This is a rolling tool filled with ink that allows you to trace, with the Vilene on top of your pattern. This method is a little harder to see and you need a fairly steady hand! See photo 3. The next step is purely personal preference. You can add seam and hem allowances directly to the pattern on the Vilene or cut out the patterns, without seam and hem allowances and use a Burda marking wheel. The marking wheel has chalk on one side and an arm, parallel, that determines the required seam and hem widths, on the other. See photo 3. I ‘tissue fit’ the Vilene, just as I would a commercial tissue pattern, so you need to leave a portion of Vilene on the seams so you can pin it together. The beauty of the Vilene is its very hardy for tissue fitting and won’t tear. The same sizing rule applies, for determining your pattern size in the magazine, as for commercial patterns. Select size, according to your high bust measurement, for tops, jackets and coats and by your hip measurement for pants and skirts. As all the patterns are multi-sized your choice should be well covered. The magazine costs AUS$14.99, and is available monthly. There are between 40 and 50 patterns included in each edition. The sizes range is European, from 36-44 in women’s sizes and a plus sized section from 44-52 and the great thing about this magazine is that the European styling is a season ahead with up to the minute styles from the catwalks of Europe. There is always a craft section and one for children and they give you recommended fabrics’, interfacing (which is the Vilene range) and haberdashery in all the instructions. Although they often recommend wider widths of fabric I simply take my fabric conversion chart with me and convert the meterage into my fabric choice width. The magazine shows every garment sewn and modeled and the way they put together colors, textures, shoes and accessories gives me inspiration for my sewing projects. Each month there is a complete guide to making one of the garments, including pictures, as well as a section called ‘Burda Workshop’, which explains all sorts of sewing problems and gives handy hints. All in all, if you would like a challenge (but one that will definitely make you a better sewer and extend your abilities) then start with one of the easier choices in the magazine and work your way up the skill levels. Each pattern is rated from easy to advanced. I’m sure that once you become hooked, as I have, you will look forward, in eager anticipation, to the next issue of the Burda pattern magazine.
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Val Gibson