Burdastyle

You are all familiar with Burdastyle, aren't you?
I've been a member for ages although I'm not as active there as I used to be. And I'm proud to have been a contributor to the first Burdastyle book.

Now, I've actually sewn something using a recent pattern from the site. A first for me!
But there's something else I want to mention first: I'd like to thank everyone who nominated my blog or voted for it... 

My blog is part of Burdastyle's "Best of blogging top 50"! It will be announced on the site later (after some upcoming change) but we are allowed to tell it on our blogs already. 
I'm very happy with this. When you are blogging away, like I do, you have no idea how many people really see and/or like what you do. Not if they don't comment, that is. Blog statistics are all well and good but they don't register appreciation. This does. So thank you very much and I will try to keep up the good work!

Now, on to the garment...

After all the excitement over the top 50, I went and had a good look around all those parts of the Burdastyle website which I don't visit that often (mostly, I just go to the "Projects" pages). And I quite liked this cardigan in the pattern store. And it was really cheap...

Judging from the technical drawing, I guessed this was a really simple shape. Probably one I could draft myself... But on the other hand, I love "object cardigans" and this one has that bulky shape and proper sleeves. At that moment, I didn't really feel like figuring this one out from scratch. Not when I could just go and get the recipe...

So I did. This a 'draft your own' pattern, so you don't have to deal with printing lots of pieces and taping them together. And unlike most tutorials you find online, it comes in two sizes (sort of S/M and M/L). 
There are a few things about this pattern I didn't like: 
- The dimensions for the pieces are without seam allowance. This is the standard in the Burdastyle magazine (at least in European versions, I don't know about the American one) but it doesn't really make sense for such simple pieces which you might draw straight onto the fabric (which I did, adding seam allowance as I went along).
- The drawings for the cutting lay-out and even the listed amount of fabric you need are for fabrics of 110 cm wide. Which, to me, seems like a really unusual width for knits. The vast majority of those are 140 to 150 cm wide, in which case you only need the length of the body piece plus the length of the sleeve (or even just the length of the body. If your fabric is 150 wide and you are cutting the cardigan in the smaller size, you should be able to cut out the sleeve next to the body piece).

- If you make the cardigan as described, the wrong side of the fabric will show at the 'collar' (which is really just the folded-back front edge). The instructions don't really warn about that. I noticed straight away, but a less experienced sewer might not. My fabric doesn't look good on the wrong side so I cut the front edge with about 20 cm extra on it, which I used as a facing. Worked just fine.
Oh, and the sleeves are long. Longer than they have to be. I shortened them just a little because, with the 'object' shape, the length of the sleeve on your arm depends rather heavily on how you wear the cardigan.

The fabric has been in my stash for a while and I thought the stripes would work particularly well with this design.

I was right about that... I really like the look of the back!

To be honest, it's the back I'm happiest with. Apart from the stripes, the shape is really interesting too. I'm less sure about the front. I've never looked great in longer cardigans. This one doesn't look bad at all but I'll really have to think about how to make it work in my wardrobe. 

So, there you have it, my first garment from a Burdastyle pattern in a long time.

Weekly outfit nr.4

If last week's featured outfit was a clear illustration of how I used to dress all the time, this one shows how looks can evolve.

The dress is Burdastyle's Azalea (Ok, the pattern was still free when I made the dress...). I made it in the summer before last and although I like it, it hasn't been worn a lot. The jacket is a blazer in black linen which I made this summer (from my own pattern). I also have a black wool jacket, but for indoor wear on a fairly warm autumn day, this one seemed better.

This may not look that strange or spectacular to you, but it's an unusual look for me insofar that I haven't worn this as an outfit before. I tend to go for more structured dresses and wear my jackets with trousers. However if there's anything I like about my wardrobe, it's the chance to play around and try new things.

Am I paranoid?

Over on Burdastyle, there's a lot of confusion on the upcoming, so far unanounced, merger between Burdastyle and Burdafashion. Like a lot of people, I'm not really happy with that. I've chosen to be active on Burdastyle because I liked the people and notion of having a fairly open platform on which the users have a lot of influence. I have to say Burdastyle has become less likable to me recently, for various reasons, but that aside.

Even though the news has only just been announced on Burdastyle in a post by the forum moderator, there's already a Burda WOF magazine in the shops with 'burdastyle.com' on the cover with the title.

Going through it I got a bit of a shock. The pictures you see with this post are my creations from last winter. I posted these pictures as 'creations' on Burdastyle back then. The technical drawings are from the current issue of Burda WOF.

Now, I know originality is a very difficult concept in fashion and I know the designs are quite classic. I actually based the dress on a Dior W 08 dress which I had seen in a magazine. That dress however, had a very eye catching detail (like a square bow, if that tells you anything) at the front waist, which I didn't add. So Burda's dress, which doesn't have the slanted waist darts of those two, looks more like mine than like the Dior.

I don't know what to make of this. It's very likely that it's all just a coincidence. There are several details which are different. That makes it more likely these patterns aren't copies but it also means that, as rights to fashion design go, I couldn't even claim these designs were mine even if I would be absolutely certain about it.

The sad thing is, I'd be delighted if Burda wanted to use any of my designs. As a struggling starter in design, pattern- and sample making and made to measure, what would be better for me? I wouldn't expect to get a lot of money for it either, just getting my name out would be great already (and if they'd have a job for me, well...;)

I'll stop whining now, I guess it's not worth it. I'm of to make a shirt for my boyfriend!