curse you Burda!

Monday 12 March 2012
Ok, maybe that post title is a little too harsh but we all like to give Burda Style magazine a kick now and again don't we? Anyway a few weeks ago I was reading a new to me blog, ReadyThreadSew, and Julie has set herself a Burda challenge for this year - each month to sew one item from every Burda magazine she owns for that month.  Given that she has issues going back to 2007, that's quite a challenge!

This really resonated with me, because I too have many Burda issues that I've never sewn from (which I'm sure many of us do) and given each issue here in Australia costs about $18 it represents a large amount of money that has never been realised.  But since I have a busy year coming up, I decided to do a 'lite' version of this challenge and sew one item from each newly arrived issue before the next issue comes out. And in the spirit of using what you have, I am going to use stash fabric for whatever I sew for this challenge - no guarantees about not buying any fabric for other projects though!

However I've been foiled before I even started, hence the post title.  Last Tuesday the January issue finally arrived in my letterbox and I had barely flicked through it when on Wednesday the February issue also arrived! But this not being my fault I've decided to forge ahead anyway and try to get two garments made before the March edition arrives (maybe next month?).

However the January issue is a bit of dud issue in my humble opinion, with only one or two patterns I would use and both not suitable to a preggo/post preggo body.  There weren't even any decent children's patterns either because it was filled with bizarre carnival costumes. The February issue has maternity patterns, which would have been more helpful some time ago and not three weeks before I'm due.....

But here are my choices, that I'm putting out there in the hope that I will follow through this time. From the January issue, I'm going to make top #113 which I plan to make in a fuchsia satin that I have in the stash.  I'll make this to my pre-pregnancy measurements with fingers crossed that I'll eventually get back there.  Perhaps I'll make wider seam allowances just in case.

From the February issue, I've decided to make the maternity pants # 125 even though I only have three (or so) weeks to go.  These are simple elastic waist pants which should be quick to make so I should get some wear from them before I pack away my maternity clothes. I think I'll make these from some khaki stretch cotton which I'm pretty sure I also have some stretch knit in the stash in a similar colour for the waistband.

Now I really must get cracking with my sewing, trying to get these two knocked over quickly so I can get back to the long list of 'must sew' items that I also need to do before the baby arrives.  Good thing I'm now on maternity leave, and I haven't got pesky work getting in the way!

And finally a big hello to the lovely Paola who surprised me early on Sunday morning (ok it was 8.30am but that's early for a Sunday) when I was trudging into our local swim centre for Anna's swimming lesson.  She bounded over with too much lots of energy to say hello, and since she sent me some Top Kids sewing magazines a few years ago it was good to meet her in person and say thank you.  So thank you again Paola, it was a lovely surprise and I hope your kids went really well in their swimming races.

11 comments:

  1. Hey - where can I get Burda magazine in Australia? I googled a bit and didn't really see an easy option - I want to get my hands on the March one for the skirt with the front twist on it (see http://allisoncsewinggallery.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/burda-style-032012-128-skirt.html). You seem to get yours delivered - any ideas? Thanks :)

    p.s. I love your blog - you are very skilled and that shows without making me feel like I will never sew that well!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I should be asleep (but I'm obviously not) and I wondered where the sudden spike in hits came from on my blog. Thanks for the mention. It's great you are doing a "Burda lite" challenge. I haven't posted much about my Burda challenge this month, but I went on a fabric shopping spree for March on Saturday and will write about it soon.

    I just did a quick google to see how much $18AU is in £GB and all I can say is ouch!!

    Good luck with your challenge, especially with all the other stuff you'll have going on.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Like the idea of the Burda light challenge, but not sure if I will go there. Interesting you haven't got March Burda yet, mine arrived last week and I am in Sydney as well.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Kirsty, it was very nice to have an unexpected opportunity to say hello. Hope I didn't startle you too much!I've enjoyed reading your blog for a while now and it was great to say thanks in person.
    Good luck with your Burda lite challenge. I gave up my Burda subscription last year because of the slim pickings, and I haven't regretted it yet. Sigh. I do miss it.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Just picked up January from the news agency and agree with your assessment. There is one pattern that I'll try but mostly baggy sacks.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great challenge.. I never sew from mine either...humm... I may get going at least trying out

    ReplyDelete
  7. You are the one who has wayyy to much energy for someone in your "condition"... lol... Good for you, I hope that you can keep up!
    Soo any "feelings" on what you are having? I've been busy sewing and then I totally forgot to mention in my post about all the little "tu-tu's" for new borns that I'm making. A friends got twin granddaughters coming and then my niece had twins too (but she had a girl and a boy). So fun things to sew!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Ok, all this has made me feel so much better about my pristine Burda copies! I seem to be more hoarder than sewist! Maybe my challenge will be just tracing one Burda a month!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I have a good stash of Burdas too and tried this challenge a couple of years ago. Funny, I have had a few wadders with the big 4 lately and was thinking of trying out more Burdas. Maybe I should try the challenge again; one per month should be do-able! And I think I will be using the older Burdas (I started buying them from 1998).
    Ingrid from Adelaide

    ReplyDelete
  10. Jen in Sunny (?!) Melbourne21 August 2013 at 19:34

    I got an ad for something from Burda recently and have been searching for the magazine (August 2013) since then. Some of the newsagencies tell me "we used to get it but we don't anymore", and today one told me that no newsagencies get it anymore, you have to subscribe. At $225 for a year, that's a bit out of my price range sadly. I could buy and download as a PDF the one pattern I liked ($5.40, not sure if that's US or not), but I'd like to see the whole magazine. The library catalogue says they're getting it in, but the due date is two days ago, and it hasn't arrived yet. Nor has the July edition, according to the catalogue online. Makes me wonder if maybe it's just not available in Australia any more?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Jen - I haven't seen a Burda mag in a newsagency for a long time either. If you subscribe directly from Burda from their website it costs about $120, much less than the cost from the Australian subscription companies. My July and August 2013 issues were really really late - they sent a note saying they are changing their systems or something (it was in French) to explain the lateness, so you never know your library might get it's copy soon

      Delete