Sometimes reading ahead helps you understand what is going on, or it might confuse you even more. It’s a good idea to take note of what each pattern piece is called in the Cutting Out section. I sew through each point until I get stuck. Next I read through each bullet point with my pattern pieces ready to go and start sewing. I usually skim through the whole thing to get an idea of that particular garments construction order and to see if I spot anything weird or out of the ordinary. I’ve been sewing for a while so I know the general construction order of most garments. The seam allowance recommendations and cutting layouts are next followed by the construction “instructions”. Uhh wot? Yeah I know! But here is a colour-coded version of how I analyse it: If only one figure is given, it applies to all sizes.” “Different figures for the different sizes of a pattern are given in the instructions, one after the other, separated by dashes. The secret is in the note at the top of each page, you might have missed it or not really understood what it referred to, The first thing that confuses a lot of new Burda sewists straight up is how Burda list the sizes and fabric allowances. Here is a more complicated example of fabric allowances. Now let’s look at the fabric recommendations: I have broken the entire instructions up into sections to explain some important points.įirst up, the basics: sizing, pattern pieces and where to find your pattern for tracing. Ok, now let’s get right into it with a real example, this is Skirt 121 from February 2012 The difficulty ratings are also important to know. Basically the more dots, the more difficult and involved so choose pattern that suits your experience but also don’t be afraid of a challenge, you might surprise yourself!
#Burda magazine october 2015 full
I’ll be honest, I actually only read this in full the other day myself, before I have just glanced at it – I actually learnt a couple of new things, like a dotted outline in the cutting layout means that pattern piece is placed upside down on the fabric, I must have been pretty lucky so far! We’ll get to the tracing in my next post.
#Burda magazine october 2015 full size
(click on any of the images below to view full size and to read the text clearly)įirst of all you should be familiar with this first page, it is in every issue and outlines some basic sewing symbols and some tracing help.
What I am going to do is help you pull apart the main gist of the instructions and tell you how I get around crazy confusing sentences that seem to have been made up by an ad-lib translation program! I’m not trying to scare you off, just giving fair warning. I can’t help much with a crazy instructions but please don’t be discouraged. If you are used to sewing envelope patterns from the Big 4 or beautifully illustrated independent patterns then you are probably going to be left scratching your head a few times. Burda instructions have a reputation for being hilariously bad – and they deserve it!