Completed projects in February

I already posted about my quickie mixer cover. I finished a couple other projects in February (no pics as of yet):

Burda-t-neck: a lovely person on PR recently sent me a tracing of that uber-popular BurdaStyle cut-on turtleneck from 2010 when I couldn’t find it available anywhere. Quick mini-review: I knew the traced size (44/46) would be too small at the hip and probably in the arms too, so I morphed it with a Knipmode plus knit top. I made it out of a small black & white houndstooth print jersey, and it turned out pretty well: comfy and cozy. It could use a few small fitting tweaks next time, but for now I’m putting it away until I start sewing for cool weather again.

LMB/TF skirt: I picked up a one yard remnant of a gray and black paisley ponte from Joann’s recently, and I wanted to make a quick skirt. I decided to try a basic skirt from the Taglie Forte I bought recently, which would also let me check out the LMB sizing and fit. It went together quickly and fits well, although I suspect a pencil silhouette would probably be more flattering on me than the slight a-line. Comfy, though; I’ve already worn it. It’s gotta be one of the quickest buy fabric to finished garment projects I’ve ever had, that’s for sure.

I’m not sure what I’ll be working on for March. I want to start working on spring things, and I seem to have more fun if I don’t make an elaborate plan beforehand. I also need to decide whether I’m going to do the Indygo Junction challenge (probably not given the due date is in two weeks), or make a quilt or a garment for the county fair this year.

Comparing pattern magazines and sizing

I haven’t bought a Knipmode since sometime last year, although according to Melissa the quality is improving again. Mostly I stopped because I realized how many I’d bought, compared to how few patterns I’d actually made out of it. What with Google Translate and all, you’d think the language barrier wouldn’t be that big of a deal, but when it came down to picking my next project I would often wimp out and choose something with English directions.

Well, I succumbed again – not to Knipmode but to a couple of other European pattern magazines. I came across a German site setting plus Patrones and La Mia Bloutique, so I bought two issues – Patrones Talles Grandes No. 8, a ‘best of’ collection of plus patterns, and La Mia Boutique Taglie Forti from fall 2011. The Patrones is not as up to date although it has some great clothes including several coats; the Taglie Forti is a nicely current collection but more casual overall (totally fine with me since I have a casual lifestyle).

Currently I’m having fun peering at the size charts and making comparisons. I knew that both Patrones and LMB ran smaller than Burda – I once bought a regular Patrones and quickly realized that there’s no way I’d fit in any regular sizes, whereas I’m right at the misses/plus break in Burda and Knipmode. Turns out LMB is even smaller, and the proportions are also different. Quick recap: Burda and Ottobre are very similar, except Ottobre assumes a slightly shorter torso, with a 24 cm difference (~9 1/2”) between waist and hip. Both assume a slight pear-shaped figure, with the hip being 6 cm (~2 1/2”) larger than the bust in each size. Knipmode is drafted for a taller figure, and a more hourglass figure – the waist measurements are the same between all three brands, but for Knipmode the bust and hip will be bigger for the same waist. Again, the hip is 6 cm bigger than the bust, but the difference between waist and bust is bigger, 28 cm (~11”).
OK, back to Patrones & LMB: Patrones misses and plus sizes are very different – the regular sizes have 28 cm between waist and hip, whereas the plus sizes only have 18 cm (7”). In the plus sizes, the bust size is only 4 cm (1 1/2”) less than the hip. So Patrones plus is definitely drafted for a rectangular, straight up and down figure. A Patrones 50 is between a Burda 48 and a 50, though obviously the waist is bigger. LMB retains its hourglass shape – all the way up the size range. Like Knipmode, there’s a 28 cm difference between waist and bust. The difference between bust and hip ranges from 4 cm to 6 cm depending on the size. An LMB 50 is equivalent to between a Burda 46 and 48, with an even smaller waist.

Has anyone made anything from either of these mags, and how has the sizing been for you?