Burda Insanity

I have started something new.
 
I recently discovered Burda magazine which is a nifty mag from Germany (but has been translated into many languages as well as English) which has lots of neat patterns.  What I like about Burda magazine is that although there are about 50 garments in each magazine to sew many of them use the same patten pieces.  This is neat as it shows how one pattern can really be done in many ways.

Burda does issue a challenge though. See below.

No, not the London Underground map

This is one page of 4. Every pattern is on one of these sheets in different colors, lines, sizes. It is insanity for the eyes.  Apparently in the early 90's the patterns used to be on 8 sheets and were actually readable. Not so much anymore.

I was very happy I picked a very simple pattern for my first try at Burda magazine.  Otherwise I might have gone insane.  The first thing you have to do is find your pattern and trace it onto pattern paper.  This would be fine, but my eyes just could not stay on the correct lines.

After much annoyance and cursing and a very large head-ache I came out with this:

Not to bad.

What I find hilarious about all of this is I have sewn garments from Japanese magazines where all I got was some measurements for the patterns.  Yet that was so much more simple than trying to trace out this Burda gobbledygook.  Even the explanation in the Burda magazine is so much harder to follow than the instructions in Japanese magazines and those were in a completely different language!  So wierd.

Burda magazine is pretty sweet though.  Most of the patterns are quite nice and it is really fun to have so many patterns in one magazine.

Burda is also cool as although there will be around 50 or so different patterns in each magazine many of them are variations on one base pattern.  For example there will be a basic jacket pattern.  The there will be the same pattern but with a different collar, or in a different fabric etc.  So you can really see how one pattern can be made many different ways to make all kinds of different looks.  That is really neat.  Wish there were more magazines like this.  Go Germany!