Good morning, friends! For the past two weeks, the Curvy Sewing Collective editors have been sharing our pieces from the BurdaStyle Plus Blog Tour. We were asked to each pick a pattern from Burda’s two plus size sewing kits, the Plus Size Essentials Collection and the Best of Burdastyle: Plus Size Collection, make it up as we wanted, then provide an honest and thoughtful review based on our experience. As you know, our editorial board is a diverse group, both in terms of body shape and personal style. We have relatively new sewists and women who have been sewing most of their lives. So, as you would expect, our experiences with these patterns were just as varied! Let’s look at how we did, shall we?
The Jersey Dress — Jenny of Cashmerette
“I really like the design and shape of this dress, which frankly is the all-around most important factor in a pattern for me. It really accentuates my hourglass-ish shape, and I love the neckline. I didn’t use the sleeves (I had to do a little adjusting at the armscye but not much), and as it is, it really reminds me of the Roland Mouret galaxy dress, well known for its flattering qualities. I used black ponte, and then a stretch cotton pique down the middle panels to give a bit of texture, and that worked really well – you could also colour block this pattern very easily.” – Jenny
Though, she ended up loving her dress, Jenny did have some issues with too-large sizing and pattern tracing. She wouldn’t recommend the pattern for a beginner seamstress, as previous dressmaking experience came in handy when navigating the instructions, but it’s still a winning pattern! To see more photos and pattern thoughts, check out Jenny’s blog post! The Jersey Dress is part of the Best of Burdastyle Plus Size Pattern Kit and available in the Interweave store.
The Tunic Dress — Tanya of Mrs. Hughes
“This dress reminds me of a poet blouse and is loose-fitting and super comfy. The fabric I used is Joel Dewberry Bungalow Swallow Study teal rayon challis that I purchased from Fabric.com. It’s lined with a white cotton voile. This pattern is marked “Intermediate”, but I think that a beginner/advanced beginner could definitely sew this up. The instructions are good, although Burda does not hold your hand like Colette Patterns do, so if you’re not familiar with some terms, you may have to look them up.” – Tanya
Tanya’s printed tunic dress turned out beautifully, didn’t it? She made a few adjustments to make it her own, including adding a lining and leaving the sleeves loose, which work wonderfully well with this pattern. Personally, I’m gaga over the fabric she chose and can easily imagine this dress in all sort of gorgeous, printed rayons now. To see more pictures and read further about Tanya’s experience, check out her blog post. The Printed Tunic is available in the Best of Burdastyle Plus Size Pattern Kit and available in the Interweave store.
The Loose Jacket — Laurence of QuirkyPrettyCute
“I wanted to make a very comfortable cardigan/jacket with a woolen jersey. The fabric I picked only stretches one way, and I count on it for the days I may have to pull it closed around the bump. My fabric choice made me decide to slightly shorten the length of the pattern and to go for one size smaller around the shoulders. I also did not grade up for the waist nor hips because the pattern already provided a lot of ease. The result is the most comfy cardi/jacket I ever had ! It is also super warm and will accomodate my body changes. I really like the front flounce and the way you can just wrap yourself into it.” – Laurence
Laurence’s version of the Loose Jacket looks like the perfect comfortable topper for chilly autumn days! She had a great experience putting the pattern together (she even enjoys the taping!) and making it up, though next time around she would use a thinner fabric, to reduce bulk. To see more pictures and read her experience, check out her blog post! The Loose Jacket is part of the BurdaStyle Plus Size Essentials Collection and is available in the Interweave store.
The Faux Wrap Dress – Mary of Idle Fancy
My own dress was a bit of mixed bag, caused by fitting issues and first time tracing woes, but I ended up liking the dress anyhow. The deep V of the faux wrap is a sexier style than I normally wear, but it’s nice to show a bit of skin every now and again! Since posting this dress, I’ve actually separated the bodice and skirt from each other, forming a waist seam and taking out two inches of length through the waist. The result is very cute, indeed. I plan on using this bodice again, with a fuller skirt, for the perfect party dress.
To read more about my experience and check out all the pictures, hop on over to my blog! The Faux Wrap Dress is part of the BurdaStyle Plus Size Essentials Collection and is available in the Interweave store.
The Cape – Sophie-Lee of Two Random Words
“All in all? Well, I kind of like it – I’m thinking of it as my Classy Snuggy. Like, it will be choice to keep me warm in the outdoors, as I’m not constrained by sleeves but can still do stuff with my arms. But in all honesty, if I wasn’t doing this for the CSC, I wouldn’t have finished it!” – Sophie-Lee
Confronted with drafting woes, fabric issues, and a lack of instructions, Sophie-Lee had a an absolute battle with her cape. We’ve all had project like that, haven’t we? I absolutely love the interesting seaming and fit of her finished project, but the actual sewing process sounds much more intense than the other patterns we tried. To read Sophie-Lee’s full, honest review and all the details, check out her blog. The Cape is part of the Best of Burdastyle Plus Size Pattern Kit and available in the Interweave store.
The Draped Dress — Mary of Young, Broke, and Fabulous
“The silhouette is flattering. This dress design had a lot of potential. However, all of that ruching, a “plus size design element” put in place to supposedly hide belly fat or whatever (that’s what I always hear said about ruching on garments) ruins it.” – Mary
After adapting her pattern for a stable knit, Mary forged on sewing this dress, despite a lack of helpful instructions and myriad fitting woes. While the final result is a gorgeous color and looks better in real life than in photos, she definitely wasn’t a fan of her dress. To read all about Mary’s experience and see more pictures, check out her blog post. The Draped Dress is part of the BurdaStyle Plus Size Essentials Collection and is available in the Interweave store.
Conclusion:
All-in-all, our experiences with Burda reinforced the fact that their designs are much more interesting than the usual plus size pattern offerings, but they are also much more of an adventure to sew with! Additionally, I think that, if you’re used to sewing with American patterns like many of us are, the lack of seam allowances takes some getting used to. Personally, I just invested in a double tracing wheel for my next Burda pattern! Have you had any experience with any of these or other Burda patterns, friends? I’d love to hear about other BurdaStyle Plus patterns you’ve tried out. And remember, if you’re interested in either of these pattern kits, which include so much more than what we’ve shown here, check out the Plus Size Essentials Collection and the Best of Burdastyle: Plus Size Collection in the Interweave store. Both kits are currently selling for $24.99 each, which is a steal for that many patterns!
Disclaimer: We were given these patterns free of charge, but the opinions expressed in each review are our own.
Good reviews, I had hoped there would be someone making the blouses & trousers. As I have a pair traced & ready to go, I was wondering how someone else found the fit, etc. I’ve been using Burda magazines almost exclusively for 20 years now, the instructions, lack of seam allowance & having to trace the patterns don’t phase me & generally I find the trousers work really well for me.
All the garments in this post are just awesome. Everyone looks fabulous. I would like to suggest a topic for the collective which I hope isn’t too forward or insensitive; Underwear. For myself, I sometimes put as much thought, effort and expense into what goes under my clothing as the clothing itself.
Hi Francesca – if you’d like to write a post for us on the topic we would welcome it! Get in touch at mail@curvysewingcollective.com
Well done ladies!! I have yet to try any PDF Burda patterns yet. Just to make a point, I have been sewing for over 25 years. Um….. I still need pictures. I am a visual learner who has a learning disability that makes it hard for me to understand very wordy instructions. So one can be a very experienced seamstress and still struggle with different types of patterns/directions. None of these ladies is hating on Burda. Just stating the experiences with their particular Burda projects. Thanks for the reviews!
Whatever happened to the person doing the contrast v neck dress? That is the pattern I was most interested in seeing. I thought the other reviews were very insightful and I appreciate being able to live vicariously through their sewing experiences with these patterns.
Hi LemmingKing,
That person is me! The V neck dress is still in the works, although I encountered some major fitting problems with the bodice on my first two toiles, so it ended up in the corner for UFOs as I pretty much gave up hope. However, I have been working on redrafting with a better fitting FBA so have slightly higher hopes, although I’ve got a rubbish cold at the moment so progress is slow. Bear with me … I am hoping to do an extremely tardy post on this.
Oh yay! 🙂 I’m so glad there will eventually be a review for that one. I’m sorry to hear about the fitting problems. I have my share of strange fitting muslins too and often do the same thing.
Feel better soon, and I hope the redraft is successful! 🙂
I think it’s great that Burda were brave enough to invite you on this journey. Thanks for taking the time to make the clothes and give frank and helpful reviews. I look forward to seeing a culture of responsiveness to customer feedback grow from all sewing pattern suppliers – it is what marks the Indies out as a notch above the big business providers at the moment. Sewing is often challenging, but it should not provide insurmountable obstacles, no matter what size and proportions we are sewing for. I so appreciate all the time each of you put into the Curvy Sewing Collective – it is a valuable and uplifting resource.
I’m not sure they thought they needed courage to start with! We all aim to do honest reviews though so you know what to expect when starting on a pattern.
Oh the lulz!
I’m sewing a BurdaStyle magazine/download pattern from issue 11/2011 now, and while the seam allowance issue is off-putting at first and I had to keep reminding myself that I’d have to add them in, it did make figuring out the fit adjustments a whole lot easier. I’m also a short-torsoed, big-busted/hipped woman. This is my first time using a Burda pattern, and it’s not one of the easiest designs (starburst pleats on bodice and skirt) to guesstimate the fit on. I also added neckline/armscye facings.
Sewing it will be a breeze, though, as I’ve already sewn 1 muslin. I’m not inexperienced when it comes to pattern work and grading, though; in fact, I really like pattern work and I’m good at it. And dress construction, when there’s no odd piecing to deal with, is pretty standard regardless of the pattern brand. I’ll use the instructions as general guidelines, but I’m making assembly changes based on the way I want to finish this dress.
I love the dress style; it’s not one that any of the Big 4 offer. The only real issue I have with the pattern–and I used the download/print at home version–is that when printed as directed and at the correct scale, a few of the pattern sections were out of alignment with their corresponding PDF page alignment marks. That’s frustrating: not knowing whether it’s accurate once assembled because things weren’t aligned correctly in the PDF somehow. But I think I was able to fudge the pattern assembly fine.
Anyway, I think Burda–as with many of the other pattern companies out there–is always going to be hit or miss. And I’m not sure it’s really fair to judge a pattern’s quality without making the necessary fit alterations for your particular figure. Obviously no pattern is going to fit right out of the “envelope” without those fit changes. That said, many sewers do need the visual aids of assembly diagrams to go along with instructions, especially when those instructions are kinda sparse to begin with.
I personally love Burda patterns and have used them for over 20 years now, even when I was a beginner sewist. They have some great details and I don’t find adding seam allowances a chore. Like all patterns, they require a muslin first, although personally I know my standard alterations, do those and then just dive in!!
I think any sewist with some experience would have no issues, primarily it is getting used to sewing with instructions lacking illustrations.
Thanks for the re-cap, there are some promising patterns there
Hey Liz – I’m don’t think it’s accurate to say that “any sewist with some experience would have no issues” – 5 of the 7 of the CSC editors actually had a lot of problems with un-marked pieces, unmatching marks, and absent or incorrect instructions. We all have at least “some” experience – some of us have over a decade in fact – and have made garments many times before.
Hi Liz, like Jenny I’m not sure it’s purely a matter of having “some” experience – the majority of us are intermediate sewers and have made more complicated garments than these. I’m also friends with a couple of very experienced sewers who have had similar problems – incorrectly market pattern pieces, cryptic instructions, etc. In general they are drafted very well and if it’s a straight forward garment the instructions don’t matter (in fact, for most garments I don’t even use them) but when there is something different in the pattern, you need them as a backup.
I’m glad you’ve had good experiences with them, though! Gives me hope for my next Burda pattern which is waiting to be cellotaped together
I have been a subscriber to Burda magazines for over 30 years and love them. I was in my early 20’s,stationed in Italy when I fist discovered Burda and that may be why I have never had a problem using the pattern. My sewing style/pattern use was still in a formative stage. When I returned to the states and shared my magazines with friends who sewed, most were uncomfortable with the tracing from the sheets and the “lack” of instruction. I think, if you keep an open mind, and tape two pencils together to make your seam allowance while tracing, you will enjoy using Burda. I appreciate the honest reviews and find them very helpful. Thanks.
I really enjoyed reading these reviews! I thought they were honest and fair. Plus it’s always fun to see people step outside their comfort zones! Can’t say it made me want to try Burda, but that’s just because of my sewing preferences (fast and easy). When i want a challenge or something new, I’ll give them a go. Maybe. One day.
They do have some fabulous designs! I have a pattern waiting to be taped together and stitched up, which I won’t need the instructions for, so hopefully that goes better for me!
Thank you all for your reviews and all the work involved in making your lovely creations even with all the problems that occurred during the process, I believe that, aside from minor problems, sewing should be fun. Struggling to overcome poor instructions does not qualify. There are so many patterns available that one should be able to find something similar and that would not create the issues that you have come across and I will not be buying Burda. I do appreciate the work you all did.
All Burda magazine and downloads tell you there are no seam allowances. You can’t complain about instructions if you can’t bother reading their information on no seam allowances? Anyway, there are resources all over the Burda website on sewing techniques as well as books available (most people who sew own at least one book) nevermind the other web resources available. Every Burda magazine has a featured pattern with expanded directions. The fact remains–know your sewing ability and choose projects appropriately within your skill level, leave enough time to actually do the project without rushing, if you are a difficult fit, measure your pattern, make a muslin if you can’t tissue fit and be sure to add seam allowances as needed before you cut. It also helps to use the recommended fabric. Pattern Review and Stitcher’s Guild all have advice working with their patterns.
All the Burda patterns that you purchase in the envelopes have seam allowances. I love the recap. Thanks for sharing all the ups and downs! (like real sewing) I have always enjoyed the fashion of Burda, especially when I started sewing almost 30 years ago. I only sewed with Burda. Thank you for the review. I do love the tunic dress!
Wonderful re-cap! I am enjoying reading your blog!
the cape pattern is really a disappointment…it just doesn’t look nice. The fabric is too floppy, the collar looks bad and all in all it looks too big.
I love the loose jacket.
I wish they would have showcased a few separates instead of so many dresses.