Burda Style For people who sew

Hey Everyone,

We just found out about this great contest from Heather Ross, author of Weekend Sewing and STC Craft

They’ve put together free pattern and easy gift idea. They’re giving you the pattern for the Gardening Gloves from Weekend Sewing as a free download, and they’re also giving you some really cool, creative ideas about how to present them to a friend. For the pattern and the rest of the details (which include some of Heather’s adorable illustrations), click here.

To sweeten the deal, they are also giving away three STC Craft books! To enter to win, join them on Twitter (@stc_craft), answer the question—“What are you currently crafting or looking forward to starting?”—and tag your tweet #STCcraft. Then, on Friday, July 31, 2009, at noon EST, they will choose three winners at random from the eligible entries and contact them via Twitter.

Good luck!

“Green” sewing has become increasingly more popular thanks to books such as Betz White’s Sewing Green. A number of sewing websites have also popped up on the internet as well, including Pamoyo. Not only do they blog about “Green Fashion”, but they also have a section devoted to…. Patterns! Just like BurdaStyle, these are open source designs! Unfortunately, there’s only one available at the moment, but here’s hoping there will be more in coming months!

Hi Everyone,

The Official BurdaStyle Sewing Club (BSC) Leadership Packet is ready, and have been sent out to all listed leaders!

Have you received yours?

It contains everything you need to start and maintain a successful club, including:

I was born in the wrong decade. I should have been around in the late 40s and early 50s. Between my broad shoulders, bust, hips and general aesthetic (see above), that’s when I fit in. But, alas, I am around now and though I love the majority of today’s fashions, they are made for the complete opposite body type. Walk through the streets of New York, look at the satorialist, or flip through the fashion magazines you will see somewhat waifish girls (small hips, small bust, small shoulders) rocking the latest fashions and trends. I long to wear many of these trends, but I also know that with my particular body type and height (I’m 5’ 11”) that they A) wouldn’t fit, and B) if I were to wear something that had no waist definition or certain kinds of empire waists I would look like

There are days, when you really don’t feel like working. Either, the sun and the sky are too bright to sit inside; or you are newly in love and you cannot think about anything but whoever you are in love with; or you are reading a book that you simply cannot put away… I am hooked on Balzac and the little Chinese seamstress written by Dai Sijie. It is definitely not a new book having been published in 2000, and maybe a lot of you have read it already, but for those of you who haven’t, it really is exceptional in its sensitivity and wit.

Let me just take you to the beginning of the story: it takes us to Communist China, and two city boys who have hardly finished primary school, are being sent to the Mountains of Phoenix under the re-education programme of Mao’s cultural revolution. They arrive at a village so remote that a violin and an alarm clock that the two boys bring along are novelties for the farmers. And so the book opens with the arrival of the two boys and the peasants’ discovery of the violin. It is beyond the villagers’ imagination that this could be a musical instrument, so the narrator has to prove it to them. What is he going to play? – A Mozart sonata. But what on earth is a Mozart sonata? And, isn’t Mozart, like so many other Western artists and writers banned in Communist China? The two boys quickly rename the classical piece into something more politically correct: “Mozart is thinking of Chairman Mao” to the delight of the peasants.

The encounter between the farmers and the two city boys is setting the scene for what follows. But the real story starts when the two meet the little seamstress. Daughter of the tailor who is revered almost like a king in the mountain villages, she sits at home sewing on her sewing machine from Shanghai. She may not be able to read but there is something refined about her that attracts the attention of the two boys. She is different than the rest of the people in the villages….. and this is where the story really begins. I close here to return to my book and hopefully leave you enticed to read it yourself.

The images above are photographs of a few of fashion’s extremely influential women. Beneath each photo are a few examples of how these iconic women’s styles have seeped into modern fashion consciousness. These women are certainly not your typical role models- they stood out for their idiosyncratic fashion style and legendary eccentricities; one paraded around Venice with a pair of leashed cheetahs while wearing live snakes as jewellery, one single-handedly pioneered the modern woman’s new look, one became a muse to some of the 20th century’s most distinguished writers and artists, including Wyndham Lewis, Aldous Huxley, Tristan Tzara, Ezra Pound, and Louis Aragon.

Do you know who they are? Whose fashion sense do you admire? Who (or what) is your muse?

1. Where are you from and/or where do you live?

I am from Germany and live in Cologne where I am studying, but I’d like to get to know some other places and countries and hope I’ll get the chance to study abroad for one year.

2. What was the 1st thing you made? How did you start sewing?

My mum used to make a lot of clothes herself when I was a child and she has continued making costumes for carnival for me. I told her what I wanted and she told me what was possible. After that we went shopping for a pattern and some fabric and I always got a costume I liked better than the other people’s. So my mum must be one reason why I got interested in sewing. She also helps me when there is a problem I can’t solve myself.
I guess the first thing I ever made was a small and very simple teddy we made in class at school; I must have been about 6 or 7 years old. The next things I made I am conscious about were some bags. I couldn’t find the ones I wanted in a shop, so I got some fabric and tried to make some myself. After that I wanted to try something more challenging and ended up making my hippo skirt. For some reason I didn’t make anything for a while after having finished that project. I really got started when someone told me about this website. Since then I haven’t been able to stop sewing and my mum has not seen her sewing machine again…

Mike Nichols’s The Graduate is a true cinema classic. I have always loved this movie, but now it has special significance for me because as of June 6th, I, too, am a graduate! I know I’m just graduating from high school, but I can relate to the scrutiny and pressure Dustin Hoffman’s character feels at the beginning of the movie. All the big questions start coming up in conversation (especially with adults) – What are your career plans? Anyone special in your life? How are you going to set yourself apart from “the competition”? Yeesh!

Well, at least I can answer that last question! All the grads had to wear these huge green gowns that made us all look the same, but I came up with ways to spiff up my look and stand out. I wore a really cool gem necklace plus sparkly flower-gem earrings and a green gem ring. My mom gave me a pearl bracelet that my grandmother had given to her for her graduation. And under all of this, I wore a tie dress my sister made on Jane’s Sew & So.

Chanel rummaged through thrift stores and found a bunch of beautiful men’s silk ties. She unfolded the ties and sewed them together to make the base of the dress and the straps. The top of the dress is a gorgeous red silk remnant. As my mom says, “Stop shopping and start sewing” – the whole dress cost about 8 bucks to make. And, while graduation was a sea of green, I alone was wearing a secret explosion of color underneath the whole time.

After we all threw our caps in the air, I unzipped my gown and was instantly ready to party. I added green sparkles to my hair and the silver shoes I wore to prom then hit all the grad parties. I got tons of compliments on my dress. People said they’d had seen tie vests and skirts but a tie dress was a really original idea. Oh, and remember the Simon and Garfunkel tune, “The Sounds of Silence?” from The Graduate?

. Check out this music video I made using the same song. It won a bunch of student film awards – yep, that’s my career plan!

I want some of my pieces to look like watercolors. One of my favorite things to do is draw and watercolor. I also like to cut out pieces of different colored paper and make collages (like the flowers pictured in the collage; top right). Recently I have been planning my first print to go into production, a task that is as daunting as it is glorious. I love a very hand-drawn look so I am trying to find a balance between color separation & blended tones…I often muse over how people relate to artwork when it is printed onto fabric. As much as I am obsessed with prints, Erdem! Lacriox! please take a bow, it is tricky to gauge what people will be drawn to from season to season, like florals, Aztec zig-zags and geometric designs which have recently taken over the runways. I have used many prints in the past; Liberty of London and rare surplus vintage gems, but this is my first time printing yardage. When I ask boys about wearing a print they seem a bit unsure- for the Dahl & Dane collection we are going to keep the boy’s prints pretty subtle, like a vague glimpse of texture. But ladies! Tell me, what do you think about prints and how far do you go?

This past weekend’s Bags for the People/Etsy/303Grand event went wonderfully! Participants were very creative and resourceful whether they knew how to sew or learned at the event. There was an abundance of bags made that were given out on Sunday at the Rooftop Farms market and will be given out at the Union Square Farmers Market. Check out photos from the event here and here. Thank you to everyone who helped organize and attended this event. For more information check out Bags for the People

With pattern companies already releasing fall styles, it means that it’s time to start planning for a new wardrobe. Before you start sewing your next project for autumn, be sure to check out Pantone’s Fall Color Forecast which will help keep your new designs fashionable for the season. What’s hot for Fall\Winter 2009? Soft, muted colors such as cream, gray, and light reds will dominate the season leaving the jewel tones of seasons past out in the cold. After checking Pantone’s report, be sure to check out this article by the Textile Digest which not only covers color trends, but prints as well.

The amazing Clara Parkes of Knitter’s Review and STC Craft are teaming up for a very special giveaway to celebrate the release of Weekend Knitting in paperback and the beauty of taking time off to knit and learn new knitting skills with friends.

Clara has been hosting an annual knitter’s retreat every fall for the last eight years, and this year’s gathering, which will take place November 20, 2009-November 22, 2009, in Williamstown, Massachusetts.
Now, here’s the exciting part. STC Craft has one retreat package to give away. That means that one lucky winner will have his or her retreat expenses covered: to be specific, the cost of all classes and activities, two nights’ lodging in a private room, all meals from Friday dinner through Sunday breakfast, snacks and beverages throughout the weekend, plus all taxes and gratuities, will be covered. In addition, the winner will receive a copy of the new Weekend Knitting paperback in a gift basket in his or her room. The cost of transportation to/from the event is NOT covered.

To enter or for more information, go to Melanie Falick Books.

With 12 members and growing, the BSC of Melbourne, Australia is certainly a sewing super-group from Down Under!

Led by the talented and fabulous Nikkishell, this BSC is sure to have an inspiring and creative time at each meeting. For there next one, they plan to host a Sewing Swap, where members can bring in fabric, patterns or fun books to trade with each other. They are also going to dive into the world of fabrics and learn about different types, their histories and the type of fabrics that are best for specific garments. If that isn’t enough, a fun quiz will be given at the end where members can compete for awesome prizes!

The next meeting will be held at July 23rd at 6:30 p.m., and will be hosted at Tessuti, one of Australia’s best fabric stores! Participants are encouraged to bring completed projects to show everyone, a sewing machine (if available), and a desire to have lots of fun! For more information, check out their Ning page.

For comprehensive listing of all the current BSCs, check out our Directory. Interested in starting your own? Send us an e-mail at team[at]burdastyle[dot]com.

Have a great weekend!

- David
BSC Coordinator