Search Results for: knipmode november 2010

KnipMode November 2010

Like the October La Mia Boutique, this issue arrived while I was away on our honeymoon so I’m only just now digesting it (nearly in time for the next issue to arrive any day now).

From the rugged outdoor feature, I really loved this pair of jeans. Mid-leg seams are always so slimming, the ankle zips look great on a tapered leg, and I just love Knip’s trouser details. The only thing I’m not so sure about are those vertical front pockets…

The tech drawing makes this jacket look quite ordinary, but I love it in the pique they’ve used here – it looks simultaneously 60s and current! And the skirt pattern it’s paired with would be a great basic in any fabric.

KnipMode January 2012

I’m totally bored with this issue, so I apologise for going through the motions here. KnipMode have really taken a turn for the dull over the past few months, as far as I’m concerned, and this issue really just highlights what’s wrong with the new leadership at the magazine.

This issue is almost entirely comprised of “mix & match” garments – if you’re familiar with the Simplicity Project Runway patterns, then it’s the same concept here: choose a bodice, choose a collar, choose a sleeve, etc, and put together the garment you prefer. In principle, this is a great thing, and I’ve been enthusiastic when they’ve done this with cocktail dresses and blouses in the past.

The problem here is that every single one of these garments is b-o-r-i-n-g to start with, so choosing between several boring customisation options just doesn’t make it any better. It’s like someone at the top heard the concept was popular with readers, but didn’t actually go so far as to make sure the underlying patterns were desirable before running away with the concept…

Case in point – the jackets. I’m not particularly a jacket person anyway, but I swear KnipMode have already published princess seamed jacket patterns for every single one of these variations in the past six months anyway. And the sleeves – changing the length is NOT a variation, as far as I’m concerned. I mean, why aren’t they changing the sleeve cap to gathered, or making one a wide cape sleeve, or a cap sleeve on one or something?? There’s so much you could be changing here but they’ve just missed the opportunity.

KnipMode November 2011

I currently subscribe to three different sewing pattern magazines: Burda, Manequim, and KnipMode. I don’t post reviews of Burda because so many other blogs do already, and also because Burda are great about publishing all the line drawings in advance, so you probably already know whether you like an issue or not without me harping on at you. All three have reliable delivery schedules, with Manequim appearing in the first week of the month, then KnipMode around the middle, and Burda bringing up the rear at the end of the month, or the beginning of the next. This month I ended up getting KnipMode only a few days before Burda, but I think it was just a combination of Knip being a bit late and Burda being a bit early. What it’s meant for me is that I’ve been a bit overwhelmed with breakfast reading so I’ve only just now been able to properly digest each issue along with my porridge, let alone get out the scanner!

As a total aside, I find it interesting that Manequim is the cheapest year subscription at about £65, then Burda at £70, followed by KnipMode at about £90. All I’m saying is, KnipMode has been alright since their new editor took over, but they better step up to awesome territory again soon if they want to stay in the sewing budget…

The first ten or so pages of this issue are taken up by the wide array of styles you can create with their mix & match coat patterns. They’ve done this in the past with dresses and cocktail dresses but essentially you choose the various sleeves, bodice, collar, etc, and build your custom coat pattern that way.

KnipMode June 2011

I’m a bit slow on reviewing this latest issue of the Dutch pattern magazine, KnipMode, but it’s not a reflection on the content this month! Usually I tend to not find as much to like in summer issues in general, but there’s a lot to love in this one that will work with our English summers. I think it was FehrTrade reader Marie-Christine who once said “You can tell it’s summer in England when the girls switch to wearing white cardigans”! So true!

Mix & match dresses! Like the cocktail ones in November’s issue, you get to choose which bodice, waist, skirt, and sleeves you want and put it together yourself. I really like this idea, but for me, the choices on offer don’t really do much for me, whereas I was really excited about the cocktail dress options…

This plus knit surplice dress really reminds me of the lilac dress I made for my mom. I think these sorts of patterns can be so flattering, too, especially when the skirts are fixed in place to prevent wardrobe malfunctions!

There’s a few great Plus patterns in this issue, actually – I especially like the trousers and cowl top in this wardrobe.

Manequim December 2010

What a wonderful surprise to find this in my postbox just after Christmas – I’d subscribed at the beginning of November, but I wasn’t expecting my first issue until January. This arrived in a strong paper envelope with the magazine inside wrapped again in a clear plastic film, so it was well prepared to stand up with anything the international postal service could throw at it!

With Brazil in the Southern hemisphere, they’re in the height of summer now, so just let your mind wander on this cold, rainy, and dreary winter day and think of summer sunshine in Rio… ahhhhh….

First up is a very versatile bathrobe / dressing gown pattern. I’ve seen the perfect towelling fabric on Goldhawk Road, and my robe is starting to wearing out after a good long life, so I’m keeping this firmly in mind.

Most Manequim patterns are only offered in one size (go up one size from your Burda size), but this black cocktail dress is one of the few that are offered in multiple sizes!

La Mia Boutique November 2010

With KnipMode pulling out all the stops for their fantastic new December issue, would La Mia Boutique rise to the challenge and present an issue full of wonderful, glitzy holiday wear?

Err, sadly, no. But let’s have a look anyway…

This minidress has some interesting pleating going on at the centre front, but it’s a detail I’ve seen countless times in RTW, and one that Burda published patterns for at least two years ago. But it’s still a nice, very wearable look, and hems can always be lengthened.

This knit cowl dress with shoulder yokes would look great in a luxe, drapey fabric like silk jersey…

KnipMode December 2010

If you thought November was a great issue, wait til you see what KnipMode have in store for us this month! In my opinion, this is one of their best issues in months, and it’s resulted in me sewing a dress from it before the month has even started! That’s a new record, even for me!

So let’s take a look inside…

Right from the first page, I knew this would be a good issue, as I turned the page and gasped with joy when I saw this asymmetrical cocktail dress for stretch wovens. I absolutely love the three curved bands that come up and over the hip and are released into full pleats at the skirt. These bands also carry on around the back at the waist level, so you don’t get a plain “coffin back”, either.

You’ve already seen this one since I sewed this over the weekend, but I love love love this shawl collar dress!! The skirt pieces meet in the centre front then come up and around the neck and back down again to form the collar. This is so nice in person, too, just you wait til I can get a photoshoot up!

The Motherload of KnipMode – Part One

About 8 months ago, I got an awesome email from FehrTrade reader Hilde asking if I’d like her mom’s stash of KnipMode magazines from 2005-2007 as she wasn’t really using them much any more and they both thought I’d give them a good home.

Would I??? Omg.

So therein started the logistical planning to transport a rather heavy stack of magazines from The Netherlands over to London… Around this time we thought we’d be driving navigation equipment over to northern Holland in preparation for a neighbour’s North Sea crossing, so we’d make a detour to Hilde’s, but logistics didn’t work out and we weren’t needed for the neighbour’s barge anyway. And then, in a fantastic twist, a few weeks ago Hilde told me her sister lives in London and brought the stash over in her suitcase for me! So I only had to make a 10 minute walk from my office to her sister’s flat (seriously, what luck that she lives so close!) to pick up the magazines and thank her profusely for lugging them in her suitcase.

And for the past fortnight or so I’ve been absolutely pouring over them, picking out my Must Sews, investigating tiny design details, and noticing what changes Knip have made in the past 5 years.

There were too many for me to scan in one session, so here’s my picks from the early half of the stash, with Part Two to follow next week!

KnipMode 11-2005

OMG Lingerie!! I have already got the most perfect fabrics in my stash to make the camisole with the bra cups – the olive green stretch lace I bought in Paris coordinates perfectly with a teeshirt I got free with a magazine but was comically tiny (what percentage of the UK female population has a bust smaller than 27 inches? Seriously.). I think there might be enough to do the cami with a bit of the teeshirt’s sleeves left for a thong gusset. And you know how much I liked the KnipMode lingerie pattern I already had…

KnipMode Spring 10 roundup

The flowers are out, the sun is shining, the geese have started nesting on our barges, and I’ve gone and bought the last few months of KnipMode magazines to see me through…

February 10

KnipMode often do celebrity style features, but this time it’s (squeal with me now—) Michelle Obama style!!

The first jacket/dress combo is a bit matronly for me, but I love the shirtwaister with the pleated hemline, as well as the layered skirt. Though, as NancyK learned with the Oprah celebrity-style dress, when Knip don’t sew up a sample themselves for the magazine, it’s always a good idea to make yourself a muslin first!

Ooh, look at this cute Plus jacket and jeans (yes, Burda, this is what Plus sized women look like. No, we are not afraid nor are we turned off the pattern because of it.)

In fact, this outfit totally reminds me of the jacket + jeans combo I liked in the November 09 issue:

Happy 2018! (My Year in Review)

Happy fresh and new baby year, everyone! I always like to celebrate the first of the year with a look back at the year that’s just completed – this gives me a chance to reflect at the things I’ve accomplished, the garments I’ve made, and challenges conquered. As is traditional, I find myself starting 2018 with lots of great stuff on the horizon but unable to talk about it (this time last year my two big secrets were my Threads article and my book deal, so you’d better believe 2018’s secret project is a good’un!) so you’ll just have to trust me that the outlook for 2018 is rosy indeed!