Oh, Ottobre

I subscribe to Ottobre Design, a fashion sewing magazine from Finland, and love their patterns/styles. (There is also a children's edition.) A few times a year a super cute envelope arrives with artwork that I love and a glossy magazine full of pictures of real people modeling stylish, wearable clothes.


I categorize the garments as stylish basics, with garments ranging from outwear to dresses to leggings. Maternity is covered from time to time, it's worth noting, and the designs cover a range of ages. Stapled inside the magazine is a set of pattern pages, over-sized and printed on heavy paper, with sizes and patterns overlaying each other, like this:

The job of the sewer is to trace the required pattern pieces in the proper size.
Really.
Click and take a closer look:

I know.
And don't forget to add seam allowances.

It is worth the eyestrain, however. The magazine stores well, and is a bargain considering the number of styles contained in each issue and the range of sizes. I buy a roll of paper like this, in tracing weight, and find it is still heavy enough to withstand fitting, storing, and multiple use. Good lighting, pencils, markers, rulers, and patience are the other requirements.

I took these photos while cutting this pattern,

and what you see are the directions in their entirety. A beginning sewer would, I think, be at a disadvantage without more instruction. As someone with more experience, I do like the fact that there are methods I haven't encountered in a Big Four* pattern. I made the top just as shown, with two pockets, in a black knit and loved it so much that I redrafted it immediately into a longer tunic to wear with leggings, and made it right away.

Writing this post reminded me to pay for my latest issue, which was 15.90 euros, a little less than $24.

*Vogue, Simplicity, Butterick, McCalls