As a subscriber to the original German-based BurdaStyle magazine I thought it would be useful to those perhaps contemplating subscribing to the new edition that I offer my personal review of the first issue.
If you are not a current subscriber to the German-based magazine, or are unfamiliar with it, you will be quite pleased with what the new U.S. edition has to offer. It is considerable. In the simplest of terms, it is primarily a sewing magazine done with a fashion spin, albeit a rather European spin. The magazine targets anyone who sews, but especially the garment sewer.
Layouts and fashion news are on the order of In-Style, though considerably less in depth or comprehensive which is to be expected from what really is a sewing magazine. As a sewing magazine it offers lots of sewing tips and advise on products and techniques similar to whats offered by many other sewing magazines, but with a clear focus on garment sewing.
The U.S. edition's principle objectives is without a doubt to promote Burda patterns and the many services the BurdaStyle.com website has to offer, which is extensive and growing. I'm talking about the many new teaching vehicles that are now available to the sewing community from the site. They include sewing webinars, (for which I am among one of the many presenters) sewing how-to videos, sewing kits and sew-alongs with BurdaStyle books and classes on the horizon. All great learn-to-sew vehicles geared to the new as well as, experienced garment sewer - for a cost, of course.
What differentiates this magazine from most other sewing magazines are the pattern inserts that come with each issue. Over 40 fashion items are featured throughout the magazine in beautiful fashion-magazine-like settings. Tucked into the center of each issue are 20 full sized patterns that can be traced or cut-out to make the garments featured throughout the magazine. Detailed instruction for constructing each garment are also included.
What distinguishes the U.S. edition from it German counterpart is that all the patterns are now printed in English versus German (plus other European languages) and with American versus metric measurements. A huge plus and the main reason for anyone wanting to subscribe to the magazine.
The magazine is now also a vehicle to promote Ms. Wild's sewing school in NYC called The Sewing Studio and her online sewing/lifestyle magazine www.LoveSewing.com.
Both are now part of the BurdaStyle family though it is not quite clear where that collaboration is headed.
All in all it's a good looking magazine packed with great information and lots of patterns. But, if you are like me, a current subscriber to the German-based edition, you will need to decide when the time is right to transition to the U.S. edition. The reason for this is that all of the patterns contained in the U.S. edition are from past issues of the German magazine with some as far back as a year ago.
Like me, you probably already have all of the patterns in the U.S. edition and much, but certainly not all of the information throughout the magazine is either available on the website or has appeared in previous issues of the German publication.
The real advantage for subscribing to the U.S. edition is the price. A one-year subscription that will include six issues is only $14.99. A great price given the German magazine costs $25 per quarter!
If you are new to the magazine, its a good one, so now is the time to subscribe. If you are a current subscriber to the German publication, you might want to wait a while.
The magazine is published by F+W Media. Here is the link to subscribe to the new U.S. edition:
http://bit.ly/1etmoel
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