As I’m sure you’ve noticed, I’ve hit a sort of rocky patch in my relationship with BurdaMag in the last few months. My subscription ran out and I’ve been sort of holding off on re-subscribing until I see an issue with stuff I really want to make. I don’t think there’s anywhere local where I can pick up single issues so a subscription with its not unsubstantial price tag and 12-month commitment is really the only option if I want my Burdas. (Well, that and purchasing the odd back issue off of German eBay which I do from time to time.)
And then I discovered the cheater way to Burdify. As it turns out, once the month’s new Burda issue hits the newsstands (typically around the 20th of the prior month), Burda makes all the patterns from the previous month available online for download for 3 Euros 99 cents (and usually one free one, I think. Go get it!) At first I stupidly thought you could get ALL the patterns from the issue for that price (kind of makes sense because that’s slightly less than the price of an issue in Germany but they’re saving on printing and shipping costs and you don’t get any of the articles or photos or anything), but it’s actually per pattern. Duh.
If you think about it (especially if you are an American and your currency is weak weak weak right now), this is not exactly a great deal – about $5.40 per pattern, roughly half the cost of a full issue of Burda at Barnes and Noble. But if you’re in my situation and there have really only been one or two patterns you’ve been interested in making in the past five or six issues, and a subscription is your only viable alternative, it’s actually a pretty reasonable choice from an economic standpoint. (Plus I’ve got a European bank account and somehow paying Euros for it makes me feel like it costs less than it $5.40, even though that’s really not true. Ah, the little games we play with our money.)
So I like this pattern from the February issue:
And I was kind of curious to try out the new download service, so after a few days of waffling, I took the plunge and bought the pattern. You receive the pattern itself as a pdf after you purchase, and there’s a pdf of the instructions available online as well that you can download:
That’s just a snippet of it there, but as you can see the pattern and instructions include all of the variations of that pattern (even though when you purchase, it looks like you’re just purchasing one variation) and the instructions are exactly what you would get in the magazine (do I hear a collective groan?) You do have to tape all the sheets of paper together, which I know a lot of people hate doing, but it’s no more work than tracing the pieces off of the pattern sheet which is what you have to do anyway if you buy an issue of Burda.
So, there’s the cheater way to get your Burda magazine patterns without a subscription and without access to a store that sells the issues. I have to say, it’s awfully convenient, and now that cute strapless dress from the March issue is getting awfully tempting. But it’s not without its downsides too. For one thing, like I said the patterns are perhaps a bit on the pricey side for something you have to print and tape together yourself, and they’re really not worth it if you think you’ll actually make more than one pattern from the issue. Plus, although the downloadable patterns (unlike the ones in the magazine) are laid out such that the pieces are not overlapping, thus eliminating the need to trace them, they don’t include seam allowance. (Sigh. I wish Burda would just get on the seam allowance bandwagon already. Are you listening to me, Burda Easy Fashion?) I prefer to have seam allowance on my patterns, rather than add it on the fabric so there’s more work there. (Seriously Burda, if you’re just selling pdfs and don’t have to worry about getting them to fit on your big piece of newsprint, why not just give me the seam allowances? People who don’t want them can cut them off!) Oh, another potential drawback for some- I think the instructions are only available in German and the downloads are only available on the German site so you have to be able to navigate an online purchase in German. Details, details.
But the biggest drawback to this I think is that I really love having back issues of my BurdaMags. I often buy them even when there’s only one pattern in them that I like, but later find other things I want to make from them, or just enjoy flipping through them over and over until they are dog-eared and slipping out of their covers. And while their snippets on sewing and technique may not be as useful as say, Threads, there are often little useful tidbits that I discover after the fact. And when you buy the downloadable pattern, that’s all you get- the pattern. No discovery, no bedtime reading, no added value two years later.
But then again, maybe my library of sewing magazine back issues doesn’t need to be fed any further :D
No, that’s not all of them. Not by a long shot. Anyway, I know that I’ll eventually resubscribe, maybe after the summer issues (I’ve always been a bigger fan of their autumn stuff than their summer gear), but during this Burda dry spell, this seems to be a nice option for me to get my Burda fix without the commitment and superfluous blah issues.
How about you? Anyone else Burdifying the cheater way? Thinking about it?
49 comments
Comments feed for this article
March 2, 2010 at 10:38 am
Karin
Nope, I’m not thinking about it. I am not as strong as you are: I have a subscription and will not end it. Just can’t. Really. Just as you said: the flipping through the mags in bed, over and over again, the finding of patterns in old magazines that never seemed tempting, but suddenly HAVE to be made, the feeling when I know the magazine will fall into my mailbox and then the moment when I sit down with a cup of tea and some chocolade and start looking through the new issue… I just can’t part with that. Was it mean to describe this? As in… telling how much I love a certain drink to a recovering alcoholic?
(I won’t start talking about my other subscriptions then *blush*)
March 2, 2010 at 11:01 am
mamafitz
why don’t you just buy a single issue online when you see one with patterns you like? i know i’ve done that in the past (no where i can buy single issues locally. supposedly one of the barnes and noble stores here gets them, but i’ve never seen them).
March 2, 2010 at 11:02 am
Norma
The dollar is actually strengthening versus the Euro, as well as the Pound. So, now is actually a good time to renew (I just did).
March 2, 2010 at 11:21 am
AnaJan
I can buy Burda mags in every kiosk over here, so there’s no need for subscription. However, I’ve been collecting Burda mags for more than 5 years, and my patterns stash is getting crowdy. Considering that my craftmanship has really evolved during the past 2 years, and that now I can practically alter the basic patterns in order to draft a specific look (it kind of gives me more satisfaction now than tracing an existing pattern), I’m thinking of stopping buying new patterns for a while. I’m not sure if I’d make it without new Burdas (I’m an addict!), so I’ve been postponing my abstinence for few months now…
March 2, 2010 at 11:22 am
The Cupcake Goddess
I like you have not found that any of them have been worth buying. Nearly not even worth looking at. Ha. Thankfully, Fashionista Fabrics sells Burda Mags by the issue for a whopping $9. That’s pretty good I think. So jealous that you can read German. So jealous. Not jealous enough to get off my lazy derriere and actually learn it though.
March 2, 2010 at 11:32 am
Bron
Living in Germany I haven´t bothered to subscribe, I just buy the ones that catch my fancy – usually the autumn editions. If you ever want one sent over, I might be persuaded to be unselfish…
March 2, 2010 at 11:46 am
Elaray
Hmmmmm, downloading Burdas. Interesting option. I don’t think I’m ready for that big a change. In addition to the actual patterns, I like the fashion magazine aspect of Burda Style and Burda Plus Fashion. I only use about half of the Burda Magazines I own, but I can’t imagine not having them.
March 2, 2010 at 12:08 pm
Kate
Re: seam allowances. I saw this the other day: http://fivegreenacres.wordpress.com/2010/02/16/tools-of-the-trade-add-a-seam-allowance/
March 2, 2010 at 12:25 pm
Jenny
When I first found them, I bought them every month (I live in Germany), but now I do check and see if there’s something I’ll actually make and just buy one every few months. Not sure what I’ll do when I move back to the States. I really don’t want to pay that subscription fee to make 3 or 4 patterns a year.
March 2, 2010 at 12:47 pm
D
I just got a subscription to Burda recently – I did the math, and even if I only make two patterns per month, it pretty much pays for the magazine – I live in NYC and there is no where that I know of to go to buy patterns in a store. Seriously, no where. (unless someone knows of a secret place in the city that I’m unaware of)
You can find super fancy fabrics, and every trim under the sun, but there is nary a Joann’s nor Hancock’s in sight. If I was one of those weird people with a driver’s license and a car, and then I guess I could drive out to long island….
I was in Mississippi to visit family over Christmas, and the chicks at Joann’s thought I’d lost my mind – Simplicity patterns were 99 cents. So I bought 15 of them. Vogue (including vintage) were only $3.99…I bought 8….
Having the Burda subscription keeps me stocked with patterns, without having to pay shipping fees (or plane fares!)
March 2, 2010 at 12:50 pm
selfishseamstress
Ooh, I know this one, I know this one! Paron’s in NYC has Burda by the single issue. So does Around the World, at least some of the time. But yeah, I have no idea where you’d go in NY to get the Big 4.
March 2, 2010 at 2:10 pm
Mikhaela
Paron’s isn’t the only place that sells Burda–Universal News on 29 West 35th Street has it for $9 per issue, that’s usually where I get it when the patterns strike me. I think Paron’s charges $12/issue.
But speaking of Paron’s–they also have Butterick and Kwik Sew envelope patterns. And maybe some others, too.
But if you want to buy all the big 4 patterns, just go to Chinatown–P&S Fabrics has the full stock of them in cabinets, though not for Jo-Ann’s prices–I think they’re mostly full price.
March 2, 2010 at 2:11 pm
Mikhaela
P.S. Quite a few other newsstands around the Garment District sell Burda–I swear I’ve seen it in three or four places, I know there was one on 37th Street…
March 2, 2010 at 1:02 pm
beangirl
Hey! Who you calling a weak currency? Huh? You talkin’ to me?
Er. I have nothing else to add, I was just in a weird Taxi Driver mood. No wait, I do: I still get my subscription, but I made the rather selfish and clever move to convince someone to give it to me as a present. So I don’t actually pay for it myself. If it wasn’t free, I’m not sure I’d bother.
March 2, 2010 at 1:29 pm
Nancy K
While I agree that the last few months of Burda have been a major disappointment, I for one, don’t read German, and like Ellaray I like the fashion magazine aspect of them. Though sadly, that too is lacking lately. Who wants to be a cowgirl, anyway? The other thing is that I do often end up making something from an older issue. So, no I don’t think that I’ll be letting my subscription go. Single issues are available at Fashionista Fabrics btw and probably there are others around.
March 2, 2010 at 1:42 pm
Jessica H.
When I don’t have a subscription, I usually buy individual issues at Vogue Fabrics in Evanston, IL – or at the Chicago-Main Newsstand that’s right around the corner. It cracks me up that probably the only two places in Chicago (or nearby) to carry Burda magazine are right around the corner from each other.
March 2, 2010 at 1:54 pm
selfishseamstress
In Chicago, the Borders near the Water Tower (right next to the Ghiradelli shop) also carries Burda issues. The trick to it is that they’re with the fashion magazines (e.g. Vogue and Cosmo) and NOT with the crafting/needlework magazines. As far as I know, none of the other B&N or Borders in Chicago carry it.
March 2, 2010 at 1:43 pm
vicki
I am sticking to my sub for now. And I like the no seam allowance thing. Much better for fitting. Any anyway, I don’t want to cut them off. (just in case Burda is reading…)
March 2, 2010 at 1:59 pm
Anonymous
hi I live in a small village and I just discoverd in our library the possibilitie to take home the burda mag and the knipmode mag.I may trace the patterns and bring them back.A good solution althoug i have just take a subscripton on knipmode.You have the option for a 3 month,6 month or a year subscription.I also like to read back issues and always finding new ideas.In my burda mag feb. 2010 is also an advertisment for a three month subscription for burda.I live in holland so I do not know if you can
subscribe living in germany but here is the emailaddres: burda@a-bode.eu
greeting and good luck sylvia
March 2, 2010 at 2:15 pm
Dora
Ooh, thanks for the tip! I wasn’t aware that the magazine patterns were available online. The price is not ideal, but if I find a cute dress I’ll go for it… I actually really prefer printing & taping pages together to tracing — my computer-geek mind is uncomfortable with imprecise hand-traced lines.
March 2, 2010 at 2:32 pm
Genesis
There is a news stand in Evanston that sells Burda issues. They get them around the 22nd of each month. I am going to let my sub lapse and just get issues I can’t live without from Evanston.
I have also noticed that foreign money seems like Monopoly money, and gets spent just as fast! Is it the colors?
March 2, 2010 at 2:34 pm
Reethi
Atleast in Toronto – the newstand price is the same as the subscription price (Canada Post is really expensive or something, who knows?), so I just buy individual issues. (I haven’t made anything in the last few issues, but I still can’t resist buying. Besides, I too read them in bed, and there’s loads of other clutter I can/will toss out before the sewing magazines have to go.)
April 15, 2010 at 12:47 pm
duckie
Where do you buy the individual issues in Toronto? I’ve been searching and have had no luck!
March 2, 2010 at 2:37 pm
Jana
Our library has back issues of Burda, complete with patterns. You can borrow everything and take it home. All patterns are free this way… But, you have to return it, quite soon… at first I thought I won´t buy any new Burda, but it´s nice to have it at home, I guess, sometimes. I´m looking forward to the may issue.
March 2, 2010 at 3:40 pm
Tenshi
Living in Germany, where they sell it basically everywhere you get magazines, I must admit that when I first saw the download option I was … mildly astonished to say the least, because I thought it was just so totally without a point. A single pattern + printing & taping (hate that) for 3,99€ or a whole mag full of them for 4,50€?? Come on guys?
Now I see there might be a point if they make the magazine less available… sounds like a clever idea. Either you subscribe, or you just won’t get the magazine, so you have to pay the horrendous price for downloads. Clever, Burda, clever.
Anyways… no. I still have a subscription running and when it runs out, I’ll just buy the issues I like – which haven’t been to terribly many in the past months. But I wouldn’t use the download option. The price per pattern is just too high comapred to the magazine.
March 2, 2010 at 3:44 pm
Sue
Patterns are hideously expensive in Australia (Vogue can cost $26) and buying Burda magazines at the newsagents also frightfully expensive, so I subscribe direct to Burda. I may not make items from every issue but still feel it is worth my while. The Burdas seem to also fit me soooo well so I do favour them.
I probably wouldn’t download as I don’t read German and even bad burda intructions are better to me than no instructions!
March 2, 2010 at 4:40 pm
6thofdecember
The download idea is great – especially as they include the Burda Plus issues which I normally have to buy overseas! I like to make dresses for my sister which doesn’t count as selfless because she likes to buy me jewelry; that’s enlightened self-interest, right? Thanks for cluing us into the downloads. And I agree, once the fun and cute January issue came and went, I was less than over-joyed with what followed. Maybe the May dress issue will redeem Burda 2010.
March 2, 2010 at 4:47 pm
arnysews
I love that we now have this option from Burda and talked about it in my post http://leftbrainstitcher.blogspot.com/2010/02/burda-plus-magazine-springsummer-2010.html (shameless plug!)
As Sue mentioned above, we don’t have the good pattern sales here in Australia and paying $5 or $6 for a pattern is cheap for us.
I don’t mind taping together the pattern either. I use inexpensive A4 writing pad paper which is more opaque than standard copy papy and can glue the pages together quite quickly without needing to fold back or trim off the margins.
Oh and in true selfish style – if you ever feel the need to lighten the heavy load all those back issues of Patrones must be placing on you, my email address is….
March 2, 2010 at 5:02 pm
Len
I’ve had much the same thought – though I have much less experience with Burda Mag than you do (I have that February issue with that pattern, can’t wait to make it when I have access to an overlocker once more!). My sewing teacher brought this month’s mag into our lesson last week and nothing really caught my eye… though at the same time for me it’s the whole ‘omfg it’s in German this is also German practice HOW AWESOME’, which kind of makes me want to buy them!
Burdastyle profile tells me that you live in Aachen… have you tried the Hauptbahnhof’s magazine shop? The one in Dortmund sells Burda mag… failing that, I think Mayerische might sell them too if there’s one in Aachen :)
March 2, 2010 at 5:03 pm
allisonC
I’m still picking up issues each month from my local store, but I am bored to bits by them and like you have been for a good 6 months now. They are on probation!
March 2, 2010 at 7:02 pm
K-Line
I am so with you on the seam allowance! I haven’t ordered Burda, but I have bought a few bra patterns from Germany and nary a seam allowance to be found. It’s fine for bras – I mean the tracing is minimal and you don’t want to cut one size in the even that you want to make bras for others / your own size changes – but with complicated patterns, it’s a pain.
March 2, 2010 at 8:19 pm
Elle
Great tip which I might just try. Though checking to see if my library has them… another great idea. Haven’t found them anywhere in Atlanta. B&N does NOT have them. Downloading them in German could be a challenge, but I think I could muddle through.
March 2, 2010 at 9:25 pm
LynnR
I now prefer La Mia Boutique magazines over Burda. Like you, I haven’t found anything much I’ve wanted to sew from Burda in ages. LMB, on the other hand…! Each issue so far I’ve found several patterns I must sew. Yes, LMB is in Italian only, and no, I have no Italian whatsoever. But then, I speak English & German, and can’t understand Burda instructions in either language, lol!
March 3, 2010 at 5:48 am
Marie-Christine
I’ve never had a subscription because I’ve always had access to single issues, and they’ve always had those dry periods. But thanks for the individual patterns tips, I’m sure it’ll come in handy for everyone at some point.
Stop complaining about the seam allowances though – the lack of them is the main reason I’m hardly ever touching an enveloppe Burda any more and do only the magazine. Fitting is much easier without seam allowances! Much more precise. What you really need to do is trace without a seam allowance, cut your paper there or close, and use a rotary cutter with guide arm to cut the fabric in one swoop, with precise seam allowance included, without having to mark anything.
It’s really stupid of Burda to cave in to US seam allowance demands without explaining this, but I think they were trying to foist their stupid marking stuff on people, which is expensive and tiresome. If it’s any consolation you’re not the worst I know, a friend victim of one of those wannabe haute-couture holdouts was -basting- seam lines over all her clothes no matter how simple. Sigh.
March 3, 2010 at 8:03 am
selfishseamstress
Hehehe :) That is indeed a HUGE consolation. I was really really worried for a moment that I might actually be “the worst you know” :D
As for the seam allowances, I realize there are benefits to not having them, but at the same time, I think there are benefits to not having them as well. It’s easy enough to subtract the 15mm for measuring and they have never caused any fitting problems for me personally, so I like having them on there. Plus I haven’t got space for a cutting surface so a rotary cutter isn’t an option for me at the moment. Yep, I cut all my fabric on my carpeted living room floor. Sigh.
March 5, 2010 at 3:27 am
Marie-Christine
Oh, sorry, must have been asleep at the wheel :-). You’re of course the worst.
I cut kneeling on the floor for decades, while I still had functional knees. Works perfectly well. But you can still have a cutting mat, which you keep vertical behind a door when not in use, and a rotary cutter, and cut properly while kneeling on the floor. Really a huge improvement in precision…
March 3, 2010 at 9:05 am
Laura M.
I have seen the issues in Chicago at Vogue (call first though, this was a while back and they said they run out fast of each issue) as well as at City Newstand in Evanston… I think it’s on the same street as Vogue, just to the east, around the train tracks. Again, maybe call/look them up first, it was a while back. Burda is not listed on their website right now, but they may still have it. To get there I just took Clark straight North and it turns into the street that I think this palce is on. It’s by the firehouse and the train station, if I remember correctly. Anyhow. Good luck. :)
March 3, 2010 at 10:21 am
selfishseamstress
Thanks for this! I *have* found Burda in Chicago (at the newsstand you mentioned, as well as in the Borders near the Water Tower on Michigan Ave). Unfortunately I don’t live there anymore :( But all you other Chi-town residents take note and go get your Burdas!
March 3, 2010 at 11:39 am
Rachel
I have seriously been thinking about stopping my subscription because of these terrible last issues. Thank you for that info. Do you know if pattern 106 from 11-2007 is available for download? I did a search but I am not sure if I typed in correct search parameters. The website is in german and I don’t speak german. I really want that pattern and have been stalking ebay for the mag, but I am not coming up with anything.
March 3, 2010 at 1:04 pm
selfishseamstress
The downloadable patterns from the magazine start with the 12.2009 issue. Sorry! If you can do without English instructions and don’t mind some hefty shipping costs, you can probably find the issue on German ebay if you keep looking. Pretty much any issue from the last couple of years will pop up within the span of a couple of weeks. I’m bummed because I had that one but I can’t find it and there was a bunch of stuff I wanted to make from it.
March 3, 2010 at 9:53 pm
Yummy
I’ve been a subscriber for couple of years now and am thinking of letting my subscription run out. Not many items of late have caught my eye – actually I like the plus size fashions but I’m not a plus size and don’t know how to scale patterns down so I just keep wishing they would include these same styles in smaller sizes as well.
I also wish they would include some (just one or two) trousers with lower waists. All these belly button and higher waisted pants are the pits. After only two years I’ve also noticed repetition of patterns. My other peeve is that many photos don’t really show off the clothes, come on this is a magazine about clothes, show me a couple of views. The one off purchases are appealing, I don’t mind taping together sheets of paper.
I have a couple of issues of Ottobre and find their styles more casual, more to my liking but that magazine only publishes a couple times a year (for women). I’d like to get my hands on a Patrones but they are so awfully expensive on ebay. Don’t know where they sell them in Canada.
March 4, 2010 at 8:04 am
Penelope
Dear selfish seamstress,
you do realize that if you create a simple free account in the english Burda site
http://www.burdafashion.com/en/Downloads/Free/1333669-1413206.html
you will be able to download the free patterns with english instructions? I suppose you may have done that already, but I thought I’d say it anyway.
I’m a burda girl and a selfish seamstress myself. Besides, in Europe no major american pattern brands exist. I’ve only seen them on line. Burda costs 5 euros, the patterns fron the catalogue 6,40, and the special issues 5,20. That’s not much really.
Having said that, here is my haiku
I buy burda every month
from the shop around the corner.
Eat your heart out!
March 5, 2010 at 1:07 pm
Anonymous
If the May dress issue sucks, I’m going to let me subscription lapse. They are really in a creative dry spell right now. Plus I have way too many patterns anyway. Also you live in Chicago, so you have lots of places to buy Burda. Since I moved, my only option is to subscribe unfortunately. I miss being able to pick and choose which issues I want.
But I so have to disagree about SAs. I dislike them so much. I like to be able to decide the SA I want to use. IE 3/8″ for knit, or 1/2″ as a general guideline, or 1/4 for facings. 5/8″ SA everywhere literally drives me crazy. I’m so use to tracing patterns, it’s super quick to just grab my plastic ruler and .7mm mech pencil and add them. So it doesn’t feel like any extra time.
As for downloading, I have not jumped on that bandwagon yet. Maybe for something small like a tee or a handbag, but for a coat or a dress, I think I would lose my mind in all that paper. And I trace all my patterns, a habit I can’t break, so I would have to trace it, too. To me downloading seems like a lot of time, lol.
And you live in Chicago, you have lots of places to buy Burda. Since I left my only option is to subscribe unfortunately. I miss being able to pick and choose which issues I want.
March 5, 2010 at 1:07 pm
Anonymous
Oops, I didn’t edit that right, but I’m sure you get what I was trying to say :)
March 6, 2010 at 7:39 am
Grace L
I may regret unselfishly giving away my new source if they start selling out, but I just found fashonistafabrics.com, which has Burda by the issue for $9 plus shipping. I just placed my order for the march issue, so I can’t say anything about reliability or speed of shipping just yet.
January 20, 2013 at 4:11 am
opshopqueen
I just bought a large box of old Burda magazines with patterns dated from 1998 to 2007 for $2 from a charity shop. Many of the patterns are still fashionable I can see why dressmakers wouldn’t want to let go of their old mags. I’ve got a couple of projects in mind already. Love your blog.
March 22, 2014 at 5:10 pm
Charmaine Clancy
I’m in Australia, and borrow the mags from the library. You can just trace or photocopy the patterns/instructions.
November 2, 2015 at 1:11 pm
Anonymous
I don’t understand why you want the seam allowances to be a part of the pattern itself — sometimes (often) you want to use a different seam allowance in different parts of the piece; dealing with built-in seam allowances would be a headache!
January 14, 2016 at 8:48 am
cherishcastle
I am very interested in back issues of burdastyle. could you be able to help me?