Thanks everyone for the nice comments about the leftover skirt! It was a BurdaStyle magazine pattern (although you can also get it from http://www.burdastyle.com/). Recently I’ve been making up a lot of those, despite the chore of tracing the patterns.

And now I have finally subscribed to the magazine. Ever since the Borders chain closed I’ve had trouble getting hold of it in the shops. WH Smiths nominally stocks it but I can usually only find it every other month. They won’t reserve magazines. A subscription (which unlike every other magazine I’ve ever subscribed is slightly more expensive than buying in the shops – how does that work?) was the only answer.

What I like about Burda is the sheer number of patterns you get in each issue. I probably only make up an average of one pattern per issue but you get patterns for things you’d never consider buying an envelope pattern for. For example, the ‘one dot’ jersey dress that’s basically a couple of rectangles and seems to work for everyone. I’ve seen lots of versions around the Internet. Here’s mine:

When I bought the fabric I was shopping with my mother. She was looking for fabric for this style too! I wouldn’t have bothered with an envelope pattern for this on the grounds that it’s such a simple dress I could theoretically draft it myself…except I probably wouldn’t have got round to it.

My November issue arrived last week. There are quite a few things I’d make. And practically all the skirts have pockets! There’s even a tartan dress that’s making me have second thoughts about my current plans for my red and grey tartan fabric.

I’m off to order some more tracing paper.