Why I'm Quitting Burda Style

[@susanstewart1402]

Glad to see that I am not the only one having a breakup! I have a Plus size issue (size 42 to 52) from 2015 that is really good. There were a few good issues in spring/summer 2021 and 2022 but, by and large, Burda hasn't been worth it. Being a 44-46, I am completely disappointed by the decision to drop the Plus size section. Indie patterns are much more successful in terms of fit. The cup sizing is a game changer. Sewing is a pleasure again with cup sizes.

[@lorieburtt592]

It’s interesting that as indie designers, as well as the McCall’s and Simplicity groups are expanding their size ranges to become more size-inclusive, Burda is becoming less so. I’m also a little upset to hear that their “plus size” designs have been oriented toward hiding “flaws.” Again, that thinking is counter to the direction that other designers are taking. As a person who has been different sizes at different times in my life, I think it’s time to start calling all sizes “human.” We are all different, and everyone should have the choice to wear whatever the heck they want to wear without someone deciding that at a certain size it becomes “plus” or “size inclusive.” Human. We are all in the human size range.

[@Hide_and_silk]

I stopped because the patterns became repetitive. I have to do a lot of adjustments to get the fit right...which I don't mind if the design is individual enough to warrant the effort. That's not to say I won't ever buy another Burdastyle magazine...if I see an issue that stands out I'll buy it. I just won't buy all the issues.

[@lyndaschuch8102]

I feel exactly the same way! I to fit into the plus size patterns. I learned to sew with the Burda magazines in 1980. Sadly the Plus or Curvy magazines are not readily available in Australia. I have magazines dating back to the 70’s. The repeated patterns in the new magazines are very disappointing at minimum!

[@superstarcat7654]

I will also be dropping Burda Style when my subscription runs out. I was buying it only for the plus sizes. I also buy the Burda Plus magazine, but it only comes in German or Russian, no longer in English. I have found over the years a lot of repeated patterns, and that they count as a new pattern, a collar change, or sleeve length change. Something that is not normally counted as a complete new pattern. I am totally disappointed with the newest March issue, a lot of reissued patterns from 2012. At least they should change up the photos from the last time they issued the pattern. And the English issue does not talk about what happened to the plus patterns and that you have to find them in another language and in another magazine.

[@edinacole6382]

I stopped Burda Magazine about 3 years ago because of repetition. I am about to purchase one magazine that I noticed will have multiple patterns I am interested in. I really miss the style of patterns from the '90s This is another reason why I stopped subscribing.

[@leeaaron3474]

I feel exactly the same way. The only reason I kept subscribing through the price increases was the plus size selection. OTTOBRE Designs still go to 52; but the designs are more “mature” shall we say. I will take a look at the Burda Curvy issues if they are ever available in English.

[@Ikiada]

I agree. The repetition of patterns is really unfortunate.

[@reinhildedenk1809]

You are 100 percent right. I' ve quit last year after being passionatly a reader for 50 years. It's just not worth it anymore. Greetings from Germany

[@chriswatson1698]

I haven't used the Burda magazine, but have bought their paper patterns in envelopes. I am disappointed that they no longer have the "Petites" which were for short women.

[@TheSerialHobbyistGirl]

In the magazine they've never had a petite section as far as I know, just the odd petite pattern in random issues. I am not very familiar with their envelope patterns, mostly because they never went on sale.

[@superstarcat7654]

@@TheSerialHobbyistGirl Actually, if you go back far enough, they would include a short pattern and a tall pattern in each magazine. And I thought they were good styles, suited for a short or tall person. And a small child’s or men’s section.

[@MintyParsley]

@@superstarcat7654 And if you go even further back they had a special magazine with changing focus on 'party' or 'petite' (those are the two that I remember), although I think they only had the specials for a few years.

[@danceillusions13]

Here in Germany it's dirt cheap, for a yearly subscription I pay like 40 euro.

[@patriciasewfrenchcouture]

Hello. Thank you for the review. I was subscribed to Burda for 6 years. I m leaving in Canada. I was asking for the french version of the Burda. The shipping was expensive but interesting when I started to sew. And I stop because of repetition too, or because I never sew for months patterns because there is nothing I like. Now I just buy pattern I really like.

[@cherriesnhoney]

same $$$ issue here (close to 200$) and sizing is a pain...plus i really despise their layered sheets. i tried but there is so much more out there that makes the process more pleasant. good to hear your thoughts on it

[@TheSerialHobbyistGirl]

I don't mind the sheets, to be honest. I thought that getting rid of the plus size section would make the sheets less crowded but the ones for the current issue look the same to me.

[@cherriesnhoney]

@@TheSerialHobbyistGirl lol really...well im disappointed to hear about them excluding the plus sz section. or maybe not, they didnt put any effort in plus sz so everything was blah...either way i was ok letting them go and others draft patterns that fit me with almost no alters *ahem, love gertie*

[@evanick823]

Just buy the copy that has the plus size patterns. I only buy one or maybe two copies of Burda per year. Check it first in the shop to see if you like the patterns first before purchasing.

[@wzrdreams]

The only store in NYC that carried BurdaStyle magazine closed during the pandemic.

[@superstarcat7654]

The only way to get Burda around me is by subscription, so the choice of just picking up the issue you want isn’t available. Borders Books used to carry it, but they went bankrupt years ago.

[@AlexiaArdelean]

I totally agree with all the issues you've been mentioning, especially the costing. I ended my subscription around 4-5 years ago after moving from Hungary to UK. Honestly, the subscription costs twice here and I don't think it's worth it for 2-3 patterns\month I like or sometimes I don't like any. If I'd buy any pdf from the UK, US or German website it would cost the same like buying a magazine, which I think it's robbing for our money. In the last couple of years I used to buy the pdf versions from the Russian website, but since the war started all the British bank deny any payment to the website. I also discovered their Turkish website lately where you can buy pdfs for pennies, but unfortunately, it's not frequently updated, but I can live with that.

[@verot8444]

Are the instructions only in Turkish?

[@AlexiaArdelean]

@@verot8444 Yes, they are, but I always use Google Translator on my phone with the camera option, so I can easily read it.

[@superstarcat7654]

I have been buying Burda magazine for thirty years and sick of the repeats. I also see that all these very simple cut patterns that they are showing are not fitting. I usually can just cut and sew without alterations and still can with the old issues. But if I do find a new pattern I want to sew, the fit is terrible. The v-necks are too deep, your bra shows. The darts are too short. The sleeves are too short. Are they not using the plus size standard anymore? Taller, c cup(instead of b cup), bigger framed woman?

[@melusinenoArashi]

I perfectly understand your reason. Here in Europe, I stopped years ago buying their magazine because of their pattern sizing and also how old fashion (and I'm in vintage style) their plus size are.

[@RobinEvans-g4c]

Thank you. I was thinking that since you can get the individual issues maybe it would more cost worthy to buy the issue you want.

[@dobrawarutkowska]

Absolutely, they repeat the same patterns all the time and the paterns look so outdated

[@superstarcat7654]

With the new second issue of Plus/Curvy- very few patterns. It is for summer clothes. No summer office suit or dress, only beach and BBQ clothes. The swimsuit is nice but the instructions are bad. No lining. No instruction on how to apply elastic. The bra section twists but no instruction to chose a solid and no instructions on what to do with a print. I gave sewn many leotards as my daughters grew up, so I know how to sew it and what needs to be added, but what about the newbies? This is not an item you sew regularly and Burda should try to keep sewers happy and help them out.

[@TheSerialHobbyistGirl]

Burda has never had particular beginner-friendly instructions, which I understand is the nature of having to many patterns to contend with in one single magazine. However, I think that they should something like a swimsuit their "Sewing Lesson."

[@mariellerose622]

Bonjour je suis française et je suis comme vous burda 😡 moi je voudrais tout les modèles jusqu'au 50 dans le burda style . Après dans d'autres magazines des grandes tailles. Merci a bientôt

[@ctaylorluce]

I agree the plus size patterns are mostly not flattering.

[@atrinka1]

I stopped when I saw the dirndl dress every year!

[@TheSerialHobbyistGirl]

I don't think they've had dirndls in a while. I didn't mind them, and considering it is a German magazine, it made sense to me.

[@missterryvintage]

Damn, I guess I should stop whining about the price of the Burda subscription in Poland, which is around 40 dollars per year. LOL Though I also cancelled my subscription, only partially because of the cost. I got into vintage stuff and became more interested in the vintage issues than modern ones. I now have more Burda magazines from the 1960s to 1990s than from the last decade or two. :D The idea with removing plus size wouldn't be that bad, we had only a couple patterns per standard issue, but those plus size issues don't come often enough. Also, what always bothered me, they were using models that weren't really that plus size, sometimes I was even wondering if they have fat suits underneath to seem bigger. And when they had a model that looked properly bigger, she was always a perfect hourglass and still not in their upper size range. Have you ever tried other sewing magazines with that type of pattern sheets? I don't know if they're widely available in the North America, here in Europe there are quite a few of them. I know some, like Spanish "Patrones" are sold in PDF format to make printouts, so you could try them without having to pay for shipping. I don't subscribe to "Patrones", but I have few issues and I liked their looks, their standard patterns go up to 48 and plus size to 58 and they have a fun gimmick, they take a runway looks and make something inspired by them. Unfortunately they are only in Spanish, so if you know Spanish you're golden, if not, you are probably experienced enough to sew without directions, or just translate with a translator. :) Anyway, it's worth googling to see the looks. Just one thing, there are at least two magazines that have "patrones" in title, I'm talking about the one that is simply called "Patrones" not the one with title "Patrones Mujer"

[@Hide_and_silk]

I have the Patrones App and it's great...though, here on France, we get the French version, Couture Actuelle. Patrones are so much more fashion forward than Burda...I really like them!

[@missterryvintage]

@@Hide_and_silk Yeah, you're right, I also thought they were more fashion forward. And generally looked more interesting. We used to have Polish edition also, but it didn't caught on unfortunately. Probably cause they didn't seem to have a wide reach and good publicity, I've never seen them in the ordinary press stands, only in subscription. They also did that strange thing, where they were publishing only few issues per year instead of monthly, and I don't mean those Patrones Extra, normal Patrones were available only 4 times a year or so, very odd.

[@TheSerialHobbyistGirl]

I've been subscribing to Patrones since they started their electronic subscription in the US a couple of years ago. Before that I bought the odd issue on eBay or when I went to Spain as they didn't exist in the US. Patrones has its own problems too though.

[@mysewingfactory_]

There’s a rumor around that as from January 24 they are going to only print repeats/recycled. I have no idea if it’s true. Also there are so many mistakes in the magazines’ cutting plans.

[@TheSerialHobbyistGirl]

I don't think those rumors are true. They just dropped the plus size section from the issue. Not all patterns are repeats.

[@flute56abull]

I subscribed to Burda in the 90’s and early 2000’s. I’ve recently purchased the 2/2023 issue and found at least 4 designs I like and have sewn 2 dresses. I am reminded of my love for Burda. The fit is very good for me. I love the pattern sheets and feel so accomplished to decipher it (with help of a Dutch friend in the 1980’s.) To the complaints about repetition, I understand, but there is a basic sloper for so many styles with variation. I love the German styles. I wish the magazine would re-run the wonderful columns written by Anne Burda. She was an original indie pattern designer.

[@julianachandler2975]

Good for you!