When the fabric market comes to town

I love Europe! Weekly produce markets where the demographic is everyone, not women in yoga pants buying heirloom tomatoes. Christmas markets. Easter markets. And fabric markets.

The Stoffmarkt Holland fabric market only comes to my town once a year and last year I was out of the country when it came. But this year I marked it on my calendar and clicked the Yes I will attend button on the Facebook event page. I prepared by checking out the yardage needed for a couple patterns and snipping a piece of fabric for which I needed matching serger thread.

The day had perfect weather - high clouds with occasional sunshine. I didn't need a jacket and instead of a purse to get in the way and tug on my shoulder, I wore a small backpack to carry my wallet, phone and purchases. A couple years ago I brought a portable shopping cart with me but that just gave me an excuse to fill it (which I did). My fabric stash is greater than my sewing output so the backpack was a better choice.

This market is crowded! They always schedule this to coincide with the Easter market and an auto expo also going on downtown, so occasional or non-sewers check it out and husbands accompany wives to hold their bags. Yes, I did see a few men handle and purchase fabric but it was primarily women. Older women, younger women, women with children in tow, women speaking all languages. I had difficulty in one notions booth when the clerk couldn't speak English and I didn't know what she was asking me to do and the woman next to me asked Polskie (Polish)? She would have helped me if she could.

I didn't have too much trouble at most booths with my limited German - it's not to hard to just ask for zwei meter - but I was frustrated by one notions booth. They had long tables with a hodgepodge of notions: zippers, thread, buttons, buckles, pins - everything. Just a yard or so in front of the table were those tall spinning racks with more notions hanging on the hooks. So the aisle made between the racks and the table was narrow and thus congested with people looking at the notions and people trying to pass by. And it's always super crowded. They have quite a few clerks, though it's hard to tell who works there and who's a customer. But as soon as you pick something up someone thrusts a plastic basket in your direction. So I took the basket, put my items in it and started to move down a bit to look at some more notions but the clerk started barking at me in German like I was doing something wrong and motioning for me to give her the basket. I understood a few words and think she wanted me to pay for what I had in there first, but I wasn't done shopping. I still don't understand what they wanted me to do - I guess put a few things in the basket and buy them and then get another basket a few feet down? I don't know. Frustrated and feeling claustrophobic by the crowd, I gave up and left my basket of things with her. Later I came back and bought the interfacing and thread that I wanted to purchase the first time and didn't bother buying anything else there.

My other problem with shopping was indecision. So many possibilities. So many fabrics I could envision making into things. Prices are pretty good too. Most of what I was attracted to was in the 8-14 Euro/meter range. Not a super bargain but perhaps a little cheaper than in the local stores, however the selection is what is appealing. There were a few booths with expensive fabric (24-35 Euros/meter) but it wasn't fancy-expensive fabric like beaded or embroidered, it was just really nice linen, wool or silk. One vendor in particular, TST-Stoffen, has been at previous markets I've been and the fabrics are really something special - Knipmode uses them often. I'm always tempted and this year I was prepared to buy a meter or two until I realized that their prices are no better than they have in their online store.

Picture taken to capture the name of the store and price, not for the fabric, though it's lovely.

Here's what I eventually bought:

From left to right:

• Black with pink polka dots. Cotton with a small bit of elastane
• Pink, beige, black, white knit with a quilted texture. Cotton and viscose I think.
• Pink and white butterfly print. Viscose
• Interfacing
• 5 pieces of vinyl coated cotton - for bags or zipper pouches
• Cotton knits in a blue/beige (it's beige on the other side) and solid beige
• Serger thread - I buy one cone to match color and wind onto empty spools to make more "cones"
• Bear print cotton - it's a heavier weight with one big bear on it. I plan to make either a book bag or a pillow out of it 

  

  Isn't he cute?

• Pink and black variegated knit. Cotton and maybe viscose. Don't remember.
• Black, white, gray voile large scale print. Cotton and silk according to the vendor. I found this on a bargain table - 10 Euros for the 2 meter cut of fabric.
  

So there you go. Fabric market! 

Magazine overload

When I first traveled to Europe I scoured the news stands for pattern magazines. My husband was patient and accommodating when I'd pass one and say "just a sec, let me pop in here." Fortunately magazines don't cost a lot and don't take up too much room in a suitcase. I had a subscription to the English version of Burda through GLP News but that was not enough. I wanted Patrones, La Mia Boutique, Knipmode, Ottobre, etc., etc. The clothes in those magazines seemed more interesting and it was fun to see all the different languages and even more fun to find them during our travels. Truth be told, I mostly browsed the magazines like I would a fashion mag and sewed up a few things from a French issue called "Diana Couture."

When I first moved to Europe I still scoured the news stands for pattern magazines. With unreliable and slow mail service to my APO mailbox, I dropped my Burda subscription and started buying the German issues from the news stand. Although I could get a subscription in Germany, buying them gives me a "mission" every month to visit the news stand. Plus I get to discover - and buy - other sewing magazines I see on the shelves. At first I bought just about everything I found, but it turns out there are a lot of sewing magazines available in Germany, and now my shelves are stuffed. Although I have sewn a few more things from non-Burda magazines, I still have acquired far more than I would ever use. I have had to stop. Well...cut down at least.

I'm not kidding that there are a lot of sewing magazines. Actually there are a lot of magazines period in Germany - they really do like their magazines. Still, I was amazed at the number of sewing, knitting, crochet, patchwork, and other craft magazines that are available - they take up the two top rows of the shelf in the picture below. I've noted all the pattern magazines that have women's clothing (there are 10!) with yellow arrows. But that's not even all that are available in Germany (sometime La Mia Boutique in the international section for example), and I didn't point out the magazines exclusively for children's or baby clothes. By the way, this is a magazine rack in a department store, not a specialty news stand. I often buy Burda and a few others at the grocery store.

Lots of magazines!

Overflow of sewing pattern magazines!

The 10 magazines are:

1. Burdastyle
2. Budastyle Plus
3. Burdastyle Easy
4. Ottobre Design Woman
5. Fashion Style (Knipmode translated into German)
6. Meine Nähmode (Simplicity/New Look patterns reprinted and translated into German)
7. Näh-Style (used to be Diana Moden)
8. Nähtrends (Patrones translated into German)
9. Lust auf Handarbeiten
10. Sabrina Woman

As for the baby and children issues, I saw Burda Kids and Poppy and something with a name like "Nähen Baby", and they'll have the children's Ottobre issues when they're current. I also didn't point out the crafty-type sewing magazines for making decorative items or toys. The rest of the issues on that first shelf are mostly knitting magazines.

If you are interested in these magazines, you can find them here: http://www.schnittmuster.net. The site is in English (or German) and it looks like they ship to the US too. I'm not affiliated with them and get nothing in return for sending your business to them.

I've cut my magazine buying down to Burdastyle, Fashion Style (Knipmode), Meine Nähmode and Ottobre Woman. The first two are monthly, there are about 6 Meine Nähmode issues per year and two Ottobre Woman issues - still a lot of magazine buying! The Burda Plus and Easy issues don't provide me anything more interesting than what I get in the regular Burdastyle. Patrones clothing looks to young for me, so I usually pass. I used to get Näh-Style and Sabrina Woman but their clothes are really basic and essentially repeat everything I already have from them. I have sewn a two things from Sabrina Woman, though. I've flipped through Lust auf Handarbeiten, which is a recent publication, and haven't seen anything to prompt me to buy it.

It goes without saying that all of these pattern magazines have a nightmarish mess of pattern lines to trace. Some are better than others. For as much as everyone complains about Burda, I think they're actually the best ones I have experience tracing. Knipmode and Sabrina are the worst. Knipmode because all sizes from 34 to 54 are printed for each style, and Sabrina because they only use black and red. Actually I think Knipmode only uses two colors also.

The instructions are another issue with pattern magazines. They tend to be short because there can be a lot of patterns packed into one magazine. Everyone gripes about short Burda instructions. Sabrina Woman and Näh-Style are also very brief, but the garments are simple. Ottobre have fewer patterns per issue so they devote more space to instructions. Meine Nähmode reprints the Simplicity and New Look instructions translated into German, along with the illustrations, which can be helpful but the illustrations are very small and sometimes Simplicity and New Look over-explain. I've spent lots of time stumped translating the German back to English only to find the instruction was something basic like "turn right side out." The best instructions I have found are in Knipmode. They print instructions with illustrations for basic things like sewing collars or pockets in the beginning of the instruction section and then refer you to read those sections if and when they come up. You do a bit of page flipping but overall I've found the instructions to be more thorough. But I've sewn a grand total of one Knipmode top and read through the instructions for the top I'm currently making, so what do I know?

Though I've "cut back" (32 magazines a year is a lot!), storage is a problem and it's only getting worse. I hesitate to throw away (recycle) any patterns because you never know when I might want to sew one of them, right? I've streamlined some of the issues by digitally photographing the model pictures in the glossy part and saving only the patterns and the instructions. I tried not buying Knipmode but they keep putting great stuff in their magazines and I can't resist. Digital pdf files are an option - all of Burda's patterns are available through online purchase, and some of Knipmode's as well, but I dislike printing and taping pieces of paper together even more than tracing. I made one pdf pattern and wasted a lot paper trying to get the printout correct.

So what to do? Stay away from news stands I guess! And sew more to justify buying them.

Husband-sweater...finished!

First the final result, then the back story:

At the Frühlingsfest!

Two years ago I decided I'd make my husband a traditional-style sweater to go with his German lederhosen. We like to attend the Volksfest (like Oktoberfest) in September/October and the Frühlingsfest in April/May, both held in Stuttgart, Germany. At those times of the year it can be cold and rainy so a sweater would be a welcome addition to his ensemble.

At these fests, it's popular to wear the Trachten, or traditional folk costumes of Bavaria (southern Germany) and Austria. In the tents, it's a real party of beer, food and music and wearing dirndls and lederhosen is almost a must, especially if you don't have an entry ticket. We got in once without a ticket but I think our clothes and age - as in "not likely to cause trouble" - got us in.



Live music adds to the atmosphere

 

Proof that I dress up!

I did not make my dirndl. I certainly have the patterns, thanks to many September issues of Burda in my stash, but buying one was quicker and easier.

So about the sweater. I used a pattern from a (now out of print) German specialty magazine with lots of patterns for knitting Trachten.

Of course the instructions are in German. I had some help translating them from my German tutor, except she's blind, so that was an additional challenge. And yes, she knits.

To complete the German-ness of the sweater, I decided to use the yarn called for by the pattern - Schoeller + Stahl Fortissima 6fach - which is of course a German yarn. I found it in a local yarn shop, but they only had 5 skeins, enough for the smaller size. I figured this would work because my husband was between the small and larger size, and I didn't really like the oversize-look of the sweater on the model. So I bought the yarn and knit up a swatch...and ran into my first problem: needle size.

My gauge on the 2.5 mm needle size called for in the pattern was too small, but 3.0 mm was too big. I needed 2.75 mm, which I did not have, but this is not a size that is easily - if at all - found in Europe. So I had to order them from the US and wait.

I started the sweater on the 2.75 mm (US 2) needles and after a few inches I became worried that the sweater would be too large. Somehow my gauge was now a bit big. So I ripped it out and started over with the 2.5 mm needles. I knit the entire back piece but now worried that the sweater was going to be too small! There was some leeway with blocking, as the garter stitch seemed to grow a bit when wet, but when I compared the back to some of my husband's other sweaters, it was clear that the smaller size was too small and I needed to knit the larger size. But I didn't have enough yarn to knit the larger size, and now the yarn was discontinued. I even tried to find some at the yarn manufacturer's outlet store, which lucky for me was only an hour drive away. I left my name and number with the clerk, who thought they might be able to get some but when they eventually called, I understood enough German to know that this was not the case. I was out of luck. I trolled the internet looking for the yarn in on-line stores and found one in Austria but wasn't sure how to order - or pay them. Many on-line stores here use direct payment from a European bank account, which I don't have. They'll also use PayPal but my address in PayPal is a US one and PayPal requires you to create an account in the country that matches your address and for some reason I couldn't set up a German one. Another source for the yarn was Ravelry.com. Sometimes knitters will offer yarn for sale or trade, but I couldn't find any in the color I needed.

This husband-sweater was looking like it wasn't going to be finished. My husband, having seen a knitting friend re-knit her husband-sweater multiple times, now assumed that finished husband-sweaters were an urban legend.

While I was at the outlet store I bought different yarn to make his sweater, but they didn't have the same color. I bought light blue with dark blue for the trim, but it didn't seem right. I wanted the gray color of the original yarn. It also didn't help that the yarn called for wasn't the more common "worsted weight" size, but a slightly thinner "DK or sport-weight" size, which is not as common. Finding a replacement yarn wasn't going to be easy either.

The spring and fall fests came and went with my husband sweater-less. Then I decided to try again. I got out the larger, 2.75 mm needles and started knitting. I'd just had success with a previous sweater where the gauge was too big, but I knit a smaller size and got the larger sweater I wanted. It can be a risky thing to do - with that sweater I had to rework the sleeve decreases to get the right shape, but miraculously it worked out. On the plus side, the pattern for the husband-sweater had a detailed schematic that showed what the dimensions for each size should be. I figured if I could knit the number of stitches and rows needed for the small size, but get the flat dimensions of the large size, it would work. And it did. I also compared the knitted pieces with his other sweaters as I knit them, making sure that they were in the ballpark for size.

But the husband-sweater saga did not end there. As I began knitting the first sleeve, even though I was knitting the small size, the amount of yarn I had left was dwindling at a fast rate. Too fast. I checked and rechecked my project bags and yarn stash. Nope. No mislaid ball of the yarn. It occurred to me that even though I was knitting the small size, I was probably using up more yarn since my gauge was larger. The fear of running out of yarn was growing with each row that I knit. I couldn't wait to get to the end of that sleeve so I could weigh the sleeve and compare it to the yarn I had left. You may remember this post a few months ago where I had the realization that sleeves take up quite a bit of yarn/fabric. Fortunately I found that I had enough yarn to finish the husband-sweater.

Except that I forgot about the trim. I didn't use the same yarn for the trim, like the pattern called for. Instead I used a different German yarn: Lana Grossa Meilenweit. It's a sock-weight yarn but when I knit with two-strands it was close to the original yarn and resulted in a close enough gauge that it worked out just fine. I had two skeins, which I thought would be enough. Well, it was and it wasn't. The last part to knit was the trim that runs along the front and neck edges, and I ran out of yarn on the bind-off row. I was probably short by a yard or two. Again I searched project bags and my stash and I found one doubled over piece, but it wasn't enough. Fortunately the yarn wasn't discontinued but I came up with a different idea - and it didn't involve ripping back one row. I simply bound off using a single strand of the yarn. I barely made it.

Here is the yarn I had left after finishing the sweater:

Just scraps of the darker trim yarn and a tiny, tiny ball of the main yarn. I do still have the swatch I knit, so there is a bit more, in case I need to make any repairs to the sweater.

I finished seaming the sweater during the 2-hour car ride down to Stuttgart until it was too dark to see and then the next morning, which was the day before the fest. I bought the wood buttons at a Stuttgart fabric store and sewed them on that afternoon. The buttons cost almost as much as the yarn did, but I just couldn't put plastic faux wood buttons on this.

You might say this sweater was a labor of love. My husband didn't believe that I would really finish it but I proved him wrong. Needless to say, he loves the sweater. He says it's his new favorite sweater and wore it right away to dinner that night. He wore it to the fest of course, which was perfect for the cooler weather of the morning, but in the tent it was too warm. He kept it on as long as he could and then stashed it in a plastic bag to protect it from beer spills (everyone brings bags for this purpose - you see bags bulging with jackets and sweaters stashed under every table!).

Husband-sweater #1 is done. There will be more, but now it's my turn for a sweater. It's another sweater restart - a sweater I started in 2005 but after knitting the back and starting on the front decided that it would be too small. I'm knitting a larger size this time.

"Liv" from Elsebeth Lavold

I hope I don't run out of yarn.

My Burda magazines

I was introduced to Burda magazine around 1999. I don't remember how or by whom but it was probably through the online sewing community. I bought one magazine and was hooked, and I've subscribed or purchased it non-stop ever since. While I've sewn many things from the magazine, there have been months...and years...where I haven't sewn a thing. Even if I don't sew a lot from it, I still love the magazine and continue to get it. Plus, the pattern drafting really suits me - must be my German heritage. Right now since I'm living in Germany I buy single issues from the news stand. I could get a subscription, but I like my monthly trip downtown to go buy it and honestly the subscription wouldn't save me much (and here in Germany subscriptions automatically renew and you have to give notice in advance to cancel them).

16 years of magazines add up and I don't have infinite space for them. Lack of space is the reason I didn't bring all the magazines with me when we moved to Germany. I brought only a few back issues but I couldn't help but think about the treasures I was missing in the issues I left behind. I'm back at our house for a few weeks and wanted to find some way to ship my Burdas to Germany. But again, there's the storage issue...not to mention the cost of postage and a limit on my checked baggage weight! So I decided to bring the last few years but only the patterns and the instructions - I managed to shoehorn 4+ year's worth into a large size flat-rate USPS box. The box weighs 16 1/2 pounds - wow! I took pictures of the "at a glance" pages where they show the garments on a "ghost dress form", but now I've gone back and decided to photograph almost every page of the magazine. Hooray for the cell phone camera and automatic upload to my OneDrive. Although it's taking longer than I thought and wanted to spend on this, I know that when I'm deciding to use a pattern, I really like to see it on a person so I think it's worth it. The line drawings show me detail I might miss, the dress form pictures provide a good view of the garment, but the model pictures show how it is worn.

I don't know yet what I'll do with year's 1999-2007, but judging from what I'm seeing as I photograph the looks from 2008-2012, I already have plenty of patterns to play with and I'm excited to get back to my sewing room. When I get time, I'll put the photographs into my OneNote pattern library so I can browse and search the issues (text in pictures added to OneNote can be made searchable - bonus!). And the other side effect of this little endeavor is that seeing the wide range of patterns in Burda, I really don't need all the envelope patterns I have bought in the past. That's another problem - I left most of my patterns behind and brought only a handful. I collected a bunch more to take back but there's that space issue. I can't bring all of them. I need to leave room in my baggage for fabric and yarn. :-)

Last projects before packing

Packing? Yes, we're moving to a new town and new apartment about 2 hours north of here. So I have to stop the sewing and weaving for a bit until we get re-settled. At least knitting is portable!

I finished the orange-y scarf.

I also finished the Burda cardigan - #117 from the 8/2011 issue of Burda Style:

 

 

Here's my review:

 

Pattern Description: Loose fitting cardigan with raglan, two-piece sleeves and a softly flowing, "waterfall" type front.

 

Pattern Sizing: 36-44. I made the 44, which is according to my bust size. Normally in knit tops I make a 42, but I wanted to ensure this would fit comfortably over another garment without being snug. The resulting fit was a big large, which is fine over long sleeve tops in winter, but for summer wear I'd go down a size.

 

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes, I think it did.

 

Were the instructions easy to follow? The instructions were very easy - and for the first time I realized that Burda numbers the seams on the pattern pieces in order of their construction. How did I never notice that before? I used a 4-thread overlock for all the seams and a coverstitch for all hems. The instructions call for using a folded over piece of cross-wise cut fabric as a facing on the back neck, which I omitted and instead I turned under the seam allowance and used my coverstitch. I also used the coverstitch for the front edge hems, instead of doing the twin-needle hem in the instructions.

 

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I wanted to replicate a RTW sweater and this was the closest pattern that I already had in my stash. The main difference is that this has raglan sleeves. The sleeves are two piece, which results in an underarm seam and another seam opposite it, running along the top of your arm down to your wrist. In my knit this extra seam just makes me annoyed because when I put on the cardigan I have to adjust the shoulders to line up this seam correctly.

 

Fabric Used: A lightweight, stretchy polyester/viscose/lycra (63%/34%/3%), purchased locally in Germany. My fabric has a pronounced knit texture on the right side and thus has wrong side but the variegated look of the fabric makes it less pronounced, I think (and hope).

 

  Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: I omitted the back neck facing during construction and shortened the sleeves by 1 1/2 inches.

 

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? I may sew it again and would recommend it.

 

Conclusion: My fabric choice wasn't ideal for this pattern since it has a wrong side, and the coverstitch makes the wrong side look different than the right side, but I think both of those fouls don't hugely detract from the look. As far as fit (sorry there's no photo of me wearing it - maybe I'll add one later), the raglan sleeves are quite comfortable but I'm distracted by the three seams that result at the shoulder. When I first put the cardigan on I find I have to tug at it to get the seams in the right place. However, if the cardigan were made in a lightweight wool, I could see how the two-piece sleeve would add shaping.

 

 

 

I'll leave you with some pictures of the space in our new apartment that I'll be using for my sewing area:

 

 

 

 

It's not a huge area but I'll make it work. My sewing machine cabinet has wheels so although it will have to be positioned in front of the shelves to access the outlets, I can move it aside if I need to get to the shelves. The doorway leads to a toilet and sink and some storage space. What it lacks in space it makes up for in light - it will be wonderful after being in a dark bedroom where I had to turn on lights even during the day. But the best feature is that when I turn to the left I see this:

 

 



 

 

 

 

The fabric market was in town!

In our city have a fruit/vegetable/flower market three times a week and an antique market once a week and twice a year there is a fabric market. I went to it last spring with my mom (here's my post about it). I saw an advertisement that they'd be back today, so I've had this date firmly planted in my mind for a while now. Every time I "found" myself in a fabric store I reminded myself that the fabric market was coming and to wait. The day finally came, it's rainy, and I have a cold, but I went anyway. I'm not sure that cold medicine and fabric market shopping go together very well though. I couldn't make any decisions, and the crowds were bugging me (yes there were crowds of fabric shoppers!). I wanted to buy everything...or nothing because I haven't a lot of room for a fabric stash, and I do have a fabric stash. I wanted to buy really nice fabric, because there was a lot of nice stuff available, but I didn't want to spend a lot of money. There were bargains but not a lot of those fabrics where ones I could justify buying without a plan for using it. Eventually I did buy fabric and somehow even managed to make some "capsule" choices despite my brain-on-cold-medicine. Here's my haul:

Going clockwise from the upper left:

• fleece with embroidered designs - I regretted this purchase shortly afterward (I blame the cold) but it was relatively inexpensive, and I will use it for a jacket or something
• gray sweatshirt fabric to hopefully pair with some other fabric to make a "designer" sweatshirt before the fad is gone
• black faux leather to use for trims and embellishments - maybe for that designer sweatshirt
• gray capsule - from left to right: printed jersey for a top, solid bottom weight for pants, solid jersey for a top
• zippers
• serger needles
• the green/blue is overdyed denim to make a skirt
• indigo dyed denim for a skirt or jacket
• brown/gold capsule - from left to right: wool/silk knit for a skirt, solid bottom weight with stretch for pants (I'm thinking Vogue 1378), rayon woven for a blouse
• the big snaps are for a jacket that's on my to-do list
• 8 cones of serger thread (for 15 Euro - about $19). Serger thread is pricey here and colors limited. Rather than buy 3-4 spools of colors, I buy 1 and use the EZ Winder.  

Where has the summer gone?

It's mid-August and I haven't posted since June. I haven't sewn anything since June partly because I've been busy with house guests, but also because what I wanted to sew is for summer, and now it's cold out! Well ok, not cold, but it's not typical August hot here:

 

 

I would much rather have these temps than hot (no a/c here!) but I'm not really motivated to work on the summer tops I was going to make. I traced off a couple of patterns in June, but this is as far as I got with one of them:

 

 

With some creative layout, I think I will be able to squeeze out New Look 6213. Fortunately the fabric doesn't have a direction to it.

 

 



I couldn't resist

The Stoffmarkt Holland fabric market came to town, and I couldn't resist.

Stoffmarkt Holland is a travelling fabric market that goes to various cities around Germany, and this was their first visit to Stuttgart. They set up their goods in a downtown square. My husband snapped these pictures for me on his way back from his morning run, while they were still setting up and before the crowds.

Clockwise from upper left: Zippers! Rolls of precut knits; many bolts; realistic photo-printed fabric

Yes, there were crowds of shoppers. It was hard to get near some of the tables, and I had to patiently wait for someone to cut fabric for me.

 

And of course I bought fabric:

Top photo is 5 cuts of half meter knits. I plan to combine the two green ones on the left into a top and the three gray ones into another top. The bottom left photo is also a knit, with a photo-realistic print of trees and stuff. They had a top made up in the fabric and it hooked me on this fabric. I'll also use it for a top. The bottom left is also a knit and again they had dresses made up in the fabric and that helped a great deal to make me want to buy it. I bought three meters to make sure I'd have enough for a dress.

Fasching

Have you always wondered why Burda magazine has costumes in the January issue? They're for Fasching, the festival time prior to Lent. Here in Stuttgart the festivities began last Thursday, with Weiberfastnacht, a day when women symbolically take over city hall and snip off men's ties in the workplace (supposedly). Throughout the weekend people dress up and party - I saw a few people dressed up and there were some rides and candy and food booths set up on the main pedestrian thoroughfare in Stuttgart. Monday is called Rosenmontag in Germany, or Rose Monday, a day for carnivals and parades and dressing up. Everything then culminates with Fastnachtdienstag or Fastnacht on Tuesday. Today there was a big parade through the downtown so I went to check it out.

There were lots of people and many, many children lining the streets. School is out, so today is a day to dress up and catch the hard candy tossed to the crowd by the parade goers. New Orleans has beads - here it's candy.

Kids and adults dress up. The stores have had costumes stocked since mid January. But NO dirndls or lederhosen - those are not costumes and they're not for Fasching!



A little ladybug

Adorable twins

Adults dress up too



The parade consisted of musical groups:




Loud in both costume and sound!



Dance and acrobatic troupes of girls and women. Nearly all the groups wore braids and looked alike:



Many little, identical snow princesses



Christmas-y looking

Acrobatics!



Fancy costumes



Another prominent feature of the parade were men and women dressed as royalty or politicians. Apparently this tradition comes from after the French Revolution when the Rhineland was occupied by the French. Out of protest against French oppression, Germans from Cologne and surrounding areas would mock their politicians and leaders safely behind masks during carnival season. So I think that's what was going on with these parade participants:



Men in fancy hats with lots of medals and buttons



Princess and the Kaiser...my guess anyway

Scary raven king

Witches!! A big part (and the most fun) of these Fastnacht parades are the witches. They signify the end of winter and chasing away evil. In some parades they carry off bystanders or play tricks on them. Here in the Stuttgart parade I saw a few act a bit bawdy and one ran up and marked the hand of a little boy with green marker or paint, but mostly they handed out candy and greeted the children. Not too scary.




These are Tuttlinger Stadthexen witches. Apparently the town of Tuttlingen had quite a lot of witch trials back in the day.

Witch...wearing sneakers

A male witch

An "autumn" witch?

Blond braids on these witches

An Eskimo witch? That's a fish in his mouth, not a cigar.

One last picture. There were also trucks from local breweries and restaurants from which people tossed out candy. But this one was the best:



A big pig!

The balloons say "Schweine Museum." I looked it up and yes, there is a Pig Museum in Stuttgart. It's no joke that the Germans enjoy pork: schnitzel, bratwurst, schweinshaxe (ham hocks), speck...

I hope you enjoyed the parade!

I'll get back to sewing and knitting stuff with a post tomorrow (hopefully) I have one finished sewing project and some in-work knitting projects to share.

More magazine patterns!

Patterns are expensive in Germany, especially the "Big 4"patterns...if you can get them. There are no $3.99 or 75% off Vogue patterns sales. There are no $1.99 or 5/$5.00 Simplicity patterns. But there is a pattern magazine sold here that contains traceable patterns of a (limited) selection of sizes of some Simplicity and New Look patterns. The magazine is called Meine Nähmode, and as far as I know it's only published here in Germany. It comes out four times a year and costs €5.50 for about 13-15 equivalent envelope patterns. Since the envelope patterns often contain multiple pieces (skirts and tops, for example), you actually get quite a few patterns. The patterns aren't the latest ones, and some are even out of print, but I still think it's a pretty good deal.

I picked up the latest issue, which just came out, and I went through it and determined the pattern numbers for each pattern in the magazine. In case anyone else is interested, here is the list for the 3/2013 issue (fall 2013):

Simplicity 1796 Misses plus size dresses, 44/46, 48/50, 52/54

New Look 6004 Misses learn to sew skirts, 32/34, 36/38, 40/42

New Look 6099 Misses jackets, 38, 40, 42

New Look 6735 Misses separates, 38/40, 42/44, 46/48

New Look 6963 Misses tops, 34/36, 38/40, 42/44

New Look 6012 Misses separates, 34/36, 38/40, 42/44

Simplicity 1812 Misses plus size skirts and tops, 44/46, 48/50, 52/54

Simplicity 1920 Misses sportswear, 34/36, 38/40, 42/44

New Look 6001* Misses dresses, 34/36, 38/40, 42/44

Simplicity 2256* Misses jackets, 38/40, 42/44, 46/48

Simplicity 2257 Misses easy to sew skirts, 42, 44, 46

New Look 6152 Misses cape and skirt, 38/40, 42/44, 46/48

New Look 6076* Misses tops, 34/36, 38/40, 42/44

New Look 6164 Misses knit sportswear, 38, 40, 42, 44

New Look 6150 Misses knit tops, 36, 38, 40, 42

*out of print

Window shopping in Stuttgart

It was a lovely, sunny day in Stuttgart today, and all of the stores were closed for the Easter holiday, so I thought it'd be a perfect opportunity to do some window shopping to see what the styles are for spring. Unfortunately the sunshine made it a little difficult to take pictures through the store windows, but maybe you can see the images ok.

Floral prints - and color - are everywhere! Blouses, skirts, dresses, pants...
I particularly like the use of black at least on the sleeves and sides of the dress (don't know if extends to the back), to tone down the print.

 

Hard to photograph with the sunshine, but there was a whole lot of floral going on here, including the backdrop.

 

 

I do like this jacket, but I would wonder how versatile it is. But if you're buying cheap "throw away" fashion then you don't care. I think this jacket was around 100 Euro - not cheap but not outrageous.

 

Lots of green - and prints.

 

 

I saw a surprising number of pants in prints.

 

This was a high end store - I think the jacket is about 1400 Euro. Those are some healthy shoulder pads in that jacket!

 

This was Zara - the printed jacket is a bit much, but oh my, what is that mannequin in the back wearing? A vest, a strip of fabric as a top and is that a super short skirt? It's actually shorts. Bleh. I don't think the pants on the front mannequin are all that attractive either. But next week Zara will have something else in the window.

 

There was other, non-print or brightly colored clothing. Here is your basic black dress with a beaded neckline. Very pretty. Too bad I couldn't get a better picture of it.  

 

I like the top of this white dress. It looks a bit odd with the no-hip mannequin, but I think the fabric detail of the top of the dress would do nicely to balance out a "real" woman's hips. (And yes, that's my reflection on the left, taking the picture with my cool, yellow Nokio Lumia 920 phone)

 

Another bad photo and it's not a display window so it's harder to see the dress, but I liked the seams on the front.

 

I believe this look is called "Lagenlook" - you'll have to look it up, I couldn't find a good site (in English) that explained it. Basically it's layering, but I think there can be a fine line between looking like you threw on lots of clothes because you're cold and looking chic. I do admire women who can pull this off.

 



 

 

 

Valentino made a table cloth and someone thought it was a skirt. Really. This is Valentino. You can't really see the texture of the fabric in this photo but to me it looked just like polyester table cloth. This store is high end but they have some pretty ugly things. I should have taken a photo of the harlequin print man's jacket in the other window.

Even though the tag on the dress clearly says Valentino", I had to check online to see if it really is and yes, here's a longer version. Still looks like a tablecloth.
 



 

Frühlingfest is coming up and it's time to get those Dirndls and Lederhosen out! I am actually going to try to make one this year, using the patterns they publish in the September Burda issues that prompt people to wonder who would make and wear such things!

 



Remember when ripped and torn jeans became fashionable and people paid a lot of money to buy "new" ripped and torn jeans. Well now you can apparently buy scuffed up sneakers. I thought these shoes were a prop, but no, they are selling for 169 Euro, scuffed toes included.

 

 

I thought it was a mistake, but there were others. These have darkened impressions in the top where your toes would be. See what your money can buy you?

 

 

And speaking of what your money can buy you, I am not into designer purses. I can't understand why people pay so much for them. In Europe they often include the prices of the items in the window. I'll let you figure out what costs what at Louis Vuitton. The tall bags are about the size of a small shopping bag and the smaller clutches look about the size of pencil cases. Maybe they are pencil cases.



And finally, I'll leave you with this non-fashion-related display. I loved this "door" display. It looks like the sheep are just waiting to get out. And I love sheep.