My Ottobre rave

You knew this had to be coming....it's time for me to rave about my favourite sewing magazines!
Ottobre Design are a series of pattern magazine that come all the way from Finland. Luckily for me they come in an English translation as my Finnish is a little rusty :P

There are 6 magazines a year, 4 are children's and then 2 women's and they are jam packed full of trendy patterns for all sizes. The children's patterns start at newborn (some even have preemie sizes) and go all the way up to 170cm which is taller than me so I find myself being able to make some of the bigger kids items for me...bonus! I have quite a collection of them now and honestly there isn't a pattern that I need that I can't flick through them and find.

I find the sizing to be quite accurate and the instructions have been pretty clear....they follow the same techniques usually and once you've made a few items you'll be set.
You can flick through the issues on their website and either order direct from them or through their Australian agent Crafty Mamas.

Hmm...what else can I say to convince you? The designs are really up to date and the patterns are exactly what you'd see in the stores current range. There's something so satisfying about being able to say "I made it myself" and these magazines are what kick started me in having the confidence to sew for the girls and myself.
I've decided to do a little pattern review each time I use on from Ottobre to share what I've learnt along the way.

Tonight's efforts were from the Ottobre Creative Workshop range. I have number 301 which is a basic t-shirt in slim fit or traditional fit. (Long and short sleeve option). the sizing is from 92cms to 170cms so I can use it for the older girls and also for my tops.

I've found it to run a little on the small side but then I don't like things too tight or short so I usually add an extra few inches to the length and am generous with my seam allowance generally. I find the neckline a little higher than I'd prefer for my tops, not that I'm into the low cut look but I don't want skivvies either! So I have taken a half an inch or so off the neckline on my traced pattern.

I used it tonight to make a basic white top for layering and am pretty happy with how it turned out. I actually went looking for such a thing in the shops the other day and came away with nothing so instead an hours work and a couple of dollars worth of fabric and I have exactly what I wanted....bargain!

(Forgive the headless photo.......you get the general idea though!)