To continue our tour of new pattern releases, here is the announcement of the Summer Special edition of My Image Magazine. You can flip through the whole issue here. I find that the styles in the Special editions are not as detailed as the styles in the regular issues (though it seems as though My Image may be moving to a quarterly magazine as opposed to a biannual publication), but I thought it was still worth taking a look at what they have to offer.
From The Patterns sheet, we can see that most of the line drawings are really quite simple. There are also fewer patterns in the Special issues than in the regular subscription magazines. This first dress is really simple, but I do like the open sleeve detail. It feels like a really practical way to wear long sleeves in warm weather.
I do like the top, but I don’t need to add it to the stash. The trousers and skirt are pretty simple; good as potential wardrobe basics, but nothing really exciting.
Again, lots of simple silhouettes, but I actually find myself really liking all of these designs. Not super exciting from a design perspective, but they feel like the easy summer clothes people would want to wear in warm months.
I like the stripe detail on the left. It’s a simple detail, but I like it. Might be something worth adding to a basic tank dress pattern I’ve already got in the stash…
More styles I feel look cute, but aren’t really objectively exciting. I do like how the looks in the center and on the right are separates, but look like a dress and jumpsuit. Mixing and matching the tops and bottoms would also create really cute looks. I think this idea of dress, matching top and skirt, and matching top and pants are a really fun concept for a summer capsule actually.
The lace dress on the left has the most interest in terms of design features, but, sadly, it is the PDF pattern for this issue and not actually printed in the pattern sheets.
More examples of the same patterns. Still like the dress on the right. Something about that hemline is really speaking to me.
Close up of the dress details.
And that’s it! There really isn’t a whole lot in the Special Edition issues – a few tops, a few skirts, a pair of trousers, and a few dresses. All are pretty simple, but I do find myself enjoying the simple styles with more wild fabrications. I don’t think I need to add this magazine to the stash; I’ve got lots of simple patterns as it is, but I am sort of inspired to play with the concept of matching separates to create a mix and match type of wardrobe. I do think this issue is a good bargain though, especially if you like simple styles or are trying to build up a pattern stash or look for a handy source of TNT basics. What do you all think? Is My Image too basic to be noteworthy? Or does this inspire you to sew simple clothes that can work well in the context of an overall wardrobe? Feel free to discuss in the comments!
Doctor T Designs 
I tend to forgive the pattern magazines a lot of the things that I would complain about if they were single patterns issued by the big 4 (5? 1?). I would object to these if they were a Simplicity or McCalls release because each top would be a separate pattern with 6 different sleeve lengths (pattern hacking lol) and it would be priced at $13 – $20.
I don’t know the price of a My Image subscription, or if the special edition issue is even included in the subscription, but I think that 10 patterns for the price of a magazine is pretty good. The designs are simple, but also easy to “hack” into what you want, so if someone’s looking for a small collection of cute summer basics this might be a good way to go.
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Agree – My Image is an amazing value!
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Good basics but nothing that I need to have from this collection. I would actually prefer if all of their patterns were available as pdf (as well as on the pattern sheet, so people have a choice). I have tracing fatigue, especially from crazy overlayed pattern sheets.
The thing about these simple designs on the overlayed pattern sheets (that you have to trace from) is that they are not beginner friendly, which is what these kinds of simple designs would be appealing to (for the most part). It’s the reason why I love Burda Easy, simple designs with full pattern sheets and detailed instructions – all great for beginners using simple designs, or for people who don’t want to break their head with limited instructions. Or for anyone who just doesn’t want to deal with the maze of overlayed pattern pieces.
I think if they switched the Special Edition to more of a “Burdy Easy” type format, it could be a winner.
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Really agree, very simple designs (great for people like myself), but they look like great pieces to wear in the summer. I do already have one issue but haven’t tried any of the patterns… do they fit well?
Someone mentioned Burda Easy, I cannot find it ANYWHERE online. Where can those issues be purchased?
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I’m in Canada and our Canadian distributor of Burda magazines closed, so I look on etsy, ebay, ebay.co.uk, ebay.fr, ebay.de or newstand.co.uk
Burda Easy is no long published in English (I hope they change that!) so you will need to find a French, German, Russian, Spanish etc. issue.
The French Burda site has the Spring 2019 issue for sale
https://www.burdastyle.fr/burda-style-hs-easy-printemps-2019.html
I don’t know if GLP News (in the USA) distributes Burday Easy Magazine, if they do I would assume they are in German.
I’ve also heard Burda Easy will now be published 4 times a year, instead of the original 2 times per year. That would be great!
Hope that helps.
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Sherry S – Thanks for the answer! I am also in Canada (Quebec) so I’ll definitely check out getting a french copy at the link you shared – thanks for that!
Since last summer, I’ve been getting my Burda from Newstand Uk, and they don’t have Burda Easy either, ( https://www.newsstand.co.uk/ ) as the Canadian thing closed. Roltek.com contacted me early this year saying they would be handling the German magazines in Canada now, so I’ll be subscribing through them in June. If anyone needs to contact them their email is: service@roltek.com (they do not have Burda Easy either, though)
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I think the MyImage fit is good but Iāve not tried their pants so canāt comment there. As far as Burda Easy, I subscribe to the German version through GLP News.
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As you said, these are all really simple designs. Only the dress with the interesting hem feature has any real detail. I don’t honestly why anyone who has been sewing for 6 months would need to purchase this issue. Certainly that person would have some version of all these designs already in their pattern collection. For a beginner this would probably be a great place to start.
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I actually like the simplicity of their designs, but maybe that’s because of the fabrics? I sometimes feel very drawn to these crazy patterned fabrics and never find a pattern plain and simple enough not to distort them.
(I also have a slight hunch, they might have gotten the two-piece-set idea from me because I made and posted some with their patterns last summer. š) I also feel like supporting them, because they are a two person team and the drafting is really good.
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