OTTOBRE woman 5/2016 is released

Hi all readers,

the official release date for our women's autumn/winter issue is tomorrow and now it is available in shops, bookshops and sewing supplies stores round the world. If you can't find it, remember that all back issues as well the latest ones are available in our own single issue shop. 

Many of you who are subscribing, have already got the magazine. Maybe you also have peeked the tiny video presentation we made you in Youtube.

With a cooler period of the year drawing closer, people return to their daily routines and indoor pastimes. I hope that each of us has been able to take a vacation, enjoy the great outdoors and stock up with summer energy in order to manage through the long autumn and winter. In the face of the unforeseeable outcomes of developments that are currently taking place in the world around us, we need to seek balance and well-being within ourselves. While such introspection requires time, sensitivity and absorption, it will give more meaning to our everyday life than shopping or surfing the Net.

My life has always revolved around being active one way or the other, and that’s why it’s difficult for me to draw a line between work and leisure. I spend almost all of my awake time sketching, reading, sewing, knitting, crocheting, baking and cooking. I could also add observation, meditation, problem solving and philosophizing to my list of activities. All of those I can do while lying down or driving a car. I lead a full life even though most of the time the only trips I take are from home to work and back. Occasional detours to the market, grocery store or cultural events spice up my daily life. Close is good.

My simple way of life largely determines my designing philosophy. I want to design straightforward, natural and timeless clothes for our magazine. They are representative of the Scandinavian lifestyle that appreciates the gentle beauty and small moments of everyday life. The materials we use are genuine and uncomplicated. Practicality breeds beauty when the basic elements click into place. Awareness of the environment and the life cycle of clothes is an essential part of our daily work.

We also have a passion for all handicraft skills, and through our sewing instructions we try to convey some of the bliss of refining the small details. The wonderful durable materials deserve to be treated with love and attention. Consequently, a self-made garment will bring long-lasting joy. The great satisfaction that our work gives us can be encapsulated in just a few words: I made it and I succeeded!

Wishing you an inspiring autumn,

Tuula Hepola,

editor-in-chief, designer, mom and grandma

Wool tweed and organic cotton blend ribb

Silky viscose satin kimono

Merino wool and jaqcuard herringbone knit

merino wool ca

Six ways to keep you warm

Sharply Tailored wool melton coat

Beautiful nameled snap fasteners

Sneak peek at OTTOBRE woman 5/2013

Lovely Ladies!

It will be here soon - our beautiful autumn/winter collection 2013. Our official release date is September 2nd and we'll start shipping the magazines next week to more than 140 countries all over the world. 


OTTOBRE woman 5/2013 includes:

AUTUMN WEATHER FORECAST
Welcome winter! Sew a fishtail parka or a lovely wool coat. Much requested patterns for various basic items: outerwear pants, a T-shirt, a tunic, a striped raglan T-shirt and a wild animal-print blouse. Sizes 34-52

SO SIMPLE, ELEGANT AND LOVELY AT THE SAME TIME
Take the best style tips from men’s clothes or go for a more romantic look! A pantsuit, a knit jacket, several nice skirts and jersey dresses, three beautiful shirt blouses, a jacquard jersey dress and an A-line top. Sizes 34-52

Enjoy! 

Sneak peek to OTTOBRE woman 2/2013

Hi everybody!

we have sent the OTTOBRE woman 2/2013 to print house week ago and now it is time to show you a sneak peek of it's content.
A brief glance at fashion magazines and catwalk reports gives the impression that almost anything is trendy this summer. The collections blaze with flowers, plaids, stripes, graphic patt erns and wallpaper textures. Minimalist and bold prints appear side by side in perfect harmony. The palette includes both translucent natural shades and intense bright colors, spiced up with a touch of gold and glitter. It’s hard to work out from this what actually is in fashion! Perhaps it’s better to focus on styles instead of fashion trends.

The official release date is March 2. 2013 in Finland. Shipping to other continents will take 1-2 weeks.

Content

BOLD PATTERNS AND MINIMALISM

Beautiful dresses, a blouse and a pencil skirt for special occasions and socializing in summer. A fabulous biker jacket in linen, pleated pants and a viscose jersey top. A jersey dress and stretch cotton pants in wild animal prints. A delicious jersey blazer and a jersey top. A plain-cut ramie coat and narrow-leg pants.


LAID-BACK SUMMER PIECES

Narrow floral pants and snazzy shorts paired with a voile blouse and a draped tunic. Easy-wear viscose jersey dresses and a sundress from bold border-print fabric. A special-occasion dress and blouse in silk, and a pencil skirt in floral satin. A much-requested knotted tunic and flared stretch linen pants.

Women's size chart in inches

Hi

Our customer from North America was looking for women's size chart in inches on pattern sheet A where  it was told to be found. We are so sorry, it isn't there. Seems that "some one" has forgotten it.... so here we have it. It is always necessary to measure yourself and compare your measurements with our size charts before you start sewing! You can find this size chart with measurements in centimetres in every Ottobre woman magazine on page 13. Click the picture to make it bigger.

This link is also very useful when choosing the size.
Women's Clothing Size Conversion: http://www.onlineconversion.com/clothing_womens.htm

Sneak Peek OTTOBRE woman 5/2011

Get inspired. Be creative! Change the color and style according to the situation. Our current collection for the autumn and winter highlights blissful daily life, brilliant festive moments and the relaxed atmosphere of sweet Sunday mornings. Though the items in our collection are on the whole straightforward and easy-going, we have also included a few feminine tidbits.

Magazine will be published on August 26. 2011.

FRESH AUTUMN BREEZE
The autumn brings along a palette of earthy nuances: mole-grey, fir-green, lingonberry-red and eggplant-purple. Both the classic fabrics and the print patterns of knits reflect a yearning for the “good old days”. So discover the great outdoors wrapped in a lovely cardigan or a practical outerwear coat. Or dress for the city in trendy winter shorts or comfortable cropped pants with a pleated front. You’ll also find several beautiful tops, a tunic and a pinafore dress.

DRESS UP FOR A SPECIAL OCCASION
Switch your style according to the occasion from a vintage beauty to a classic schoolteacher, a formal office lady or a sensuous belle of the ball. The elegant cut of our
dresses does justice to the shape and material of the garment. Brighten up your everyday life too with dresses!

LAZY WEEKEND
Make the most of your weekends and recharge your batteries by relaxing, pampering yourself or enjoying outdoor activities. For this purpose, we designed a lovely set of nightwear and a dressing gown, a comfortable sports outfit and a warm wool-knit duffle coat.

We wish you a rewarding voyage of discovery of our autumn collection and fabrics!

Sneak peek OTTOBRE woman 2/2011

OTTOBRE woman 2/2011 Spring/Summer issue is released on 25 th of February.

We are proud to present you following content:


ROSE GARDENERS


Welcome the summer with swinging hems! The best summer clothes are easy and inspiring, yet practical and versatile: Our summer collection includes lovely jersey dresses, a linen pinafore dress and a versatile wrap-around jacket. For summer parties you’ll find a full pleated skirt and a quick-to-sew linen tube dress. A tulip-shaped velveteen skirt, a viscose jersey top and a long jersey cardigan are great for daily wear.


URBAN VACATION


You want to dress casually on holiday but still look smart when strolling around downtown. Our linen capri pants can be paired with a sleeveless polo shirt, a voile tunic or a beautiful cotton tunic. An elegant, fitted linen shirt dress will be a real hit for the summer. Last but not least, you’ll find in this issue a fabulous, ultra-trendy vintage-silk blouse with a bow collar as well as a glamorous tankini for wearing on the beach.


You'll see more pictures tomorrow! We hope that our summer collection provides you with wonderfully creative and rewarding sewing! 

And the Mildred Wrap Winners Are…

Our Mildred wrap prize draw proved to be extremely popular. We wish to express our warmest thanks for your comments and new ideas! Thank you all also for participating in the draw.

We worked out the winners by first printing out all the comments and then numbering them as draw tickets. Those who had linked the draw to their own blog received two numbered tickets. And the lucky winners are:

- Dana (August 27, 2010 9:24 PM): Congratulations! You have won a tunic made to your own measurements plus a matching wrap.

- ett tu tre (August 30, 2010 1:00 PM) and Christie (August 31, 2010 5:02 AM): Congratulations to you both! You have each won a wrap made to your own measurements.

All winners, please let us know your favorite color as well as your size and address by emailing to ottobre [at] ottobre.fi and we will send your prizes to you. You can choose from the following colors: black, blueberry blue, lilac, beige, dark brown and deep red.


And your favorite wrap is…

The wrap style displayed in picture 7, with two wraps of different colors worn together, proved to be the most popular. The first wrap is draped diagonally over one shoulder. The second is twisted into a figure of eight. One arm is pushed through one of the loops and the other loop is pulled onto the shoulder.

The wrap in picture 4, sewn from the same knit as the tunic that is worn under it, came in a strong second. The wrap adds a luxurious touch to a straightforward outfit. If the wrap tends to slip off your shoulder, you can pin and stitch a few soft pleats along its longer side seam, or secure it in place with a striking brooch. The choice of the knit also plays a central role: a wrap sewn from heavy viscose/wool jersey drapes well and also stays in place well.

The third popular wrap style was the one displayed in picture 8. Two wraps of the same color are worn together, one round the neck and the other round the shoulders. This is a wonderful idea for the autumn when you start feeling the chill in the air!

Best regards from Lapland with its glorious riot of autumn colors!

Shaping Pants by Pressing

The purpose of shaping the pants panels by pressing is to create a fit that follows the contours of the body. You can download and print out detailed instructions for shaping pants from the link below.

Download Shaping Pants by Pressing in PDF format (500kb)

Autumn/Winter Tunic

The pattern for the black knit tunic was modified from the popular Women’s Best Tops pattern (Creative Workshop 303). We sewed the tunic from lovely viscose/wool jersey (available for example in the autumn collections of Hilco and Toptex). To make the tunic warm and versatile, we added length both to the sleeves and bottom hem. The front and back panels were made 25 cm longer and cut in a slightly A-line style. The 5 cm of extra length on the sleeves makes the sleeve edges fall into soft gathers at the wrists.

The black tunic's neck edge is turned a good 1 cm under and the hem is stitched with a serger coverstitch or with a decorative overedge stitch (e.g. honeycomb) on a regular sewing machine. Sewn from printed viscose jersey, the tunic goes well with jeans or corduroy pants. We made the neckline deeper and finished it with a narrow strip of self fabric.

We used the pattern for design no. 13 in issue 5/2010 to sew this stripy tunic. Switching the material from wool knit to cozy viscose jersey gave the tunic a totally different look. This stripy double-face knit is from Toptex's collection and available in our fabric shop in four different mélange colors: fuchsia/grey, moss-green/grey, off-white/grey and light-grey/dark-grey.

Gorgeous Autumn Prize Draw! Mildred Multi-Use Wrap

 As the autumn draws in and the days get cooler, nice and warm accessories come in handy again. This autumn we are especially proud of our simplest item, a knit wrap. In addition to only requiring one pattern piece, it is easy to sew and fun to wear. And what’s more, it suits any figure!

The wrap can be worn as a short cape, folded in a double loop for a neck scarf, or pulled over the head as a hood. You can even slip two wraps on at the same time. Worn as a pelerine round the shoulders, the wrap keeps the chill off on cool days. It also transforms a basic top or tunic into elegant office wear.

You can secure the wrap in position with a large kilt pin or a striking brooch. For a truly distinctive effect, you can drop the wrap down to the hips for a miniskirt, or wear it over just one shoulder like a toga. Your imagination is the only limit!

The best material for the wrap is soft, lightweight and well-draping single jersey – either in viscose, cotton or a warm viscose/wool blend.
You can order viscose/wool single jersey from our online shop.

Take part in a draw for lovely prizes! Tell us which of the wraps displayed in the photos, or which of the ways it is worn, appeals to you most. Post your opinion by writing it in the Comment field and you will be entered in a draw for a wrap and tunic made to your own measurements as well as for two viscose/wool wraps. All winners can choose the size of the wrap as well as its color from the range of the knits stocked in our shop.

The draw will take place September 8, 2010.

If you wish to enter with two draw tickets, publish the front cover of our latest issue on your blog and link it to our draw. Remember to include your blog address in the comment!

UPDATE: The draw has ended and the winners will be published shortly.