Miss Celie

Moden Diana = Simplicity Patterns

My friend Anna went home to Ukraine for a few weeks last month.

While there, she bought me a Russian language Moden Diana magazine. Guess what? It’s ALL Simplicity patterns inside!!



The patterns you still trace are in English


But, the directions are much more ‘American’ in that they have diagrams, etc.


On a more interesting note, she helped me order the Russian amalgamation of La Mia Boutique through Podpiska.us (a Russian language website for US based folks). I got the three months for $28 USD. A year is $112.

16 comments

  1. What a great friend! See, Burda? Can’t you add a few diagrams into the instructions? Just a few… it would be so helpful!!!
    Thanks for sharing, they look like a lot of fun!

  2. It’s even the same pictures as are on the Simplicity patterns! How funny! I wonder how they are related?

    • Too funny. The La Mia Boutique is the Russian version of the Italian magazine? Is your friend planning on being your translator?
      I agree, Burda, a few diagrams wouldn’t kill you!

      • Apparently, it’s a compilation of a couple of LMBs at a time. A very helpful womanon PR pointed me in the right direction. Each edition either has LMB or a Brazillian pattern magazine’s finding. So, they are a couple of months behind.

        This paticular friend doesn’t sew. But, I do have a Russian speaking friend who owns a tailor shop!

  3. so funny! surely, i was surprised, it’s winter there….u have the pattern and the traduction from your friend, so amusing such a magazin!

  5. I’m curious about why you like the pattern magazines from other country’s so much? You don’t have to answer now, you can tell me this weekend…but I was just wondering what the appeal is?

  7. Wha!!!! I used to thumb through Diana Moden in Germany, and I’m pretty sure it *wasn’t* Simplicity back then. Maybe this is a new thing? I wonder if Simplicity knows about it 🙂

    Fun finds in any case- the model on the Russian LMB looks very…. altered 🙂

  8. Ahem. I saw your blog post – called my Ukranian friend, who coincidentally is going home this/next month, with the LMB equivalent request. Why wouldn’t all my non-sewing friends want to go to every magazine stand and ask for sewing magazines?

  10. Hi 🙂

    I hope you don’t mind me commenting a bit on all these russian mags! 🙂 I’ve been following your blog for a while now and mostly don’t comment but couldn’t resist on this one…

    I suppose due to a large number of Russian-speaking or at least Russian-understanding population in Europe it is quite worth republishing foreign patterns in that manner.
    Both LMB and Simplicity are certainly aware of these things, because it’s an official business between the companies. But only a portion of the foreign patterns get published every 2nd issue. In LMB’s case the patterns are from year 2008, I believe…
    The one that republishes LMB patterns translates to “Sewing and construction” in English (“Schik” in short :)) and they don’t have models on cover – instead it’s always some Russian celebrity that is being interviewed in an article and models some original local designer clothing pieces, so in a way it’s also a designer promotion.
    Anyway, these mags are available in russian only. It is VERY expensive to order patterns from USA due to import taxes and not many of us know Italian, so in a way these collaborations work quite well for us 😀

    • That’s so freakin weird about the Moden/Simplicity thing… Are those without seam allowances like other pattern magazines?

  11. Mmm. I just examined the Diana in my local (French) shop, and it doesn’t seem to have any Simplicity in it. Nor is it a reprint of La Mia Boutique, which is now coming out here as ‘Ma Boutique’. I understand the copyright issues alone probably mean very different things in terms of what’s printed where. But this is just getting too confusing :-).
    As an aside, the Diana here is never tempting..

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