Japanese Sewing Books

I mentioned before that I had been bitten by the clothing-sewing bug. Do not worry, I'm still working on my quilts (and getting close to finishing my Map of the States quilt), but there is something so fun about actually wearing something I made. And nothing compares to the patterns in the many Japanese sewing books available. I recently received a few that I ordered a couple weeks ago on Etsy.

I did a bit of research before ordering these books. The Purl Bee has an excellent review of sewing patterns from these books. They are almost entirely in Japanese, but the diagrams look great. I wouldn't make your first article of clothing ever from a book like this, but if you have experience sewing garments, I think you'd be ok.

The most important tips I've come across is that the sizing is smaller than we are used to in the US and the pattern pieces do not include the seam allowances - you must add those yourself.

On with the fun! I'm always curious what patterns are actually in these books, so I'm thinking I might feature a blog post on each book as I go along. In the meantime, here are the books I purchased and a sample pattern from each one.

Check & Stripe Floral ISBN 978-4-418-09403-5

Adult Couture Stylish Dress Book ISBN 978-4-579-11185-5

Gauze Linen Cotton Natural Clothes ISBN 978-4-8347-2849-1

Simple Tunic and One-Piece Dress ISBN 978-4-8163-4709-2