Bags or Zakka Sewing Patterns

And just like that, the school holidays have ended and now we’re back to the usual routine. I was dreading the early morning wake ups, but finally there is some peace and quiet in the mornings for me to work on the blog! As you can see the progress has been slow this June. These photos were taken a while ago before the school holiday started and are only now making their first appearance! Today’s book review is more of a technical one. I’ve always had a fear of sewing with zippers, even though I have used them many many times, I can never be sure of how my sewing will turn out. I have been sewing zippers for cushions, bags, pouches and I even dared to release a tutorial on a double zipper pouch here (see my sewing tutorial on how to sew a double zipper pouch here). Sometimes I even resort to sewing zippers by hand as sewing zippers with a sewing machine is kind of scary when the needle goes over the teeth, I’ve had a few sewing needles break from trying to sew through thick layers at once.

I’ve relied on sewing zippers tutorials on youtube, and some tutorials here and there as part of the basic techniques included in some Japanese sewing books, until I found this book, released early this year in January, which is devoted to the sewing of zippers.  In Japanese, the word for zip/zipper is actually Fastener, and the Japanese word is exactly the borrowed term from the English word Fastener ” ファ(fa)ス(su)ナー(na-)”. I always return from my trips with a load of fasteners, especially the decorative type, because they are so difficult to find here. I can find some imported YKK zips here but they are usually limited in length. In Japan you can find a wall full of YKK zippers, in so many varieties of lengths it is hard to decide especially when I don’t even have an idea of the project I am going to use it for!

But it won’t be an issue because with this book, you will learn how to properly cut a zipper to fit your project.

The full title of the book is ファスナーのつけ方がばっちりわかる! ファスナーの本 which roughly translates to “Perfectly understand the ways of attaching fasteners! Book about Fasteners.”
You will learn 10 different ways to sew your zippers for bags and pouches, and 4 different ways to use them on garments. That makes a total of 14 different ways to sew zippers.

An excerpt of the contents page.

The book begins with an introduction of zippers. Everything you need to know, for example,

the anatomy of a zipper. Got to know your subject matter well!

There are also other information like types of zippers and when to use them, different ways of sewing them, size of teeth, how to adjust the length of zippers to fit your project etc.

The next part moves on to sewing zippers for bags and pouches, and the good news is, with every project there is a detailed series of photographs devoted to teaching you how to sew the zipper for that particular project.  Note that the detailed photographs are only for the steps involving the zipper. The rest of the instructions are included at the back of the book in black and white diagrams like the standard sewing book.

Learn how to sew a zipper pouch
You can see a small excerpt of the step by step photographs in the picture below.

The projects in this book are quite simple in design, but are selected based on the different applications for zippers.

Sewing zippers on bags

Sewing zippers on mini pouches (with curve edge)

Sewing zippers around a bend.

Making a lined pencil case (learn how to attach the lining)

How to sew a wire frame bag with zipper enclosure. This is similar to the small cosmetic pouch I made for my mum for Mother’s day, but in a larger size with a hidden handbag frame.

How to sew a foldover flap over the zipper. This technique is useful for making cushions too, when you want to hide the zipper pull and teeth of the zipper for soft furnishings. I’ve used this technique on sewing the front pockets of backpacks too.

This lesson will teach you how to sew a zippered pocket, also known as a hidden zipper pocket?

A double zipper pouch, or what they call, a pocket pochette.

The next part of the book is devoted to sewing zippers to clothes. Namely, sewing side zipper for skirts, sewing a front fly zipper, sewing a concealed or invisible zipper, and lastly, how to sew a separating zipper / jacket type zipper.

Learning to sew a proper front fly zipper on pants is on my to-do list! I actually have quite a number of patterns with step by step instructions on how to do this but yet it still looks super complicated. When will I get over my fear! This particular pants pattern, by the way, is designed by May Me.

You can’t see the zipper in this case because it is at the back of the dress, but in this lesson you will learn how to sew an invisible zipper. I can’t tell you how horrible my first few attempts with invisible zippers were. Probably because I didn’t even have the right invisible zipper foot to begin with. I was using a regular zipper foot and could not understand why I could still see the zip.

Another project designed by May Me, a collarless jacket. This project will teach you how to sew on a separating zipper, which simply refers to the type of zippers on jackets that open up completely into two separate pieces.

The sewing patterns and instructions are included at the back of the book, pretty much the standard format.

Close up of the diagrams included with the sewing patterns.

Full size patterns attached.

Title :  ファスナーのつけ方がばっちりわかる! ファスナーの本
ISBN No : 978-4529055284
Publisher : Nihon-Vogue

Buy now from CDJapan

Did you participate in the Poll for the type of Japanese Sewing Books would you like to see translated into English? I hope you did! The poll is closed now and leading the pack is sewing for Ladies, followed by kids and bags sewing tied at #2.

I can think of quite a few girls sewing books, but only 1 kids book – Sew Chic Kids (for both girls and boys). But hardly any bag making books, it’s strange since there are so so so many gorgeous bag making books in Japanese. I must have at least 10 bag/purse/pouch sewing books in my collection, that number does not include periodicals like Cotton Time, Cotton Friend, Sewing & Crochet, where there are even more bag sewing patterns. I love Japanese bag sewing books because of the clear, precise instructions provided, either in diagrams or photographs. I also love the amazing photography and choice of fabrics.  It always makes me want to go fabric shopping.

So guess what, today’s book review is a bag making book! One that I bought without browsing simply because of the cover. 😛

Oh, and I was talking about fabric shopping! This bag sewing book is produced by Kamakura Swany. A fabric shop in Kanagawa. If you have not heard of this place, just check out their very beautiful website.  They also have an online shop which is in Japanese. Some of you may find many of their fabrics familiar. That is because they sell lots of imported fabrics, like Clarke and Clarke, Cabbages and Roses, Tilda, Lotta Jansdotter to name a few. There are also Japanese fabrics of course, as well as their own Swany line of fabrics. The 15 projects in this particular book are all made using fabrics from Clarke & Clarke, and feature patterns for bags that you can use on a daily basis.

The very clever thing about this book is that you can go to their online store, not only to buy the fabric, but to purchase the kits for making each project in the book. You can also browse the full range of projects and additional pictures through the links on each kit.

This bag a medium size bag with pockets in the front and back as well as an internal metal frame at the bag opening for a nice structured look.

This bag is called an Outing bag, with contrast fabric details for the handles, closing strap and…check out the little upturn corners on the base of the bag, and the big red button accents. How cute!

This bag is called a Cube bag. You can’t really tell from this picture, but imagine the pink side fabrics being pulled upright, you will see that the bag is actually made up of a boxy shape. There is a detailed sewing lesson with step by step photographs for this bag.

The next bag is a simple tote with leather straps. I love the fabric on this one and the leather straps go perfectly with the color scheme.

This round little bag is aptly named the Circle bag. There is a zip enclosure on the top of the bag. This fabric combination is too sweet!

The direct translation for this bag is the Body Bag, but no it’s not THAT kind of body bag, but a bag meant for carrying cross body. The strap is detachable at the bottom end so that you can switch sides depending on which shoulder you are more comfortable with. There is piping sewn along the edges of the front and back pieces of the bag, which help to give it a nice structured look. A full sewing lesson with step by step pictures is included with this pattern. More pictures of the bag here.

This bag is a backpack but with an open top (with a magnetic button) and shorter handles so that you can carry it like a tote as well.

I love this cute little bag with the irregular straps. This bag is simply called the Round bag. There is a zip running across the top of it.

This next bag is a flattish bag, but with a little depth for carrying stuff. I can’t figure out what the actual translation for this bag is but you can see from the pictures here that it is kind of a pear shape. There is a zipper running across the top of the bag.

There are also a few small projects like these hidden frame purses as well as some kiss-lock coin purses.

As mentioned earlier, there are two detailed sewing lessons (for the cube bag and the cross body bag), as well as some bag making techniques. Installing the magnetic buttons, sewing on leather handles, adding a bag base etc.

For the rest of the patterns, some include color diagrams like the ones below, and some of the patterns are in grayscale diagrams. Even the grayscale diagrams are clear and easily understandable as they use fabric pattern and shades to denote the different orientations of the fabric (right sides/wrong sides).

The diagrams are large and clearly labelled, so I don’t think there should be any problems following them.

One large double-sided pattern sheet included.

Title : Kamakura Swany’s Natural Cute Bags and Pouches
鎌倉スワニーのナチュラル可愛いバッグ&ポーチ
ISBN : 978-4-528-01145-8

There are other books published by Swany, including one that was just released a few weeks ago. Check them out here.