Book Reviews – Page 4 – Japanese Sewing, Pattern, Craft Books and Fabrics

Book Flip Through Videos Book Reviews Japanese Sewing Books Ladies Sewing Patterns

Book Review – Dresses and Coordinates Lesson

April 7, 2017

Today’s book review is about a book that was published in October last year. Not exactly new but I’ve been sitting on it for a while since I got distracted by other projects. I bought this book almost as soon as I saw it listed online. I just fell in love with the title and the dress on the home page!

I hope I got the title right though, because of the way the hiragana is written. Google translate gives me two different answers for the first line – “Clothes to wear or Clothes that make you lose weight!”. I think the second option is more likely, since it ends with an exclamation mark, and the sizes included in the book are from S all the way to 3L. So I shall assume that the patterns are designed to help us look slim.

I’m sorry about the yellowish color in the photos. I tried my best to adjust the color without affecting the original garment photos too much, but as I could only take the photos at night and the lighting was really bad, this will have to do for now. I need to find a way to take photos in the day without my 2 yr old trampling over my books 🙁

A quick glance at the contents shows that there are 4 basic patterns for dresses/tops. Using this 4 basic patterns, there are at least 4 variations per pattern.

There is also a Gaucho pants pattern E which is shown on some of the pages.

Let’s look at pattern A for example to see what kind of variations there are for each basic pattern.

A1 is a basic dolman sleeve dress. Simple, classy, dress-up or dress down, anytime dress don’t you think?

A2 is a tunic length, V-shape neckline, and it suddenly looks like a totally different outfit but it is actually made from the same basic pattern as A.

A3 is a blouse with frill sleeves.

A7 looks even more different from A1 with cap sleeves and an additional waist sash.

Each pattern starts with a basic description with the design points. Garment B’s special design feature is the pleat at the shoulder seam.

B3 is B transformed to a dress with a waist belt, with long sleeves and contrast piping detail along the cuffs and belt.

C is a waist yoke dress in color block dress

D2 is a sleeveless dress with slanted darts.

Use the same pattern for a Gilet (a light sleeveless padded jacket)

Wait, is it the same pattern? Yup, same pattern transformed into a bolero style jacket.

There is a whole section devoted to coordinating the garments for different looks.

There are 2 detailed lessons for A-1 Dolman sleeve dress and B-1 Shoulder tuck blouse.

The sizing table is as follows :

The above is based on your body measurements and not completed garment size.

An example of a typical how-to-make page. Note that there is an extra table on the top right hand corner. This is for the completed garment dimensions.

2 sheets of double sided printed patterns.

and here’s the book flip through video.

Buy yours now at cdJapan (affiliate link)

Title : Clothes that make you look slim! Dresses & Coordinates Lesson
Author : Izumi Koko
ISBN : 978-4579115853

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Book Reviews Japanese Sewing Books in English

Book Review – 501 Enchanting Embroidery Designs

February 24, 2017

Today I am going to review another Japanese Sewing Book that has been translated to English. And this time round, it’s not a machine sewing book but a hand sewing one. I’ve had a number of queries about embroidery books so this one is for those of you who have asked me about them! There are lots of embroidery design books out there of course, but this one was recently published by Tuttle and was released last year. When I received it from Tuttle I couldn’t stop drooling over all the cuteness! But I didn’t have time to do any book reviews till now and I kind of forgot about it till my daughter who started doing Home Economics this year, needed to do some embroidery as a class assignment. This was a great reference for her!

The book is called 501 Enchanting Embroidery Designs, which basically tells you how many stitch designs and inspirations you will get out of this book. This book does not only include embroidery, but also some cross stitch patterns, as well as some ideas + instructions on how to apply these embroidery/cross stitch patterns on your everyday objects. If you have never embroidered before, no worries, for there are detailed instructions of what you need + all the techniques and stitches you need to know for the patterns in the book.

A quick glance of the contents page. You can see that there are many project ideas plus instructional pages. So even if the designs may look complicated or daunting to you, it is suitable for beginners as well.

Here are some of my favourite designs.

There is a whole section devoted to Little Scandinavian Sketches, I love the whimsical deers and owls in this one. If you need to make your own DIY Christmas presents, this will be perfect for embellishing a Christmas gift!

Cute coffee cups, great for embroidering on kitchen towels, napkins. A coffee lover will love this.

This series of musicians sketches is just too cute not to share. Great for a music lesson bag. Or an instrument cover.

These Japanese Celebrations themed designs are also adorable. They are divided into the four seasons, and on this page you can see the Spring and Summer related embroidery designs. I just love the fireworks pattern! The color combination and the tiny fine stitches.

These are the lace patterns mentioned in the Contents page. But of course it is really just embroidery. If you have a dark fabric you need to embellish, it will be hard to make a color design stand out. But just change it to all white/off white thread and the results are stunning. These will be great for making your own monogram handkerchiefs / napkins or embellishing a border with a lace design. A lot of work yes, but isn’t it beautiful?

There are also some cross stitch patterns, including the entire alphabet which will be great for your child to start learning how to cross stitch and maybe sew a sampler like the children of the olden days 😛 I remember poring through my Mum’s Ondori Cross stitch books looking for new patterns to make. I still have one of my cross stitch works in my store room and I have to thank her Japanese sewing books collection for getting me started on cross stitch and sewing!

Some of the sample projects in the book of how you can apply embroidery designs to everyday objects.

Little cross stitch gift ideas. The covered buttons are so cheery, imagine a series of them, all in different designs, on the same dress or blouse. Such a great idea!

For beginners, there are detailed instructions and list of equipment you need to get started.

Here’s a close up sample of the instructions for the sewing projects.

You may notice that I have included less photos of the book this time round, that’s because I’m going to incorporate book flip-through reviews for every book review from now on. You can also subscribe to my Channel on Youtube to keep updated of any new videos. Happy browsing!

To buy a copy of this book, you can click on the link below which leads to Amazon.com (affiliate link)

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Bags or Zakka Sewing Patterns Book Reviews Giveaways Japanese Sewing Books in English

Book Review and Giveaway – Patchwork Quilted Bags

August 6, 2016

Today’s book review is a yet to be released title named Patchwork Quilted Bags, and this is your favourite part – it’s in English! The author/designer is Reiko Washizawa, 鷲沢玲子, a famous and well-published Quilt designer in Japan. She has been quilting for 40 years and has published many Japanese quilting books. This book is not about making patchwork quilts though, it is a book dedicated to incorporating your patchwork creations into everyday bags. This will be a great way to bring your creative showpieces around with you since it is quite impossible to bring your quilts wherever you go.

Honestly I have never made a proper full size quilt, but I have been hoarding a whole box of handmade dresses that my girls have outgrown and planning to make a keepsake quilt out of the dresses, so I have been reading up on hand piecing and it seems kind of daunting, especially when it comes to creating a full size quilt. This book came just in time and gave me some new ideas on smaller projects I can start with, and furthermore, it combines the patchwork quilting with my love for making bags!

Let’s have a look at this book shall we? Before we jump to the details of the giveaway 🙂

There are 19 projects to be made in this book and they are divided into 5 chapters. There are also additional sections in between the chapters that teach you all the basics you need to know about patchwork making. From materials, to drafting of basic quilt patterns, and even a little showcase of the author’s quilt-making story.

Before the first chapter begins, there is an introduction tutorial on how to draft the different shapes you will need in the book. This is the basis of the book, you will need to know how to draw the different shapes and how they are pieced together before you can apply them to your bags.

Now, we are ready to make some bags!

The first Chapter : Basic Bags

The first project is the beautiful pieced Little Bird Bag that you see on the front cover. I was surprised that this bag was called a basic bag because it certainly looked complicated to me! Upon closer scrutiny, it turned out that the birds were actually part of the fabric print and were quilted on to the batting. The patchwork portion is only the strip in the middle, which is made up of hexagonal pieces.

There are detailed instructions for every step, not just the making of the patchwork, but also to show you how to assemble the bag.

The second Chapter is about Out & About Bags

There are beautifully embellished bags for a night out,

Casual basic square patchwork bags for running a quick errand,

cute bowl shaped bags, perfect for carrying knitting supplies I say!

Chapter 3 : Shopping bags

Roomy bags with lots of space for shopping and marketing. Note the beautiful pattern which is called a Lemon Star Patchwork. Looks challenging to me!

Chapter 4 : for Moms and Little Ones

Mother’s bag and Baby Bottle Case

Lesson Bags for kids

The last chapter : Cute Little Pouches
Creative patchwork designs and small scale projects that are suitable for beginners like me!

Sewing Case and Scissors Case

Strawberry Pouches

Mini Yo-yo Pouch. These pouches are made out of lots of tiny yo-yos. Amazingly cute and I love the color explosion!

Union Jack pouches. Fashioned after the Union Jack using Liberty fabrics for the stripes. How apt!

Sample of detailed instructions for each project.

There are also two large pattern sheets attached for all the appliqués and templates you will need to make the projects in this book.

Thanks to Tuttle Publishing, I was provided a free PDF book preview for this book review, and they are also, giving away one copy of this book to one of you lucky readers! Win a copy of it before it is even released! Contest is open worldwide and will run for a week. Enter now!

To enter the giveaway, please fill in the form below. Contest ends 12th August 2016. Extra chances for those who share this giveaway on Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest. Good Luck!

Win a copy of Patchwork Quilted Bags

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Book Reviews Japanese Sewing Books Japanese Sewing Magazines Kids Sewing Patterns

Book Review – Cotton Friend Kids! Summer 2016 – Summer Sewing Patterns for Kids 100 to 150cm

July 21, 2016

The weather has been crazy hot these days and even with the occasional thunderstorm, it is still really humid. Times like this, you need some cooling down. What better way than to indulge in some ice tea (our current craze at home is Korean barley tea) and a nice Summer sewing magazine!

For those of you who are fans of the old Cucito magazine, this publication Cotton Friend Kids! is published by the same company – Boutique-Sha, which is also the publisher of Cotton Friend. Since the Cucito magazine has been phased out, it has been replaced by the following publications. Cotton Friend Kids! Published twice a year in May and October. A School Goods sewing special, and Easy Handmade Clothes for Kids (published twice a year in April and September). Keeping in mind that these are more of sewing magazines than books, expect to see ads for fabrics and sewing machines. I hardly mind, since it updates me on the latest fabrics and machines and sometimes even other crafty stuff in Japan.

On the cover – Pretty and Cute Handmade Summer Kids Clothes. Sub-headlines include : Summer Liberty Print Sewing, Let’s enjoy a birthday party, Remake paradise for kids, Cute accessories for kids, and lots more in the book. Let’s have a look!

A quick glance of the 61 projects in this book! From clothes to cute accessories. A big plus point – sizes 100-150cm are covered in this book. Which is why I bought this book because I really need more books with sizes > 140cm. Most kids sewing books stop at 120/130cm.

The first project – a cute peplum top with a chevron print. There are cross back straps at the back which makes it a really cooling top for the summer, unfortunately there were no photos of the back view in the book, but the back cross straps can be seen in the sewing pattern instructions.

Got-to-make summer staples – T-shirts with variations for boys and girls.

I’ve blogged about books on the Jinbei before but never attempted to make one. I am thinking about making one for my boy if I can find a book with his size. Unfortunately he can’t fit into a 100cm yet. These look really cute and comfortable.

Another Summer bottom staple – Shorts! Perfect for running around the playground on hot sunny days. The girls get a more feminine scalloped edge around the hem, and don’t you love that contrast band on the front of the pockets?

A cute parka suitable for both boys and girls. Love that fabric from Cotton and Steel. I have never bought any Cotton and Steel fabric before. Yup I know, I’m so behind the times!

Girls will love these cooling summer blouses made with fabrics from Panduro Design. I must say it’s the first time I’ve heard of this company. This is not a Japanese brand, but if I googled correctly, it is a company from Sweden. Which explains its beautiful simple geometric prints. My girls will love the top on the right made with Emma Turquoise. I don’t have any idea where to buy this fabric though, if any of you know where to get this online, do leave a comment below and share!

What’s summer wear without a bright and colorful shirt for the boys. Fabrics from Dashwood Studio – Street Life collection, a UK based textile design company.

Next up is a Liberty Fabric special. Liberty needs no introduction. This feature showcases fabrics from The Liberty Story Book Collection. I searched on the official website but could not find this group of fabrics, so I think this is just a marketing term rather than a real “collection”. These are mainly fabrics inspired by story books, such as the Elodie Bea, Fairyland, Land of Dreams and so on.

Simple clean designs for gorgeous fabrics. Fabric from top – Strawberry Feast, Toy Garden, Hiding.

The next feature special is on Birthday Party Clothes and cute accessories.

Not your usual formal party wear, but still looking cool and comfortable. The length of the pants makes it easy for kids to still have a whale of a time even though they are dressed up!

A matching collar and skirt over a simple white blouse. Comfy and cute!

I seem to be seeing these clothes Reform/Remake themes quite frequently nowadays. So hold on to your old clothes and check out these ideas for turning your old into new clothes for your kids.

These pants are made using Ladies size M pants. My girls are thrilled taking over my hand me downs, but my boy isn’t of the age where he can protest my wardrobe choices for him yet, but I have this feeling that boys won’t like it that much? Lol, I don’t know, let me know what you or your boys think about this idea?

If they have a favourite pair of jeans that they have outgrown but can’t bear to throw away, turn it into a keepsake by converting into a cute backpack.

Not a new idea, to turn an old shirt into a girl’s dress, but I like how this is done back to front so that the original buttons lie to the back. I love this idea because I hate making buttonholes. The added frills on the front are cute and really makes full use of the fabric and minimises wastage.

What’s summer wear without hats?

Check out this cute ten-gallon hat. Ok, it’s just another fancy name for the cowboy hat.

Don’t you just love these super cute bags and pouches in the shape of summer fruits!

The next feature is about hand towels. Wait what…Hand towels??

Yup, Tenugui or Hand towels. These are usually thin cotton hand towels, usually 35cm x 90cm and usually printed with a repetitive design. They can be found easily in the 100 yen shops and also upmarket souvenir shops (with better quality fabric of course) and have many uses. You can use them as headbands, aprons, gift wrapping etc. They are so pretty and come in so many designs that you can buy them as souvenirs too. I can never resist them. In fact, I just bought some last week from Daiso.

It is a cute idea, but are they are pre-cut, you have to buy a few to make up one garment. The above examples in the book were made with 3 pcs each and are for sizes 100-110cm. Tenugui from Hamamonyo.

These were the ones I bought from Daiso, the fabric is pretty thin though, I doubt you can make clothes out of these.

Another fabric special feature, this time by Andover fabrics. I am so loving the flamingo print on the rucksack that the girl is carrying.

It’s only a small picture in the book, but here’s a closer look.The grey bias and gold hardware goes so well with this beautiful print.

As usual, there will be a sewing machine feature. This issue’s feature is a Brother Sewing Machine – Compal 1500Q. We don’t get a huge variety of sewing machines here, so it’s always interesting to see ads and all the new features. Well, one can always dream. 🙂

Now for some details on the sewing instructions for the sewing projects.

First up, the size chart for all the projects in this book. 100-150cm. The size is in the first column in colored numbers, followed by the measurements in this order
Bust / Waist / Hip / Back length / Sleeve length / Rise / Inseam / Height. All units in cm.

For each project, the materials and completed sizes are presented in a very clear table and color coded as well. The first table is for Materials, i.e. how much fabric + materials you need for each size.
The bottom table is for the completed size of the garment.

As you may have noticed, many of the blouses and dresses in this issue are based on the raglan blouse pattern, so there is one detailed lesson for making the raglan blouse and dress.

Close up of step by step photos.

For the majority of the patterns though, the how-to-make is presented in colorful diagrams, which are just as easy to follow. The added touch of color and fabric print in the diagrams makes it instantaneously easy to differentiate between the front and back of the fabrics.

Close up of the diagrams.

Buy now from cdjapan (affiliate link)

Title : Cotton Friend Kids! Summer 2016 Edition
ISBN No :9784834742152
Publisher : Boutique-sha

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Bags or Zakka Sewing Patterns Book Reviews Japanese Sewing Books

Book Review – 14 Sewing Projects to teach you how to Sew Zippers Perfectly

July 2, 2016

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.