Japanese Sewing Books

It can be hard to find time to craft and sew, so sometimes I'll go weeks without making anything. Sometimes, like these last couple of weeks, I will get inspired and sew in whatever spare minutes arise. This time around, I was mostly inspired by the 'Stylish Dress Book' (English edition), by Yoshiko Tsukiori, which arrived in the mail a couple of weeks ago. I traced out a dress pattern, as I had some fabric in my stash which looked much like one used in the book (dress I). Then I realised that my fabric wasn't nearly wide enough. Oops. My husband chose a different dress from the book that he would like to see on me (of course he chose a tricky one) and we all went on a shopping trip to our local fabric store.

I have cut out the pieces for my dress, but they're still sitting on our dining table (I don't have a sewing room at the moment) because I had a couple of other projects that I wanted to get done first. These projects  included a pair of denim pants (or "jeans like Daddy") and a new hat for E. I used the 'Black Linen Hat' pattern from 'Carefree Clothes for Girls', by Junko Okawa. It's the second time that I've made this hat for E (although I've never used black or linen for them) and have a third one cut out and ready to sew. E loves that these hats sit so low on her head. People are always pulling her hat up so that they can see her eyes and she just gives them a look and pulls it straight down again. This doesn't help her habit of walking around with her head in the air. E's favourite dress is one that I made from this book, too. It's the 'Dress with Lace Doily' in orange cotton with a vintage doily that I found in a country op-shop. The dress is nearly two sizes bigger than I would usually make for her, but she loves it and there's plenty of room to grow.

These Japanese pattern books have been so inspiring that I've recently ordered three more. I see a lot of sewing in my future.

-Polly