Book Reviews Japanese Sewing Magazines Ladies Sewing Patterns

Book Review – Sewing Pochee Autumn 2013 Vol 16

November 6, 2013

Sewing Pochee is published 4 times a year according to the seasons, and it includes lots of sponsored specials and special features that are more often found in magazines than books. The projects range from garments to accessories and ornaments, quite similar to Cotton friend. Yet I think it qualifies as a book because it has a ISBN number unlike the regular magazines. Never mind the technicalities, it is still one of my favorite sewing books from Nihon-vogue’s – Sewing Pochee 2013 Autumn Vol. 16.

Why do I like this book? Because they will always feature a combination of works from the “famous” sewing bloggers/crafters/authors who have published books under the Nihon vogue range. In this issue you can find the works of Nanotone, 荒木由纪, May me, a sunny spot and more!

There is also a free 25x25cm free fabric sample from a new fabric collection + ideas and patterns on how to use the fabric.

 I’m not sure if the fabric is enough for making these room shoes but the patterns are included and you can use your own pretty fabric to make these cozy room shoes.

Now let’s step right in and have a look at the garments and projects included in this issue.

 The headline of this issue. – Using one pattern to make mix-and-match clothes. I’m trying to translate the headline but it basically means you can make multiple variations using one pattern.

Round collar dress/blouse, which can be worn front or back, as a dress or a coat.


Blouse with soft gathers.

 Linen Gilet (Gilet – french for a sleeveless jacket resembling waistcoat/blouse according to Wikipedia).

 Belt detail as seen from the back.

 Some of the projects (especially the sponsored features) come with step by step photographs. These are found within the main section of the magazine in between the projects.

 Close up of the steps.

Loose Silhouette Cropped Pants

Some cold weather patterns

 Balloon poncho

 This issue’s Bernina special features the Bernina B580 (drools) and includes a pattern for making this poncho out of thick fleece fabric.

Complete with step by step instructions which I guess its supposed to show us how well it sews on thick fabric. I will have to take their word for it since we don’t even have a proper showroom here for Bernina with the full range of machines for testing out.  I will love to do a review on the machine 😛 (ok I’m just trying my luck here) Check out the pricing below for the B580!  484,500 yen is about USD4931. How does that compare to the Bernina prices where you are?

 I notice Men’s patterns have been showing up in recent magazines. And not just the usual t-shirt/shirt patterns.

 I like this hoodie with the interesting collar detail and front pockets

 Back view of hoodie, and the pattern for the bag is included too!

Padded vest. Very college boy look? The only problem with these patterns are, they only come in M size!

Those of you who follow me on instagram may have heard me wondering aloud yesterday morning. There is a special feature by Arai Yuki 荒木由纪 in this issue where they provide the adult pattern version of two of the projects in the girls sewing pattern book -きちんと可愛い女の子服. This book was released in May this year and contains 21 patterns for 100-140cm and 9 patterns for 150,160cm. Just the thing for pre-teens and teenage girls. I had this book for quite a while and somehow I thought I had already posted a review but while searching for the book review to link it up to, I just could not find it anywhere! I will review it next week.

 If you can’t wait, here’s a little thumbnail preview of the kids version of the same cardigan. I think it looks more stylish on the girl than on the lady. Perhaps its the baggy pants she’s wearing that’s throwing me off ;P

I received a few questions about the possibility of making balloon dresses in adult sizes. Guess what? You can get the adult version right here in Sewing Pochee!

For those of you who have kids, there are a number of Mama+kid matching sets for you to make.

For example, this Liberty fabric special with a pattern by blogger/author of “a sunny spot” 村田繭子

Suitable for both boys and girls – Parka coat and Jacket.

 Linen dress for Mama+girl

This pattern is for the knit pants (not the shirt). Relax straight pants for mama, sarouel pants for kids.

Dolman pullover

 Other than garments, there are also accessories, such as this bag with embellished by Liberty fabric.

A little wire frame purse and felt mascots.

 Handmade bracelets using leftover fabric.

Some cute ornaments to make. You can hang them on your christmas tree!

Make coasters out of fabric scraps.

Other than sewing projects, there are also some special sections like this one.

 Peep into the sewing rooms of popular craft authors and see how to store their sewing supplies!

 Here’s a peep at one of the sewing rooms. I spot a Juki and a brother sewing machine. If only I had space for a sewing room. Projects will move so much faster. 🙂

Now for some technical information.

Here are the adult and kids size charts. For the adult (ladies) size chart on top, the values on the left column are – (Bust / Waist / Hip/ Height). They used 160cm height for all the sizes, so just adjust the length if you are below or above 160cm.
For the kids the values on the left column are – (Height / Bust / Waist / Hip).

With the exception of the sponsored specials, special features which include very detailed step by step photographs, the rest of the projects have their “how-to-make” included at the back. A typical how-to-make page looks like this.

 There are no written steps, but you have to follow the order of make in the diagram and each step is shown in a diagram form.

A close up of the diagrams.

2 large sheets of patterns included.

 Title : Sewing Pochee Autumn 2013 Vol 16
ISBN : 978-4-529-05251-1
Publisher : Nihon-Vogue

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7 Comments

  • Reply Cindy November 6, 2013 at 10:35 am

    I like this issue. Tons of stuff I’d wear 🙂 Thanks for sharing!

  • Reply Clare Maree November 6, 2013 at 10:55 am

    I thought you had reviewed that book with the 150cm & 160cm girls’ patterns too, but searched and searched on your site and couldn’t find it. I look forward to your posting it again, but at least now I have the title and can go looking for it on Amazon. Thank you.
    PS: Thanks for responding to my question about the fabrigami book in an earlier post.

  • Reply Eunice November 6, 2013 at 11:09 am

    Thanks for the review. I always look forward to them as I don’t visit the bookstore so often and it is good to have a heads up before I make the trip down. Seems like this is a good magazine to buy and will make the trip to buy soon : )

  • Reply Carla November 6, 2013 at 3:22 pm

    Thank you so much for responding to my question about the adult sized balloon dress. Loads of (non-sewing) stuff going on at the moment but I will let you know how I get on! In the meantime I’m going to Google this title!

  • Reply Carla November 6, 2013 at 4:01 pm

    Good grief. I did decide to have a nosey about the Bernina, just to see what proper dressmakers hanker after. A jaw-dropping £2,495.00 in the UK. I can’t help think I could probably clothe myself for the next five years with that amount …..

  • Reply EmSewCrazy November 8, 2013 at 11:13 am

    OOh I really like that men’s hoodie and the women’s balloon dress. Looks like lots of fun stuff in here.

  • Reply Book Review – Neat and Lovely Girls’ Dresses 100-160cm » Japanese Sewing, Pattern, Craft Books and Fabrics April 14, 2014 at 9:27 am

    […]  Long Cardigan (matching with the adult pattern in last week’s Sewing Pochee review) […]

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