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Magazine review – Cucito Winter / Early Spring 2014

January 27, 2014


I bought this magazine in December while I was in Japan, to learn about the latest fabric releases of the season and to help inspire me on my fabric shopping trips. This issue is for winter + early spring, and includes a back to school sewing special.

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Since it is a winter+early spring special, the focus was on warm clothing but not heavy duty winter clothing.

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Bring out the shorts for spring! The floral fabric is definitely an interesting choice for boys pants 🙂

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A very cute pumpkin pants for the girls. (the Japanese term provided is かぽちゃパンツ which literally means pumpkin pants) The one in the picture is made using Dyed corduroy which is great for warm weather but you can also use the pattern with normal twill cotton for a lighter spring+summer version as well.

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There is another 130-150cm feature in this issue of Cucito, which I hope is going to be a permanent feature in every issue! There are 3 patterns for 130-150cm size this time round.
1. Coruduroy flare skirt with pockets
2. Frill Jumper skirt (picture above)
3. Brushed fleece jacket with elbow patches (picture below)

There are two variations for each pattern, basically using the same pattern but with variations in color/embellishments.

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Sewing lesson – Using fluffy and soft fabric for sewing. This is a special sewing lesson feature for sewing on all types of fluffy fabrics, like faux furs, fleece, brushed fleece etc. (All synthetic of course!)

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There are detailed step by step photographs showing you exactly how to cut and sew on such fabrics.

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Once you have mastered sewing with this type of fabric, you can move on to other projects using the same fluffy fabrics.

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Boys & Girls Heavy Rotation Wardrobe –  Co-ordinates feature. The words heavy rotation wardrobe probably means clothes that you will wear often, over and over again?

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The magazine not only provides patterns for the co-ordinates, but shows you the many different ways to wear them as well.

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There are some cute patterns for little babies/toddlers too…

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Smock blouse

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Vest and pants

Then… there is the back to school special.

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Something I look forward to every early spring issue – Back to school sewing starts around this time because the new school term in Japan starts in Spring. So there are lots of kids fabric collections that are released around this time of the year.

New fabrics from puti de pome. (Kiyohara)

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I loved this rainbow fabric so much I bought the exact combination of co-ordinating fabrics  in two colors – pink and blue, and even the sew-on applique.

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Fabrics from Kokka

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Nico Nico land by Lecien

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Tip Top collection by Daiwabo-tex

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I love these cutting layout diagrams where they show you exactly how to use the material.This is what I call well-planned fabric design. 🙂

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There is even a series of step by step photographs showing you how to sew some of the back to school accessories.

My absolute favourite this season – the nyan cat panel fabrics.  My little girl loves cats. Especially on fabric 🙂

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The magazine comes with two sheets of actual size pattern pieces.

There will be no post next Monday because it’s the Chinese New Year holidays. The weekend will be busy with feasting and visiting, plus Monday is also a school holiday. But I will be back next Thursday with a vote?/survey? for February’s sew along. If you have a specific request (from any of the books that I own) be sure to let me know then and I’ll see if I can include it in the future sew-alongs. Happy Chinese New Year to those of you who are celebrating the festival!

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8 Comments

  • Reply Nina Fuentes January 27, 2014 at 10:52 pm

    Where can I buy this magazine! I love all the patterns! I love that you do these reviews. I have another question , is it cheaper to buy the fabric in Japan, over here is 8,35 ave. or more in the states per yard and then there is only a few sites that carry it so we have to pay shipping on top of that as well. Thanks again for all your hard work and the great tutorials!

    • Reply Japanese Sewing Books February 5, 2014 at 8:58 am

      Hi Nina, Actually it is not that cheap to buy fabric in Japan, but of course if you can actually shop in Japan you can find great discounted deals and a much wider selection. Plus no shipping of course. 😛 If you can figure out how to shop on Japan’s Rakuten, you can have access to a large variety of fabrics. You will still have to pay for shipping, or even third party shipping (since some of them only ship domestic), and that makes it a lot more expensive.

  • Reply Amalia January 28, 2014 at 8:26 am

    I Absolutely love your review. Thanksss! And now craving for the fabrics… huhu

  • Reply Thisismoonlight January 28, 2014 at 8:27 pm

    Thanks for your awesome reviews. I got this in December too and made up the aviator cap, the fit is perfect.

  • Reply Nathalia January 28, 2014 at 11:38 pm

    Oh my, everything is just so CUTE! I’m incredibly interested in the fluffy vest (except since it’s for me I would have to make it adult sized). I do have a quick question about the magazines, is there an online store that you prefer that ships to the US? I’m dying to get my hands on a few Japanese cross stitching and sewing magazines.

    • Reply Japanese Sewing Books January 30, 2014 at 8:58 am

      Hi Nathalia, Amazon.co.jp so far has been the fastest to deliver, and it’s not difficult to order. Almost everything except the detailed descriptions are in English. It’s pretty much the same as the english interface. I have not actually compared shipping prices for all the different options though. cdjapan and yesasia both stock sewing and craft books from Japan as well, so you can check out the shipping options from these stores.

  • Reply Mailbox surprise series : Japanse sewing books | Compagnie-M March 31, 2014 at 3:10 pm

    […] second piece I made is a double layer Circle skirt with ribbon trimmed pockets. The pattern is from Cucito 2014 Winter/Early Spring edition. The fabric was light enough to overlay a plain cotton fabric, and also perfect for […]

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