Monthly Archives

August 2014

Baby Sewing Patterns Book Reviews Japanese Sewing Books

Book Review – Baby and Toddler Clothes

August 29, 2014

I’ve hardly reviewed any baby books on my blog as you may have realized, because I tend to review what the books I buy to sew from, and most of the time I only sew for my girls and myself. But the next few months will be exciting for both sides of our family, as there are 4 babies  who are expecting to arrive from this month till next Feb. So I thought it was time to relook at some baby sewing pattern books, and see if I have time to make any handmade gifts for my new nieces and nephews.

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The title of the book is loosely translated (with the help of Google translate) as The most well recognized Baby and Small child’s clothes. I guess it means the most frequently used/seen pieces in a baby and toddler’s wardrobe. The little captions on the cover also say “Easy from foundation”, and “First time mothers can feel assured”. Which probably means Great for beginner sewing mums, since the book will cover everything you need from the basics of sewing. There are 37 pieces of clothing and accessories covered in this book, for ages 0-3. As a testament to how popular and useful this book has been, it was first published in July 2010, and had its 16th print run in May 2014!

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The estimated size chart and age range is included in the beginning of the book.
Left column says Size / Hat size / Age indication / Height

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As it is a book for beginners, the book begins with an introduction of tools, fabrics, sewing basics like pattern tracing, sewing notations etc.

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There is even a section on sewing knits, since you know, knits are probably a lot more comfortable for baby and toddler wear.

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The main section of the book  covers seven main categories of clothing.
A – Coveralls
B – Sleeveless Shirt
C – Camisole
D – Monkey Pants
E -T-shirt
F – Easy pants
G – Skirt

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Each of the type of clothing will come with a basic pattern, as well as two variations.

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Short gathered sleeve variation of the overalls

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Long sleeve tiered blouse (modified from the overalls pattern)

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For each of the clothing type, there is a full color lesson, detailed in step by step photos.

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B – Sleeveless shirt

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The boy version of the sleeveless shirt has a proper button placket on the front, you can learn how to make this by just following the pictures.

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C – Camisole (I guess this is only for the girls 🙂

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D – Monkey pants

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Variation 1 of monkey pants

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Variation 2 of monkey pants with a little skirt. How cute!

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The classic T-shirt with snap buttons on the side for easy wearing. Very important feature for baby clothing since it is sometimes difficult to pull the shirts over their heads.

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Tshirt Variation 1 – long sleeve t-shirts

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T-shirt Variation 2 – Cardigan

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Easy Pants

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Variation 1 – Salopette pants

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Skirt pants

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G – Skirts

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Tiered skirt

Other than clothing projects, there are also patterns for essential baby accessories.

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Bibs

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Bloomers

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Reversible Tulip hat

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Legwarmers

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Quilt knit vest

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Hooded Reversible Poncho

As each clothing category (A-G) comes with its own sewing lesson for the basic arrangement, the how-to-make section only includes details of the pattern variations, as well as the how-to-makes for the accessories.

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One double sided pattern sheet included.

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Ichiban Yoku Wakaru Akachan to Chiisanako no Fuku 0 ~ 3 Sai no Youfuku, Komono 37 Ten / Nihon Vogue Sha

Title : いちばんよくわる 赤ちゃんと小さな子の服
ISBN : 978-4-529-04842-2
Publisher : Nihon-Vogue

Bags or Zakka Sewing Patterns Book Reviews Japanese Sewing Books

Book Review – Handmade Bag Basics

August 20, 2014

I picked up this book from the Kinokuniya sale over the National Day weekend. It is a book about the basics of handmade bags and it’s great for beginners!

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This book is split up into 3 main sections. The first section is more like a textbook, and goes through all the basics you need to know for bag making.

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There’s everything you need to know here. From selection of tools like needles, thread types, fabric selections, patterns, preparing your fabrics, sewing around curves, finishing of raw edges etc.

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The second section provides 11 different sewing lessons from the most basic tote bag, to the boston bag (complete with zips and leather handles). The lessons are ordered in increasing order of difficulty, so you can work your way through the projects. By the end of the book, you will be an expert at bag-making! 🙂

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Here are some of the bags you will learn to make in this book.

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Petanko tote bag. What’s Petanko? I have no idea and there doesn’t seem to be a direct translation, but it seems to refer to flat tote bags.

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For each of the sewing lessons, the instructions are presented in large, clear graphics like the ones above.

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This bag looks like the previous tote, but it is made using laminated fabric. Anyone who has made bags using laminated fabrics will know that these fabrics are not easy to sew with. This lesson will show you how to work with laminated fabrics.

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Mini Tote bag

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Simple Pochette

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Classic Canvas Tote bag

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Eco Bag

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Messenger Bag

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Boston Bag

The third section is a chellenge for first time sewing Mamas! Make a set of school accessories for your child!

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The standard 3 piece set – Lesson bag, Drawstring bag, Shoe bag

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There are no pattern sheets included, since all the bags are constructed using simple rectangles and easily constructed shapes.

However, as a bonus, there is a little booklet at the back that you can detach for reference.  It is a handy handmade dictionary for frequently used sewing terms and techniques.

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An excerpt from the handmade dictionary

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Title : Basics of Handmade Bags
手作りバッグのきほん
ISBN No.: 978-4-405-07182-7

This book is great not only for beginners who have never sewn a bag in their life, but also for people like me. I’ve made many many bags before but there are certain steps where I just wing it, mostly due to shortage of precise instructions. This book breaks down the process to the smallest detail, so I believe that by following it I will finally learn how to create the perfect bag!

Translations and Help with Patterns

Translation Request – for Emma

August 13, 2014

This week’s translation request is from this book – Straight Stitch Sewing Tunics and Dresses by Sato Watanabe.

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 The pattern translated is for pattern E variation 2.

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Materials
Fabric – 2 Way Toriko Satin [Solpano 4112999] 145cm wide x 1.8m (you can purchase the exact fabric here )
Interfacing : 40 x 60cm
Fastener (zip) – 20cm longth x 1pc
Beads – 3mm Cut beads (beads with facets) x 20pcs, Small round beads x 20 pcs

Sewing order
1. Sew tucks on front bodice, attach facing on neckline (for front)
2. Attach fastener to back centre, attach facing on neckline (for back)
3. Sew side seams, finish armholes with a double fold hem
4. Attach shoulder fabric pieces
5. Finish the hem with a double fold hem
6. Stich beads on top of tucks (on front bodice)

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Happy Sewing Emma!

New Releases

New Releases – August 2014

August 6, 2014

It’s a brand new month! And here are the new releases that are coming soon, as well as some that have been released over the past few months (that have escaped my radar) Obviously I have not been too hardworking at shopping lately 😛

Happy browsing & shopping!

cottonfriendCotton Friend (Autumn edition 2014)

NHKhandmade

NHK Wonderful Handmade 

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Fabric bags and accessories without using patterns

adultsewing

Adult Sewing – 26 patterns for all year use
For more preview pages, click here to go to the flash viewer on Nihon-vogue’s website

handmadepurseHandmade Purses Book

adultsstraightsewing

Straight Sewing Dresses & Tunics

suteteco

Handmade steteco for everyone
To find out what a suteteko is, this article from Japan Times, is a great explanation.

ilovelibertyprint

I Love Liberty Print 

hatsyouwanttomakeHats you want to make
althernative site on Rakuten, clicking on the green button below the cover image allows you to launch a flash browser to preview the pages.