Book Review – Back to School Pochee Special

First book review for 2013 and a it’s a book on back to school sewing of course 🙂 The title of today’s book is まいにちルンルン通園通学 BOOK. There are 63 projects included in this book. The book is a Pochée Special from the Heart Warming Life Series.

The book starts of with a couple of standard items like lesson bags, shoe bags and lunch bags.

These lesson bags are great for carrying files and books, the shape is always a standard rectangular tote so it’s a simple project to make. There are however, so many different ways to decorate the bag that every single back-to-school sewing book or magazine has to devote a few pages just for the it.

For almost all of the projects, there are variations for both girls and boys.

It says for boys, but I think a girl will love this too!

The lesson bags come in a variety of design, including the one above with a front pocket. But what i wanted to show you in the above picture is the ランドセル (Randoseru) which is the traditional Japanese school bag the little girl is carrying. It’s a solidly built bag traditionally made of leather but also with synthetic materials nowadays. I’ve thought about getting one but it’s too small for the textbooks we use here. Not to mention that it is really expensive! A simple one from Aeon mall costs about 37000 which is about USD415!

Since most of the kids in elementary school carry similar bags, there is a project in the book that teaches you how to customize your school bag.

Other than bags, there is also a special section featuring projects made with fabrics from “the bears’ school”. I talked about this fabric in last week’s fabric post . I’ve seen some of the fabric at Kanariya. But I’ve never thought about buying them because I get so carried away with all the other girly stuff ;P . Now I’m kicking myself for not getting any because seeing the small goods made out of the fabric just makes me want to get some.

I was just looking for a wall pocket solution to organize my 4 year old’s constantly messy desk. This looks like a good idea, but probably needs sizing up and more pockets of course!

This is a great idea too. Stuffing things in the back of the chair. Easy access and gets the clutter off the table as well.

I almost bought that printed strap. Sigh. I should have bought this book before I went shopping in Japan.

Another important project for back to school sewing. Lunch bags.

What I like about these designs is that they use simple fabrics you can get anywhere, doesn’t have to be a specific print or Japanese fabric.

Oh dear, now I’m wondering where to get that lunchbox set! 😛

More bags! For excursions and hiking trips.

Simple sling bags for carrying your pencils, notebooks.

I always see pianica cases in school goods projects. It must be a regular feature in their music lessons. I recall that learning the pianica was an option for us during Primary school, but I haven’t seen it around lately. My 8 year old is learning the recorder this year, so the recorder case in the bottom of the picture will come in handy.

Ok I know that this is a just a simple drawstring pouch. What I wanted to show you is the gorgeous color of the Yamaha castanet! I had no idea they come in such pretty colors!

More useful small goods to make. Tissue paper holders.

Craft aprons. I just made one for my daughter’s art lesson. But I could not bear to use such pretty fabric, after all, I know it is going to come back smeared in paint.

Now for some pictures on the how-to-make sections.

There are 3 sewing lessons featuring step by step photos that are included right after the standard lesson bag+shoe bag+drawstring pouch set near the beginning of the book.

A visual guide to the frequently used sewing notions and how they are applied to the projects. I love how the notions come in such bright and cheery colors. I can only find black and white here in Singapore.

There are also some colored diagrams showing the basic sewing techniques used in the book.

As there are some projects that require embroidery, there is also a quick stitch guide.

Here’s an example of a project’s how-to-make page.

As the projects are pretty simple, most of the time you can get by with the diagrams.

A closer view of the diagrams.

I hope you enjoyed today’s book review! Here are the book title and details to help you search for it online.

Title : まいにちルンルン通園通学 BOOK
Publisher :  Nihon Vogue
ISBN : 978-4-529-05032-6

I wanted to review the latest issue of Cucito too which was published in Japan on 28th November. I saw it everywhere in Japan but thought that I should just get it in Singapore since it is not much cheaper to buy it in Japan, and I should save my luggage space for fabrics instead. I didn’t realize it would take so long to get here. I just popped by the bookshop last week and it still wasn’t in the store yet! I hope I will be able to get hold of it this weekend because latest edition of Cucito has a back to school special too. Will be perfect to review it this month. Wish me luck!