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Magazine Review – Cotton Friend Summer 2013

July 15, 2013


Time for some Summer sewing magazine reviews! Let’s have a look at Cotton Friend Summer edition 2013. Vol 47.

Words in bold  – “Summer Sewing Plan”

Lots of projects to make! From clothes to bags and accessories.

A drapey linen-knit cardigan made up of trapeziums and rectangles.

Caftan

Gathered Dress

Tiered skirt

 Summer Tops

 Things to make with border print knits (horizontal stripes)

Wrap dress in different variations

 There are a couple of Mama + girl sets. Like these culottes.

Matching Aprons

As usual, summer editions always come with yukata or jinbei patterns. This time round, Men sizes S,M,L are included! The kids jinbei are also included (80, 100, 120). But no ladies yukata though, I guess it is too common in most other Summer magazines so it was not included. If you need one, there is a pattern available in the summer edition of Female magazine which I will be reviewing next week.

Now that you have made all the clothes, there is a section that shows you how to mix and match the garments made in this issue, for 14 days. In other words, 14 different looks.

Other than clothes, there are also some accessories patterns included, such as this cap in both kids and adult sizes,

Summer-y Tote Bags.

 More bags – that’s a Ness home fabric!

 Insulated lunch bags.

One of the reasons why I love Cotton Friend is because they don’t just cover clothes and hats and bags, but also you get to discover new crafty stuff. Did you know you can buy an umbrella pattern, and even the bare umbrella metal frame to make your own customized umbrella?

More craft tools and ideas on how to use them.

This issue even includes origami instructions for making a Kumamon – the mascot for Kumamoto prefecture.

Back to the sewing bits. Like all magazines, there will be a few featured projects where there will be detailed step by step pictures, like the ones below.

As for the rest, there will be diagrams like this one. Not all the diagrams are colored nicely like this though, the more straightforward projects that are included at the back of the magazine usually come in black and white diagrams.

There are two sets of actual size pattern sheets included with this issue.

And that’s it! I love Summer issues because there are alot of wearable clothes for our climate over here. Next week I will be showing you what’s inside the Summer edition of Female magazine. Stay tuned!

 

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12 Comments

  • Reply EmSewCrazy July 16, 2013 at 2:06 am

    Ooh I love these peeks into the magazines and books. One of these days I’ll get to a book shop and have a good splurge. Thanks for all this great info.

  • Reply Butterick Sewing Pattern B4919 Retro ’52 Vintage Style Dress Misses Sizes 14-16-18-20 Reviews | WWW.DBESTREVIEW.COM July 16, 2013 at 3:01 am

    […] to make a Misses' dress in two lengths for sizes 14, 16, 18, or 20. Pattern is rated "easy". Butterick Sewing Pattern B4919 Retro '52 Vintage Style Dress Misses Sizes 14-16-18-20 New, uncut, fa… make a Misses' dress in two lengths for sizes 14, 16, 18, or 20. Pattern is rated "easy". […]

  • Reply Serena July 16, 2013 at 9:11 am

    I’m very new to the world of Japanese Sewing Books. Does this ‘Summer Sewing Plan” book come in English?

    • Reply Japanese Sewing Books July 16, 2013 at 6:18 pm

      Hi Serena, This is a more like a magazine or periodical, published once every season. So there are usually no English translated versions.

  • Reply Betty Jordan Wester July 16, 2013 at 11:07 am

    Do these magazine have patterns included?

    • Reply Japanese Sewing Books July 16, 2013 at 6:17 pm

      Hi Betty, Yes there are two large sheets of actual size patterns included.

  • Reply Jen July 16, 2013 at 12:24 pm

    Thanks for the review. The men’s yukata pattern looks good – I’ll have to look for this issue.

  • Reply sheri September 10, 2013 at 3:06 am

    hi yifarn thanks for the reviews greatly appreciated….these magazines look stunning. do you know is it possible to order cotton friend as mail order to be delivered to me here in the uk?

  • Reply Summer Magazine Giveaway – Cotton Friend » Japanese Sewing, Pattern, Craft Books and Fabrics December 10, 2014 at 9:00 am

    […] So in the absence of a “real” blog post (so that I can devote more time to my patterns), here’s a Summer magazine giveaway! Cotton Friend Summer Edition 2013 Vol 47. I just reviewed this magazine recently, you can read the magazine review here. […]

  • Reply Magazine Review – Cotton Friend Autumn 2013 » Japanese Sewing, Pattern, Craft Books and Fabrics April 3, 2015 at 10:57 am

    […] see Cotton Friend is starting to notice that Men need their sewing love too. Last edition, we saw a jinbei pattern for Men remember? Sizes included : S,M,L for Mens and Ladies, 100,120,140 for […]

  • Reply Magazine Review – Female Summer 2013 » Japanese Sewing, Pattern, Craft Books and Fabrics April 3, 2015 at 10:58 am

    […] The Summer staple for ladies – the yukata. The one missing pattern in Cotton Friend this season. […]

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