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Japanese Sewing Books

Giveaways

Happy 3rd Birthday to Japanese Sewing Books!

December 13, 2014

It’s the time of the year again to think back about how far I have come with this blog.

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First post ever! 13th December 2011.

Recognize this? Over the past 3 years, I’ve changed the theme a couple of times, and never thought to archive the very first “look” of the blog. Thanks to the internet archive Wayback Machine, I actually found the very first blog post!

It really just started out because I was buying more Japanese sewing books than I had time to sew, and I could find no information about these books online other than searching in Japanese. Since I was making to effort to learn a little (well, just enough to get by understanding the instructions and searching for more new books to buy) I thought of sharing this information online. Over the past 3 years, I’ve tried to include more content centered around Japanese sewing books, fabrics, and even attempted to have my own sewing patterns and videos. Family and work commitments have increased over the past half a year or so, which explains why I have not been able to create any new patterns/videos lately. However, I’m glad to know that the archived patterns are still being well used and many of you have left comments thanking me for the patterns and telling me how useful they have been in making that something special for a loved one. I read every single one of the comments and though I may not have time to reply them all thoroughly, the thought that my patterns have been useful to someone just makes this blog even more rewarding. Your kind comments and emails have kept me going. It is wonderful to meet so many people online who share my love for sewing!

Thankfully, a number of publishers caught the Japanese Sewing Books bug too and started translating some of the popular titles into English. Many of you have commented on how useful these books have been and can’t wait for more titles to be translated. There are more books on the way, this much I can tell you 🙂 and I will share them with you as soon (and sometimes even before) they are released.

So to celebrate my blog’s 3rd birthday, as usual, we MUST have a GIVEAWAY! And since many of you find the English versions so much more useful, I will be giving away one of the books that have been translated into English. To make this giveaway even more personalised, you are free to choose your giveaway prize from the following options.

A – Sewing For Girls

B – Sewing for Kids

C – Sewing for the ladies

To enter, just comment below and tell me your choice of giveaway prize A,B or C. Yup that’s it! This will be a simple giveaway with one chance per person, I want make it Sweet and Simple for everyone! 🙂 So please just leave one comment per person.

Giveaway ends 1 week from now – Midnight, between Friday 19th and Saturday 20th December (UTC) which will be Saturday morning 8am for me over here in Singapore.

Once again, thank you all for your support over the past 3 years and I will keep on blogging about Japanese sewing books, and hopefully find time to do more than that!

Translations and Help with Patterns

Translation Request – Quilt Pattern for E Ray

November 28, 2014

Today’s translation request is for E Ray who needed help with the translating the pattern for quilt #2. There was not much information to translate this pattern other than the material list, as the actual quilt making techniques seems to be located on another page of Basic Techniques (page number also not mentioned).

Anyway, I do hope this helps!

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I have one more translation request in the wait list according to my emails (Hopefully I haven’t missed out anyone!)  so I will post that up in the next two weeks or so.

Important announcement!

Due to family commitments, I will not be able to take on any full pattern translations for the next few months. By that I mean translating a full sewing pattern from beginning to end, including translating individual diagrams.  I will still be able to help out with translating terms and small portions of the instructions if you get stuck anywhere. Or anything I can answer quickly via email. I hope that by March/April I will be able to find more time to do the full translation requests as I know it is frustrating to get stuck while sewing! 🙂

Bags or Zakka Sewing Patterns Book Reviews Japanese Sewing Books in English

Book Review – Handmade Bags in Natural Fabrics (Now in English)

November 21, 2014

Christmas is around the corner, and if you are thinking of making some handmade gifts, this book will help you make some one-of-a-kind Christmas presents! You can even buy this book as a Christmas present for someone crafty!

This book has been translated to English by the lovely folks at Tuttle Publishing (Yay!) and is all about handmade bags, by Emiko Takahashi, who is more well-known in the sewing “circle” for promoting hand-sewing. Most of her book published (she has published 76 books according to her website!!!) are hand-sewing books. She has published books not only on making bags and small goods, but also adult and kids wear. Yup! All Hand sewn! You can have a quick look at all her books here.

This book includes easy patterns and instructions for hand-sewing, so it will be great for beginners or those who do not have a sewing machine. Naturally you can speed things up a little and make these bags using a sewing machine as well, then add on your hand-stitched details for a personalized touch.

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This book includes 60 Easy-to-make Purses, Totes, and More. Do note that out of the 60 projects, a few of them are multiple design variations of the same pattern, e.g. different embellishments on the same bag pattern. Patterns are included unless the design is based a simple rectangle, in which case you will only need to measure out the dimensions of the rectangle and cut accordingly. There are no complex curves construction/drafting required. All patterns that require anything other than a rectangle will be provided in the pull out pattern sheet.

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The projects are divided into Shopping Bags, Everyday Bags, Fashion Bags, 2 Sewing Lessons (with full color step by step photographs) and everything else you need to know about hand sewing (basic stitches for construction + fancy stitches for decoration) and bag making (interfacing, handles, attachments etc). Let’s now have a look at some of my favourite projects in the book!

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Spruce up your weekly grocery trip with a pretty shopping bag… I love the combination of knit fabric with tweed!

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This is a really interesting foldable shopping basket bag. Quick and easy to shop and go!

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Foldable Eco bag for carrying around as a spare shopping bag, you never know when you are going shopping! 🙂

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These are both reversible bags. Both bags have round bases which make them nice and roomy.

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These tote bags have a gusset base for a more roomy and spacious bag.

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Flat totes are great for carrying around lesson books, document files or just as little bags for the little ones.

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A lunch tote. Simply love the matching of light blue gingham check fabric with the pale leather handles.

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 A great beginner hand sewing project.This is a simple drawstring purse that you can quickly whip up as a present. A great choice when you need to make multiple gifts since all the different design variations provided will mean each and every purse is unique. Lovely way to make use of scrap fabric as well!

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 A sweet and dainty bag with a purse frame and crocheted handle.

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A really delicate looking bag made with cotton voile, embellished with lace, and glass beads. The strap is made from lace as well.

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Make a sturdy bag with zip enclosure with a leather handle and matching leather flower embellishments.

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Very quirky and interesting Vase shaped bag that will be a great conversation topic.

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Tucked bag with corsage.

As mentioned above, there are two detailed sewing lessons included in the book. The lessons are for the Flat bag, but it also comes with instructions on sewing a Gusset (which converts your Flat bag into a Gusset bag). The other sewing lesson is for hand sewing the little drawstring purse.

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 Close up of instructions

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There are also basic tips of bag making, as well as explanatory notes on the different materials you need for making bags.

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Since this is a hand sewing book, hand stitching and decorative embroidery instructions are also included.

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A typical pattern how-to-make is shown above. Every step is shown in a diagram form.

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Close up of instructional diagram.

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Patterns are included in a convenient pocket inside the back cover.

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This book will only be released on November 25th, but you can pre-order it on Amazon.com
Handmade Bags In Natural Fabrics: Over 25 Easy-To-Make Purses, Totes and More (Tuttle Sewing Books)

Title : Handmade Bags in Natural Fabrics
Author : Emiko Takahashi
ISBN No : 978-4805313169