I made a last ditch effort to dig around the archives for this book review, I was so sure that I had reviewed it, partly because I remember being really excited about its release and I bought it as soon as it was available (that was some time in May or June). But I could not find any pictures or drafts related to it, so it must have been my imagination. So here it is finally, the book by Yuki Araki – きちんと可愛い女の子服 or Neat and Lovely Girls’ Dresses, for sizes 100-160cm.
There are 21 patterns for sizes 100-140cm and 9 patterns for sizes 150-160cm.
Patterns were attached to the front of the book this time. 2 large pattern sheets.
An overview of the garments included in this book. The ones in the image above are for 100-140cm.
The 9 patterns below the divider are for 150-160cm. Out of the 9 patterns for 150-160cm, M, K, N and O are only available in 150,160cm sizes. The rest (marked with a star) are available in 100-160cm sizes.
Let’s have a look at some of the garments.
Frill Cami-Blouse
Dress with large collar.
Cami-Dress with Leggings (both dress and leggings’ patterns included)
Blouse with back ribbon tie. So pretty!
Ribbon tie on the back of the blouse.
Ribbon pants with the ribbon detail on the back. It took me a while to figure out why this was called ribbon pants 😛
Deep collar dress (I am literally translating the titles here ;P) It actually means a low neckline with a collar.
Dress with Raglan sleeves (this is the dress on the cover) made with a scalloped border fabric. I can’t seem to find any scalloped edge fabrics here. Do you know of any online sources?
Ribbon dress with ribbon details on the shoulders. Both the dress and ribbon are made of satin material which explains the nice sheen to it. Lovely isn’t it?
3-tier blouse + Ribbon skirt. There are two huge ribbon ties on the side of the skirt which you may not be able to see from the picture as it is a white lacy fabric.
Flap Blouse and Below-the-knee pants (literally!) I really like this blouse. It has a very interesting overlap effect on the sleeves, making them look puffy and somehow really stylish and cool! The pattern for the blouse is only for 100-140cm though. The patterns for the pants go up to 160cm.
2 layer blouse + Frill skirt.
Modified collar knit (blouse) and Fishing pants?
Jacket + Side box pants (literal translation.The “box” in the title actually refers to the box pleats on the side seams) Very interesting use of pleats.
Long Cardigan (matching with the adult pattern in last week’s Sewing Pochee review)
Coat. Yup, it’s just listed as コート (Coat) Love the contrast trim details!
There are 2 sewing lessons with full color photographs. One is for the Side box(pleat) pants and the second is for the Ribbon dress (the one with satin bows on the shoulders)
A close up of the step by step photographs.
Size chart (Left coloum – Height / Bust / Waist / Hip)
The rest of the patterns are included in the back in the usual format. Materials, Cutting layout, Order of make and an overall diagram with the order of steps. Most of the steps other than the obviously simple ones like sewing side seams or shoulder seams, are illustrated in diagrams (see below).
A close up of the diagrams.
I highly recommend this book, firstly because there are not many sewing books out there that cover this awkward range in-between tween-going-on-teenage years. I can think of a few reasons. Firstly the girls may not want to wear clothes made by Mum anymore, cuz it’s just not cool 🙁 Secondly, they want to choose their own outfits, particularly those that their friends are wearing. You know, those mass market brands 🙁 . But I like how Yuki Araki makes the effort to make the clothes look stylish and unique. In fact some of them look really cool and with the right choice of fabrics, they can look rather designer as well.
Those of you who still have little girls can also get a lot of mileage out of this book since it includes patterns from 100cm (which is suitable for a 3/4 yr old? I forget how tall my daughter was at 3) all the way till 160cm. So it is really a must have in your collection if you have little girls to sew for. You can also check out the other book that I reviewed previously by the same author for the 90-130cm range.
Title : きちん可愛い女の子服 Neat and Lovely Girls’ Dresses
ISBN : 978-4-529-05189-7
Author : 荒木由紀
Publisher ：Nihon-vogue
