Book Review – Ladies Pants and Skirts

It’s been a while since I’ve posted a Ladies sewing pattern book. Time for some selfish sewing!

Today’s recommendation – Ladies Pants & Skirts. This is a compilation of Ladies pants and skirt patterns by Nihon-Vogue and it features the work of 9 different designers. Sizes include : 9,11,13,15 and 17.

The book begins with patterns for pants, and here they are grouped by the works of the different designers.

The first two patterns A and B are designed by 大川友美 author of Clean and Natural .  The first pair of pants is a Linen denim Easy Pants  and the second is a pair of tapered denim pants. Both come with elastic waistbands, concealed side pockets as well as back pockets. There is even a full color sewing lesson with step by step photographs. Great for those of you tackling side/back pockets for the first time, because it really goes into details of how the pockets should be attached.

Check out the close up details of sewing on the pockets. Once you learn this, you can apply it to any pair of pants/skirt.

Pattern C is a pair of Neat Cropped Pants designed by Enanna 

Skirt? in the pants section? No it’s actually a pair of Full length Wide Pants. I love this design by Nanatone. It looks very feminine because it looks like a long skirt, yet it offers you the convenience of a pair of pants. Not too girly too, because of the drop waist ribbon tie.

If you found the full-length version too cumbersome, the same pattern is offered in 3 different length variations. The above picture shows the 3/4 length option.

and the shortest option which is probably more like a pair of culottes.

Pattern E is designed by muni, and is a modern day 3/4 length Jodhpurs pants. Jodhpurs pants are supposedly for horse riding, flared at the hips and thighs and tight at the calves. This particular pair of pants was made in knit fabric, with 2 side pockets along the side seams.

The second pair is a full length variation, almost the same construction as the first pair, but with a slight design twist for the side pockets.

Pattern F is a pair of Ribbon tie straight cut pants designed by Enanna .

The next section of the book is all about skirts.

The first pair of skirt is a below the knee flared skirt. This skirt comes with a yoke panel around the tummy area and only flares out from hip level onwards. I find this rather flattering for ladies because if you wear a flared skirt that flares from the waist line, the fabric bunches around the tummy and makes you look rather thick around the middle. Having a yoke panel (especially if you make this in a slightly heavier fabric) actually gives the illusion that your tummy is flatter.

The second variation is a mi-mollet skirt or a midi skirt. This refers to a skirt length that ends below the knee and before the calf.

The second sewing lesson in the book is for the skirts G1, G2, and G3. Which is pretty much a basic yoke skirt with an elastic waistband.

The next skirt – A Knee-length Tuck Skirt, was designed by Lilla Blomma. Lilla Blomma is not the name of the designer, but the brand name of a Pattern and Fabric shop helmed by two ladies, Megu and Mayu. H-2 (below) is the longer version of the same skirt.

The next skirt is a gathered skirt with yoke. The design is by LUNANCHE (Tomoko Tanaka)  It is not a fitted yoke but one that is gathered slightly at the elastic waist band with a ribbon tie. I love the soft green color of the fabric which is a Cotton linen chambray in Muscat color. The variation is a tiered skirt below (Cotton voile in Provence print)

This is a really cute skirt by AN Linen – an Apron style Salopette Skirt in Ramie Linen.

A much simpler variation – a drawstring skirt. But I am loving the draping of this fabric. This is made with a linen knit. I seriously have no idea where to find linen knit but it sure looks comfortable.

An extra pair of jeans lying around can be remade into a brand new denim skirt! Design by La la happy.

Here are the sizing details.

The column on the left says “size / height / waist / hip”. All the patterns are made based on height of 160cm, but for your reference, the model in the picture is 170cm tall and wears a size 9.

1 full size, double sided pattern sheet included.

Title : 大人のパンツとスカート Ladies Pants and Skirts
ISBN No. : 978-4-529-05359-4
Publisher : Nihon Vogue