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Japanese Fabrics

nani IRO collection 2018 – Part 3

March 21, 2018

Part 3 of the nani IRO 2018 collection and I will try to wrap things up today to get started on a translation request for the new book. Today’s post is mainly about the other substrates, the nani IRO Basic range as well as the new Colors range.

First up is the quilted range. A selection of each year’s new collection plus a few of past year’s popular colors will be made into pre-quilted fabrics.

Quilts

These 8 fabrics were made into quilted fabrics, the top two are from previous years – Birds Eye and Lei Nani. The bottom two are from this year’s collection. Grace and Mercy. Apparently the Grace quilts are already all sold out! (at least according to the official website).

quiltednaniiro

Laminates

laminates2018

The above 4 Double Gauzes from Mercy, Situation, Pippre and Encounter are also available as laminates. This is a single side matt laminate applied on the front of the fabric, so the back of it is still fabric and it’s not 100% waterproof like PVC/nylon tafetta. But this is good enough for making bags because it keeps moisture and dirt off the surface. I have some laminated nani IRO fabric in my stash that I used for a wallet tutorial a few years ago.

The other laminated fabric is this Wildflower (old design but new 2018 color). This is a 100% linen fabric that has been laminated not just on the front, but also some kind of laminating/waterproofing process was done to the wrong side as well according to the description. So this should be more sturdy and waterproof compared to the single side laminates?  I think this (on top of of the fact that linens are usually more expensive), is the reason why the fabric is 3700 yen/m before tax! But it is certainly a beautiful shade of blue which will be really

laminatelinen

2018 Basic

Now let’s move on to the Basic range. Some of the popular past year designs have been moved into the basic range, and released in new colorways. However, the colorways have been renamed to simply A,B,C,D….and so on. So if you think you are seeing double and want to avoid re-buying the same fabrics, read on to see which are the new colors!

Design : Wild flower
Substrate : thin linen
The yellow and blue are new colorways, but the one on the left is from 2017, previously called Nibi and now, simply Wild Flower B.

basic_wildflowerlinen

Design : Birds Eye
Substrate : Double Gauze
The 3 colors on the right are new colorways. The two on the left are from 2016 basic range. They were previously called ranman and ibuki. Now simply Birds Eye A and Birds Eye B

basic_birdseye

Design : Fuccra : rakuen
Substrate : Double gauze
Design on the left was formally known as Phi phi, now known as Fuccra : rakuen A
The other 3 are new colorways. Love love love the one on the right! 🙂

fuccrarakuen

All new colors and also a new substrate (linen) for the rakuen series. I can’t decide which one I like best because I love them all.

fuccrarakuenlinen

Design : Lei nani
Substrate : Double Gauze
At first glance you might think these are new colors, but I think these are old colors from 2016 but they were previously released in other substrates. The left should be Bugen and the right is Sea Hawaii (previously in linen). The left one in pink looks like a different color in every single picture I have seen.

basic_leinanidg

Design : Lei nani
Substrate : Cotton Sateen
Finally! I think my favorite substrate from the past few years must be the cotton sateen! Thin and drapey, lovely sheen and lovely for clothes. This is a brand new color and subtrate and yes I have ordered it already. 🙂

leinanicottonsateen

Pochos

Colorful Pocho

Any fan of nani IRO will recognize her signature print immediately. Colorful Pochos in double gauze are super cute not just for kidswear, but add a pop of color to anything! Bags, linings, shirt cuffs…. The colorful pocho range refers to colorful dots on a solid background.

This year’s color range. I recognize some of the colorways but can’t be 100% sure. The navy certainly looks new.

colorfulpocho

Organic Pocho

More Pocho! But this time in Organic fabric! I think this is the first time I have seen organic double gauze in the nani IRO range. The organic range (picture below) is made in double gauze and will be perfect for making baby clothes and kidwear! The price is 1400yen, only 100yen more per m compared to the regular double gauze. Considering how double gauze is already so soft and comfortable for babies and kids, this organic range will definitely be a favorite among mothers and kids.

basicpochoorganic

Pocho Petit

The classic print downsized! This is so so so so so cute!!!! I have never made myself a Pocho garment because I find it too cutesy for an adult. But I think this smaller print will be perfect! And guess what? It is made in cotton sateen so I’m thinking blouses, dresses…. so pretty 🙂

basicpochopetit

One more! Lots of new introductions this year!

This new series is called Naomi Ito Colors – and it consists of solid colors in various substrates. These colors are mindfully selected to co-ordinate perfectly with the rest of the collection, as you can see later in some of the book images.

Most noticeably, the linen range comes listed in a few different series on the website and I really can’t tell if some of the colors are repeated because they look so similar yet they are listed as different colors?

naomiitocolors

Other than linen there are solid cotton sateens, cotton linen herringbone, brushed cotton linen herringbone (picture below)

brushedherringbone

I think the colors are mostly chosen to match the colors of the main design range. I did notice lots of blues/greens in different hues. So you can see it’s not really meant to be a rainbow color selection of colors, but more of a complementary selection to the main series.

naniirocolorsfeature

Wanted to point out this new substrate called linen gauze. While the other fabrics in the Colors series are solid colors, I love this one because it has an uneven coloring which makes it look more unique.

linengauze

This brings us to the end of the nani IRO 2018 collection. I hope it was helpful especially in deciphering all the different substrate types.

As part of nani IRO month, I will be doing a translation request from her new book (Shirt P which is also a variation of dress N and O). Will probably be able to post it up end of this week so stay tuned!

 

Japanese Fabrics

nani IRO 2018 collection- Part 2

March 17, 2018

Following up from Part 1 of nani IRO 2018 collection… we continue looking at the new designs that nani IRO has to offer.

Situation

A brand new design for the 2018 collection. Check out the original artwork (see original post by Naomi Ito from Instagram) that was transformed into fabric. Can you see the blue highlights on the original image that have been translated into highlights on the different colorways?

situation

This design comes in a few subtrates and colorways. First up is the thin linen in unbleached and brown base.

situationthinlinen

You can see the first colorway in action in the book – Coat Q

situationcoat

The same design in double gauze, a blue and light brown, almost a champagne gold color?

situationdoublegauze

And also, cotton sateen. I think this design is stunning in cotton sateen. Look at the sheen on the fabric! I am particularly taken to the light blue version. From far you can’t really see the artwork but the details upon close up are really gorgeous.

situationcottonsateen

Camino

If you think this looks like Saaa Saaa from previous year’s collection, then I beg to differ. I would think of Saaa Saaa as a regular width stripe fabric, but Camino more like a pin-stripe fabric. Both are made up of irregular lines. But where Saaa Saaa is a two tone design made up of single color pen sketched lines on a single color background, Camino has an added 3D effect with random black shadings, which kind of makes the lines pop. I actually thought the blue double gauze was embossed with metallic embellishments till I saw the close up picture.

caminodg

It is actually white strokes (looks like chalk?) and some irregular black lines for added shading. The varying strengths of the black strokes is what gives the fabric such an interesting look.

and look at it on this dress below, it does look shiny isn’t it? I think this will be an awesome fabric for a Men’s shirt. or a pair of ladies relax pants.

caminodgdress

Camino comes in sheer linen too. You can’t really see from these picture, but the linen is quite thin and drapier than regular linen. If you shine a light through it you can see through it. But thanks to the darker colors, it is not actually sheer like transparent type of sheer if you know what I mean.

caminosheerlinen

You can see the linen used in the shirt P below.

caminoshirt

Formen

I must say that this design was one of my favourites when I first looked through the new collection. From far, it is simple and there are no bold shapes standing out, but the details are amazing. It kind of looks like some kind of intricate road map The first two colors – the peach and the black are double gauze.

formendoublegauze

while the other two colors – which look like silver and gold, are made of a heavier mix of material in a herringbone weave, which is a V shape weaving pattern. You would probably have seen this in twill or even some men’s shirts fabrics. It is not the first time this type of weave has appeared in the nani IRO textile range, for example, in the nani IRO reversible tote bag tutorial I posted 5 years ago, I used a canvas from the Nani Iro 2013 collection called pencil in white and aqua.

herringbone

This particular fabric feels heavier than the canvas that I had. According to the official website, it is a mix of 55% hemp and 45% cotton. So I believe its more suitable for outerwear. Or maybe structured pants/skirts or even bags. The silver colorway is stunning, and there is even a video of the fabric being rolled out on Naomi Ito’s Instagram which captured the sheen of the fabric perfectly.

formentcottonlinenherringbone

This fabric was used for the long coat in the R – and in the description it is stated as a thick material suitable for Fall and Winter.

formencoat

Fuccra

On the website, this was listed under the basic range instead of new designs. However, although it bears the same name and motifs as Fuccra Rakuen, the repeated patterns are a new arrangement and I wanted to rave about the Jacquard weave.

fuccrajacquard

Jacquard weaves are textured weaves which means you can feel the texture of the motifs and it adds a level of luxe to your garment. This is a 100% cotton jacquard weave and is woven in 西脇 Nishiwaki, which is famous for their long history in Banshu-ori – the production of cotton textiles by dyeing, weaving and finishing in one continuous production cycle. I think the black colorway would be stunning for a nice formal jacket.

fuccracoat

The grey colorway was featured in the book as a coat as well.

Part 3 (probably on Monday) –  I will go into the new releases of previous designs, some in new colorways, some in new substrates – such as quilted/laminated versions.  See you then!

Remember to take part in the giveaway going on my Instagram now – Giveaway post on Instagram

All images from http://naniiro.jp/ and the book – Atelier to nani IRO’s sewing closet

Japanese Fabrics

nani IRO 2018 collection – part 1

March 15, 2018

As mentioned last week, I will be doing a couple of post featuring nani IRO’s latest collection, just released a couple of weeks ago! I am trying to sew up something from the new book + new collection in time for nani IRO month but I forgot that it was school holidays this week! So while the kids are at home, sewing is impossible, I will have to put that off till next week, and let’s take a look at the new collection first! I will be breaking up the post into a few parts because there are so many prints.

The first collection is called Ripple, this is my favourite and the most unique design of the lot, and you can see why! The border prints make it for really interesting garments, as no two garments will be identical, depending on how you cut your patterns.

rippledoublegauze

There are 4 different colorways in this range, with the above 2 colors in double gauze and the two below in a thin linen. You can see from the sample images that the borders have very different designs. I actually like the gold scribblings on the yellow colorway, although I can’t quite make out what it says. The contrast streak on the far right is also really cool.

ribblelinen
The red and blue versions in thin linen, are quite different too. I personally love blue and white so the one on the right is my favourite (which by the way, we are doing a one bolt giveaway on instagram for the month of March so hop over to take part now if you haven’t already! Giveaway post on Instagram)  The red is also cool. I love how the lighter red (almost orange?) portion looks like dry roller paint streaks. The following dress G from the latest sewing book – Atelier to nani IRO’s closet, is made using this very same fabric. See how the border adds a interesting effect to the dress?

rippleRed

Next up is a more feminine design – Encounter

The idea behind this series came from the Encounter of flowers blooming in the fields, which may have been planted by a someone, maybe a stranger? maybe nature?

The encounter series comes in 2 different substrates – Double gauze and thin linen.

encounterdoublegauze

The double gauze versions are lighter colors, with white and  cream backgrounds. Notice the two different colors of flowers for the cream versions?

The thin linen versions come in darker colors. Dark grey and Blue.

encounterlinen

Here’s an example of its use in the book. This is a rather complicated pattern with lots of pleats! I think it’s great with linen given that it is meant to look kind of crumply, plus linen has a bit more of structure than double gauze which makes the pleats look more interesting. The thin linen is also probably easier to work with when you are trying to make so many pleats.

encountergreylinen

The next series is called Planet, and I think it’s quite obvious why it is called that. 🙂 It comes only in Double Gauze, although I think it will be absolutely stunning in cotton sateen! Well, hopefully next collection? As some of the more popular prints do get recycled and sometimes re-issued in different substrates.

constellationdoublegauze

The picture below is a picture taken from Naomi Ito’s Instagram. Can you see the uneven colors on the background? It really does look like the constellation doesn’t it? I think this fabric will make a really interesting dress. I am looking forward to making something from this!

 

Next up is Grace. Ok to be honest, I didn’t really know what to make of it in the beginning, until I saw the sample swatches and the colors are a lot nicer in real life! But I didn’t really know what or how to use it in a dress.

gracedoublegauze

Till I saw the dresses in the book made with this print!

gracebluedg

This is dress F – Bias neckline Dress (literal translation) in blue linen (below)

gracelinen

and this is Dress G – Big tuck pocket dress. I think the linen really adds character to the dress as well.

Ok this post is getting quite long, so one more series for today.  The last one on the list is called Mercy and it comes in 2 different substrates too. Double gauze and cotton sateen.

mercydoublegauze

The print is of dancing petals, and it is a really sweet and beautiful piece, perfect for skirts and dresses! The contrast strip on the selvedge is actually quite cute. But it is always too close to the edge for comfort. Wish it could be incorporated into the design!

This print also comes in my favourite cotton sateen! Look at the sheen on the fabric! There are 3 colorways for this print – cream, blue and brown.

mercycottonsateen

Some examples of the use as shown in the book.

mercybrownsateen

Dress N in brown Mercy cotton sateen.

mercybluesateen

Skirt L in blue Mercy cotton sateen.

Cotton sateen is different from satin! Cotton sateen is 100% pure cotton and woven in special way so that it exhibits a sheen. The nani IRO cotton sateens are very soft and quite thin, and drapes well. You can read more about my sewing with nani IRO cotton sateen from last year.

That’s the end of part 1, look out for part 2 tomorrow! And remember to take part in the giveaway going on my Instagram now – Giveaway post on Instagram

All images from http://naniiro.jp/ and the book – Atelier to nani IRO’s sewing closet

Book Flip Through Videos Book Reviews Japanese Fabrics Japanese Sewing Books

Atelier to nani IRO’s Sewing Closet – Book Review and Flip Through Video

March 1, 2018

It’s the time of the year again when the new collection for nani IRO fabrics ship. And this year there is another reason to be excited. After 10 years, she has finally released a new sewing pattern book! (You can read the review of the first book here. )

All the fabrics used in the book are from the new nani IRO 2018 collection. I will be going writing up on that once I get my hands on the fabric. And since we will be practically talking about nani IRO collection the whole month, I would like to declare this month of March 2018 – nani IRO month again!

naniIROmonth2018_sm

I first came up with this idea back in March 2013 where I dedicated the entire month to nani IRO related posts, and oh my has it been 5 years already??? What will I be doing for nani IRO month? First of all, this book review, followed by a post on the new collection this year, and finally my very own makes!

In the meantime, let’s get inspired and hopefully this will help you decide which fabrics to get too! (If you haven’t ordered already)

cover

This time round it’s for ladies only. Sizes S, M&L, L+ and 2L are included. It’s a little confusing, but I will explain later with the size chart at the end of the book review.

innercover

There are patterns for tops, pants, skirts, dresses, pantsuit, hats, coats and shirts. Well practically everything. It is the Sewing Closet book after all!

contents1

The projects are grouped based on difficulty of making – as indicated by the approximate number of hours you will need to make the garment.

A – Bias collar Tshirt
B – Bias collar Dress
C – Cocoon dress
D – Petticoat dress
E – Free Hat

contents2

F – Bias Collar Dress
G – Big Tuck Pocket Dress
H – Big Tuck Pocket dress with half sleeves
I – Tapered pants
J – Wide Pants

contents3

K – Tuck Silhouette Dress
L – Side pocket Long Skirt
M – All in one
N – Work Dress

contents4

Q – Spring Summer Staff Coat
R – Autumn Winter Staff Coat
O – Work Dress (3/4 sleeves)
P – Work Shirt

CandD

The outfits for each page are labelled below. Here is the Cocoon dress with the petticoat dress worn underneath. The main fabric on the dress is Camino in Double Gauze.

grace

Big Tuck Pocket Dress in Grace (Linen)

G+J

Dress G in Ripple (Linen)

situation

Dress K in Situation (cotton sateen)

M

M – All in One. This is basically like a pant suit. It is quite interesting and looks cool on the model. But I’m not so sure I can pull off the look myself 😛 The fabric is Situation (Linen)

buttonskirt

Other than prints, there is a range of solid color fabrics under the new range – Naomi Ito Colors. You can find many different subtrates here – Linen Cotton, Cotton Sateen, Cotton Linen Herringbone, Linen, Cotton Linen Brushed Herringbone (something like the the wool used for men’s suits). The above skirt with side buttons, is made using the solid Linen color – French Red.

rakuenskirt

One of my favourite designs – Fuccra Rakuen is released in new colors and substrates this season. Seen here is the blue linen version, made into skirt L.

shirt

Work shirt in Camino linen.

coat

Another one made using Situation linen – this is a lightweight coat for Spring/Summer.

Some pictures of the Atelier to nani IRO in Osaka. If you ever have the chance to visit and need directions, see my blog post here – Directions to Atelier to nani IRO

AteliertonaniIRO

and now for the size chart. I’ll translate the important information below to help you decide which size is best for you.

sizechart

Choosing the right size
* The attached pattern sheets are for the 4 sizes – S/M&L/L+/2L
* Some items may be grouped into 3 different sizes S/ M&L, L / 2L
or grouped into 2 sizes
– sizes S / M&L, L+, 2L
– S, M&L, L / 2L

Size table (units in cm)
Japanese Text in Left most column
Body part / Size
Height
Bust
Waist
Hip

Confusing???   I was confused too… until I looked at the pattern sheets. Basically, first find out which size you belong to, first refer to the size table (above). You will notice there are overlaps in some of the measurements for some of the sizes. My guess is that it is done this way because most people don’t fall neatly into a particular size, so the table gives you a better idea if you should choose one size up or down based on all of your measurements.

The next thing to note is that, not all the pattern sheets come in the 4 sizes listed above in the table. Certain items have patterns that come in 2 sizes and some in 3 sizes – which means that some of the sizes are grouped into one pattern sheet.

For example, the first pattern A – bias neck T shirt, comes with 2 pattern sizes only. Sizes S, M&L and L+ make use of the smaller pattern, and size 2L uses the larger pattern.
The second example is more straightforward F- Bias neck dress – this comes in 4 separate sizes patterns, S / M&L / L+ / 2L.
The 3rd example is N – Work Dress. This comes in 3 sizes. S / M&L, L+ / 2L

The easiest way to tell is from the material list in the how-to-make pages. If there are 2 sets of numbers, there are 2 pattern sizes, and so on…  The other way is to look at the sizes separated by the backslashes. I don’t know why it has to be so confusing… but that’s just the way it was written.

There are many more garments in the book that I could not post here, so have a look at the book flip-through video!

ATELIER to nani IRO sewing closet / Ito Naomi

Title : Atelier to nani IRO’s Sewing Closet
Author : Naomi Ito
ISBN Number : 978-4579116270

button_buy-now-from-cdjapan (1)

Japanese Fabrics

Japanese Fabric – Koizumi Lifetex

February 28, 2018

Everytime I go fabric shopping in Japan, I stay on the lookout for one of my favourite brands – Koizumi fabrics. In particular, they have a lot of Scandinavian inspired designs that I love. These fabrics are usually sold in the domestic market only and I can usually buy it only from Rakuten. My last shopping trip was in November last year and I was particularly taken to this design called Flower Bouquet.  All the colors were soooo pretty I took a really long time to choose.

 

koizumifabric_flowerbouquet

This series is actually from Le Depart under Koizumi Lifetex – the same fabric range I made my cube bag with.

cubetotefront

As I was busy sewing new clothes for the New Year, I hardly did any sprucing up of the house, so I did the fastest thing I can think off that will instantaneously update the look of the living room. New cushions! I used the yellow fabric from above , matched with a geometric triangle print and a featured piece Koizumi Scandinavian Bird Forest Barkcloth

nordicstylecushion

The yellow fabric is actually listed in Japanese sites as a sharkskin fabric. I don’t know what it really means because searching this term in English yields very different results when searching in Japanese. But take my word that it is nothing to do with sharks, it is actually a type of fabric that is more like canvas, so it’s great for upholstery.

The Bird forest fabric is bark cloth, which is a slightly thick and textured fabric as you can see from the lines in the close up shot below. It is also great for upholstery and cushions!

nordicstylecushion_closeup

The triangle print below is a cotton fabric that comes in the following colorways. I chose the green,yellow and light grey fabric because it matches the bird fabric accents perfectly! But my favourite color combination is still the pink/blue/yellow one. I had a very much loved sweater in that exact color combi when I was 13! I still remember it 😛

koizumifabric_triangles

So I had to make something with it. I needed something to keep my drafting tools and rulers neatly, so I made myself a zip-around case. It’s interfaced with fusible foam (ByAnnie’s Soft and Stable) so it is nice and spongy, like a laptop case. It’s long because I had to fit in the rulers.
sewingpouch

For the lining, I used remnants of the yellow Flower bouquet fabric that I used for the cushions. Then I used vinyl for the pockets so that I can see where everything is. On the right are two compartments and I used this really cute Free Style Fastener that I bought from Japan (made by a company called Nippon Chuko) The zip pulls were bought separately and they were made by YKK. Love how everything came together!

sewingpouch2