Tuesday 29 March 2011

Dipping my toes into Japanese pattern books...



I’ve had this beautiful Japanese pattern book for a while, but have been scared witless at the thought of making anything from it. 



 

I spent hours swooning over the classic, elegant clothes and stroking the lovely, thick creamy paper before deciding a skirt would be the easiest thing to make for a first attempt.

Before I started I read up on the subject.  There's an excellent article in issue 25 of Sew Hip magazine by Florence of Flossie Teacakes.  It's really well written and a pleasure to read.  If you're thinking of sewing from Japanese pattern books I'd highly recommend trying to get your hands on a copy as it's a great introduction.  After reading it I was filled with confidence about approaching my pattern.  Also, by happy coincidence, Kate from M is for Make is running a Japanese Pattern Book sewalong at the moment.   Although I’m not officially sewing along (I think I’ve had my fill of sewalongs for a while) I am scouring each post for tips and advice, of which there are many. Here's a big, giant, enormous tip - if you’re thinking of buying a Japanese pattern book, get it from M is for Make.  No, I’m not on commission, but as well as having a fantastic selection, each book comes with translation sheets of sewing terms which Kate herself has put together.  I can’t tell you how useful they are.  Even if (like me), you only manage to decipher a few, it will make all the difference. 

So here’s the skirt I’ve chosen to make.  


I love A-line skirts and fancied making one with some detail to it – I like the little pleat at the front.   Mine won't be as long as this one, as anything too full and too far below the knee starts straying into frump territory on me.  Going by the size chart, my waist size just squeezes into the largest size (13), phew.  

Expert linguist that I am, I worked out which characters translate as ‘front’ and which were ‘back’.  I then tried to translate lots more of the Japanese on the page.  Bad, bad idea - I’m not joking when I say my head was physically hurting after about twenty minutes.  So I changed my approach.  I think as long as you can work out essential translations such as ’front’ and ‘back’ etc, you can piece the instructions together just from the illustrations, which are very clearly drawn.  


For instance for the skirt pattern, I only really need the instructions for the front pleat - the insertion of a lining, zip and waistband I know how to do myself. 

Next, I had to find my front and back pieces on the pattern sheet 


Looks terrifying doesn't it?  Luckily all pattern pieces are numbered according to which pattern you're making, so it's pretty logical once you've got over the initial terror.  I just had to trace them onto tracing paper and voila – I had my pattern pieces.   I made a quick muslin, in case there were any fitting horrors before cutting into my nice Goldhawk Road fabric (see first picture).  Good job I did because it didn’t do up at the waist (ahem), so I added a bit of width to the top section of skirt and started following the instructions.  

So far so good, next time round I'll show you how it turned out... x

13 comments:

  1. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it after you're finished. I have the same book (bought from M is for Make!) but have been too scared to try anything from it yet.

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  2. Oh, I am eager to see your skirt ... I have this book too! (Aside: my husband picked it up from a Japanese book store in Paris for me, and a lot of exaggerated pantomiming of stitching and cutting was needed to communicate to the non-English-speaking store staff what he was trying to find!) I'm not sure why I've been reluctant to try sewing from it, given that I don't read pattern instructions no matter what language they're written in. :X

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  3. Thanks for the mention Jane! It's worth perserving first time as you get used to the process, as it's not as hard as it appears.

    For the translations, you should be able to find most of the terms on the pattern sheet which is the most important bit. Look out for distinctive bits of the characters and then scan down the list of translations and look for them. Not sure if this makes sense.

    It's a gorgeous skirt, can't wait to see what you make! My top is now slimmed down and I'm ready to reach for the good fabric!

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  4. Wow you're a braver woman than I am but I love that tie neck blouse - please try it next! x

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  5. Wow, that pattern sheet is terrifying! I was just looking at the outside of that book at Japantown in SF but I didn't know what the designs looked like inside. Now that you've shared snippets, I may have to pick it up. The garments look gorgeous! Looking forward to hearing more about your skirt project.

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  6. HI Jane, i have a few japanese pattern books too - does your have every pattern on the sheet? I love the patterns in it yet I bought a few that kinda get you to draft your own patterns and in combination with zero japanese its too much. But If that simple chic one has all the patterns Id love to know... cause you always need more patterns!!! Btw loving your blog used to live in chiswick years ago now in Brisbane Australia. memeories of shepherds bush fabric markets were a welcome reminder.

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  7. Wow, brave stuff! I hope it turns out ok, the picture is just lovely!

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  8. Oh, I'm coveting that book...now that you've posted about it surely it's a sign I should press the 'add to basket' button?!

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  9. Thanks everybody, it really is a gorgeous book and worth buying just to drool over the pictures, Carly, press the 'add to basket' button NOW! Jacqui, the book contains 21 patterns and all the pattern pieces are on two giant sheets (I just showed the one with my pattern on in the pic) which you can trace. So it's actually really good value for money. Nice to know my Shepherd's Bush market ramblings are appreciated! x

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  10. Hmm interesting post Jane. I have the couture dress and smock book and really want to try a pattern out. I love the simple shapes and lines of the japanese patterns, plus they are just really pretty sewing books and so unlike some of the awful sketches you get on front of US pattern envelopes!

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  11. That is really useful thank you! There are so many lovely and covetable Japanese pattern books out there that it really helps to have a bit more insight about them. Mind you, I'd still like to buy all of them (and the crochet books too!).

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  12. What a fabulous looking book, if daunting. I just know I would never get round to tracing out all the pattern pieces (I even struggle when it comes to cutting out unused ones...), but will thoroughly enjoy seeing what you make!

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  13. How interesting! I have Miyaki's book. I dont read Japanese but the instructions are easy to follow and I completed the first blouse on the first pattern, i think it's no. 1 yesterday. Sewing patterns are unheard of here, so I resorted to getting Japanese books and buying patterns from the US direct. Enjoy the sewing :)

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