Japanese Sewing Books

I mostly make clothes for my daughters, they are growing, so they need them. I, however am not growing (hopefully), so I don’t need new clothes as often. But very occasionally I like to indulge and sew something from one of my delightful Japanese sewing books. My favourite being Drape Drape 2 by Hisako Sato.

What I love about the Drape drape books (there are three in total) is the mind blowing pattern construction. A sleeveless, collarless, buttonless blouse made from just two pattern pieces. Ingeniously twisted, gathered and draped into an art form. It’s origami with fabric and as you may imagine, can be quite a challenge. But I’m certainly up for the challenge to be able to make such unique contemporary designs.

I made 2 of these two piece gather drape blouses. Tracing the pattern took a good few hours, it’s a tedious process, but the sewing part was quicker (thank goodness). This particular pattern was a bit complicated, it’s important to have all the patten marking on the fabric (making sure they do not rub off half way through sewing ut hum!). But once you’ve made one, the second one is a lot quicker and a lot easier.

The first top I made from the same book, using only one pattern piece, was a really simple sew. Again, I made two of them. These patterns tick all the boxes for me, drapes, asymmetrical and a bit quirky.

But as much as I love this blouse, wearing it is a bit of a problem. It slips back off my shoulders at the slightest movement. I have to adjust it every few minutes, which is a big pain but I doesn’t put me off wearing it.

Another thing to note if you were thinking of buying this or any Japanese sewing book, is the sizing. Check before you buy. This particular one considers a UK size 12 a L/XL.

Fortunately the Drape drape books have been translated to English, but some of the other really cool pattern books for children or adults are only available in Japanese. However the detailed diagrams are so good it is still possible to understand what to do without being able to read Japanese.

If you follow other sewing blogs, you may have noticed a few garments made from Japanese sewing books recently, that’s because its Japanese Sewing Week. If you’re interested in seeing more or showing what you have made from a Japanese sewing pattern, pop on over to Made by Sara for all the details.