Hello! Have you been following the Japanese Sewing Book Series over at You & Mie? I’m guest posting there today about pattern layout and I am so excited to be part of the series. If you are not already familiar with Cherie’s blog you really need to be. Not only is she incredibly warm and kind, this girl knows how to sew!

As part of my topic in the series I made a ruffle sleeve blouse and a pair of shorts from Sewing Kids Clothes Lesson Book (子供服ソーイング LESSON BOOK) by Yuuki Katagai. I haven’t found a Japanese pattern book I love as much as this one. It comes with 29 patterns and a full scale pattern sheet and the clothing styles are practical yet still very cute.

Kids Clothes Sewing Lesson Book ISBN 978-4-529-05076-0

You may know that my daughter is currently going through a severe pink-or-nothing phase (is it a phase?) and in order to win the title of Best Mum Ever I went all pink for this ruffle sleeve blouse. I’m actually pretty nuts about this print. It is subtle and beautiful and the fabric was a dream to sew with. This is nuance MUJI from the new nani IRO collection and is a cotton linen blend.

I enjoyed sewing with this pattern and found it quite straightforward. I think it would look great without sleeves too. A sweet pleated tank top! The pattern is H-1 from Sewing Kids Clothes Lesson Book, which I happen to have for sale in my shop. You know, just in case you cannot live without it.

These shorts are pattern A from the same book and were ridiculously simple to make. The extra large pockets make them very appealing to my daughter as she is constantly needing a place to store treasures like rocks, rocks, and some more rocks.

The fabric is Cheater Print in grey from the Stamped collection by Ellen Luckett Baker for Kokka. I had a hard time choosing which print to use because they are all wonderful but I knew I wanted to use grey. That was a selfish sewing decision. I know selfish sewing usually refers to sewing for yourself but in this case it refers to me choosing a colour I love over something more um….pink!

Those of you with a keen eye for detail and who have read my post over at Cherie’s will notice that these are in fact the back of the shorts. I didn’t make any great effort to match up the butterflies thinking it wouldn’t bother me. Guess what? It really bothers me. ha! Let’s move on.

And an action shot of the back of the blouse. The green ribbon paired with the pink reminds me of Sakura blossoms.

Mr Matatabi kindly took these photos for me and the majority of them are of A running away from him. This kid is a runner. Anyone else have a child who constantly runs away from you, laughing and shrieking as they go? Fun.

If you have any interest in sewing with Japanese pattern books do head on over to You & Mie to see all the posts in this wonderful series.

Thank you for visiting! See you. xo