Japanese Sewing Week

16.11.15


Before anything, I can´t help to say a few words about the recent tragedy in Paris. I know there are other places in the world where tragedy occurs everyday, but it´s impossible not to relate to Paris, since I live in the western world, it´s my reality. I would like to ask you to read no further, stop whatever you are doing and have a silent moment to say a prayer of any kind for those lost in the past days but also all innocents who have been victims of terrorism, whatever place in the world they live in. Whenever you feel ready, carry on.

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Welcome ladies, to the first Japanese Sewing Week! I´m opening up the series today with 3 super talented ladies, check out the line up at the bottom. This tour was organized by Sara from Made by Sara: head there to read all the info about the tour and play along too, there´s a link up for those who feel like joining the fun by linking anything they made this year using a Japanese pattern.
My love for japanese pattern books actually started long before this blog and I was highly influenced by Soraia from Sew Happy, at the time she was making the cutest outfits for her kids (and still is, in fact, she´s in the tour as well). I just jumped in and bought six books at once, and if you look up in the Books section here in the blog you´ll find them all. Some of them are from Tuttle Publishing, one of the sponsours for the tour, who will be giving a prize to a blogger of their choice as well as the giveaway for all the readers (it´s in the end, stay calm).
I was going to use one of their books, but more recently I´ve received the most gorgeous one as a gift from my dear friend Emi (thank you again!) and immediately knew I had to make the whole book, or at least a whole outfit. So, no prize for me but I do reccomend their books, as they´re translated into english and very suitable if you´re wanting to give japanese patterns a try. And if you´re looking for reviews or just need help with a japanese pattern, this is the place to bookmark.




The book is Aoi Koda´s Sewing Lesson Fall and Winter Clothes and I´m pretty sure it´s gonna be a japanese lovers library staple soon. It´s full of the most gorgeous coats, blouses and pants, and whitin each category the patterns are slightly modified to make a completely different piece. For a more complete review see here.









I decided on the raglan blouse with elasticized front hem, the hooded coat and the basic pants. I found the most beautiful cobalt blue wool in my local shop and organized the whole project from there. There is something really similar in the Sweet Mercerie store, where I found this beautiful rayon challis and a cognac crepe for the pants. Except for the wool which I´ll talk a bit more later on, the fabrics were really easy to manipulate and drape beautifully. These ladies are really making a difference with quality affordable fabrics, with the most gorgeous prints, all produced in Portugal. I highly recommend the viscoses and the french terrys, my absolute favourite fabrics to work with.



The patterns were really easy to use: they´re quite simple regarding lines and construction, and it also helped that I´m used to their instructions. Even if you´re a total beginner, there are step by step ordered ilustrations, but it does help if you´re familiared to some basic sewing techniques, like bias finishes or adding facings.
The blouse has a shoulder dart and neckline facings and a little opening in the back, finished with a traditional closure, really easy to make (I used some elastic). The pants just have those two pleats at the front and an elasticized waistband with a flat front. My waistband is half the width it should be, because it should have been cut on fold but I missed the mark. I think they´re a little too high waist for me, so that´ll give me an excuse to change the waistband and adjust the height.







Now the coat: my original plan was to make the one on the cover, but a) I only had 1,2m of fabric b) I wanted something with a more relaxed look. Most patterns for coats in these books aren´t lined, and this one was very simple and doesn´t even include facings. The front panels rise up to form the hood, the shoulders are slightly dropped and the pockets are sewn between the side panel and the back. They gave the normal instructions to finish the seams either by zigzag or serge, but I wanted to try something different, since I wasn´t lining it anyway. That´s when flat fell madness began. Yes, I flat felled every.single.seam. First trouble was only noticing I couldn´t do it with 1cm SA after starting, ha! All the bulk from the wool weight and difficult pressing made me change the rules in the middle of the game: had to change to 1,5cm SA, and regarding size (I did size 5 for all pieces) I think it even worked better for me (but please, don´t try this at home). The seams were trimmed to the max (very close to 0,3) and steam pressed hard, always with a towel in between. Some are far from perfect, some were unpicked and redone, but overall I´m happy with the experience gained for future projects. The sleeves were the trickiest part since they´re already closed as a tube when you go and flat fell, so I had to do that seam in a two part way: first from shoulder to as far as I could (because the sleeve tube doesn´t go all the way in the sewing machine), then from wrist to where I ended. The coat is finished with simple double fold hems but I´m thinking of unpicking the bottom one and use the very little leftover fabric I´ve got to make some hem facings.














Wanna see what´s next? Here´s the ab.sa.frea.cking.a.ma.zing line up. How lucky was I to be a part and what an honour to open it up with these amazing ladies, check them out today too and follow the rest for a blow-your-socks-off week!




And if that wasn´t enough on its own, here´s the giveaway running along with this tour, thanks to our amazing sponsors! There will be three lucky winners among all of our lovely readers. Each winner will win one of the following prizes: 
- One pack of 2 two Japanese Sewing books from Tuttle Publishing
- One pack of 2 two Japanese Sewing books from Tuttle Publishing
- A $40 fabric voucher from Urban Sew 

All you have to do is to try your chance by entering the Rafflecopter bellow. The more entries you validate the more chances you have to win! The giveaway will be open from Nov. 16th to the 25th.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

I truly enjoyed every little stitch made for this project (and all the unpicking done and yet to be done), hope to have given you some inspiration to search your favourite japanese books and make that one thing you´ve been postponing, or have just given you the perfect excuse to buy a new book (you can tell your husband it was my fault).

The fabrics were given to me by The Sweet Mercerie, but the review and recommendations on their fabrics are my own and truly honest.
The clutch is the Fold Over Clutch, a free pattern by Pattern Runway.

61 comentários

  1. Adoro o "look" final. E parabéns pela perfeição nos detalhes.

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    1. Obrigada Teresa! Alguns detalhes não estão assim tão perfeitos, mas a costura em casa é mesmo assim ;)

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  2. Beautiful outfit my dear! You look stunning! Absolutely love the colours, perfect fabric pairing! Love how brave you are to make gorgeous flat felled seams! <3 thank you for being so inspiring. You rocked this! <3

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    1. Thank you thank you thank you my friend! And I wouldn´t call it bravery, I was just clueless hahaha! <3

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  3. Uau! Adoro tudo mas fiquei apaixonada pelo casaco. E está tão perfeitinho. Parabéns! Eu quero um para mim. :D

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    1. Obrigada Paula! O livro valeria a pena se só tivesse este casaco, mas está cheio de outros projectos óptimos também! <3

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  4. Really great mix of colours and the patterns used, so lovely. You look fantastic! and I can't get over the coat!!! I want one for myself.

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    1. Thank you Maria! Haha, I think I give all the info for making one! ;)

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  5. Nao ha a minima hipotese que esse casaco te esteja um bocadinho grande e o passes para mim?!?! LOL AMAZING! O kit esta espectacular!

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    1. Rita sabes que aquela loja que puseste no teu blog tem uma lã super parecida? Só te falta o livro ;) Obrigada! <3

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  6. I love this outfit so so much. The shape, the colors, the fit. Everything!!! Perfection.

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    1. Thank you dear Trine! I believe this book is an absolute must for you, it´s full of gorgeous coats! <3

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  7. Love it all, but especially your decision to do flat felled seams! I think it adds so much to the front, too. I also agree with Trine, this is masterful color combining!

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    1. Thank you so much Monica! I love the flat fell look on coats, but really, on wool it´s no easy peasy. The color combo started with the coat, then I found the viscose for the blouse, then just needed another color for the pants to bring it all together! Glad you liked it! <3

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  8. Okay, I don't even know where to start....I'm SO in love with this outfit. It is exactly the style I love these days. Clean cuts and the most stunning color combination paired with a perfect print. I might already have 20 Japanese sewing books (ahem) but I definitely need this one too. I'm dying to make those pants...even though I for sure won't look the same like you in them, haha. I will definitely need to do a FBA to the pattern LOL.
    Please never stop doing those close ups because your sewing is absolutely a delight to look at.
    PERFECTION!!!!

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    1. My dearest Mie, you MUST have this book. Seriously, you´ll enjoy the simplicity of the pattern pieces and how cleverly they use them to make a complete different piece. Haha to your FBA, I might need one but not on the pattern ;) I´m so so glad you enjoyed it, I´m definitely keeping the close ups (well, at least on the good parts, ha!) <3

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  9. Gosto de tudo!! Mas adoro o casaco está fantástico!!

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  10. That coat is completely amazing!! I love the colors you used for this whole look. Great work!

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  11. You look great! ove love the coat! Perfect color pairings too!

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    1. Thank you so much Olga, went a little color crazy but so glad it worked! <3

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  12. Os moldes japoneses são dos meus preferidos, pela simplicidade das linhas. Gostaria muito de ter um destes livros. As peças do post estão belíssimas. Parabéns!

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  13. And she did it again! AMAZING! Everything is just perfect. Great color combination, great fabric choices, great patters and perfect sewing! You are truly an inspiration! (so sweet of you to mention me :-))

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    1. Hello you! Haha thank you so much my friend! Can´t wait to see what you´re making! <3

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  14. I love the Japanese pattern books simple but classy designs.

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    1. So true Jennifer, they master the simple lines completely!

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  15. Beautiful! I love the colors. It's not a combination I see very often, but it's lovely!

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    1. Haha Teri thank you so much, it´s a crazy combo because I wanted to use that blue from the coat and the viscose for the blouse, so needed something more for the pants haha! I like they are coordinated but on daily life I use them separate hehe

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  16. AMAZING!!! I'm speechless!!! And I wan't your wardrobe!!! You are fantastic my dear friend, my sewing hero <3

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    1. My dear Carla, thank you so much, glad you like it! <3 <3 <3

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  17. The colors of your pieces really sing together! Lovely. I can't believe how much work you did!

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    1. Thank you Morgan! And you won! Woohoo! So glad for you! <3

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  18. Love it!! I would wear every single piece (not as well as you, of course)! This first day has been one talented lady after another... You are an inspiration!

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    1. Ohh stop it! You could and SHOULD wear every piece and you would look AWESOME! <3

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  19. I'm bowing deeply at the waist that you sewed an outfit & an awesome one at that. So inspiring. Love the book too!

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  20. I'm totally speechless ;) I had seen the preview on IG but I was far to imagine how cool this outfit really looks on you. Every single piece is absolutely breathtaking!
    Wow! Totally impressed (and not very willing to share my single piece tomorrow, lol).

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    1. Haha my friend you know I love your style and your perfect sewing! Thank you for your words! <3

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  21. Such an amazing outfit! Love the combo of patterns, fabrics and colours! The coat is gorgeous!!!

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    1. Thank you my friend! I don´t usually mix up all those colours, but I´m glad I took the chance on this <3

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  22. Everything is beautiful and looks great on you. The fabrics work really well together, and thanks for the tip on that fabric shop, made in PT.
    Spot on as usual ��

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    1. Thank you Tania! Haha tips for good fabric shops can never be enough, right? ;)

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  23. I am completely in love with that coat, it is just stunning. The colour, the drape, the fit - EVERYTHING! And I love the blouse as well, I can see following this blog tour could get expensive! Thanks for the inspiration.

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    1. Welcome Alison! And thank you! Haha, yes, it might be damaging for your wallet but totally worth it! <3

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  24. OMG Andreia. Just. OMG. Love everything -- especially that coat! You are the absolute maestro (maestra??). Whatever, you are totally amazing!!! ALL THE HEART EYES to you!!!!

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    1. My dearest Emi, I´m running out of words to keep thanking you for your nicest words! Love you! <3

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  25. Everything is beautiful!! That coat...I just LOVE!

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  26. Tears for Paris. Young or not-to-be families of all the under 30 victims. Thank you. Onward, what a beautiful (and international) outfit. Absolutely in love with the beyond beautiful cobalt blue coat! I look forward to your inspiring posts!

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    1. Thank you so much Melody! I think tragedy speaks no language, right? It´s impossible to feel indiferent. Welcome here, hope you enjoy! <3

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  27. What a lead out outfit! Seriousy, this is just the. best. ever.
    OK, the 1cm flat felled seams had me chuckling, but the jacket looks impeccable and all the clothes are so stylish and flattering on you.
    I LOVE the colours and the way the pieces all work together. Just. unbelievably, good.

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    1. Oh my thank you so much for your kind kind words! Yes not the best idea to try flat felled with 1cm hahaha! Welcome here! <3

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  28. I love this! I need to get into something for me and not for CFC. Hoping you are well and missing our "chats". xo

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    1. My dear Sarah, miss our little chats too! Yes, you should do something for yourself, it just feels so good! Talk soon! ;)

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  29. Amazing outfit! Im so proud! A see you every day working with some paixon, and here is the brilliant results! Love you my dear! <3

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  30. Andreia adorei tudo. Estou cheia de vontade de fazer um casaco desse género para mim! :D

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    1. Obrigada Patrícia! É só comprar o livro lol

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  31. So, so, so good. Love the colors of this outfit. So beautiful!

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