A Year of sewing with Nani Iro – Sewing book thoughts

 

I love sewing Japanese patterns a lot. I like how the patterns are very often both simple but yet quite elegant or with a nice set of special details that make the pattern fun to sew. One big thing that I also like is the emphasis on the visual side of the pattern, it just makes me happy every time. If a pattern has instructions in pictures, I think I read those instead of the text.

I have come across Nani Iro’s pretty fabrics many times when scrolling Instagram and I also found their free patterns in Japanese on their website. And it is a pity that their fabric is quite hard to come by here in Finland.

So I was happy to find out that Nani Iro’s newest book was going to be translated to English and I finally got my copy by the end of July (it took a while to arrive). I had seen a flip through of the book and really wanted to get it. (I actually bought the first book too, but I haven’t had time to sew anything from it)

The book is written by Naomi Ito, and published by Zakka Workshop and it has 18 projects (sizes S-XL) in it, with traceable pattern sheets stored on the back cover of the book.

I love how visually stunning the book is, it combines photos and pictures of the garment and you really get a sense of what the garment actually looks like made with different materials and colors. One detail that gives a book a lot of bonus points in my opinion is a back photo of the garment, it makes visualizing the pattern so much easier. The back photo is something that is missing in so many sewing patterns, you get the front look and maybe a side view and that is it. 

The book also gives additional ideas on how to modify the patterns and that actually saved the project I made from the book.

I made the Cook’s dress in size M (the dress that is featured on the book’s cover).

The pattern was easy to trace from the pattern sheet. The patterns are color-coded and because there are only 4 sizes, picking the right size was easy.

The instructions are well written and the pictures are clear to read. The book uses four colors in the instructions that make it easier to read instead of just black, white and grey. I think that more books should use that style also, it gives the instructions so much clarity.

The only minor gripe I have about the instructions is that there is some flipping around the book and the pattern. The construction steps are written after the pattern layout (in text and picture form).  It means that not every step is written chronologically in the instructions that follow the construction steps and you have to return to the construction steps if needed and if a previous pattern uses the same technique the pattern directs you to see instructions there. I prefer having all the instructions in chronological order and not flipping back in the pattern.

The cook’s dress was definitely one of the hardest patterns in the book. The dress is simple stand-collar dress with a back button closure. It has tucks in the hem and in sleeves and gathering on the waistline of the front pattern. The front piece has a middle panel to give a chef’s attire style.

I used a cotton poplin from Marimekko for my dress and cut out the pieces. I managed to align the flowers for the front panel quite nicely. I didn’t think the dress was too hard to sew. I read the instructions and had all the markings in place, so my tucks are in the right place, the front panel is sewn quite nicely and the collar looks good.

I assembled the dress, and the front was amazing but somehow the back tucks didn’t look good on me. The pattern has three tucks in the back, two smaller and one deeper in the middle. The side tucks just looked awful on me, maybe I should have moved the waist a couple of centimeters higher, but it was too late for that. I redid the tucks because had made the wrong way at first, but that didn’t help. I ripped the tuck again, used gathers, and finally made only one tuck in the back. But the dress still looked a bit odd on me.

Then I realized that there was a suggestion in the book to turn the dress into a blouse and that is just what I did and I absolutely love it. The blouse is just perfect with high-waisted skinny jeans, the tucks on the sleeves look pretty and the curve in the back hem is just right with the jeans. I could actually make another blouse with this pattern in a solid color. I like it that much.

So this is my experience with the second book of Nani Iro. I enjoyed sewing the blouse in the end, even though I thought the dress was going to be a disaster. I wasn’t really a fan of the book at first, but the end result made the purchase worth it. The idea pages on how to modify patterns were really good and gives you options and ideas if something doesn’t work for you.

And as an afterthought, this book is good practice for sewing tucks and gathered pieces 😊