Sew Special: Japanese Patterns - Dress E

Another dress/tunic for me! Daughter A took these pictures so the quality is a bit sketchy, but you get the idea anyway.

It is dress E from the cover of The Stylish Dress Book by Yoshiko Tsukiori.  Sewing Japanese style clothes has been a big deal in the sewing blogosphere for at least the last 5 years. I was a little hesitant to try to sew something when all the directions were in Japanese. Luckily, I procrastinated long enough that now there are a fair amount of Japanese style pattern books in English.

This one includes 26 beautiful patterns. They have to be traced (see my previous post about that here) as the pieces are all outlined in different colors on a few large sheets, like this:

From Burda Instructions on Tracing a Pattern

Craziness right? Also you have to add your desired seam allowances. That was the hardest part of the whole process! The directions in the book are just broad strokes and don't give much information about seam allowances, finishing edges, how to gather, etc. although the illustrations help. I found them adequate but I would NOT recommend this book for a beginner. 

I made this pattern in what is fast becoming my signature patchwork style, with the extra bottom hem length, back yoke, and pockets in a contrasting navy blue fabric.