Sewing for kids…Japanese pattern books reviewed

I’d like to lay money on the fact that you’re far more organised than I am as we look down the barrel of Christmas.  Chez Stitches there is hardly a gift purchased, nor the handmade ones even started. Today the house lies under a layer of dust as the walls are chased out to fit the new patio door.  The decorator is coming on Sunday to finish the last room.

And, although I’m not a gambling woman, I’m sure its safe to say that you’ve already written to Santa, explaining that it really wasn’t your fault and that you should actually be safely ensconced on the “nice” list!

So, whilst sewing is likely the last thing on your mind at the moment, don’t forget that this will all be over in a couple of weeks and normal service will be resumed.  And with that in mind, if you’ve got small peeps in the household, drop everything, fire up the laptop, and send Santa photographic evidence of your innocence and ask, nay beg, him to pop a copy of any, or, indeed, all, of the following books into your Christmas stocking.  Because once the glitter dust of Christmas has settled, you’re going to want to make the wee ones All. Of. The. Things!

First up…Sew Chic Kids by Ruriko Yamada:

Such cute, easy to sew casual clothes for boys and girls aged 2 to 8, with full sized pattern sheets in the back of the book.

Clear diagrams walk you through the construction, with top tips to help you get a great result.

Basically all the beautiful design and inspiration that we’ve come to expect from Japanese sewing books, but in English!  Soooooo cool!

Sew Sweet HandMade Clothes for Girls by Yuri Araki is chock full of adorable outfits for your favourite girl aged 1 – 8.

This time the instructions have written sewing steps as well as detailed diagrams.

There’s even a couple of photographic sewing lessons that walk you through the construction of a little sleeveless dress, but which also shows you techniques that are used in other garments in the book.  Genius!

And last, but not least, is Girls Style book by Yoshiko Tsukiori and H.H.

Aimed at little girls aged 4 – 10 the styling is a little more grown up but still very age appropriate.  And again there are written sewing steps to make the whole process even simpler.

When Tuttle approached me to review Sew Sweet, I was really pleased to do so as I’d been contemplating purchasing my own copy of this having seen the beautiful clothes Sanae stitches for her daughter.  To receive all three books was an unexpected and delightful bonus.

The patterns are all classic styles that can be sewn over and over again for your littlies without their wardrobes becoming tired or dull.  They have clean lines that showcase gorgeous fabrics, and simple closures to make them quick and easy to sew and for small folk to put on and off.

For me this is the hallmark of a great sewing book. Inspirational styling with practical wearability, clear instructions to help you get a beautiful result, and a range of sizes that ensures you’ll get great value for money (I checked the price of these on Amazon UK today and they’ll set you back about £12.  Less than the price of most indy sewing patterns and working out to as little as 50p per pattern dependent on the book!)

So…tell Santa to sort it!  Or treat yourself so that you’ve got something to look forward to in the grey and dismal days of January.  Either way…you’ll be glad you did!

Thanks to Tuttle Publishing for providing me with these books for review. (Guys…I’ve lost your emails in the transfer of laptops…apologies!)  And to Sewing Princess for pointing them in my direction.  As always all opinions are my own, but I can sleep easy knowing that if you’ve got small folk you’ll love these patterns.  And expect to see my little Miss and Mr popping up in makes from them next year