Japanese Pattern Book: The Success

I bought a Japanese pattern book a year ago thinking I'M GONNA MAKE A THING but then my sewing machine broke and things never happened. That's okay. I bought a new, cheap, sewing machine a few months back and for all the cursing I give it, it does manage to reward me most of the time.

Someday I'll find another issue of this magazine. 

 Japanese pattern books are great because you get tons of patterns in a nice little package. However, they can be daunting because they're 1: in Japanese and 2: jumbled together.

This post is not going to be a tutorial, however. I will say that using them is not nearly as scary as you might think since you just need to find the right pattern on the folded inserts, trace them, and add seam allowance.

I wanted to make this pattern. It's very pretty.

There is this red sheer fabric that I have been dragging around of years. I used to even just hang it over windows but I had never sewn or made it into anything. There was nothing I wanted to use it on. So, this dress...yeah. That's a good one to use it on.

I was very careful. It was hard because that cheap machine likes to fight and skip stitches, but I got it there. I did french seams anywhere it would be left exposed to make sure fraying was kept to a minimum. I also took it to a repair shop nearby and had the collar overlock stitched (serged) before I attached the yolk because the collar seams are exposed on the wrong side of the fabric.

Skipped stitches. Many a seams were redone. 

La French Seam. You can see the fabric is encased. 

It took me a few weeks to finish but I really took my time. Mostly this is because of the fabric, which is a pain to work with. Yay sheers!

Phone camera makes not the good picture.

I'm really happy with it, though. I even added a ruffled bottom so I can wear it to work without tights (I have a tattoo on my leg).

Quick! Take a picture before I go to work!
No time for nice faces!