This is my first #sewjapaneseinjanuary make for 2020 and it’s perfectly aligned with my love of the colour green, sack dresses, natural fibres and Japanese sewing patterns!

It’s the fourth year that Jane and I have hosted #sewjapaneseinjanuary… an Instagram hashtag to inspire and motivate people to sew from their Japanese pattern and/or fabric stash during the month of January.  There are no sponsors or giveaways, it’s a community event on Instagram that anyone can join in.  To account for  seasonal differences between hemispheres, we also host #sewjapaneseinjuly.  I encourage you to look at both the hashtags as there are lots of inspiring makes from sewists around the globe.

The dress shape isn’t that different to the dress that I’m wearing right now which is perfect our very hot 39 degree day in Melbourne.  Why is it always so hot when the children go back to school after a lovely long summer break?

This dress is from a Japanese Sewing book that hasn’t been translated.  I find that having a picture of the cover of the book and the ISBN (in this case ISBN 978-4-529-05543-7) is usually enough to be able to find a copy of a book in-store or online.  How and where do you buy your Japanese sewing books?

With regards to alternations, I performed my usual 3/8″ (1 cm) forward shoulder adjustment, and created bigger hems to shorten the sleeves by 1 1/4″ (3 cm) and the dress length by 3/4″ (2 cm).  I also didn’t add interfacing to the neck facing… it’s a new thing I’m currently experimenting with, and I’m liking the results.

To secure the neck facing and the hems, I used a long stitch (stitch length 4 on my machine) as I had a plan!

The long machine stitches were used as I guide when I hand stitched pearl cotton thread (DMC no. 8) to highlight these areas.

This slow stitching brought me so much joy… both in the act of doing as well as the pleasure in the finished stitches.  I will definitely add this details to future makes.

In short, this is a great basic shape for me and I love how the hand stitched detail elevates the plain colour of the fabric and the simple style.

Pattern:  From Japanese sewing book with an ISBN 978-4-529-05543-7
Size:  L
Fabric:  Deep stash linen… I have no recollection of buying it (sad by true)
Alterations:  3/8″ (1cm) forward shoulder adjustment,  shortened the sleeves by 1 1/4″ (3 cm) and the dress length by 3/4″ (2 cm).
Outfit:  Funkis shoes purchased second hand in as-new condition and Liberty silk twill scarf
Photo Location:  Eastern Suburbs, Melbourne