Deep stash Japanese seersucker fabric and the small version of the short sleeve shirt (Pattern i) from my favourite Japanese sewing book “Big clothes, small clothes” by Asuka Hamada (ISBN978-4-579-11563-1) and my Sew Japanese In January is off and running…

From the photos above, you might have guessed that it isn’t the first time that I’ve sewn this pattern.  My colour blocked version can be viewed here.

What is Sew Japanese in January you ask? It’s an Instagram hashtag #sewjapaneseinjanuary 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 #sewjapaneseinjuly is a thing too!  I encourage you to look at both the hashtags as there are lots of inspiring makes from sewists around the globe.

Having sewn this pattern before, it made for an easy project.  The hardest part was choosing buttons!  I had envisaged that a navy shirt button would work best, but in-the-end I settled on the Smoke Akoya Shell Buttons from work.

The seersucker was a delight to cut and sew.  The hardest part was trying to get the print to somewhat not look out of place at the centre front.  Notice how I didn’t use the word match?  I’m a little scare of pattern matching… irrationally so!

Unusally, this pattern doesn’t have a back yoke, but does feature a large inverted pleat.

I will confess during a pre-button try-on I was worried that I had sewn a ‘dad shirt’… but with buttons and some styling (all hail the front tuck) I think it’s earnt it’s place in my wardrobe!

And did I mention no ironing… oh how I love seersucker!

I seem to be my shirt making era, so I’m thinking I might try the large version of the short sleeve shirt (Pattern I) from the same book.  Has anyone sewn it?

Pattern:  Shirt ‘i’ from “Big clothes, small clothes” by Asuka Hamada (ISBN978-4-579-11563-1)
Size:  Size 2
Fabric:  100% cotton seersucker purchase from The Cloth Shop many many years ago and 13 mm Smoke Akoya Shell Buttons
Alterations:  Shortened the body by 4″ (10cm) and performed a 3/8″ (1cm) forward shoulder adjustment
Outfit:  StyleArc’s Barry Pants, shoes from Radical Yes (not current), antique/vintage necklaces and Art Deco bracelet.
Photo Location:  Flinders Pier