14) Casual men's clothes

A while ago I got this book of Japanese book of men’s patterns.

I have sewn a few things from it already and I also made a little video about the book.

In short - I recommend!

The book contains some dozen patterns that will give you a whole wardrobe. That’s not bad value! I got my copy for around 35EUR with postage from Japan, whereas you won’t get much change out of 20EUR for just one shirt pattern from a western designer. There is however some work to be done and it is definitely not beginner friendly. The pattern pieces are printed very sparingly on several sheets of paper that look like a spaghetti of lines and marks. You have to trace these patterns onto some paper, adding the seam allowance as you go. This process can take a while and is tedious - a good rainy afternoon activity.

The book is of course all written in japanese, but google translate on a phone can help you! At least sometimes it helps, othertimes it just translates nonesense…. I’m sad that I can’t read and understand japanese because there are some interesting looking “lessons” in the book that teach you how to adjust pattern pieces for fit, how to sew a button fly and a few more.

There are neat diagrams showing the construction details, but sometimes it can be hard to get your head around how the garment is meant to go together. I really recommend making a toille.

Sometime soon I will write about the patterns that I have made from this book.

Scouring on the internet shows that there are many books like this from several different designers that should also be worth looking at.