Sew-along 7: the finished project!

Hi there, hope you had a nice weekend! As for me I had so much fun that I didn't have time to post pictures of the completed Nani Iro top^^. I slightly cinched the sides of the top but on the whole I don't find it that big. The sleeves however are huge! Maybe I shouldn't have lenghtened them, well I'll see how yours turned out if you didn't alter them. Alison has finished hers and I'm off to see it!

I put a small black placket on the front so that I could add bows or tie ribbons.

See you friends!

Sew-along 6

Hello everyone, hope you're doing well! Ali, thank you for your questions because they allow me to make a big post that I hope will be helpful for the making of the top. So let's see:

1 Front, cut 1 on fold
2 Back, cut 1 on fold
3 Sleeve, cut 2
Yes to these 3!

V-neck (cut two or four? I assume four because you mention facing): cut 4, there are indeed facings for the band.

Also on front and back, do I cut along the curvy outline for the v-neck (toward the neck) or the straight diagonal line used in tracing? Please cut along the curvy line BUT don't forget to add the 1 cm seam allowance before doing so!

And the 1 cm seam allowance for the v-band is toward the shoulder, is that where I stitch the v-band to the shirt (as in right sides together) or do I simply topstitch the band onto the shirt?
I would advise you to fold and topstitch as shown in the following pictures (which were BEAUTIFULLY enhanced with my great mastery of the sophisticated Paint software!):


And don't forget to add a 1 cm seam-allowance along the other side of the band as well!

In sewing on the v-band, do you mean you do one strip at a time? Yes I do, first the left band along the bodice then the left facing to the attached left band. After that, I attached the right band to the bodice and finished with sewing the right facing to the attached right band -pheeew^^.

I'm trying to follow the numbered steps, but what does 1 say? And is the following right?
2. Stitch shoulder seams
3. V-band (stitch long sides together, fold, topstitch?): see the above paragraph on the attaching of the V-band
4. Sew sleeves: by the way, in case you haven't noticed it already there will be a little ease to spread while sewing the sleeves' cap.
5. Side seams
6, 7 & 8 seem obvious.
You're right! I think step 1 is just a reminder about tracing your pieces on fabric and cutting them before starting.

See you!

Sewing update and sew-along 5

Hello friends! I haven't posted much lately but I've been sewing a lot and I've got a few things to show you :) First a skirt for my mama, it's a pattern from a recent BWOF:


She chose the fabric which is some blue Japanese double-gauze printed with flowers, swirls and even Mount Fuji! It was quick and gives a rather cool effect I think.

Next are two gifts for my best friend's birthday, a pink eyelet babydoll top and a yellow eyelet camisole (both were made using Japanese patterns of course).



Finally I made a top for me out of a small piece of beautiful flower fabric I found at the back of my usual shop, it's the same as the pink one for my friend minus the ruffle.


Regarding the Nani Iro top, I've started assembling pieces, I started with the shoulder seams so that I could attach the V-band: I've decided to sew one side of the V after the other ie first the outside and facing left side of the band and once this was done I attached the outside and facing right side of the band. Doesn't make much sense I'm afraid so I've prepared pictures to make it clearer.


Phil you asked about the reason why it's better to have the V-band made in one continuous strip of fabric, I think it's purely for esthetical reasons because a shoulder seam would be quite bulky with the interfaced band and the facing inside. Moreover when you're finished attaching it to the bodice you'll see that the V slightly goes up at the neck and a seam here would definitely show, it's more harmonious in one piece :) Hope I answered your question, see you all and be safe!

Sew-along 4

Hello! Today I've started tracing on the fabrics but I managed to sort of burn the white -of course!- back piece when ironing it :( it ended brown so I had to wash it and now I must wait for it to dry before continuing.
The "1"s you see everywhere on the pattern stand for the 1 cm seam allowances you're supposed to add. I use a clear ruler to do that directly on the fabric as you'll see in this pic:


The space between the red edge of the pattern and the blue line measures 1 cm, I just follow the pattern all along with this ruler and trace.
Also, I've discovered that the V-band is one continuous piece from back to front, you should join the 2 drafted parts at the shoulder before tracing on the fabric:


I've decided to lengthen the bodice and the sleeves a little by the way, +4 cm and +7cm.
I'm glad you're having fun tracing, I told you it's not difficult^^ I've planned to make mine in black & white, we'll see how it works! See you!

Sew-along 3

Hey there, it's D-day^^! I have pics of the drafted pattern to show you, you'll see that I use paper tablecloth to draw :) And to answer your questions, seam allowances are NOT included. I've washed my fabrics and I can't wait to start tracing, see you!

Sew-along 2

Hello everyone, hope your weekend is starting well! As you know tomorrow we begin drawing the pattern for the Nani Iro Japanese top. Some of you may not be familiar with this kind of stuff so I've numbered the steps in the order I usually draw my patterns, I've found it goes more smoothly this way :) Just trace your lines from 1 to 18 and everything should be fine (repeat the same order for the back piece)! See you!

Sew-along 1

Hello! Just a quick post about the notions needed for the top:

FABRIC: 41" x 2.7 YARDS
OPTIONAL: ONE 1" BUTTON
Depending on the fabric you use you may need some interfacing for the V band at the neckline.
I like to finish hems with bias tape so you may want to buy/prepare some if you want to do this too.
All the measures are given in centimeters.
Hope it helps, see you!
EDIT: I got asked about the grain for the V-band and you just have to follow the arrow so for this part it's the shoulder line that is on the straight grain :)

Sew-along planning

Hi friends, I'm glad that other seamstresses decided to join, you're welcome in this project!
So, here's what I'm thinking about the organisation of the Japanese top sew-along: first let's start by sewing this design, shall we. As the fabulous Zoe offered, if this first sew-along works we could make it a monthly challenge and sew the other designs available on the kokka site :)
Then we could plan the steps as follow:
- Sunday 06/06 & Monday 07 drawing the pattern, if necessary altering its measures but they seem big enough to fit up to a size 16; maybe some of you will want to make this top sleeveless, in this case we'll see how to do this alteration.
- Tuesday 08 & Wednesday 09 buying/choosing fabric
- Thursday 10 & Friday 11 tracing and cutting the top
- Saturday 12 & Sunday 13 sewing
Of course I'll try and be available if you have any question or problem while completing these different steps but I can assure you that Japanese sewing is incredibly easy and you'll get great results quickly^^. I hope you'll be okay with this planning, see you soon!
Edit: here are the participants so far: Phil, Zoe, Minnado, Hannelore, Ali and Alison

Sew-along details

Hey ladies, I'm sorry I couldn't post about the sew-along earlier but it was Mother's day here so we celebrated a lot^^. We were supposed to start today but then I had Zoe's message that other seamstresses would be interested in this project and would join later so I'm asking Phil and Minnado: do you mind delaying the start of the sew-along until next week?

Sew along: Japanese top

Hello, how's everyone today? I've been thinking about this for some time now, especially after receiving so many positive reactions regarding the Japanese tops I've posted on the MMM flickr account and so, today I'm asking you^^: would you be interested in a sew-along of a Japanese top? Here's a link to free patterns by a designer whom you may have heard about, Naomi Ito. Her brand is Nani Iro and she makes beautiful, vividly coloured fabrics. Just click on the pictures or on the blue tabs above on the kokka site and you'll find a choice of free patterns for women, kids and men's clothes and for accessories. If you want to do this sew-along leave me a comment and I'll organise it! See you :)