Make Your Own Japanese Clothes: Patterns and Ideas for Modern Wear [Paperback]

First, Marshall assumes you also own The Book of Kimono by Norio Yamanaka. While Marshall will tell you how to draft patterns for the kimono, he tells you to go to the other book to find out how to =wear= the garments. Yamanaka's is a wonderful book, but I consider this sales-racketeering by the editors, allowing author sloth to force another book in the line. If you don't already know how to wear kimono, get Yamanaka first so you can even decide if you want to wear it, let alone sew it.

The section on Japanese sewing tools was interesting, but time might have been spent addressing how to do these jobs with tools you could find in ordinary Western sewing stores, and how to select Western fabrics (like don't use slinky for an uchikage), since so much time is spent on making Westernized/modernized variants on the trad kimono. 4ex, you can make a 3rd hand out of a strong little coffee bag clip, a length of cord, and a necklace hook rather than paying $8 + S&H on-line.

The largest flaw is the structuring of ideas. Marshall first tells you how to do each Japanese sewing technique (how to turn a hem corner, how to sew on a sleeve, how to put in a lining, how to pad a garment) in a separate section before ever getting to describing the garments or giving their layouts. All this means is anyone not already completely familiar with the garments skips this and maybe comes back later to it. The book would be improved by giving the garments with sewing techniques particular to it included at the garment. 4ex., explaining how to sewn on a collar guard particularly for a vest belongs with making the vests, not broken out 57 pages earlier with other collar guard techniques. Explaining how to put in a lining should be with the first garment that can be lined. As it is, you go to the garment, draft it, cut it, then skip back and forth between the garment and the different technique sections as you sew on a collar or sew on a sleeve. Keep plenty of bookmarks handy.

It is good that Marshall gives the standard kimono, and especially the uchikage (female formal overkimono) with padded hem, as well as various jackets (haori, hanten, hippari), modern and trad vests, and the monpei trousers. It is a distinct lack that he did not give directions for hakama, the Japanese trousers everyone wants for male dress, but only the sloppy field pants. The drafting instructions are very good, but as an Old Guard of the fibre arts the selection of garments gave me severe deja vu. In fact, except for the uchikage, this could be described as "do all your own drafting work to wind up with the Folkwear Japanese patterns." Which do you have more of, time or money? Do you really want to learn the particularly Japanese method of wearing a thimble or finishing a seam?

The section on making your own tabi (split-toed cloth socks) is excellent and detailed. Drafting this pattern is not at all simple, as it is fitted footwear. If you can't find tabi cheap on line, I recommend getting the Folkwear pattern for them to save a day or more of your life with fussing these to fit, unless you have very unusual feet.

In short, while the book will remain in my library and will be useful for drafting scale patterns for dolls, when I sew for full-size people I will use the available patterns using authentic techniques. What were you planning to use this for?

Overall I'm happy with this book after looking everywhere for traditional Japanese kimono patterns. I was able to successfully complete a kurotomesode (formal black kimono) thanks to it.

If you want easy pre-fab Japanese clothing, buy it from an import store or make it from the myriad patterns commercially available. Some of those patterns were created by the author of this book, but others come with all the cheater Western shortcuts, for people in a hurry to waste a lot of time and money. If you want to understand how to make custom Japanese clothing using authentic sewing techniques, this book will show you the way in the most economical fashion. Commercial patterns of all the garments in this book would run over $100. The book includes history and illustrations to fuel your creativity with potential design and fabric choices.

Give this book a chance to impress you. It's a bargain at any price.