The other day Amazon Italia delivered me two beautiful Japanese sewing books (in English!). They are full of really great skirt, dress, shirt and pant patterns. The books are really well laid out and the patterns explained in a very understandable manner (not the case for a lot of sewing books).
The book’s styling and photography is really beautiful and the material used for the patterns really shows off the unique Japanese fashion sense. I’d love to get my hands on some of those thick linens they use in a lot of the patterns. They mention that a lot of the linens are actually Italian but I’ve have yet to discover where you can actually find them in Italy.
The book Simple Modern Sewing always offers three variations to one pattern. That way you can almost always find a style that suits you and your body type. This checked top above will definitely be one of my first projects.
Wish me luck.
Jillian In Italy 
wow dat ziet er een tof boek uit
hup naar de stoffenwinkel,misschien deze zomer in kortrijk???
there’s a shop in Florence that would have those linens.
Good luck and I’m very envious…They look like a lot of fun to sew! Enjoy!
Fantastic idea, and the look like great designs. I will be forwarding on your post to my sister who can actually sew!
Oh my God, I wish I knew how to sew more than a square blanket! I see books like that and I want to dive in and roll around in their beauty.
I love Japanese style! I can never walk into a Muji store without finding something that fits me perfectly (they don’t have Muji in Holland, so I was ecstatic to find one in Bologna). Looking forward to seeing some of these lovely dresses!
Oh, they are really beautiful, Jillian!!! It’s a pity I don’t sew, but it could be a good idea to start 😉
I found a beautiful thick black linen that I will make the elastic waist long pants in and iron them perfectly as suggested in the book to wear as trousers I found the fabric in the home decor section of my fabric store
so glad I discovered your blog!