Yeah, Kym, we'll bear with you . . .

Here's my youngest [deleted].  What do you think of all that hair?!  Her older sister [deleted] was born with lots of dark brown ringlets!  I think [my youngest] will have straight hair.

Hello,

 I joined this forum last September and I've been reading occasionally since then but just recently bought my first Misses Stylebook! I am ready to start drafting my own simple patterns, but I don't know if I'm ready for Misses Stylebook! But I've been studying the magazine trying to understand. I am a fan of Japanese craft and sewing books, and have found the greatest success sewing for my two young kids -- I am a bit too tall for the patterns as drafted in the books. I have had a lot of frustration withstore-bought patterns and I've finally realized why; besides my height, it seems my shoulders are a bit larger than "normal" so drafting my own sounds easier.

 Looking forward to learning from you all.

Willow

Hello everyone,

 My name is Natalie and I live in USA, Alexandria, VA. I've been sewing for about 15 years, and have been using English patterns, German, Russian, Spanish and Dutch sewing pattern magazines, and just recently my friend introduced me to Japanese patterns. So far i've made the twisted top (long-sleeve one) from "Pattern Magic", book I, and a shawl-collar top from MSB 148 (pages 20 and 166).

I've just got my very own MSB 152 last Thursday and still keep flipping pages anxiously, cause I can't choose the model to start with :-)

Nice to meet you all,

Natalie

Hello Ladies,

My name is Christine and i've been lurking on this forum for a couple days now as I ordered a new MSB off Etsy about a week ago and just discovered this forum.  I can't wait to get it!  I actually have the fall/winter MSB from 2005, but never made anything from it.  I'm going to dig it up and work on my slopers before the new one arrives.   I used to live in Japan but I didn't discover this magazine until the week i was scheduled to leave, and then only the the fall/winter version which is not that helpful here in hot/humid Florida. 

 ...But honestly, a big reason I never used it was that the whole drafting process seemed a little too daunting.  However, i've gotten into sewing a lot more these past few years since i've been back from Japan and i'm finally ready to start trying to teach myself how to draft patterns.  The eventual goal is to be able to translate the designs i have in my head to paper (easier typed than done).  I've been sewing on and off since i was 5, but i'm definitely a trial and error-- jump into it type of learner.  The learning process has been very intuitive for me thus far, but i feel i really need to master all this sloper/ drafting stuff to move forward with my sewing skills.  Although both my grandmothers were expert seamstresses (one of them supported 10 kids on her salary) they weren't around to teach me so I am 100% self-taught.  Actually my home-ec teacher was so horrible she effectively quashed any interest i had in sewing for YEARS after i took her class. 

I was a "East Asian Languages and Literature Major: Concentration in Japanese" with a minor in linguistics (which is needed to be able to say the name of my major in one go).  I studied abroad in Japan for a year and then worked there for two before returning in 2005.  So I speak Japanese that is rapidly deteriorating in quality no matter how many anime shows i watch to slow down the process.  I also speak Spanish, which is more helpful in Florida than the Japanese i worked so hard for... (; _ ;) I am currently an ESOL (ESL) teacher at a K-8 charter school.  I'm in my late twenties and still wondering what I want to be when i grow up-- except--- I am grown!  Doh!  

 Will be fun to read in Japanese again and dust off the huge kanji dictionary again while attempting intimidating sloper drafting.  

PS- I am so impressed by the ladies on here that use this magazine without being able to read Japanese!  You guys are awesome!

Hello Christine, saw you on PR but couldn't PM you as I'm not a paid member. I figure that using your foreign language(s) to do something you really want to do is the whole point of learning another language!

I never did introduce myself, so here goes...I'm living in Japan, a strictly self-taught sewer. My school sewing teacher only talked to the girls who already knew how to use a machine, and would parade back and forth in front of my friend and I as we unpicked facings to the point where there was nothing left, making helpful comments like "The blind leading the blind, I see".

Did quite a bit of sewing in my late teens and 20s, but I now realize I was careful never to get out of my comfort zone! No lined, tailored suits for me! I tried some of the Japanese drafts way back in the '80s, and then bought Aldrich's metric pattern cutting book and made some skirts and a simple top, but I was way too scared of the whole process. Should have just got some cheap fabric and made myself the most elaborate PJs in town!

Once my boys got to school age, the thought of sewing knits and fancy boy-oriented pants with all kinds of pockets and what not was too offputting, so the machine "aged" happily in a cupboard for several years while I indulged my love of painting.

One day, I realized that just because I was a fat foreign woman in Japan, I didn't HAVE to wear men's clothing all the time, and I could draft my own patterns on the computer. Also, my boys started to grow into shapes that didn't fit Japanese shirts too well. Out came the machine again... 

 Knowing even a little about pattern drafting has made it much easier to learn PMB. I must admit that these days I usually incorporate what I want from MSB styles into my computer-based sloper rather than drafting from scratch. (So lazy...).

Hi everyone, my userid id Mica, Im so glad i found this forum 

I just moved to a small city in Indonesia, Ive always been a fan of Japanese craft, I started learning to sew about 1 year ago.  

I learn a lot from Japanese sewing book, they all explain very clear, I don't even read japanese n I can understand all the diagrams very clearly.

recently I discovered MSB magazine which brings me to this forum, Ive sewn some of my outfit by modifying pattern from this magazine n they all fits

perfectly (have to reduce the ease a bit though since they r using too much ease).I want to learn more about pattern drafting n hope we can exchange information in this forum ^^

 

 

 

Hi everyone,

I'm so happy I found this group.  I learned about Japanese patterns 25 years ago when I lived in Japan for 6 months after high school.  I had been invited to a wedding and being 5'9" I had quite the challenge finding clothes to fit.  A local seamstress offered to make me a dress.  She took my measurements, had me choose the fabric, had me pick a style from a magazine, and a week later she came back with a perfect fitting dress!!  I was so amazed. 

I don't remember the name of the publication that I chose the dress from, but I did purchase a copy of SOEN and Dressmaking in hopes of creating my own clothes.  I left Japan shortly after the wedding and life got really busy so I never got around to making anything from those magazines.  Besides being very busy, I also felt a bit intimidated by the pattern magazines and might have tried them if I had known someone else who was interested in these patterns as well. 

However, I still have them and recently discovered the Fundamentals of Garment Design from Bunka publications at Kinokuniya bookstore in Seattle.  Directions in English!!  Sadly for me, I live a 4 hour drive east of Seattle so I don't get there often, BUT I now have a resource for more magazines. 

At the time I found the Bunka textbook I also picked up the last 2 issues of Mrs. Stylebook.  So now all I need is to get my sloper fit.  Fitting is a bit of an issue for me as I'm not symmetrical due to some car accidents in my 20's.  One shoulder is longer and a different slope than the other this causes the neck of a t-shirt to slide down on the lower shoulder so my neck looks off center.  Most people don't consciously notice unless I mention it. 

So, I will be looking through past posts for helpful info and if anyone can recommend any discussions to start searching in I would greatly appreciate it. 

To whomever started this group: THANK YOU!  Because this group is here, I hope to learn from your wisdom and be able to make a few things that fit.

Thanks!

Naticia

Who is technologically challenged and not sure how to post a picture by her account ID.

 

Hi everyone, and thank you for accepting my membership request. I am so glad I found this forum. I am a cameroonian, living in London, and married to a wonderful man, who does not understand my love for sewing, but who loves me all the same, and is being quite supportive of my hobby. From reading all the other introductions, I think I can rightly conclude that I am the least experienced person here. I started sewing when I was about 17. My mom makes bedsheets and curtains as a hobby, so when I was going to university, she refused to make anything for me, and so I was forced to sew my curtains, bedsheets, and bed spread by myself. That was the first time I ever made anything with a sewing machine. I only took up sewing again in september, when my husband ( then boyfriend), bought me a sewing machine for my birthday. I discovered the wonderful world of japanese patterns on the blogoshpere, and I have ordered a copy of MSB, 1 Lady Boutique, and a book on dresses. I am so impatient to start. I have not even thought about the language. That will have to sort itself out when the time comes I suppose. I am currently out of a job, as I just finished my Masters degree in Information Technology, Management and Organisational Change. So, I have a lot of time on my hands at the moment. Hopefully, you won't all get fed up with the numerous questions I am sure I will have, especially when my patterns come. Thank you for this forum. I feel so happy already. regards, Dibs

Welcome, Dibs and Carla, to our little MSB forum!