A few months ago I travelled up to Melbourne with my lovely and my toddler to the CBD and visited Tessuti Fabrics (we did do other things, but lets face it - visiting Tessuti was pretty exciting!). They stock a range of Japanese pattern books. They are such simple clothes with clean-lines and a lovely minimalist edge to them that really appeals.
So, despite the fact that all the instructions are in Japanese (!) I bought one. I should point out that the instructions are also in really clear illustrations too, so it looked pretty straight foreward.My little boy needed some new p.j.'s, so I thought I'd test out one of the pants patterns. I used a red rugby knit (nice and soft) and tested out a twin needle on my regular machine. It worked a treat! I'm really pleased - it was quick and easy to make.
I used my overlocker/serger to sew the main structure of the pants and then, after overlocking the edges on the waistband and cuffs, used the twin needle to create the elastic casing and hems. The twin needle worked far better than the stretch stitch my sewing machine has and gave a real store-bought finish. This pattern worked so well, I think I'll move on to the pants pattern with pockets. I've never made pants with pockets, but Novita, the author of one of my fav blogs, Very Purple Person, has a great tutorial on sewing pants with pockets, so it should be really straight forward.
But next...onto sewing a simple t-shirt p.j. top to go with the red pants. I'll post a photo when I've finished.
Happy sewing!
