John Marshall (9) (1903–)

The contents aren't what I was expecting, but in a good way. I thought it would be patterns for Japanese-inspired Western clothing, perhaps with some cringey levels of cultural appropriation. It is from the 1980s, so ideas about appropriation have changed, but the author is also very much an expert in Japanese textiles and sewing. He started apprenticing with traditional Japanese artisans in 1977 and clearly intends to educate and elevate with this book.

First there's an extraordinarily show more detailed background on major types of traditional Japanese clothing and how to sew them. I didn't count the pages, but that seems to be the majority of the book. You'll learn all that you ever cared to know about the methods of sewing traditional kimono and other Japanese garments (hanten, haori, etc.) - and then some! There's also a chapter at the end about the care (= cleaning) and storage of these garments.

As far as the "ideas for modern wear" part goes, keep your expectations low. We're not talking Western clothes with a Japanese flair here - no radical transformations, in other words. Instead, it's Japanese garments with some Western adaptations, such as putting an elastic waist on traditional Japanese pants or adding a Western shirt collar to a haori jacket.

I wish the book had a lot more pictures in addition to the drawings. Maybe if it's ever updated, he'll add more photos. (But please don't lose the drawings - just add the photos alongside.) show less

Valuable resource An excellent book for someone with previous sewing experience, especially hand sewing. (You don't need a machine to make these garments, in fact, it's better to do it by hand.) I very much appreciated the background on Japanese sewing, however, the stitches are not as clearly illustrated as they could be, and would probably be very difficult to understand for a beginning sewer. As for the other illustrations, arm yourself with patience and re-read the explanations several show more times through. 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. show less

Excellent detailed illustrations - photos, drawings, diagrams. Loaded with information on the history, how to make, how to wear kimono and other traditional Japanese clothing items. Totally nerd-worthy amount of information!

awesome that they include details of traditional tools used, but awful that there's no pattern or instructions included for the samue variation of the wrap-top >:(