I told you a while back about my fascination with Japanese sewing pattern books. Well, I’ve been drafting and sewing – not as quickly as I’d like, but still there are new dresses. I thought I’d finally show you some of them today.

First up is a smock pattern from Stylish Dress Book. I think this book is my favorite of all the pattern books I’ve bought. The smock is on the cover and is pattern E. I don’t wear smocks much, though, or tights, so I lengthened it into a dress.

I made a test version in cotton.

This floral print was in my stash. I bought it for $1 a meter because it’s a nice weight of cotton. It’s not really my style, though, so it’s been waiting. For this dress, I used a Kaffe Fassett stripe as contrast to keep it from being too sweet.

This turned out to be one of those comfy summer dresses to wear on a hot day. I wore it a lot last summer and will probably make another for next summer. The cotton lace insert proved to be a bad choice because the lace wasn’t prewashed – it shrank in the wash and now there’s a bit of gathering wherever there’s lace. It’s quite full. I’d take some of the width out of the back if I made it in cotton again.

Next, I tried the same pattern in a turquoise and black rayon print. This version also came out really well, and because of the fabric, it hangs very differently. I’ve already worn this one a lot. It has a better drape and flow, but is a little bit sheer. It’s a good cover over a bathing suit, or a layering piece.

What’s funny about this fabric is that the turquoise photographs as a medium blue. The fabric also came in this color combination, but I didn’t like it as much. This one is actually a vivid turquoise.

I thought it would be good if this dress had tie backs at the waist, in case I didn’t want it to be so wide and floaty. So, I cut a second rayon print version, in black and cream. I want this one to be sleeveless, so I didn’t cut out sleeves and I deepened the armhole slightly. I also added tiebacks to it.

Next up, I’m planning to cut another sleeveless one in corduroy to wear as a jumper. I’ll cut it shorter than the rayon ones so it falls just below the knee.

Have you been doing any sewing lately? Have you sewn with Japanese patterns? Tell me about your latest crafting adventures!