The many designs featured in each book are packed into only four pages, and that includes patterns for each of the sizes (s, m, l, xl)! When I first unfolded the master copy my jaw hit the floor and I was instantly cross-eyed. Unless you really follow the lines with full attention it is easy to make a wrong turn and find yourself on the way to making a skirt when you set out to trace a blouse.
On the one hand I love the efficiency with which 17 designs (each multi-piece) were crammed onto two double-sided master copies. It really is quite impressive, and somehow it seems to appeal to my engineering brain.
On the other hand I think the publishers could have afforded an extra page or two in order to make things a little less busy. Seriously, it was bordering on comical. One big improvement would be if at the very least the patterns could be colour-coded so pieces for the same design would be easily distinguishable from others on the same page. Yes, that means requiring colour-printing rather than the cheapo black-and-white printing but surely usability plays a role here, no? Another suggestion is to not include extra lines for hem if possible and simply add it as a note in the individual pattern instructions. Let's not clutter the page with more lines for the sake of shock value.
Now, having gotten that little bit about pattern challenges off my chest let's take a look at some of the designs I've bookmarked for upcoming projects. This Drop-Waist Gather Drape Dress is really interesting. Take a look at the pattern below (left page). Now imagine making a whole dress with gathered sleeves and waist out of just a single piece of fabric! The top and bottom of the dress are actually cut with two different pattern pieces but then taped together so that you cut the fabric as one piece. It's quite the mental exercise picturing how that crazy looking pattern is transformed into a dress.
Here's another Drape Drape 2 project on my to-do list. Should be straightforward once the pattern is assembled. Again the entire top is cut from a single piece of fabric.
Third on my list is this fun Three-piece Drape Vest with Oversized Pockets. It's no surprise, the pockets won me over.
Oh, and as a warning for those who want to try these projects do make sure to look at the sizing chart at the front of the book before you start tracing your pattern. I usually wear a small size for clothing and charged ahead tracing, cutting, and assembling the pattern for the Drop-Waist Gather Drape Dress. I figured when working with stretch materials the overall sizing is pretty forgiving anyway. Well it took loooaaads more time than I had expected to trace the pattern, being my first experience with the master copy, and it wasn't until I was tracing out my second pattern did it occur to me that these designs were from Japan. I panicked. When I used to get presents from my family in Hong Kong they'd send over a XXL for my brother and an XL for me. I'd end up taking my brother's XXL because the XL was simply too small. When I went to Tokyo one summer with my cousin I once tried on the largest blouse hanging on a store rack and couldn't even button it closed. Asia Asians are just not the same as North American Asians.
Sure enough I checked the sizing chart and I am somewhere between a L to XL. Fortunately the second pattern I was tracing is a one-size only and I didn't have to redo it. It will be interesting to see how a Japanese "one-size" fits me.
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