Easy smock dress from Japanese sewing pattern

This is a smock dress I have made from a Japanese sewing pattern book, “Mainichi Kitai One-Piece”, below, which basically means “One-pieces I want to Wear Everyday”.  I shortened the hem by a good 7 cm, so that it looked less like a moo-moo dress.  I used a thick, cotton jersey fabric, so the gathering around the neckline was difficult to do.  Other than that, the pattern only involves five pieces and it was all done in two days.  The jersey makes it really comfy, and you just slip it on, without any zips or buttons.  Very good for those “fat” days because it balloons out. I’ll be wearing it to dinner as soon as I can chew again (3 weeks to go) so I can pig out in comfort.

This book has 16 very different summer dresses, all with good, detailed instructions.  Compared to other Japanese sewing pattern books I own, this book definitely shows more diagrams, explaining more difficult steps visually.  From simple camisole style dresses to a proper button up shirt dress, I would describe all 16 designs as beginner friendly.  Dave bought me this book from Amazon Japan.  Clicking on the image of the book above left takes you to Amazon Japan, where you can look inside the book by clicking on the book’s cover when a new window pops up. Buying from Amazon Japan was quick and simple. Please just ask if you have any questions, because I do read Japanese so I should (hopefully) be able to help!