Japanese Shirt Pattern Journey...Fabric and Pattern Choices

Well...so far, so slow.   The good news is that a shirt pattern is a shirt pattern is a shirt pattern.  What I mean is that I am very familiar with shirt pattern "parts"...there isn't much I haven't seen after sewing hundreds of shirts I've either drafted from scratch or used patterns to make.  

The slow part is familiarizing myself with the methodology of this Japanese Shirtmaking book with no English translation. Specifically,  how these pattern pieces are drafted and how the seam allowance margins are allocated.  Because not all the seam allowances are the same width. This is a very good thing, and a sign of sophisticated drafting.  It saves time to have all the pieces fit together and not need trimming after the seams are sewn...it also saves fabric, always a good thing.  On the other hand, these patterns allocate allowances a bit differently than I do when I hand-draft a pattern. And since I want to give a fair review of these patterns, I'll cut the pieces their way...I am always open and eager to learn something new. So, This weekend I hope to get the pattern pieces traced and walked...but only after I've given my studio a good tidying up. 


For the first shirt using these patterns, I've chosen a fabric of good but not great quality. One that is good enough to get accurate results (no stretching or shrinking), but one that if it becomes a "give-away", I won't have regrets.   I try very hard to avoid "sewing regrets"  :)