Japanese Hat Pattern Book

I bought this book off of Amazon Japan. It has some really beautiful hats in it, and it also has step by step instructions. Yes the instructions are in Japanese, but the pictures to illustrate the steps are so clear it is not a problem. If you already know how to sew you should have no problem using patterns from this book. The ISBN # is ISBN978-4-579-10800-8 I paid about $16 for it. I bought several books at once to make the most of shipping. The amount you pay in US dollars will be based on the exchange rate on the day the order is processed. You can check the exchange rate online. As best as I can guess, the title of the book is "Hats in Spring & Summer, Fall & Winter." The author is Yumiko Itoyama. I hope that will help you find this book if you are interested in it.


As you can see in the above picture, this book explains how to determine sizing and how the angle of the brim is designed. If you are interested in designing your own hat patterns, studying the illustrations would be helpful.

The picture above shows how to measure to determine which size to use and you can also see the pattern sheet on the right. The pattern sheets are in the back of the book and should be carefully cut from the book. I like to keep my books that come with these kind of pattern pieces in large ziploc bags with pattern pieces and any other notes I have made.

The picture above shows the pattern sheet and I have warped it so it can't just be enlarged and used. No cheating peeps, you gotta buy the book! You can see that multiple sizes are on one sheet. If you need to make a smaller or larger size, studying how the pattern was altered for Small, Medium and Large will be helpful. Since these are hats, some rules for altering patterns will work a little differently. If you make seams smaller to enlarge the size, it will make the head opening smaller not larger--think like a sleeve or neck opening. If you are not sure, make a muslin or use some $1 a yard fabric to test it out.

The above pictures shows the directions for a few of the hats in the book. Some hats require you to add or subtract from the pattern to create different looks. The book has clear diagrams showing how much in centimeters to change the pattern. After playing around with this, I had some creative ideas for my own variations.

I found a measuring tape that had centimeters on the back to use with my sewing from Japanese pattern books. One way to check on whether or not seam allowances are included on the pattern or need to be added is to do the measuring. If it is a loose fitting garment, you may need to figure in the ease that has been allowed.

I will show step by step how I made one of the hats from this book in another post to come soon.