Some of you were asking about the directions in Japanese books, so I thought I would show you. I don’t speak or read Japanese (although I’m thinking I’d like to), and I don’t have any trouble getting through the directions.
As you can see, they are very detailed in their drawings and dimensions. Usually the pattern starts off showing you the cuts that need to be made and then they walk you through each step.
Sometimes, though not as often, there will be photos for most of the steps.
The most you need to worry about translating (for most of us) is from centimeters to inches. You can do this two ways: 1) 2.54cm = 1in or go to Google and type into the search engine something like this: 23cm to in. Google will then give you the correct inches to some ridiculous decimal point. Usually, you will have to round off to a number your use to. Sometimes I get a number like “11.456” and I just rounded it up to “11.5”. This is where you need to let go a little and not worry so much about being “perfect”.
I would say that you need to have at least a good, basic knowledge of sewing to know what the pictures are trying to tell you. Get a few patterns in your native language under your belt first. I do very well with these types of patters because I don’t like to read directions written out. I’m much more visual, and so drawings of what I'm suppose to do are much more appealing. But, don’t let anything distract you from trying these out. Even if your new to sewing, if you like the look of a project in a Japanese book you find, give it a go. If you can’t quite complete it yet, put it aside for awhile, and come back to it again later.
There are resources out there on the blogs now to help you decipher even more of these books – and I'm sure there are some willing bloggers that read Japanese that would be willing to help. Here is a list of some blogs I found today that can help you out even more:
Understanding the Patterns in Japanese (pdf) – While this focuses on the clothing aspect of Japanese sewing, it has helpful translations for fabrics for crafting, too.
Japanese Sewing and Pattern Terms – Very helpful! Shows you the symbol in Japanese and tell you the meaning in English.
How to Sew From Japanese Craft Books – This is a blog post series done by label-free on how to interpret and sew from these great books. She is making a dress, but some of it should still apply to craft books. She also mentioned a neat gadget, a seam tracer…I must have one!
Japanese Pattern Help (pdf) – My Little Mochi has a list here of characters and their translations. She mentions that this mostly applies to stuffed animals, but she also includes lots of general sewing terms.
And, finally, here is a link to mk carroll with some useful links to more about crafting in Japanese.
I confess, there are times I wish I could read what it was saying. But I really don’t need to know. I like doing my own thing, and really love the books for inspiration more than anything. And sometimes I like to have the finished dimensions of something. As much as I try and take into account seam allowance, there’s always that project I underestimated on.
I will be posting more photos of these books shown to my Flickr a little later. You’ll be able to find out titles and ISBN numbers for these photos there.
**Edited** Liz just listed some Japanese books in her Etsy shop!
I still need to post June’s block of the month. And I need to post July’s, too. I’m thinking those are good projects for this weekend. I also have photos for the second installment of my binding tutorial. …which means I'll have a completed quilt to show you soon.
I sewed yesterday. Got all the way through and realized I forgot to iron-on the interfacing. Are you kidding me? No. That’s why it’s not a good idea to craft with a cranky kid. I get pulled away and loose focus. *sigh* 
My business cards and postcards arrived in the mail yesterday. They look fantastic! Now I need to design some for the photography aspect of my life. I’ve done portraits here and there over the last few years and think occasionally about passing out cards for it, but of course don’t have the confidence for that yet. And I don’t want to spread myself too thin. But a session here and there would be okay, and it would help me to buy a few more lenses. I design some cards just incase. In the least, I can pass them out for the purchase of my prints! 
I got Brice’s quilt top done this morning (I thought I had a picture of it, apparently I don’t) and have been working on – and finished – the blocks for Colin’s quilt. I need to finish quilting my commissioned swell quilt tomorrow and then maybe I can load the boys and quilt them up, too. It will depend on the heat. That room heats up pretty quickly and the A/C (and the heat in the winter, for that matter) never quite reach that room. I plan on staying indoors tomorrow…perfect day to finish my knitting project.
