I wrote a quick guide to start sewing from Japanese sewing books, and a list of Japanese sewing vocabularies ("vocabulary" is such a hard word to pronounce for a Japanese!).  I am hoping that these might help people who are intimidated by books full of foreign language, or when diagrams alone are not clear enough to explain sewing processes.  

英語圏の人向けに、日本の洋裁本の使い方について書いてみました。日本語〜英語の洋裁用語リストも作成中（途中ですが公開中）です。英語で洋裁について書く機会がある方や、英語パターンを使ってみたい方には、参考になる・・・かも？？

I made a pair of leggings for my daughter using a pair I bought for myself.  

The original pair had some problem I could not live with, but I loved its fabric so much that I decided to keep them to use as material for another pair for my daughter.  

近くのドラッグストアでレギンスを買ってのですが、どうしても譲れない欠点があるのに気付いて返品しようかとも思ったのですが、生地が気に入ったので娘のレギンスに作り変えることにしました。

Last year was a slow year for my sewing and creativity.  Partially (ok, maybe a big part), it was because I was taking care of a one year old baby for the first time.  

However, the biggest reason is that I felt guilty about creating more "things" when I already had so many.

赤ちゃんのお世話で忙しい、というのもあったと思いますが、たくさん物を持っているのにさらに物作りすることに罪悪感を感じて、しばらく洋裁から遠ざかっていました・・・

I have twin baby nephews who are 2 months younger than my daughter.  I needed gifts which I can send to Japan via airmail without going bankrupt. After thinking about it for a while, I ended up making something my daughter wears daily and I consider to be some of the most useful pieces of clothing I made for her: turtleneck shirts.   

日本に住む双子の甥っ子たちに、クリスマスプレゼントとしてタートルネックシャツを作りました。

Lately, I'm all about efficiency and short-cuts when it comes to cooking.  Ever since giving birth to my daughter, we just don't have the kind of time we used to have (those friends who'd told us that kids would change EVERYTHING were right all along).