Lotta Jansdotter Everyday Style: Key Pieces to Sew + Accessories, Styling, and Inspiration

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The thing is, for all my misgivings about actually trying out the patterns, I still really enjoy paging through the book, imagining what different pieces would look like in different fabrics. Whether or not I ever get around to making the clothes, I feel like the book has informed me in developing my own personal style, and reading it and looking at the pictures has been a real treat. Photographed by Jenny Hallengren over the course of a year in her life in New York, Tennessee, India, and Sweden and organized by season, Jansdotter shares her sources of inspiration and how she and her friends mix and match her key pieces while working, playing, resting, and traveling. Lotta Jansdotter Everyday Style brings Jansdotter’s infectious and sought-after sense of style to new followers and longtime devotees alike. If I find a heavier weight fabric appropriate for spring/fall and suitable for all the gathering at the yoke I can imagine making it again, with the 3/4 length sleeves and slightly shorter than this version.

As for the sizing, unless you're really skinny and tall (or in the case of the pants, short with no curves at all), you'll likely need to draft your own patterns to get a decent fit. It looks like each was drafted for the book with only the model in mind. And even the extra-large size for each isn't that big--if you're over a size twelve or have any hips or a somewhat larger bust, definitely plan on altering and remaking all your own patterns for the clothing. Highly recommend buying a lot of muslin to really figure things out before you cut into the real fabric.I traced the size M yoke and made up a sample in scrap fabric and was happy with the fit. A new yoke was cut out and sewing could start again. I used the size S armhole facing. I'm very happy with the finished dress. It involved a lot of frustration.

Lotta Jansdotter Everyday Style is the first sewing book that didn’t sit on my shelf for months before I made something from it. It not only gave me patterns to use, it gave me inspiration to use the patterns. If you like Lotta Jansdotter’s style then this book may have the same effect on you too. I’m going to make the pants from the book this week. We’ll see how I do. Over the years, I have written and published many more books about printing, decorating and sewing. I love creating the world inside these books, aiming to inspire readers and help them imagine new projects through my visual language of photographs, styling and patterns. As I build towards marking 25 years since founding Lotta Jansdotter, I have reflected where this journey has taken me. Since I first saw an article about her in Sunset Magazine (in the mid 1990s) I have admired Lotta Jansdotter’s work. So no surprise that I really like her new book, Lotta Jansdotter Everyday Style; Key Pieces to Sew. Yes, it has patterns, and yes that’s the first thing I noticed and yes, those nine patterns, for basic tops, dresses, a skirt, a pair of pants, and bags, were what I based buying the book on – at first anyway. Waitressing part time in a middle eastern restaurant in San Francisco didn’t simply help pay my rent, it fueled me.It was here I learned more about customer service and the everyday running of a small business. And I also met my accountant, many dear friends, andmy benefactor, a property manager who let me have a small studio space in his building.The book is a must-have for those who are a bit fed up with the demanding fashion trends. The motto of this book is mainly: wear or make whatever you want and choose your own unique and sustainable style. The line art of the garments look hand drawn rather than the perfectly smooth line art when computer drawn. I would have really liked to have a not hand drawn line art illustration of each of the garments. They are accompanied by fabric swatch photos and brief comments about the design. After the muslin try on I had to widen the shoulders, take in the sides a little at the bottom (too swingy there for my apple shape), add some more length below the waist, and move the shoulder seam forward by 3/8″. And thanks to a Craftsy class still fresh in my head I knew all that, and it was easy. The instructions for the Kiomi top. Not for the visual learning types, like me. I borrowed this book from the library twice, tracing out the pattern in late 2022 and started the sewing in May 2023 as I thought I had but actually hadn't copied the instructions.

I requested this book from the library months ago when I learned it was being published and they didn't have any copies yet and got it this week, so I may be the first patron with my hands on it! Lotta writes about how the various pieces will work in different fabrics and with different styling details. She features her friends and colleagues wearing the clothes so you get to see how they have interpreted the designs. It makes the book fun to read and inspiring, and she includes interesting details about her friends--I felt like I could relate to them and share their creative outlook.Note that the book author is Lotta Jansdotter; the pattern designer is Felicity More. This dress is on the front cover.