Requiem Art

Pattern Book Reviews

Pattern Books

Here are my reviews for the following books as sources of Pullip patterns. The pattern books are all in Japanese. That being said, they’re not that hard to understand if you have a good knowledge of sewing.

	Dolly Dolly Pattern Books
As a group, I prefer the Dolly Dolly Pattern books. The directions for each pattern are included next to the pattern which makes it much easier to understand, and as well as having artsy pictures of the dolls wearing the clothes in the front, an index of the parts of each outfit is included as well, so you know what each piece looks like seperately. Almost all patterns are at 100% (no resizing needed)
	Dolly Dolly Pattern Book #1 Patterns for: Blythe, Momoko, Tiny Betsy, Petit Blythe, Mamamomoko. All momoko and most blythe patterns fit pullip. Petit Blythe fits mini pullip *Patterns of:* Everyday outfits. Jeans, dresses, all kinds of shirts, skirts, and a couple of goth/loli elegant outfits. Rating: 5 out of 5
	Dolly Dolly Pattern Book #2 Patterns for: Blythe, Momoko, Licca, Odeco & Nikki, Tiny Betsy. All Momoko and most Blythe and Liccapatterns fit pullip. *Patterns of:* Punk and british costumes. Lots of cool things to do with plaids, and some very nice victorian inspired modern outfits. Rating: 5 out of 5
	Dolly Dolly Pattern Book #3 Patterns for:Blythe, Momoko, Tiny Betsy, Odeco & Nikki, Living Dead Dolls. All momoko and most blythe patterns fit pullip. *Patterns of:* Goth! Adult and lolita elegant and punky outfits, as well as a good mix of everyday outfits with a gothy influence (like the cover picture of the girl with the lace scull and crossbones shirt). Rating: 5 out of 5

	My Favorite Doll Series: Jenny
My Favorite Doll Books contain pictures of the dolls in the outfits included, directions, patterns, and fan letters/illustrations/photos as well as a section on the current Jenny doll and fashions for the season the book was released. Each book contains roughly 25 outfits, which each have 4+ parts. All patterns should fit Pullips. The nice thing about these books is that they will give you instructions for everything, right down to how to make the jewelry the doll is wearing.The downside of the books is that how organized/clear they are can vary greatly from book to book, and a lot of times they just choose really weird fabrics that might make you overlook an otherwise great pattern.
	My Favorite Doll Book Series #2 *Patterns of:* Varied. Overalls, nightgowns, dresses, everyday wear, and a couple of costumes. Also a kimono pattern in here. The sections are broken up into ‘beginner’ ‘intermediate’ and ‘advanced’ *Good/Bad:* The patterns aren’t always in the section they’re for, which can be confusing. Pattern parts aren’t clearly marked, but unlike later books the instructions are next to each pattern which helps. This book has a lot of great patterns from easy to difficult. Rating: 4 out of 5
	My Favorite Doll Book Series #2 *Patterns of:* Kimono. Your basic, informal, and formal kimono are included from underdress to obi, as well as how to make all the accessories (including sandals) and extremely detailed photo steps from sewing to dressing. *Good/Bad:There’s only 4 fold-out pages of patterns in this book, but this is THE book if you want to make kimono. Everything is laid out very clearly with pictures so little Japanese is needed. There is even instructions on how to do a geisha hairstyle on your doll! Rating: 5 out of 5*
	My Favorite Doll Book Series #7 *Patterns of:Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter fashions Good/Bad:* The patterns seem kind of random, but as a result there is a very good variety in this book. Cheongsham chinese dresses, school uniforms, priestess outfit with hakama pants, nurse, wetsuit, bunny (as in playboy), wedding, and Audrey Hepburn’s garden party dress from My Fair Lady. Plus normal stuff. Several boy outfits. The instructions for each pattern are included next to the pattern. Rating: 5 out of 5
	My Favorite Doll Book Series #12 *Patterns of:All Lolita, all the time! Good/Bad:* Definitely a good lolita sourcebook. A lot of these outfits are lolita overkill, HOWEVER, like most lolita dresses they are layered, and most of the layers are really nice with proper fabric selection. Unfortunately, you can’t always see the dresses under-neath the ungodly large bib or apron (like the gigantic heart apron on the cover) so you might easily pass on some nice designs. Patterns and instructions are in seperate sections Rating: 4 out of 5
	My Favorite Doll Book Series #13 *Patterns of:Elaborate/ceremonial kimono and feudal attire Good/Bad:* I recognized most of the outfits in this book from reading Inu Yasha (they even have his outfit in here). Outfits range from modern ceremonial to feudal. Pros: They show you tricks for doll kimono that keep the look but save you time and fabric. Cons: The fold-out pattern section looks like an engineer’s masters thesis. The patterns are all full sized, but they overlap a lot so unless you’re careful you will likely cut out the wrong shape. Patterns and instructions are in seperate sections. Rating: 3 out of 5 (for high difficulty level)
	My Favorite Doll Book Series #14 *Patterns of:* Everyday street wear, dresses, costumes, punk, goth/loli and dollhouse furniture *Good/Bad:* This is the #1 hardest doll pattern book to lay your hands on, in Japan or elsewhere. There’s good reason, as it is a very nice book pattern-wise. Lots of original stuff you don’t see elsewhere. With the extra dollhouse sections there are slightly fewer patterns, but they make up for it with things you never see, like shoe patterns. Patterns and instructions are in seperate sections. Rating: 5 out of 5
	My Favorite Doll Book Series #15 *Patterns of:* Early 20th century attire. Undergarments and everyday dresses to flapper costume. *Good/Bad:* The underwear in this book is worth it alone. You want corsets, petticoats, pantaloons, etc? Definitely the book for you. Also, you don’t see early and period dresses in this book elsewhere. The downside is that for some reason a lot of the dresses are made out of felt, which looks godawful. But the patterns are sound, and look very nice when done with other fabrics. Patterns/instructions are seperate. Rating: 4 out of 5
	My Favorite Doll Book Series #17 *Patterns of:* Varied. Gardening, rockstar, waitress, and your usual dresses and everyday wear. Plus making really nice dollhouse furniture from everyday items. *Good/Bad:* If I hadn’t already made my dollhouse, I would be really, REALLY excited about the furniture sections. They show how to make realistic gardening, kitchen, bedroom, living room, etc furniture from basic items. There are fewer clothing patterns because of the furniture. Patterns and instructions are in seperate sections. Rating: 5 out of 5
	My Favorite Doll Book Series #18 *Patterns of:* Boys/Girls clothing. Everyday, underwear & bathing suits, plus uniforms (gym, school, etc) *Good/Bad:* This is the book for boys clothes! As is common with the My Favorite Doll Books, the fabric and pattern selections on a lot of the outfits are ridiculous, but the designs are nice. The patterns are slightly repetitive, but there aren’t that many different ways to make a pair of boys’ pants. This book has good everyday basics, but nothing really out of the ordinary. Rating: 4 out of 5
	My Favorite Doll Book Series #21 *Patterns of:* Elegant Gothic/Lolita *Good/Bad:* My absolute favorite pattern book. All of the outfits are creative and unique, the patterns are very clearly marked with outfit #s and clothing piece #s, which page the instructions are on, which page the patterns are on, and an index of each clothing item included in each outfit. This is way more organized than any book that has come before it, and the patterns are sublime. I hope that all future books are this good! Rating: 5 out of 5

Pullip Mook

So far, there’s only been one. Outside of roughly a dozen patterns, it includes information on pullips such as a release calendar up through Lan for all Pullip/Namu/Minis, as well as some customization tutorials.

Pullip Mook
Patterns of: Japanese Goth/Loli/Punk outfits.

Good/Bad: The patterns are all submitted by different brand name japanese Goth/Loli designers. The downside is that the instructions/diagrams are incredibly weak, and the patterns aren’t shown at full size. The patterns are shown at the % of full size, i.e. if a pattern is 50% you have to multiply it 200% to get the proper size, contrary to all other pattern books which just give you the amount you need to increase it by. This gets complicated when all the patterns are at different % amounts. The poorest pattern book I’ve seen.
Rating: 2 out of 5

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