Book By Its Cover » Inspiration: Lotta Jansdotter

2.28.08

PIE Books

There are a handful of books put out by Lotta Jansdotter but I had never seen this one until I stumbled upon it at the Japanese bookstore. Scandinavian born Lotta has a whole line of products she makes with her designs- bags, aprons, dresses, pillow cases, stationery and has become sort of a superstar in the indie-craft scene. Her other books are more sort of how to books- sewing and printing techniques, traveling and lifestyle. I was immediately drawn to this book because it’s mainly pages from her sketchbooks. Sketches for patterns, color studies, test prints on fabrics and lots of notes fill three quarters of this book. The back has two other sections- product photos- with the sketch for the design on the opposite page and studio tour where there’s a tutorial on screen printing in Japanese. This book is published by PIE and is probably hard to find in the US unless you have an amazing Japanese bookstore near you too or you attempt to contact the publisher.

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14 Comments

02/28/08 9:45am

Matt wrote

Really nice shapes. Looks like she might have been a biologist or geneticist in another life.

02/28/08 8:50pm

sosser wrote

this is one i don’t have. and… i MUST have it! a fantastic find.

02/29/08 6:25am

Esti wrote

I’ll add it to my wish list… once again.

02/29/08 10:56am

Amy wrote

Wow, this is a fantastic find and I’ll definitely look out for it — thanks! :)

02/29/08 1:31pm

claire wrote

I don’t suppose you have the ISBN number to hand? only I’m going to japan in a couple of weeks and can keep an eye out for it. although I’m sure I’ll come back with a suitcase full of plenty of other goods, whether I find this particular book or not.

I think you should be on commission at amazon or something, Julia – I buy something from your list every other week…

03/1/08 7:33pm

ashlee wrote

I’m really glad you featured this book, otherwise I wouldn’t know about it. I love how graceful and simple her lines are, while always being kind of playful too.

03/2/08 10:53am

amelia wrote

Thank you for posting this book! I saw it a few years ago but missed my opportunity to order it. I had forgotten the publisher but never stopped searching. (This time I have contacted them already).

03/4/08 1:08pm

bob wrote

Rw6yB9 hi nice site man thx http://peace.com

03/8/08 8:53am

julia wrote

sorry for the slow response Claire- the isbn number is- isbn4-89444-298-1

03/10/08 8:44am

D R E W wrote

i love me some lotta

03/25/08 7:43pm

Amrita wrote

Where is this Japanese book store that you refer to..I’d love to explore some of these places if they are in NYC.

03/26/08 7:24am

julia wrote

Hi Amrita- Kinokuniya’s new store is basically right across from Bryant park- 6th Avenue between 40th and 41st Street. It’s at least two floors big. That’s the store I have been getting all these Japanese books from. Happy shopping!

04/3/08 8:27am

Amrita wrote

Julia – thanks for sharing..I will be at the mid Manhattan library tomorrow and will check it out. Thanks a lot.

06/17/08 2:57pm

Amrita wrote

I should have looked into this book when you initially posted about it. It is apparently out of print. I called Kinokuniya and they checked the ISBN number. I also contacted Pie’s US distributor and they do not have it either.

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