I picked up the recently released Dollfie Dream maid sewing book, which has patterns and instructions for several cute maid-themed outfits, with contributions from popular doll studio Ronronshuka and others. You can still find it on Amazon.co.jp under the title ドールソーイングBOOK はじめてのメイド服-Dollfie Dream- [単行本（ソフトカバー）].
Although the instructions are geared toward beginners, the difficulty is that both instructions and pattern labels are mostly in Japanese. A bit of google-fu turned up several guides that were helpful specifically for this book:
http://www.tata-tatao.to/knit/japanese/e-JapaneseEnglish.html
http://mylittlemochi.typepad.com/my_little_mochi/files/japanese_pattern_help_2007.pdf
http://www.japanesesewingbooks.com/japanese-sewing-terminology-a-list-of-translated-terms/
Going through the patterns as I scanned them, I made a few notes to help decipher them later. Here’s my personal cheatsheet for what it’s worth :)
前 – front
前中心 – front center
後ろ – back
表 – right side / obverse
裏 – back side, reverse
上 – up, top
脇 – side/armpit
襟 – collar
袖 – sleeve
胸 – bust
身 – body
肩 – shoulder
はぎ – leg/shin
口 – opening
各 – each
止 – stop/halt
切 – cut (with scissors)
通 – copy
共 – together
遍 – again/the same
幅 – width
材 – material
地 – cloth
綿 – cotton
長 – long
丸 – round
合わせる – join together/match
きりかえ – switching/swap/exchange
接著芯 – interfacing (grey pattern pieces)
裾 – hem
端 – end, edge
カチｭｼｬ – hairband (katyusha)
用型紙 – “use pattern paper” (this piece is used as a guide when ironing the hem on the bib or trimming the apron frill- see instructions in book)
I want this book so much but, I am worried about being able to figure out what’s going on. This is very helpful thanks! ^_^
Thank you! This is helpful. I bought the book, but need to continue practicing before I attempt this!