A friend of mine just got an operation done on her head. She had to have all all her long hair shaved and stayed a long time in the hospital. I decided to make her a hat, hopefully it will cheer her up. Initially I wanted to knit a cap, but apparently my knitting and crochet skill has gone back to zero, so I made her a fabric hat instead.
Sometime ago I’ve made these denim hats from the book ‘Idea Hat Recipe’, so I looked for other patterns in it. The concept of the book is hats that inspired by cakes, a weird concept but the hats are indeed pretty cute. The pattern that I chose is called Macaron thé russe, which is actually a cap with tilted down brim. The fabric is linen with printed cotton for the lining.
Note about the pattern: I didn’t add seam allowances to the pattern as it seemed big, then I sewed it with 0.8 cm allowance. At the end, the hat still needed some elastics sewed at the back to make it fit.
I added a detachable brooch from some lace, fabric scraps, and buttons. Actually I wanted to make a flower brooch, but then changed it to this simple and easy round brooch. Or maybe I was just lazy.
Then I tried putting it on. The hat was looking okay, but suddenly I didn’t think it would be the right hat for my friend. There is no way I could give this hat to her! What was I thinking? etc. So I decided to make another hat. I don’t know, sometimes I get freaked out like that. Making things for other people is frightening, I’m always afraid that they wouldn’t like it.
I went back to the same book and chose Mousse de pêche, a rectangle-based hat with folded brim. The fabric was the same as the first hat, with different pattern of print for the lining.
Note about the pattern: I didn’t add seam allowance to the pattern and it turned out too small! So I unpicked the stitches and sewed it again with smaller allowance, about 0.5 cm. It fits okay, but next time I should add seam allowance to it.
The brooch was made with the same method as the first one. Despite looking a bit complicated, sewing a hat is actually much quicker than sewing a top or a dress. I finished both hats in just a few hours, making the brooches took longer than the hat! I put on the second hat and this time I approved it. It doesn’t mean that the first hat is worse than the second, it just doesn’t feel right.
My friends and I went to visit her today and she liked the hat! She said she would wear it to go to a nearby department store. I’m very happy now, not only because she liked the hat, but also because she looked very strong and happy. The operation has affected her vision so she couldn’t drive any more, she said that next time we should go to places by bike together. She’s such a strong woman!
Do you have a fashion treasure? This coat is one of mine. It used to belong to my mother, she bought it in a small shop in France more than thirty years ago when she and my father went for a trip around Europe.
The coat is unlined blue and white purl knit, the white pattern is consisted of white chains inserted between. It also has a a pair of big pockets, perfect for the cold hands, and thick mother-of-pearl buttons.
Once my mother was back from the trip, the coat had no use in the tropical climate of Indonesia except for becoming a dress-up play thing for her children. I used to play hide and seek in her wardrobe, sitting between all the dresses and coats.
Since I was big enough to wear it, I acquired the coat and it has now become my daily wear in Tokyo winter time. There is a special feeling when wearing a vintage item, especially the one that you’ve grown with. A nostalgic and familiar feeling, and strangely secure feeling.
I especially love this picture of my parents in Germany. My mother wore the signature coat over a print green dress. On her hands is a beautiful crocodile skin handbag with golden buckle. That’s a pair of of red knee-length boots on her feet!
And look at my father! Why don’t men dress like that any more? He had on a three-piece suit with perfect crease along his pants. His big tie is peeking above the waistcoat and the jacket has one button casually opened to show a peek of his belt buckle.
A pair of room shoes that I made yesterday. The pattern is Woman room shoes (size 5-10) pdf pattern bought from ithinksew for $5. Besides the multi sizes, the pattern also comes with 9 pages of clear step-by-step photo tutorials and I got to download 5 more free patterns with every purchase. Yay!
The outer fabric is cotton and the lining is Indonesian batik, both are scraps from my previous projects. I sewed a pair of thick felt soles so it would feel more like shoes instead of socks. The size 6 that I chose turned out a bit too big for me. It looks fine with socks on but next time I’ll make it in size 5.
PS: here’s a glamorous behind the scene picture that my husband took (-.-)
This very pretty embroidered cotton was found in a local fabric store, but unfortunately it was only in a small piece. So I planned to make a bib dress with it, combining it with this denim-like blue cotton/linen fabric. I was ready to draft a pattern myself when I found this Wenlan blouse pattern in Burdastyle, the pattern is actually for a blouse and the recommended fabric is flowy materials like chiffon and silk. My blue fabric is a bit stiff, but I think I can use this pattern for my dress, so I went ahead and bought the pattern for $7.99.
And it is indeed a good pattern! I omitted the tie collar (which was impossible anyway with the stiff fabric) and lengthened the pattern to make a dress. The embroidered cotton is a bit thin, so I lined it with plain cotton in broken white. The neckline was finished with bias binding, so were both of the armholes. I also added a pair of hidden pockets on the side seams because all dresses should have pockets!
The stiff fabric makes the dress really looks different than the original. I especially like the sleeves, they stuck out like a pair of shoulder pads or mini wings. Love this bib dress! I’m thinking of using the pattern again to make other dress in absolutely different kind of fabric.
And have I told you how I love my new sewing machine? I will tell you again, I love my new sewing machine! It sewed this dress like a dream, I finished it in just a few hours.
I’ve used my new sewing machine to make these very simple tissue cases from scrap of linen fabrics. They are basically a lined fabric rectangle folded to meet at the center. I make the outer fabric longer than the lining fabric so it automatically folded inside, because I don’t like the lining fabric showing at the edge. It also eliminates the need of topstitching.
The tutorial is only two pages, but please tell me if something is not clear in it.
The bad news is, my Janome Agneau d’Or Y101 is now officially dead. We took it to a Janome dealer last week, a little shop in a nice small street. A nice woman greeted us and she gasped when we showed her a piece of fabric with loopy stitches on it. She then tried to move the wheel but it was stuck. It wasn’t stuck before!
We told her about my sewing ‘habit’, she seemed impressed and asked permission to take some pictures of things that I made and worn that day, my dress and pencil pouch, Sidra’s jacket and bag, and my husband’s bag. She told us that she worked in the research department.
But apparently my poor machine couldn’t handle the load of works I had been forcing it to do. It is a sewing machine targeted for beginners, and actually it’s a very decent machine which can sew almost anything. I’ve used it to sew more than forty bags and almost the whole wardrobe of the family and it performed perfectly for almost two years. But since it was not meant to do such hard work, the sewing machine aged quickly and finally met its fate after finishing the last stitch of Sidra’s pants. See? It even finished the last job before it collapsed. What a decent machine.
The Janome woman said that we can trade the broken machine for a discount for a newer one. She then proceeded to present a sewing machine in front of me, supposedly better suited for my needs. The machine was beautiful. I tried it and it felt different, it felt better. It doesn’t move around when I was using it. Its feet grabbed the fabric smoothly but strongly. It was love at first sight that I didn’t even bother to try the other sewing machine that the woman showed me.
My husband looked at me and asked, “Well?” I showed him my best puppy eyes. He turned to the Janome woman and said, “Yes, we’ll take it.” ♥♥♥
Here is my new sewing machine: Janome Equle CP4850! Click this link to go to the Janome page and see what it can do! It’s in Japanese and of course I can’t read it but it sure looks cool!
Janome Equle CP4850
Thread and sewing feet compartment
The storage box
The machine arrived the next day (no delivery fee!) and I’ve eagerly tried it to make these tissue cases. They are pretty easy, but since some have asked, I’ve prepared a simple tutorial for making them. Will upload it later today!
Oh I hate not posting about sewing again! But in the past two weeks, my health has been in an on and off mode. Sidra caught the virus first, and as usual I caught it from him. My husband, who is stronger, caught it later. As a result, after Sidra and I got better, I caught the virus again from my husband. Bummer.
My back pain is also worsening, so recently we went to an orthopaedist to get it checked. The last time it was checked was when I was in junior high school. Yikes! That was when I got diagnosed for scoliosis and then put on a brace. I wore the brace for about a year. But then something happened that put my spine at the end of the list of important things in the family. So, it was kinda neglected.
The orthopaedist clinic was literally full of old people. We started to wonder if there was some kind of age restriction to get checked there. But of course we were just being paranoid. I got my X-ray taken, and when the doctor showed it to me, I was a bit shocked. I mean, it looked like something from a medical text book with a caption: case of Mrs. N or something.
The doctor showed a very concern face and said that my spine is curved about 52 degrees and a bit rotated as well. But he didn’t suggest operation as it is dangerous. Actually, it was kinda hard understanding him. Although my husband can speak Japanese pretty well, the doctor had apparently decided to exercise his English upon seeing the two gaijin in front of him. So he spoke in broken English which neither of us could understand easily, and maybe neither the doctor himself could understand. At the end, he told me to get checked again next year, gave me some painkillers and exercise leaflets, and told me to go to the rehabilitation room to get, err, rehabilitated, I suppose?
It turned out that the rehabilitation consisted of lying on a bed to get a back massage from a very kind lady and then sitting under the heat lamp pointed to my back. The nurses were very nice and kind. I felt so old. I still haven’t take the painkillers until now. I’m planning to seek for a second opinion or alternative treatment.
After we got back from the clinic, I had the virus attack #2 and started to have a fever. Fortunately my husband works at home in the morning so he can take care of me. He’s such an angel, taking care of Sidra in the morning and bringing me breakfast and medicine. He took his notebook to the bedroom to work while keeping me company. It was kinda nice, lying sleepy in bed while watching him working.
After he left to go to the office, Sidra took care of me in the afternoon. Although his idea of keeping me company was sitting beside my pillow playing Mario Bros on his Nintendo with those annoying electronic sounds. But he was trying hard. He would put the blanket over me and brush my hair with his little fingers. He would offer me things he likes because he thought I would like that too. “Are you okay, Mama? Would you like my chocolate? But they’re very good! You can have them all! Do you want more water? Here’s water for you. You have to drink it if you want to get well! Would you like to check your temperature? Can I have my temperature checked too? Can you make me some pancakes? But it’s okay if you can’t, I’ll just eat some bananas…” and so on.
Here’s a video of Sidra trying to cheer me up. I hope everyone will stay warm and healthy!
These pictures are from Sesame magazine, spring issue 2010, that was published this month. Sidra participated in a picture article featuring children from several countries. That’s one page of him in the traditional Javanese clothes and a little interview on the side. The pictures were taken last month at Sesame studio.
I really love this magazine, not (just) because Sidra were in the magazine several times, but because the clothes are always unbearably cute! Sometimes I had ideas for my own outfit from this kid’s fashion magazine.
Anyway, here’s a loose translation of Sidra’s interview:
Sidra – Indonesia
Shidora-kun
Q What do you like the most? A Hercules stag beetle, because it’s very big! And it also has a cool horn. Michael Jackson. Because he’s so good at dancing, and singing too!
Q What things from your home country that make you proud? A I have cousins!
Q What do you hate the most? A People who disturb my stag beetle larvae. Spicy food.
Q What is your treasure? A My handmade robot.
Q What do you want to have in the future? A Caucasus stag beetle and rainbow stag beetle. And a dog with black eyes and nose and long, white fur.
Q What is your dream? A I want to be Michael Jackson.
YELLLLLL… for your smile
photo: Takashi Miezaki
styling: Kosei Matsuda (AVGAST)
hair & make-up: hanjee for hanjee HAIR Gallery (A.K.A)
S: Mama, I want a gold pants.
M: A gold pants? Why??
S: Because Maikeru Jakuson wears one.
M: But where will you wear the gold pants to?
S: I’ll wear it anywhere, to supermarket, to school….
Since I couldn’t bear the thought of him walking to school in gold pants, I tried to offer several alternatives. How about a pair of black pants? No? But Michael Jackson had one too. A blue pants? No? A grey one? No? And so on.
At last we saw Michael Jackson in the ‘This is It’ DVD wearing a pair of red pants. I offered him a similar pants and Sidra excitedly agreed. So, a pair of red pants was on the way.
The fabric is the brightest red corduroy I could find in a local fabric store. I use pieces of stripes fabric for pocket lining and waistband lining. The pants has narrow pipes, but I hope it’s still comfortable to wear because the fabric is a bit stretchy. To add a ‘golden’ touch, I put a little golden button on one of the pocket. Not an MJ button though, it’s a flying Ultraman. It was a very quick project as I’ve got used to making pants for Sidra.
Sidra was very happy when I showed him the pants this morning. He immediately wore it and stroke a ‘Maikeru Jakuson pose’. The pose in the picture was his idea of a Maikeru Jakuson pose. But now he’s asking me to make a golden/silver jacket like the one MJ wore with the red pants in the DVD (-.-)
PS:
My sewing machine got very ill after making the last stitch on the hem. Now it can only speak rattling sound while making random loopy stitches. Usually I can always find the trouble by opening the machine and cleaning the inside parts, but this time it definitely cries for a professional help. After seeing me sulking the whole morning, my husband said that he will take it to the repair shop tomorrow. It concludes that no sewing will be done for the next few days. Argh.
Thank you to all twitter friends who has offered help and suggestions! Everyone is so nice, arigatou gozaimasu! ♥
Initially I wanted to knit a cap, but apparently my knitting and crochet skill has gone back to zero, so I made her a fabric hat instead.
I went back to the same book and chose Mousse de pêche, a rectangle-based hat with folded brim. The fabric was the same as the first hat, with different pattern of print for the lining.
Wedding anniversary
Blue bags and the doomed fate of the birthday shirt
Snowing!
Sidra in Sesame magazine – Snap 2010 edition
If I could sing, I would love to sing like Sophie Madeleine
Blog problem
Stylish Dress Book 2: D (uhm, sort of)
Sesame photoshoot
My truly honest scrap
Suwako
Popular posts