Month: July 2008

Batik tunic/dress

Sue me for sewing so much. I just can’t stop doing this. It just happened that I have another batik fabric that I brought from Jakarta, so I turned it into a tunic/dress. The pattern is from a Japanese book pattern, and I added a belt from the same fabric. Happy with the result. Pattern is from Stylish dress book.

Boy’s shirt

This is another top for Sidra that I made from toile fabric and scraps of kitchen cloth with some unfinished touch on the hems (or maybe I’m just too lazy)The shape and design is nice, but I’m still not too crazy about the whole result. Next time I’ll use real fabric. As usual, the boy seemed happy with the finished piece, but he claimed that he liked his summer jacket better. Pattern is from R&D.M.Co-boys&girls.

Boy’s yukata

Sidra’s school will be having the annual summer festival next month, there will be dance, fireworks, and bonfire. Usually people go to summer festival wearing yukata, so I thought I’d make a yukata for Sidra to wear that day. I still have a piece of batik, a farewell gift from a friend, and it turned out to be a perfect yukata.I found the pattern in the internet (there are so many free patterns out there in the net!). The yukata patterns were a bit different from ordinary patterns, so I had fun finding out the way. But batik cotton is […]

Boy’s summer jacket

After seeing me spending some time in front of the sewing machine and then came up with new clothes, it’s only natural that Sidra wants some handmade clothes too. I found a beautiful pattern book for kids in Kinokuniya, Shinjuku (an 8 floor bookstore, mind you), and chose a summer jacket. But to go buying some new fabrics, I have to take Sidra with me since it’s already summer holiday. The problem is, Sidra is very prone to heatstroke because he sweats very little (I believe it’s a genetic condition from me). We just can’t go out when it’s too […]

Purple dress

There’s yet another wall hanging fabric in purple, perfect for another summer dress. These fabrics were very comfortable, made of natural fibers, with interesting faded colors due to dust and sunlight from being hung on the wall. I chose a pattern from the pattern book I bought the other day. It was simpler than the previous dress, but turned out a bit more complicated in the making because I used binding to finish the armholes and necklines. I added a line of thin lace that I bought inYuzawaya to the neckline. Worn the next day for a lunch in Yoyogi and […]

A tote bag from used flour bag

I only brought two suitcases when I moved to Japan, and one of few things that I brought here was a used flour bag. Beats me. Now the time has come to transform this used flour bag to a tote bag for my husband, because he loves carrying tote bags. I simply drew the pattern on the cloth, cut it up, and sew it together.

Summer dress

After I got my Janome sewing machine, I got this huge craving for sewing stuffs. But I didn’t have enough time to go to Yuzawaya to browse on some fabrics. So I took a look around the house and saw that red fabric hanging on the wall. It was cotton, so it would be perfect for a summer dress. It’s a very simple dress, with wide neck opening and loose fitting, eliminating the need for buttons or zipper that I didn’t have anyway.I added two pockets on the side-seams because I just love dresses with side-seam pockets. The raw edges […]