life
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Bashu the Chinese Crested

Meet our new foster pooch! Her name is Bashu, a 6 years old Chinese Crested. She came from a breeder who has closed down because of illness. Here’s her profile page (only in Japanese at the moment). We picked her up last Sunday at the adoption event in DOGSIGN in Jingumae. She came from Osaka with Kimchi, another Chinese Crested from the same breeder, both of them were very nervous that day. They stayed close together and were quite jumpy. I understood though, there were 2 playful huskies and one big dog playing fight the whole time! Once got home, […]

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kidswear
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Shweshwe sarouel

This is the second Sheshwe fabric that Emily from Stitch had sent me. The pattern is called New Mountain. I love that it is sort of optical illusion where you can either see a weave pattern or zigzag pattern. Sidra saw the fabric the other day and demanded a pair of pants to be made with this fabric. He is undergoing a style change at the moment. A few months ago he said that his style is daaku (dark), hence the black shoes, black t-shirts, dark pants, and skull pattern. But recently he announced that he is not daaku anymore, […]

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life
22 Comments

6 years ago, first meeting

I met my husband sometime around this month, 6 years ago. This is a picture when he first met Sidra at that time. Actually Sidra is not that easily get attached to people when he just first meets them, so I was quite surprised that he sat on my husband’s lap rightaway and began inspecting my husband’s teeth (kids are weird, you know). I guess he picked up my body language or something. He was also very impressed with my husband’s adam’s apple and talked about it for several days afterward. FYI it is not that impressive! This is the […]

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womenswear
21 Comments

Shweshwe Hazel dress

Sometime ago I got a message from Emily who has just opened her online sewing store in South Africa. She offered me a few metres of Shweshwe fabric of my choice to use for my sewing. Maybe I’m ignorant, but it was the first time I’ve ever heard about Shweshwe fabric so of course I was quite interested. When I browsed around her store and saw the fabric, I realized that I’ve seen them before but I just didn’t know the name of that fabric. The more you know! Shweshwe is 100% cotton that is preserved with starch in the […]

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menswear
26 Comments

Men’s jeans (Kwik Sew 3504)

I made a new pair of jeans for my husband! I usually use Pumila Men’s Jeans pattern (from A Japanese shop, now closed), but I wanted to try other pattern. This is Kwik Sew 3504, from the pattern envelope: “Men’s jeans have fly zipper, waistband with belt carriers, back yoke, back patch pockets, front pockets, a coin pocket, and topstitching detail. View A legs are straight cut and View B are boot cut.” . Unlike his previous jeans where I made muslin first, this time I just dived into the precious denim with bravery (I don’t like making muslins!). The […]

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lingerie
11 Comments

Pink bra set

A new set! It is made with lingerie kit that I won in a Merckwaerdigh ebay auction sometime ago. The bra pattern is my usual Pin-Up Girls #1230 size 30D that has been altered to 26F. The cups are lowered a bit for a demi style. I also changed the back style a bit so I can wear the bra with this dress without the band peeking. The band has one row of hook and eye instead of three that I usually wear, but the band is still wide as I like it. Making your own bra is so fun […]

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life
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Goodbye Duff

We said goodbye to Duff last week. He is one of the sweeyest dog I’ve ever known and I hope he will be happy for the rest of his life. The house feels a bit empty now that he’s gone. It is amazing how such a little creature can bring so many colors into one’s life. Sidra said that he misses how Duff always asked for a belly rub. But he also said that for now he didn’t want a permanent pet anymore, he would love that we continue fostering and get to know more dogs. Saying goodbye each time […]

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womenswear
20 Comments

Fruits print jersey dress (Vogue 1351)

I actually finished this dress almost two weeks ago and have been wearing it almost everyday since then. It is made of jersey and extremely comfortable in spite of the dressy look. It is basically a long tank top! The pattern is Vogue 1351 by DKNY. From the pattern envelope: Lined, pullover dress has draped front neckline, closing-fitting, bias front bodice and skirt, and invisible side zipper. The pattern calls for bias front bodice and skirt, but my jersey fabric has this delightful fruits print that goes in one direction. Since the fabric is stretchy, I didn’t cut on bias […]

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Pets
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Duff’s clothes

Dog clothes are probably not something necessary, except maybe in cold weather. But I’ve got to admit that dog in clothes are probably one of the cutest things in the world. At first, I just tried my hand on recycling Sidra’s old T-shirts into Duff’s t-shirt using this free pattern from Free Dog Clothes Pattern blog. They were finished crudely so I won’t post them here. But then I found this: MillaMilla, an online dog PDF pattern shop that features the cutest and most adorable dogwear, and suddenly I have a new hobby. MillaMilla offers several free pattern that can […]

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