life
31 Comments

I’m home!

Boxes are in every rooms and I still couldn’t find all my sewing accessories. But the internet was finally installed yesterday so I’m now connected to the world! I sew in the dining room now because the room was quite large and the view is beautiful. I wanted to try sewing while standing up to keep the room from too many furniture. So far I don’t have back pain like I used to have when sewing sitting down, so this might be good. But later maybe I might get one of those bar stool to have sitting down option.   […]

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lingerie
20 Comments

Spring flowers set

Instead of packing like what I was supposed to do, I made a new set of bra and panties yesterday. I was packing in the sewing room when my eyes rested upon this wonderful lycra fabric in my stash. The flowers pattern looks like a blooming garden in spring, and suddenly I felt that I need to make something with it right that very moment! Actually sewing calmed down my nerves, so it was my way of refreshing between packing. The fabric was bought sometime ago in Okadaya, Shinjuku. The elastic and notions are from Merckwaerdigh at ebay. The bra […]

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life
19 Comments

Moving!

  This is the state of my sewing room as of right now. As you can see, it is not very inspiring. But there’s a good reason for all this mess, that is: we’re moving! Not too far though, maybe about a couple of miles from here. About a month ago, my husband finally got his permanent resident status. We started looking for a house after that, thinking that it might take months before we found something that we like. As it turned out, we fell in love with the first house that the agent took us to see. It […]

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kidswear
4 Comments

Sleeveles T-shirts

  Next for KCWC 2012, four sleeveless T-shirts for Sidra! I bought most of Sidra’s t-shirts from Threadless, unfortunately they don’t have sleeveless ones for kids. As the weather is getting warmer, Sidra has started wearing sleeveless so I made these. They are recycled from adult-sized T-shirts that I got from the thrift store. The pattern is from Japanese pattern book,  シンプル&ちょこっとデザイン おんなの子服おとこの子服, the same book as the one I’ve used for Sidra’s pants. I spent one day for cutting the pieces and arranging them. The green and purple T-shirts were kinda small but the brown and black ones were quite […]

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kidswear
5 Comments

Camo pants

Another pair of camo print pants for Sidra. The fabric is medium weight Japanese cotton, very comfortable and suitable for children’s wear. Actually the print is more like swishes and drops of paint, but the whole look is similar to camo print. I think that was why Sidra chose this print when we went fabric shopping a couple of weeks ago. The pattern is from Japanese pattern book, シンプル&ちょこっとデザイン おんなの子服おとこの子服 that I’ve used this pattern lots of times. The pants have front patch pockets and back pockets with little flaps. I inserted a little skull label before sewing the back pockets and also […]

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bags and purses
18 Comments

iPad case

  We just got the new iPad last week and I made a case for it so I can bring it everywhere. You know, in case I need to play some DrawSomething…. The fabric is microsuede leftover from my zebra skirt, it is stiff enough so I didn’t need to use interfacing. For added protection, the case has thin batting between the layers of fabric. The flap closes with magnetic snap. It is such a simple case, finished in about 15 minutes. Instant gratification FTW!  

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bags and purses, life
14 Comments

Fourth grade bags

Sidra is starting fourth grade today! I made him a new set of bags and pouches for his school needs. Every elementary school student in Japan has this set, consisted of a book bag, a shoes bag, and a pouch for lunch napkin. I’ve made him a set of bags with grey robot print fabric two years ago when he entered second grade. Now all those bags already have holes or ripped at the corners. Since he is a big boy now, Sidra didn’t want all those cute print fabric anymore, he wanted all his bags in camo print. I […]

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womenswear
9 Comments

Denim pants (Evan – Tamanegi kobo)

  I had a metre of denim fabric in my stash -actually it was more like unshaved corduroy- that I planned to make a high-waisted skirt with. But recently I changed my mind and wanted to make a pair of pants with it. I don’t have too many pants in my wardrobe. Maybe one or two that I rarely wear and a couple of shorts. I realized that making a pair of pants with a good fit is not easy, so I always have lots of doubt when I was about to start. But practice will make perfect! I have […]

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womenswear
34 Comments

Splotches jersey dress (Vogue 1285)

A new dress! I made this dress to try out sewing with the Babylock. The pattern is Vogue 1285 by Tracy Reese, one of the Vogue new spring collection. From the envelope: “Lined, mock wrap dress has collar, close-fitting bodice with bands/hook&eye, fitted skirt, overlay with mock band, belt loops, sleeve bands and invisible left side zipper. Darts are stitched on the right side of fabric. Lining forms attached slip with shoulder and lingerie straps.” The fabric is polyester jersey from my stash. It has green and brown splotches pattern with golden threads weft in between. Unfortunately the camera doesn’t seem to catch the golden […]

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