verypurpleperson

kidswear
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KCWC 2011: Boy’s undies from recycled T-shirts

It’s kids clothes week spring 2011! I’m starting it by refashioning Sidra’s T-shirts into undies. Those shirts are still in good condition but all of them have become too small now. It is something that you always encounter when you have kids. I copied one of Sidra’s undies to make the base pattern. Then I made a pair of test undies from old T-shirt so Sidra can tell me what he wanted to change. Yes, I made a muslin for recycled undies…. He wanted his undies to be a bit longer and not too tight around the bum, so I […]

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bags and purses
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A day in the mountain backpack tote

We went to the mountain today, but I didn’t wear my new top because it doesn’t match my new backpack! Actually I prefer carrying a tote bag than a backpack, simply because I never found any backpack style that I like. But I thought I would need my hands free for our walking in the mountain trip, so I made this backpack tote yesterday. The pattern is ‘A Day in The Park Backpack Tote’ by Liesl + Co. It was offered as a package when I bought the ‘Nature Walk’ pullover and knit pants from Oliver + s for Sidra. The […]

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womenswear
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Broken striped top and black shorts

These are the simple shorts that I made yesterday, along with an equally simple top. The waistband of the shorts is elasticized while the front waistband is kept flat, so there’s no need for fastener. The original pattern is for pants but I shortened it and added a row of black cotton lace on the hem. The top is pretty simple with only two pattern pieces, the front and back pattern are the same except for the neckline. Both patterns are from a Japanese pattern magazine called ソーイングナチュリラ vol.4. You can see the top and pants are on the left in this […]

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giveaway, review
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Giveaway: Seam Allowance Guide – CLOSED

As someone who often uses Japanese pattern and draft my own pattern, the last step after drafting and tracing is something that I like the least: adding seam allowances. Sometimes I forget to add spaces between pattern pieces, so I had to tape new piece of paper or trace the whole pattern piece altogether, which taking so much of oh my precioussss sewing time. I’m sure you know what I’m talking about as only fellow seamstresses share the same thing, and I wonder why I never came across any tool that address this problem. Until one day  Hollie offered me to […]

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bags and purses
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Pencil pouch

My husband is a member of an internet community and they often arrange some exchange events. The recent one was a craft exchange, and my husband asked me to work together making something. Our match is a game lover, so my husband drew the mascot of the community, with portal gun on its hand, jumping into/out of a portal. Portal is a video game. I scanned the drawing and create a tiling pattern with a drawing program, then printed them to an A4 size fabric specifically designed for inkjet printing. The fabric is then washed, pressed, and then cut to […]

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menswear
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naniIRO Negroni shirt

Instead of all the projects I was talking about yesterday, I made another shirt for my husband. I suppose I’m not very good at planning projects. Anyway, my husband has been wearing his three Negroni shirts almost every day, so I think a fourth one is necessary. The fabric is double-gauze cotton by naniIRO in white with jagged grey stripes. I love how the lines are somewhat irregular and not really straight, a character that shows in almost all naniIRO fabric. Pattern is Negroni from Colette patterns.

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life
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Spring sewing

Look at those pretty buttons! If you’re looking for new ideas and inspiration for Spring sewing, you can check out these exciting projects and sew-alongs: Free Pattern Month at Grosgrain Fabulous, April 25-May 27. It starts today and will continue for a whole month with free pattern from the guest bloggers, one free pattern each day! That is indeed so fabulous! I’m also honored to be invited as one of the guest (^_^) the Spring Top Flickr group for inspiration. Jeans Sew-Along at Male Pattern Boldness, starting May 2nd. I’m going to make a pair of jeans for my husband […]

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life, womenswear
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Sew Weekly Challenge: Kidding Around

My first Sew Weekly challenge! If you haven’t heard about Sew Weekly (who haven’t?), you should check out the site now! This week’s theme is ‘kidding around’ where people make creations inspired by outfit worn in their childhood photo. I was quite excited with this theme as most of my clothes are basically shaped like a bigger version of little girls’ dresses. Hello baby dolls, gathered skirt, and ruffles! Now for finding the childhood photo. This turned out to be not quite an easy task. My late father loved to take pictures of his kids when we were still very […]

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kidswear
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Skull and cross pants

The fabric is black medium weight linen/cotton with white and silver skull and cross pattern and I’m not too crazy about it. The idea of silver and gold as fabric is too flashy for my taste. We were browsing around in Yuzawaya, a fabric store, when Sidra saw it and announced on the spot: “I want to wear this fabric.” I’ve tried to change his mind, what about a bag, an apron? “No, I don’t want it as a bag. No, not an apron. I want a pair of pants with this fabric. Yes, I am sure.” Uhhh, okay. I was planning […]

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