life
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Junior high school boy!

Sidra has started junior high school this week! Yesterday was the entrance ceremony at his school. The junior high school is actually right across his elementary school, and most of his friends go there, so there is not much difference than the elementary school days. But still, he looked so different and mature in uniform than he was before. After the ceremony, we went back to a spot near the school where we took a picture 6 years ago after the elementary school entrance ceremony. Several elementary school kids stopped by to watch us taking pictures with tripod and timer […]

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life
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Japanese junior high school uniform – with user’s manual

Sidra is entering junior high school next month, and this is the uniform that he will be wearing for the next three years. No, I didn’t make this, but it is a very interesting uniform so I want to post about it. I think every parent with a growing child understand how difficult it is to find a good fitting clothes for their child. A good fitting outfit is nice to look at, but sadly can only be worn for several months or maybe a year. Then people usually buy or make clothes that several sizes too big to prolong the wearing life, which unfortunately don’t […]

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kidswear, life
31 Comments

Graduation suit!

Here’s Sidra in his new suit! The trousers have thigh-length partial lining. I connected the seam allowance at the inseam using chain stitched thread. Sidra had a blast at the graduation day yesterday, laughing and taking pictures with his friends. Some of the girls from his class were crying as if they will never meet again, but actually most of them will go to the same junior high school.

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kidswear
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Elementary graduation suit: in progress

  Sidra is graduating from elementary school this week! It seemed that not a long time ago he was entering first grade. Time flies so fast. It seems that not a long time ago I made him an entrance ceremony suit. I asked Sidra to pick the color of the suit he’s going to wear to his graduation ceremony. He said, “I want a white suit!” I don’t have anything against white suit, really. There must be a right occasion for that, but this is an important event for all the graduating children. It won’t be fair if everyone has their attention […]

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womenswear
19 Comments

Culottes and tops

  I haven’t sewed for quite a while because it was too cold so I’m happy that it is now getting warmer everyday! This cropped top is part of Burdastyle February Flagship kit that contains about 40 patterns. I printed the pattern at 92% as I usually do for Burdastyle patterns, not realizing that it is already a petite pattern! So I have to add the length back to the pattern. I should have used size 17 in normal printed size (100%). If you’re not a petite, this top might be too short as it is already the perfect length for a petite person. […]

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life
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Saboten the chihuahua

After Shake the dachshund left, we took a break from fostering for several months. We started again recently and this cutie pooch has been staying with us for a couple of weeks. His name is Saboten, which means ‘cactus’ in Japanese. It is not his real name though, so he doesn’t really understand when someone calls ‘Saboten!’. Nobody knows his real name or age because Saboten was found abandoned in a cage. This is Saboten’s profile page in ARK website. I can’t imagine why someone would just get rid of a dog like Saboten. He behaves very well, doesn’t make a mess […]

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menswear
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Denim repairs

Apparently not much sewing done in the past couple of weeks. I guess I’d rather stay under the kotatsu than stand in front of my sewing machine feeling cold. I managed to finish a small mending project though. Sometime ago I posted about repairing the pocket lining on my husband’d jeans. The jeans had since started showing holes on the crotch area. I could have made a new pair for my husband, but it seems that once you start fixing something, it become more difficult to just throw it away. So I googled ‘denim repairs’ and stared at the images in my screen. Something about a piece of clothing that got […]

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lingerie
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Soft bra set – Merckwaerdigh BHS10

My first sewing in 2015! Actually I didn’t really plan to make this set. I was tidying up my lingerie supply stash to see what I have when I found some leftover fabric. I made the peach and grey lingerie set in 2011, the bra is not worn anymore as the size turned out to be not quite right. This time I use Merkwaerdigh BHS10 for the pattern. It is such a useful set of patterns with different backs that can be mixed and matched. I chose the soft bra option, the yellow one on the bottom left in this picture. I still have […]

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kidswear, lingerie, menswear, Pets, womenswear
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Sewing in 2014

Happy New Year! The three of us caught influenza just a few days before new year so we didn’t do anything special this year. We are better now and hopefully next week we can go out and enjoy the holiday. Except for my husband who has to go back to work. Boo! Anyway, here’s a compilation of all the sewing I did in 2014. I love doing this every year so I can see what kind of things that I should make more, make less, or stop making. For myself: Surprisingly only two dresses! They didn’t get much wear either so maybe […]

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Pets
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Fuwawa’s T-shirts

The good thing about having a dog is that you can use all your leftovers to make them some T-shirts. Unless you have a big dog of course…. Fuwawa is a Chinese Crested Powder Puff and although her coat is long, it is also quite thin so she gets cold easily. Wearing clothes is a necessity for her, especially in winter. She is not an active dog though, you can find her sleeping near the heater all day but I noticed that she gets a bit more active when she’s wearing clothes. Just a litle bit though! Here is some of the clothes that I’ve made […]

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