Love Summer!

Summer is my absolute favorite season! Love hot weather, light clothes (no layering!), the Sun, sandals, beaches and water parks, fire works and festivals!

All images are from Visualpanic's photostream

Sophie's version of cut out dress

Check out Sophie's version of cut out dress over at her blog, Iro Iro (Here is her post on Burdastyle)! I'm thrilled many girls are trying their versions of cut out dresses, You can see Petite Republic's version here and here, Becky's version here, and storres56's version here.

As Sophie mentioned in her blog post, Danielle pattern which I based this cut out dress off of, requires a LOT of adjustment. If you make a default Danielle dress, you will notice that the dress is pretty loosely fit. I took in a lot on the side, shorten the straps in the front and change the front bust darts a bit to make it fitted to the bodice. Just an FYI for anyone who might be interested in using the pattern..
Besides a little issue with the fit of the dress, I do love Danielle pattern, and used it numerous times with different alterations. I totally recommend it especially the pattern is free!

Some shop updates

White lace bustier dress

Pink Bustier Dress

Vintage block print mini skirt

Vintage reconstructed floral skirt

Lavender block print fairy dress

Some new dresses and skirts updated over the last 2 weeks! Check more here:)
Have a great rest of the weekend...xx

Inspiration: Marc Jacobs Resort

Marc Jacobs Resort via Papercup
Too cute! I could not take my eyes off from these pictures for a while!
I love the polka dots and scalloped hem.

Fall inspiration: Orla Kiely

I found Orla Kiely AW10 collection via Bleubird Vintage blog. I know it is a bit early to start worrying about fall and winter clothing yet, but I could not resist posting it here!
I love the bow print dress, hooded sweater and winter romper. I feel like summer is slipping away so quickly - I have not done anything summer yet! I really want to go see fireworks at the festival, beach, and water park!

The Real i feature

My shop is featured at The Real i! The episode in which my dress was featured in is episode 38.
I'm not sure how to upload a video using URL on blogger, so no direct link here, but please check it out through this link.

The Real i is an online TV based in NC, and they introduce different online shops each week. I'm thrilled that my dress got featured, but I wished they said my name with correct pronunciation..it's "vivat veritas", not "vivat veriteez".. oh well.

The item featured is this made to order party dress/bride's maid dress :)

Yakuza's wife

After Lasik surgery, I was not in the state of modeling clothes for my shop - my eyes were watery and no make up was allowed. So I begged my sister to model for me. I wish she was as corporative as she was yesterday all the time! Most of the time, she refuses to model my clothes. I much prefer taking pictures of the clothes on someone else than myself!

When I first showed her the fabric I bought, her reaction was, "ya...Yakuza's wife? You want to pretend to be a Yakuza's wife?". I guess Japanese people think tiger = Yakuza-ish. I wouldn't have gone for this fabric if it were not for this color scheme - black and white. If there were any other colors in it, I think it would be too much. But since it's monotone, it balances out with the unique print of tiger and cherry blossom...I think.

This season, I have a tendency to pick out quirky print with different animals on it, like crab print, because I'm so influenced by Miu Miu collection.

Tiger cut out dress

Chie's sister sews - maxi dress

Inspired by "Juebejue's Dad Sews" post by Petite Republic, I'm posting about my sister's creation. Unfortunately, my dad is not as crafty and cool as Juebejue's dad, but my sister loves sewing and DIYing as much as I do!

My sister is 4 years younger, but sometimes people think we are twins. We do look a like, and we are pretty much the same size, I'm a bit taller than her, which is great, because I can borrow her clothes (and she can borrow mine).

She made this maxi dress with the fabric she got from Hong Kong. Apparently, there is a huge fabric market there. Hong Kong is definitely in my list of to-go place.
She made the dress based on the Japanese magazine, called "Female". The magazine is about 840 yen, which is about $9 US dollars. The magazine comes with a lot of patterns, and tips about sewing.

Two dresses: floral and stripes

Hello! Here are two dresses that I made about a month ago and added to my shop.
You might have seen similar dresses in my shop before, but I really like the crossed front detail. I think the design accommodates different bust sizes, and I, who have a flat chest, do not have to feel too embarrassed about not having any boobs with this design.

The floral print below is from my mother's sewing box. I am not sure what she intended to use it for, it was sitting there forever so I took it:p Since the print is pretty bright mix of color (red, pink and yellow), I didn't want to use the print for the entire dress. I wanted to balance it out with white to tone down the bright floral print. Then I added two belt loops on the side, and a sash.

Pink floral garden party dress

I personally like the stripe dress better, just because this is so comfortable. The top part is made out of cotton stretchy jersey, and I lined the entire top part with the same fabric, so it is not sheer. The back is opened in big V, and you can wear it with camisole to cover the back, or bandeau bra.

Blue stripe back V dress

These dresses are both knee length for someone who is around 5"5' (165cm), so they are great for work with a jacket on!

I got Lasik done this weekend! My eyes were very bad, I was legally blind without glasses or contacts. Now I see everything clearly! I was a bit scared before the surgery, but I am very glad that I got it done.

Scalloped hem experiment

Hi! I do really like scalloped hems, and I've been hoping to incorporate the detail into my creations. First time I tried to make scalloped hems, I failed miserably. I ended up changing it back to straight line hem for that dress.

I think the big part of my previous failure was from making the scallop too big. Meaning, the length of the circle was too big, and my scallop looked more like what clown would wear at circus.

The other mistake is the lack of ironing. This time, I ironed the hem from the right side of the fabric, after stitching the scallops, but before turning the hem inside out. I think this helped a lot for making smoother scallops.

I used this tutorial at Vain and Vapid blog for the scalloped hem.

My inspiration comes from here..

Mr. Newton via calivintage

The cherry blossom girl

Gingerbread by Maryy

Rompers!

So I went little nuts with making rompers! Rompers are great in the summer! Such a no brainer piece, easy and great for beach trips.
Here are different rompers I made and posted in my shop. Shorts part is all based on Jane pattern from Burdatyle. I just changed up the length and width a bit to fit better!

Lace and blue floral romper

Polkadot and pink romper

Lavender Jumpsuit

Blue stripe romper

Polkadot open back romper

BurdaStyle Book!

I took a short break after the sewing spree I did for Yokohama craft fair. By a short break, I meant 2 days, but it was nice and enough to get me motivated again for sewing.
Two days ago, I made myself a simple & comfortable maxi dress, which I will post here soon. It had been a while since I made something for myself because I had been busy making clothes for other people. I love the dress and I'm already wearing it for the second time today.

Everyone seems to be announcing her participation on BurdaStyle Book: The House of Mirth (coat), verypurpleperson (blouse), and not enough time for everything (coat).
This is BurdaStyle's very first book, and the book will come with 5 patterns, which are all designed by Allison Dahl (yes, Allison from Project Runway). Some BurdaStyle members are making variation of the patterns as a contributor of the book, and I'm happy to announce that I'm making a bag variation!

I was a bit surprised that BurdaStyle picked me for a bag, because I have not made bags for years (since high school, maybe) and never uploaded bag project on BurdaStyle.
It will be a nice new challenge for me to make something else other than dresses.
Now I have fabrics, notions and threads for the project, I really need to get on sewing:)

Yokohama Craft Fair

You might have already seen some of these pictures at Kayo's blog and Novita's blog?
Three of us had a booth at a craft fair in Yokohama, Akarenga. It was a three day event, from July 2 to 4. We each brought 20 something clothes, display there.

It was a fun experience! I went there with my mom on the first day, and I think she had a blast:) It was pretty amazing seeing other crafters' creations.
Also, I love the city of Yokohama, but especially Sakuragicho, where Akarenga builing is. It is so clean, streets are wider, and not crammed, and the place looks just pretty. I totally recommend going there if you are visiting Japan.Three of us in front of our booth. I look giant compared to Novita, but I'm only 5"5' (165cm)! Well, it's pretty tall in Japan..
I'm wearing the cowboy dress I made.
I got to meet Novita's husband and Sidra there. I felt like I've met them before perhaps because I've seen their photos on Novita's blog!

Our business cards... Thank you Sam for designing mine! I love it!

Accessories Kayo made.

My sister made this board for me. hehe. Thanks Yumi!

Oh I thought this was so cute! One crafter was making these tiny cards. You can't read what's written inside unless you take off pants from these animals! How clever!
Can you believe these lanterns were made out of Orange skin? Amazing. My mom was very drawn by them.

These fruits are all made out of paper.

I love these and almost bought one! Tiny lady bug or bee stuffed in a glass bottle! There are necklaces.

You can see some more pictures here:)