Inspiration: Odylyne Holiday 2010

Love these simple looks of ODYLYNE holiday 2010 collection.
You might also like their blog full of editorials and inspiration photos!

Happy Birthday

Sorry it's totally personal, but today's my husband's birthday<3 Happy birthday Andy<3

Bella pants favorite

I wrote yesterday how I LOVE Sunni's version of Bella pants. I was going through BurdaStyle projects of other people today, and found more lovely Bella pants variations!

From top left, clock wise:
Bella Trousers by pinkswizzles
Bella for work, by ElinL
Striped Bella Shorts by Naddles
Black & White Bella Shorts by embaby

The last two girls shorten the length, and made them into shorts! How clever. I didn't think of that, and it'd be great for Summer, or made with wool or corduroy, can be used for fall/winter as well.

This project is going to be solely for myself, and I'm so excited about making something for my self. I downloaded the pattern today. I'm thinking of using dark blue denim, but I might just make it with black, because I already have some black fabric, and I don't know if I can't wait until I have a chance to get to fabric shop next!

Blog love: The Cupcake Goddess

All images from The Cupcake Goddess

I have a new favorite sewing blog. I found out about this blog today via Grosgrain, and I had to read all her posts. It's called "The Cupcake Goddess"!

I don't know why on earth I hadn't come across with her blog earlier, but when I saw the picture of her lovely blue coat (the last photo), I remembered seeing it on BurdaStyle.

In her blog posts, she shows her creations using BurdaStyle patterns, and it was an eye opening experience for me - She shed a light on some patterns that I didn't even think of trying, and make them look fabulous. One of them is Bella pants pattern. It just did not look all that flattering to me when it first came out in BurdaStyle, but I'm DYING to try it my self! Look how fabulous Sunni looks (first photo)!

Another pattern I must try is Jenny skirt pattern. Again, I didn't think twice about this pattern before, but seeing how fitted the skirt looks on Sunni, I think it's a must-try.

September etsy favorite

The past couple of days have been rain, rain and rain all day. Plus, I had some sad news in the family and I guess unfortunately, this weather suits the mood of everyone around my family..

So I don't have any photos or creations to show you today, but have some lovely shops to share! Those shops are from my favorites on etsy:)

1. Flower headband by Mandizzle
2. Mermaid hanger pale sage
3. Drops on a Gerbera Daisy Fine Art Print, $15
4. Victorian Slave Bracelet
5. Vintage Hungry Kitty brooch, $20.50
6. Panoplies Prop Top, handmade bra, $35
7. Boat fabric, $8

French chic

Stripe Back Cut Out Dress

I've never been to Europe, but this dress is my imagination (mostly coming from movies) of what French girl would be wearing..nautical stripes, black, and sitting at cafe with espresso and a cigarette.

I wanted to customize my favorite cut out dress design into something that's wearable for fall.
So for this one,
1) added elbow length sleeves
2) changed the top fabric from non-stretch cotton to jersey. I thought about adding fitted narrow sleeves with just regular cotton, but I figured it would not work.
3) Kept the square shape neckline, but omitted bust darts, because you don't need darts for stretchy fabric!
4) Used the interface for back, so I can sew the button hole easily.

Fall color

Thank you for everyone who wrote me a kind note to my previous post - I'm glad not everyone thinks the back straps look like a baby carrier:)

This dress was something I made last weekend - I love the deep purple color.
I didn't really plan anything for this dress, I kind of let my inspiration go and see what happens.



When my husband and I took those pictures last weekend, it was so nice and warm. Today, it's been pouring all day long! It started right after I hung some laundry outside:(

Back twist dress

My obsession with back details/open back continues... I posted a couple days ago about making a new dress with twist detail here. I completed the dress last weekend, and took some photos today.
I really liked the result at first, I liked the lace wast band the back... but then I looked at the pictures of my self wearing the dress, the back kind of reminded me of baby carrier?! Doesn't it look like I'm wearing baby carrier in half naked body?! :(

New headbands in shop!

I had been neglecting my etsy shop the past couple of weeks, but I finally updated it with some new headbands. I used some scraps that I had left from making dresses - perhaps you can tell which dress these fabrics are from?

Vietnam Fest

Had a perfect Saturday today - relaxed and sewed a bit in the morning, went to fabric shopping and vietnam festival at Yoyogi park and walked around the city with my husband. I love Yoyogi park - you get to see a lot of interesting people, people dancing while they jump rope (seriously, pretty impressive), kids playing basketball and drinking at the park (yes, drinking in public is not illegal here!).

I recently got this dress from Bombshell Bettie's vintage on etsy, and I love it! Too bad the Summer is ending and I won't get to wear it often until next year. The dress pattern is kind of like a water color painting with green and blue. Came in perfect vintage condition, I just needed to hem it a bit.

Twist!

I finished the big order this week and today, I got to leisure sew. I love going with the flow, and see what happens with the fabric..No pattern is used, but I make sure to take a note for the second try. I'm pretty excited about this back twisting detail and the lace waist band. I really wanted to finish the dress today and share it here, but I need to go get a black zipper!

Inspiration: Nina A/W 10-11 Collection

Images from here

I first discovered Mila's blog via BurdaStyle. She is a talented designer & seamstress, and her creations really stood out. Her design, named "Mila", became one of the published patterns in BurdaStyle and it is free to download. I've used Mila pattern to make this and this.

I just read that she completed her AW10-11 collection, named "Nina", and I could not resist sharing it here!

Nina is inspired by the destiny of Eunice Kathleen Waymon, known as Nina Simone. All she wanted was to play the piano. Instead she started to sing and became passionate about the civil rights movement.

I love how Mila can create a whole collection based on a historic figure. Also I was drawn to the cross detail around neckline that was repeated through out her collection. And the bottom left dress, isn't is so 50's Mad man inspired?

A/W2010 Lookbook

Here are some photos for the A/W2010 lookbook! I'm planning for the second photo shoot for more winter clothes in the near future.

The photographer, Will, did a great job - I am just amazed by his magic! He is a self-taught photographer. You can check out more of his work here.

Cut out back dress - Dyah Haka's version

Check out Dyah Haka's version of cut out back dress! I love how she used pattern + pattern, but the dress does not look too busy because of the black waist band. Great fabric choice!
She has many other inspiring sewing projects, check out here to view more photos.

Bunny ear headband tutorial at Chich Steals

I posted a week ago about using scraps to make headbands here. Carly from Chic Steals just let me know that she has a step-by-step tutorial of how to make the headbands with wire in them at her blog. She has great DIY tutorials and DIY ideas at her blog!

Fall 2010 Lookbook behind the scene shots

I had a photo shoot for Fall 2010 lookbook today with my new model, Sue. Thankfully the weather was beautiful, hot, but not unbearable. I was afraid that it was going to rain, but it was sunny all day today.
It was really fun doing a photo shoot, Sue and I did make up together (fake eye lashes works a miracle!), and stroll around the town for pictures. We shot four different clothes, and it took much longer than I expected. I can't wait to put the photos up on my website!

Thanks Sue:)

$50 gift certificate giveaway at Grosgrain!

Sweet Kathleen from Grosgrain is hosting Vivat Veritas $50 gift certificate giveaway!
I'm so excited that she is hosting the giveaway, Grosgrain has been one of my favorite sewing blog for a while. Her blog has a LOT to offer for sewers, many tutorials and techniques, video techniques, giveaway of her own designed clothing and more.

Grosgrain Giveaways can be entered by any one of three ways

1) By linking about this giveaway (to your blog, facebook, or any other site) button.
2) By leaving a comment
3) By FOLLOWING Grosgrain

In progress..

Little sneak peak of my new sewing room and what I've been working on.. I love my new sewing room! It has high sealing and is next to a big window, and right now I get a nice breeze from it when I sew at night. I still need to organize and decorate the room.

I went to fabric shopping last week, and got different fall fabrics. I got satin in eggplant color, black jersey and lace. I also got a thick knit fabric in gray, which I'm going to make a poncho/cape out of. Can't wait to work on it, but right now, I really got a finish the orders I have right now:(

I tried to haggle with a guy at the fabric shop in Nippori, and quickly learned that haggling doesn't fly in Japan. He was just irritated by it! Of course, I didn't get any deal. ha.

Also got a great deal on invisible zippers at the store across from Tomato (not sure the name, sorry). They were 3 for 100 yen (about 85 cents!).

Happy Labor Day!

Happy Labor Day! Hope everyone had a nice long weekend:) My husband and I went to a beach in Yokosuka, a place called "Jyogasaki". It wasn't what you usually think of a "beach", because there was no sand, but all rocks. It was nice because my stuff didn't get covered in sand.

We swam..

Dived into water..

And ate at a local shop.

Playing with my new toy!

Just got a DSLR, finally! I've been wanting one forever, and I finally decided to buy it. It was not cheap, so I was procrastinating the purchase for a while. It is Nikon SLR, and it is fun to play with!

My sister came over today so we went out for a practice photo shoot session. We could not find any good place to shoot around my neightborhood, since it is just a residential area. We walked around a bit, but couldn't find park either. Sorry the back ground is not all that exciting!

Those two designs are something that I had been working last week. I still need to complete 8 dresses in next 3 days!

Cherry blossom tree in my living room

One of the decorations that I really wanted for my new place was a wall decal. I saw a cute bird and tree decal at my friend's place in the past, and I really wanted one too.
I think wall decal is a great way to decorate the wall, especially if you rent. I rent, and I'm glad to be able to decorate the wall without making a bunch of small holes from pushpins.

I ordered my at Qinqin Decal on Etsy. I think their price is very reasonable, and the decal came right away from NY to Japan!

Here is what my living room looked before..
The package came with 2 sheets of stickers and instruction. I cut out the pieces smaller so they are easier to apply.
Then placed the stickers on the wall. I used a tape to figure out the balance of the trees and flowers first before actually applying.

Voila!

Using scraps

If you are a sewer, you might know how much scraps that can build up in your closet over time. Those scraps are not big enough to make a tiny camisole or shorts, but not small enough that you can just trash. I have a bunch of fabrics like that, piled up.

Over the last couple of weeks, I haven't had enough energy to work on clothes because of the move we did, so I worked on simple & easy project: headbands!

I love wearing headbands. Especially in the Summer, because I always put my hair up - it's too humid and hot in Japan to keep my long hair down, and I'm impressed if I see girls who have nice hair even on bad-hair day.

Making headbands are very easy - I just cut two strips of fabric in 30-33 inches in length and 2-5 inches in width. You can change the width if you want a skinny headband or wide headband. It's your choice. Then with the right side of fabrics facing each other, I sew around the fabric, leaving 2 inch window so you can turn. Then iron. For my headbands, I added a wire inside, then close the window. The wire helps the headband to stay on your head without slipping off and also allows you to shape the headband as you like.

Inspiration: lewis SS10

Images from lewis

I first came across with lewis AW2010 via clever nettle blog. But after visiting lewis website, I like their SS10 line much better than AW. Look at those interesting backs!
I'm such a sucker for intricate back details. See more of their collection here.

Inspiration: P.S. - I made this

all images from P.S. I made this

Have you heard of a book, called P.S. I made this? I came across with this wonderful DIY book via WhoWhatWear the other day. I haven't bought the book yet, but I could not stop looking at her website, which is full of DIY ideas and resources! Her DIY ideas include fashion, accessories and home decore, and looking at her DIY collage is so much fun!