37 weeks

 I went to my 37 week checkup yesterday. I'm almost there! I'm still not dilated, but because of the doctor's schedule etc, I'm tentatively scheduled for induction on the 14th of April. That's exactly two weeks from now. If the baby does not seem to be ready by the next appointment, which is a week away, the doctor might change the date to the 20th of April. The doctor told me to do a lot of squats so that the baby will drop... I am pretty convinced that doing squats, walking or jumping as a natural induction effect is a wives tale. I don't think the doctor realizes how many squats I do.. but I decided to shut my mouth and ignore her comment.

Oh thankfully, no nipple pinching from the midwife this time. Thank goodness! Thank you again for everyone who gave me the advice on my last post about breast massage and breast feeding. It was so helpful! It seems pretty common to do the breast massage in Japan, and everyone talks about it here, but I'm glad to hear that it is not necessary or makes all that much difference at this point. I'd much rather leave my breasts alone now.

The weather is warming up here in Japan, and I'm glad to be able to use light weight dresses and cardigans without bundling up with heavy coats and scarves. I got this 50's vintage gown from badcollavintage on etsy last Summer. The shop has a great collection of vintage night gowns, which can be worn as dresses, so I check out her shop often. I bought this one before getting pregnant.  I can still wear this comfortably because the fabric has a stretch to it. Plus, maxi dresses are great for times when you don't feel like showing your legs or are feeling bloated.

 Last Sunday, Andy and I stopped by a small thrift shop located right close to our church. The place has all kinds of junk - washers, dishes, kimono fabrics, antique pins etc. I love going there from time to time to treasure hunt. You don't know how excited I was when I found a used stair master and weights! I went to Sports Authority the day before I found these treasures, and the cheapest stair master they had was 5000 yen (about $50). I was so glad I didn't pick it up on impulse. I actually haggled the price with the guy at the shop, and ended up getting both stair master and 4kg weight set for 1000 yen ($10).

Since my belly had grown so big, I adjusted my workout routine a bit. I used to do a lot of Bass Ruten's  fighting workout (Thai boxing), but I can no longer kick comfortably, so I stopped doing his CDs. I still do regular boxing workouts, but this stair master and weight combination will be a nice new addition to my routine.

Here is some short video that Andy put together about my week 37 workout routine :) Hope you like it! xo

Inspiration: After the Carnival

Source: Sally Jane Vintage blog

 Source: Insensivel Garota on we heart it

 Source: The Beautiful Delirium on we heart it

Source: Thesepictures from we heart it

I am tossing around some ideas for an upcoming photo shoot in mid May.  I definitely want to use balloons as props, and I want to incorporate bright solid colors such as sky blue, yellow and orange for the clothes. I like to have a "theme" for the shoot, instead of just naming it as "Spring collection" or "Summer collection". When I told my idea of using balloons for the shoot to Andy, he said, "How about "After the Carnival" shoot?" 

I am thinking that I like the title! What do you think? Now I am imagining things like Ferris wheels, big lollipops, cotton candy and a big bright blue  sky...

These images above are some inspiration photos that I've been collecting for the shoot :)

Spring makeup goodies

Spring has come! At least for today. It was sunny and warm during the day today, about 15 degrees (c) which made me really happy.
On top of that, I received a package from my best friend, Kaitlyn with some make up goodies. She put together a lovely package of all Springy make up items..I love them all!

I usually spend less than 5 minutes on my make up, and I've had the same routine for years now - a little bit of powder, blush, eye brow, black eyeliner and mascara. But it's always fun to experiment new items and different colors of eye shadow and lip gloss. After the two photo shoots I did in February, I have become more motivated to learn about make up and how to use them.  It really can make a huge difference! Anyway, here are the items I used today in getting ready to go out to lunch with my friend:

1. Dolce and Gabana eye shadow quad in eden This is so pretty and Springy, comes with pastel green, white, pink and bluish gray. I used the gray (left bottom).
2. annapie perfect veil, souvenir from Korea
3. Kevin Aucoin sensual skin enhancer this concealer is amazing! A little covers a lot. I tap this around my nose and under my eyes.
4. Trish McEvoy sexy petal
5. Estee Lauder DayWear sheer tint release
6. mally evercolor starlight waterproof liner
7. Maybelling the Magnum volume express super film
I think this version might be availabe in Japan only. This super film form is really easy to remove. I only use hot water to remove it, and it comes off very quickly. Best part, no black circle under my eyes! I will most definitely buy another when this one is finished!

I forgot to take a  picture of this, but I also used NARS angelika blush. It's a pretty blue-toned baby pink with some sparkles...I love this item! I don't think I had any items that I didn't like from NARS.

Interview: Meet Amelia Aventine - The photographer behind the "Secret Garden" lookbook

Hello! I hope everyone had a nice weekend:) Mine was very relaxed - I'm taking things slow now as I'm anxiously waiting for the baby's arrival. Andy and I finished watching Boardwalk Empire season one this weekend. I really enjoyed the show, and can't wait for the second season to come out! 

As I wrote before, Amelia was the photographer/stylist/make-up artist and creative inspiration behind the Secret Garden collection and lookbook. I was utterly inspired by her work, and wanted to share with you more about her. I'm so sad that she went back to UK after her short term visit to Japan... 
Anyway, here is Amelia:) 


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1.Can you give our readers a quick self introduction?

I'm Amelia, a UK based photographer. Recently my focus has been on fashion, but I enjoy all type of photography that involve people.

2.When did your interest in photography start?

It actually didn't really start until I graduated University 2.5 years ago and found myself unemployed. I had in the past thought that photography might be fun, so I decided to use my new found free time to explore it. I started off with self portraits, then also started to use friends as subject matter, and eventually in January last year I started to shoot fashion with local models and creative teams.

3.What was the first shoot you did? How did it go?

It was a bird themed fashion shoot. I found a local model on ModelMayhem, had a artist friend do the make-up, borrowed some lighting equipment off another friend and collected the props myself. I was very nervous and probably a little too shy, but the end results weren't too bad.

4. Where did you learn about photography and who are some of your influences?

I learnt photography mostly from just taking photos. I also picked up tips from books, internet forums and friends, but definitely a lot of trial and error.
Influences are definitely people with huge creative vision. People like Tim Walker, Annie leibovitz and Kirsty Mitchell. For me photography is about creating something from the imagination, a world more beautiful than is really there.

5.How do you find models and other people to work with?

I mostly use the networking site ModelMayhem. It is fantastic resource, especially in the UK where there are thousands of creatives on there. I am also lucky to have talented friends to use, and when it comes to models there is always the odd person who you see on the street who would be great to shoot.

6.You live and work England but recently spent time building your portfolio in Japan, How long were you in Japan? Why did you choose Japan? How was your experience working here?

I was there from January to March 2011. I actually ended up in Japan because my partner (also a photographer) was given a work opportunity in Tokyo.
I had an amazing time – both traveling and working. Tokyo is full of so many talented people and I was luck enough to get to meet and work with some of them. Every one is so enthusiastic and skilled, and as a result I have ended up with some incredible additions to my portfolio. I feel the whole experience and improved my confidence and fueled my excitement for photography a great deal.

7. You and I recently worked on the Secret Garden photo shoot. How did you come up with the idea?

As usual the path to the final idea was convoluted and involved many small pieces of inspiration. I saw your designs which gave the initial feeling of where the shoot should go, and I also looked through the inspiration posts on your blog and saw that there was a definite feel that linked them all.
I was then out exploring Tokyo and stumbled across the beautiful location we ended up using.  It instantly made me think of of your designs and so the idea began to take form. I then started to look around online for images liked to 'Secret garden fashion' and other whimsical fashion images using nature as a backdrop. From there I found a model I thought fitted the look, and formed an idea of the styling I thought would work – and then just let it all flow. 
This is a pretty usual situation, in the way inspiration came from many different things and the idea evolved over time and changed as new components were added.

8.What would you say is your biggest strength as a photographer, in what area would you most like to see your work improve?

I think my main strength is my creative ideas. As I said in the previous question I get inspiration from many different mediums – books, paintings, emotions, nature. I am a very visual person and I find myself taken by a particular element of these mediums and then daydreaming about the visual representation of them.
I often find myself frustrated that I can not produce what I see in these daydreams however, so I would say the area of improvement is definitely my technical abilities. In particular I would like to improve my knowledge of studio lighting, and also my skills in directing models to show the emotion of the ideas.

9. Do you have any up coming projects?

I head back to England at the beginning of April and I hope to keep the creative momentum I have gained in Japan. I would like to continue to build my fashion portfolio (I always have more ideas than time to execute them), and I would also like to explore other areas of photography. One of these is a more art based project, focusing on the visual representation of happiness – and how it is different for everyone.  

10.Do you have any people in particular that you would like to work with in the future? Why?

I am always on the look out for enthusiastic and creative people to work with. My Japan trip was the first time I had worked with designers, and shared creative control of the shoot. I enjoyed this so much - it was great to have another person to give input and bounce idea around with. I was very luck to collaborate with people who had a similar vision for the end result, and so the process flowed wonderfully and the final images were just what we all wanted.

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Check out more of her work on her website, or follow her on twitter❤
Entire Secret Garden lookbook can be viewed here. 

Scrap heap project

Look at this mess. This is my fabric stash in my closet. sigh...
I don't know what happened. I thought I cleaned it up pretty nicely when I moved into my current place last August. I love fabric. As I wrote in the guest blog post over at the cupcake goddess, visiting fabric shops became a hobby in and of itself. I always buy way too much, but in my defense, the majority of left overs  come from pieces bought for custom orders.  The reason being that I don't like to worry about not having enough fabric to fill the order, and so I often end up with much more than I need.

I am going to be on maternity leave soon. I'm excited and nervous at the same time about this. I'm excited for the obvious reasons - to have some vacation time and time to spend with the baby.  I'm nervous because I am a bit of workaholic. I get jittery if I'm not busy. So, as soon as I get out of the hospital and am able to get up and move again, I want to start a project called "Scrap Heap".   For this project I will make something  from this fabric mess. I plan to make one item a day, Monday through Friday for a month. I think this will give me some schedule so I won't be sitting in front of my TV wearing pajamas all day long. Have any of you done something like this?  Has anyone found a post pregnancy, maternity leave hobby?

During my leave sabattical, I also am thinking of learning how to create patterns on computer. Does anyone know any good software for that?

By the way, thank you so much for those who commented on my last post - I feel so relieved that I don't have to pinch my own nipples! I will leave my nipples out for the time being:)

P.S. Check out my interview post over at Willow Would..thank you Amber! 

36 weeks

Hi! I'm 36 weeks this week! I can't believe this "pregnancy series" is coming to a close. I really enjoyed documenting my pregnancy. I'm thinking, maybe I can continue the Thursday series as something related to the topic of motherhood, baby stuff, and crafts related to being a mom (nursing friendly clothes?) and baby craft stuff. Any suggestions or recommendations?

This polkadot dress was another purchase from the vintage shop, "sanbiki no neko" (three kittens).  if you remember I posted about shopping there during my baby moon a few weeks ago. As soon as I saw this dress, I knew I was going to take it home with me.  I love polkadot prints, and the front button design  works perfectly for nursing. I shortened the length, because the original form was calf length, which I thought was a little too long. But now, looking at these pictures, I think I hemmed it too short. I didn't take into account that the length would  raise an additional 3 inches because of my huge belly.

With the dress, I'm wearing a white cardigan my mother gave me and a Forever 21 skinny belt. I picked this belt up for 280 yen (about 2.5 USD), and it has turned out to be the second most frequently worn item from my closet.  Second only to my black opaque tights. I like to wrap it around my waist.  This effect gives me some recognizable shape other than shapeless blob!

On Wednesday, I had a doctor's visit. The baby is healthy, and is estimated to weight 3100 grams.
I had some weird pelvic pressure a couple of nights before the visit, so I thought I might have started to dilate, but the doctor said I'm not dilated yet.

At the Dr. office I had a weird experience, the midwife gave me a nipple massage.  It really hurt! Basically, she took out my breasts, shook them a couple of times and started to pinch my nipples hard. She said if I do this everyday, I won't have problem producing breast milk for the baby. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? It's painful and I really hate the idea of pinching my own nipples..:(

Up to this point in my pregnancy, I haven't had any pain from pregnancy , but this week I've been having aches in my pelvic bone area.  Unfortunately, they don't seem to be going away. The midwife told me it's a good thing since the pelvic bones are opening up for the baby.  This, however, does not give me any solution to my aches and pains. At this point, I kind of feel like an old person.  I struggle to get up and have pain taking my first step.  I will look forward to this little trial being over with.  Any thoughts on how I can alleviate this? 

Inspiration: Blue dresses

1. Spring/Summer 2011 Family Affair dress worn by Erin on calivintage, 2. Beautiful one shoulder dress from The Sew Weekly, 3. Sweet heart neckline dress from weheartit, 4. A summer dress with unique back detail, from Flashes of Style via lookbook, 5. Vivienne Tam 2011 Spring dress via weheartit, 6. Blue floral dress via remarkablemadness

Sorry for the lack of post yesterday. I had a post planned, but sometimes the life gets in the way..yesterday was one of those days. I will post that some other time instead:) 

I keep a folder named "inspiration" on my desktop of PC, where I save different images that inspire me. I checked back my inspiration folder today and found all kinds of blue dresses.

I love how Erin styled up the Family Affair dress (#1), and the way she took the photo reminds me of Mary Poppins! I think the combination of black and white polka-dot print and pale blue is awesome. And the big buttons and vintage ferragamo bow flats. I just won something like that in cream color from ebay!

Weekend recap & DIY links

Hi lovely readers! Hope you had a nice weekend. Mine was rather quiet. I haven't had such a relaxed weekend in a while. I guess this is the bright side of the earthquake, more time to relax...because I wouldn't choose it on my own:)

1. My Bible study friends threw me a baby shower on Sunday:)
2. My father-in-law is already crazy in love with his grand daughter! I receive a package from him almost every week now
3. More lovely clothes for the baby and Weleda rose oil for stretch marks
4. Last but not least, I won a giveaway over at not enough time for everything! Yay! This handmade jewelry case and knotted bracelet arrived from Portland, Oregon. Thank you Haruna!

❤ This DIY floral crown from Bleubird Vintage blog is so cute! I think it's great for weddings as well.  
❤ Casey has a great tutorial on how to make a fabric covered belt.
❤ Awesome tutorial on how to make detachable collar.
❤ Have you been following Grosgrain Bedroom Makeover Week series? In this post, Katherine shares how she saved on buying less designer fabric to make curtains for her bedroom.
❤ This DIY floral wall instillation is so pretty!

35 weeks - MN1003 Wrap around maternity top variation

I'm 35 week pregnant this week! I can't believe how fast my whole pregnancy has gone. I only have 5 more weeks (or less) before baby Sophia Kiko will be born. By the way, I plan to avoid the subject of earthquakes and the nuclear power plant situation in this blog on purpose.   I'm not a news reporter (although my major in college was Broadcast Journalism..I'm such a bad writer!) and constantly dwelling on the whole situation makes me really nervous. So back to the good stuff, sewing and fashion, and the bright side of life here in Japan.

This week, I finally made myself the Meg Nielsen Maternity top variation. The original top looks like this. I think the top is great for the third trimester pregnant body.  So, I decided to do a Chie remix of the dress for a couple of reasons.  First I do not have jeans that fit me comfortably any longer so I needed to find a way to cover my bottom half. Also I wanted to make it a bit dressier because I planned on wearing this on my baby shower, which had to be canceled....because of the earthquake (I guess I couldn't completely avoid the topic). So using Meg's pattern, I made some alteration and turned it into a dress. 

I used two-way stretch jersey in peach color. After finding out that I'm pregnant with a baby girl, I find myself wearing more pink - Not sure why, but I want to feel girly in pink and peach and all that pretty colors of Spring.

I love how the dress turned out, and I've already worn it once. It's so comfortable! I think the criss cross front might work well for nursing as well.

When I wore this dress, Andy made a confession - he said one of the most unflattering pieces of clothing I own is a pair of black opaque tights. I was shocked. That's my uniform! Since I barely wear pants, I wear black opaque tights almost every day. I had no idea he thought they were ugly. So I decided to switch to half sheer gray tights to pair with my new dress.

So here is a tutorial on how I turned Meg Nielson wrap around maternity top into a maternity dress!
There are 3 pattern pieces to her original top: Front, Back and Sleeves.

1. Alteration on front pattern piece:

2. Alteration on back pattern piece:

3. Alteration on sleeve pattern piece:

This step is not necessary, I lengthened the sleeve just because I wanted the dress to have long sleeves, but if you prefer the elbow length sleeves, you can just use the original sleeve pattern piece.

4. In addition to front, back and sleeve pattern pieces, you will need to draft an I-line skirt pattern yourself.
I used the pattern I drafted for the front cross dress from my Spring collection, and added 3 inches to the top to give it a high-waisted look. Perhaps you can try this tutorial to draft your I line skirt pattern, and omit the darts, because if you use stretchy fabric, you won't need darts.

I cut 4 pieces for the skirt: 2 for front and 2 for back. The reason for this is to layer (or line) the skirt because the fabric I used was rather thin, and I was afraid that it might be sheer.

I would love to see your version of the dress! I think this is a great addition to a wardrobe even if you are not pregnant. I'm already planning on making another one for myself...but only if I can finish the 12+ custom orders I have to waiting before Sophia Kiko comes!

Inspiration: papercup Alphaville look book

All images via papercup blog

Today's inspiration comes from papercup.  This is a New Zealand label which makes handmade clothing. I'm a big fan of their clothing, as you can see from me previous posts on their collections. These pictures are from their latest winter collection (I sometimes forget that countries in Southern hemisphere have the opposite weather from Japan and the U.S.). 

I love the use of bright color, especially because we all tend to wear darker color such as gray, black, brown etc in the winter. Also love the big scallop hems, with use of velor fabric.

Secret Garden Lookbook

Credit:
Photographer, Make-up, and Styling: Amelia Aventine
Model: Yurie Nakatomi
Clothes: Vivat Veritas, available here.

Hi all! Late night post today. We had a black-out in my area today, which limited my pc use because my 15  inch screen laptap battery only lasts about an hour without charging. I want to write more, but will have to keep it short so I can get some sleep!

Here are the mood shot of the "Secret Garden" collection I posted yesterday. What do you think? Which picture do you like the best?

I really really love how every single picture came out! It was hard to pick the ones I posted here. When I have time, I will post more pictures on my Flickr page.

Back in February, Amelia contacted me to do a photo shoot with a theme of "Secret Garden". When I saw her website, I was immediately in love with her work. I have a short interview post of Amelia coming up soon so you can get to know her better. After we agreed upon the theme, I started making clothes. As I said before, I did not make any new patterns for this range, just used some old ones and fabrics I can find from my stash. So most of these dresses will be one-of-a-kind or few-of-a-kind. As much as I love working on bridesmaid dresses, I really enjoy making one-of-a-kind pieces. I take random fabric from my stash and see what it takes me. I also found out that I work better with some concept  or theme in mind, instead of random "Spring" or "Fall" collection. Amelia was super fun to work with, and so was Yurie. I think she looks gorgeous in these photos, and even more so in person!

Anyway, it's almost midnight here. Gotta get some sleep to tomorrow. xoxo