Samantha Pleet

Image is from PaperDoll.com

Image is from BuzzHype

Ever since I saw this cute rompers on I Don't Like Mondays, I wanted to know more about the designer. Found out, the designer, Samantha Pleet, design many more rompers than the one I saw previously. The pictures above, are from last year (2008) collections. She perfected rompers. They are feminine, but has a bit of vintage feel... I love them all!
Also found out that she is originally from Philadelphia, and now lives in NY. It is so cool to think that she is from the same city as I am!

Pleet has a limited collection in Urban Outfitter now. Her Rapscallion jumper is just adorable. Check out here, it is $58 at Urban Outfitters!

Very full, high waisted, circular black skirt

I sold my coffee table and one of the bookshelves this week. Knowing that Andy and I have to get rid of all our stuff in less than a month, I posted them on craigslist. It is kind of sad to see that the apartment becoming emptied out slowly, and feeling like a someone else's place already.

As I mentioned in my yesterday's post, I wanted to make a very full circular high waist skirt. I want to call this a donuts skirt because it is made out of big circle and a hall in the middle. I did not use pattern for this. I gather the edge of the inner circle with an elastic thread, and put a folded band to make the skirt high waisted. The back waist part has a elastic. Then I added this black zipper (not an invisible one) to add some accent to a simple black skirt.

Next time, I want to make this in purple gingham print!

Top: H&M
Skirt: Handmade by me
Sandals: Bandolino

Some glimpse of fall...

From ViVi, September Issue

"Fall must-buy, Knee high boots"

Cute swimsuit!

All lovely, but one thing.. I hate the trend of knee high boots. It does not matter who wears them. They all look like prostitutes. I hope this trend will go away soon.

This fall, I will be making clothes with:

zipper details, circular high-waist skirts in different patterns and colors, Jacket in knit fabrics, tank dresses for layering, lots of scarves!

Eye candy of the day

Super lovely things from I DONT LIKE MONDAYS. 

Those are way over my price range, but I like looking at them. 

I especially adore the baby blue×red heart Vivienne Westwood pumps. 

I just got rid of three big bags full of clothes. I can't take them all to Japan. But I have no regrets because I realized that I only wear 25% or less of what I own. 

Purple jump suit

I made this jumper last night. I seemed not be able to relax unless I touch my sewing machine before going to bed. Usually I end up making a whole new clothes in a night, unless I'm making something more complicated, like a bride's maid dress. This dropped crouched, harem pants-ish jump suit is my favorite creation this summer!

Almost midnight

As a routine, I check out my favorite vintage shop on etsy a couple of times a week.
I just hearted:

Vintage Mini Babydoll Red and White Trapeze Dress $28

Vintage Navy Polka Dot Sundress $30
Vintage Striped Pastel Shirt Dress $23

Vintage Cotton Bumblebees in the Garden Skirt M $29 (it would be so cute to pair it with white oversized t-shirt..)

SALE Vintage 80's Metallic BOW and SQUARE Tunic SLOUCH Sweater OS $22 (I know this is a winter stuff, but I can't forget that Rumi Neely from Fashion Toast wore an oversized vintage sweater as a mini dress with a black tights!)

Pink grapefruit camisole

I can't believe the move to Japan is coming up in a month! I have a mixed feeling about this. I am nervous, very nervous. But I'm hoping that something good will come through this. 

Anyways, I really have to go through my fabric stash. I have too much.. most of them are less than a yard, and I can't really make much with a less than a yard fabric. However, if you connect two less than a yard fabric, you can make a top or camisole! 

So here is what I made last night:) 

Available at my shop

As you can see above, I literally have only a scrap of fabric left. I cut out some pieces without pattern, and made a camisole.

The strip of flower fabric on the bottom is more from a practical reason - I did not have long enough fabric for the camisole, that's why I added the flower fabric:p

I'm pretty satisfy with the result, and happy that I didn't have to waist the fabric! 

Sammy D Vintage: Dirty Pretty Things

WHAT: Dirty Pretty Things Vintage Pop-Up Market

WHEN: Sunday, July 26th // noon - 8PM

WHERE: Brooklyn Parlour, 82 Greenpoint Avenue 

WHO: Vintage clothing vendors - men/women, apparel, shoes, 

accessories, bags, records, etc. 

DJ spinning all day, plus food vendors TBD!

My friend, Sammy will be selling at her very first one-day only "pop-up sale" at the Brooklyn Parlour - currently a hair salon in the heart of Greenpoint, Brooklyn - alongside other vintage clothing, collectibles, and food vendors. Sammy is the one who took over my Kenmore sewing machine to alter some vintage clothing! Check out the market if you live near NY!

Grandma Apron

Here is the apron for grandma that I was talking about the other day. I used Layla apron pattern from Burdastyle. It's so easy to make and so basic. It took me 30 min from cutting the fabric to wrapping as a gift! I used green floral fabric because green is grandma's favorite color. I use paper weight (actually, coasters for me) to hold pattern when I cut out fabric. It is less time consuming than pinning a pattern to fabric. 

This was my second time using Layla pattern, and I think it is great for a gift. First time, I used the pattern, I made an apron for my coworker as a bridal shower gift, and she loved it! The pattern is only for a dollar at Burdastyle site.  

Speaking of patterns, I would like to share this free patterns from TexStyle.

They have a camisole, shorts and maxi dress patterns for free to download. It is in Japanese though. For non-Japanese speakers, you can click the icon that says "パターンのダウンロードはこちら", and it will start downloading a zip file. Enjoy! 

July 18, 2009: Boston

Stripe tank: H&M

Skirt: Handmade by me

Belt: Thrifted

Sandals: Bandolino

It was such a wonderful day yesterday in Boston! Perfect weather. Andy and I visited his grandparents' new house. Grandma said she sometime sees wild turkey and bunnies in the front yard in the morning. Unfortunately I did not get to see them, but she showed me pictures of them. The bunnies were so cute! We visited Cambridge and then Province for some see food at night.

Jump failed! 

P.S. Oka-san, here is the photo of Ajisai - we have this flower in the States too!

Blue sky

July wishlist

Iconic 60's vintage dress, $37.00

Vintage American State Bank, $11

Summer Sailor Dress, $50.00

Hello Sailor Cotton Bandeau Set, $64.00

F21 Polly floral dress, $24.90

ModCloth Bangalow dress, $47.99

I'm on my way to Boston now, and looking at these cute stuff! For this trip, Andy and I decided not to take the car, and took Boltbus. Bolt bus is great! You can use wireless internet in the bus. So online window shopping is what I'll be doing next few hours.

White cotton dress

I don't know why I feel like this week will last forever! I just had to wear something comfy today. You might think I made this white cotton dress, but I got it at a flea market for $3. I haggled...
Kaitlyn got me this bow hair band from Korea town in NY. It is perfect for me since the elastic band is so thick. My hair is super thick and don't hold well if I use thin band. My hair falls a lot though. Andy tells me that I shed like a dog.

The jacket is from Anne Taylor Loft. It looks like a jacket, but it is actually made of stretch knit fabric and comfy. I wear it at least once a week every week to go to work.

Earrings are from forever 21.
Going to Boston tomorrow to see Andy's grandparents - I am excited. I'm making an apron for Grandma tonight. I made a little black dress for my mother in law last Christmas, and I think I got grandma jealous... :p I am making it up to her now

Joel Meyerowitz

One of my friends just had a birthday, and she told me that she got a painting that she really really wanted for her birthday, for this year's Christmas, wedding anniversary, and basically combining every celebration of 2009. I thought it was so cool. I want to be able to buy an art work that I really like when I become an adult(I already am, but I still don't feel like a grown-up sometimes).

Then I thought of Joel Meyerowitz. I met his photographs in Tokyo some years ago. Andy and I happened to come across his exhibition in Omotesando, Tokyo. It was a hot hot humid summer day, and his photograph, especially in the one below, in huge screen really made us feel cooled.

His photograph would be the one that I would buy if I could in the future!

flowers, babydoll and water ice..

I made this baby doll dress last night. (see it bigger here).I think I'm into using different fabric, different material to make a dress now. Not only it makes it more interesting than using one fabric, but also it helps me to go through my fabric stash! I have tons of fabric which I might have to get rid of when I move to Japan in a month and a half. Some fabrics from my stash are too small to make a whole dress. This flower fabric is one of them. I made a dress, and another dress, and a skirt out of a thrifted flower sheet. So I only have a little bit of the flower fabric left, but the fabric was too cute to just throw away. Then I decided to put together with black. The back of it is shirred for easy fitting..

I had a water ice today! I love water ice in the summer. It is so soothing and summery!

New this week...

These are newly added to my shop this week.
This weekend was very nice - the weather was perfect! I hung out with my friend on Friday night, and on Sat, we were invited to the dinner by our church members. We ate a lot, and they served us 4 different desert! It was great. One of the desert was fresh blue berries with a bit of sour cream and brown sugar. Very simple, but the combination was great!

Love and bravery

All images are from Love and Bravery

I just found out about Love and Bravery through sex and coffee, and fell in love with their girly yet stylish designs. They ship from Singapore, and list all their items in Singapore dollars. Many of them items are 20 to 30 Singapore dollar range, which means, it is only for about $12 in USD! I would like to order a couple of them, but they sell out so quick!

DIY: Vintage silk halter top

Naoko from Ultramarine Vintage had asked me to remake this oversized silk top into a cute wearable halter top. I don't have much experience in remaking stuff, so I was a bit nervous.
Here is what the top looked like before the makeover...
It is 100 percent silk, size L, and has a cute pocket on the left side. The fabric is very nice, but you don't want to wear this in 2009... it requires a bit more work.
I cut out the sleeves, and halt of the back. In the back, I made a loop for the elastic.
For front, I wanted to leave the pocket. So I cut the neckline little deeper, and made another loop for elastic in the front as well.
With the fabric I cut out, I made a strap to go around the neck.

Here is the result! It will be available at Ultramarine Vintage!

Check out her shop as she is adding many items daily!

Pretty makeup stuff

Kaitlyn gave me all these goodies when I went to see her in NY last weekend.

Korres Materia Herba - 3 in 1 clensing emulsion
Lierac Paris - hydra-Chrono cream
Benefit - Primpcess

Primpcess has a mascara, brown and pink powder eye shadows, pink cream eye shadows, concealer and brushes inside the cutest box with a mirror. I love it. My favorite is the mascara, called "Bad gal lashes". It makes my sparse eye lashes fuller instantly!

Black cotton jumpsuit

Do you remember how much I wanted to make harem pants? Well, I finally made it! plus top, so a jumpsuit! I'm so happy about the result. It goes well with my new sandals as well...:)

I've been using Jane pattern from Burdastyle a lot lately. For this jumpsuit, I lengthen the pants pattern so it comes right under my knees. Then, I gathered the pants hem using an elastic thread, and added a folded over band. For top, its an easy tube top with ruffle.

The strap was Andy's idea. He kept saying that he wanted a strap that looked like a choker. I had no idea what he was saying, but after he drew a picture (crappily), I had a better idea of what he was talking about. I'm glad that Andy and I could collaborate on this!

Lotus flower romper

You might have figured out that I'm into rompers now.. I made another one from a lotus flower fabric I got from Tomato while I was in Japan.

For the shorts part, I used Jane pattern from Burdastyle, and the tube top is made out of 20 by 16 inches rectangles. One of my biggest concerns about wearing rompers was how to make it easier to go to bathroom. I saw some cute rompers, but the top part was like a shirt, and I was thinking, it would take a while to take it off in the bathroom... but making the top part a tube top solved the problem! You can just slide right out.

I got a mosquito bite (again!) on my leg... ouch!

Romper: handmade by me!
Sandals: Bandolino
Neckless: Forever 21

Ultramarine Vintage

My friend, Naoko opened an vintage shop on etsy, called Ultramarine Vintage. She also has a blog and flickr. You might recognize Bella from my previous photo shoot, and she is modeling for Naoko's shop again.

Here are some of my favorites...
blue maxi dress

hot pink top!

Adorable shell-shaped purse

Do you like this dress?

My sister and my husband hate it. I initially made this design for my sister for Christmas, but she told me that she would wear it if I take out the ruffles around the neckline. She said she was "allergic to ruffles". and stupid me! I seriously thought she gets red bumps when she wore ruffles, not realizing that it was her way of saying she didn't like ruffles.

I think you either love or hate ruffles. This design became one of the best sellers in my shop. I'm glad that I can make the ruffle lovers happy:)

I don't know why I'm so sleepy...

Romper: Handmade by me
Leggings: Uniqulo
Hoodie: Boughuch t in Japan
Bangle and sandals: Eternity

I liked the romper I made for my shop so much, I made one for myself to wear:p For church today, I added leggings so I won't show too much skin..
It seems like Andy and I will be traveling almost every weekend from now to the mid August, to say good bye to people here in the states, before we move to Japan. I'm just hoping that our car will last during these travel! We drive old toyota from 95.

P.S. Dear Caroline, please reply to my newest post with the link, since I can't seem to find where you posted your comments! Sorry!

July 4th weekend

Andy and I went to NY for the July 4th weekend to see some friends. We first went to Korea town to grab some lunch, and this huge shaved ice with fruit, red bean paste, rice cake and ice cream on the top. This was so big, and it is literally the size of your head! We finished it though.

Then we walked around to see the first "elevated park" in NY. They used an old railroad to build a park higher than a ground. I thought it was cool! There were lot of people walking around and taking a rest on a bench. We stayed on night in the city and came back to Philly the next day.

Thank you Kaitlyn!