Free Pattern Month at Grosgrain

Are you following the free pattern month at Grosgrain? Now we are on day 4, and I already can't wait to try out their tutorials!

Day 1 featured the Sunny Resort Blouse pattern by the Sew Convert, one of my favorite sewing blogs! 
Day 4 featured knot shorts pattern by Elsie Marley, and although the tutorial is for kid's shorts, I think it would be great for adult as well for the Summer.

I'm happy to be invited as one of the contributors for the project! I'm sharing a free pattern on May 18th. I'm working on the patterns and tutorial now, and I'm learning a lot through this, from pattern grading to writing up a clear instruction.

Check out other contributors for the free pattern month here:)

Tutorial: How to make a reversible paper bag skirt

I'm gust posting at Meg Nielson's new website, DIY maternity, where she shares DIY ideas, tips, tutorials and sewing patterns for making your own maternity and nursing wear! I wrote a tutorial on how to make a reversible paper bag skirt. 


The skirt is super simple to make, and the great thing is you can wear it whether you are pregnant or not. I just love elastic waist skirt, because it's such a no-brainier piece. If you make the skirt using the tutorial, I would love to see some pictures of it❤

Pssst...

Check out Diana's blog, exPress-o to receive a coupon code for free shipping at my shop, from October 15th to 22th, 2010!

Guest blog post on the Cupcake Goddess

Remember I wrote about Sunni from the Cupcake Goddess and how I had to read all her blog posts in one day? She also wrote a guest blog post here yesterday. Today, Sunni kindly let me write for her blog. Check it out here, along with some pictures of my JJ blouse variation.

The Cosmopolitan Clevelander

It always makes me smile when a male customer order some clothing from my shop for his wife or girlfriend. I think those guys are so thoughtful that they research their girls' favorite online shops:)

Christina from the lovely style blog, The Cosmopolitan Clevelander contacted me for an interview after her boyfriend gave her the ruffle romper he purchased from me for Christina's birthday. She has such a great bf!

Here is the interview post:)

Christina with polkadot ruffle romper:)

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!

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 :)

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:)

Becky's cut out dress

Becky posted about how she used some of my work for inspiration :) Needless to say I was flattered! Today I saw the pictures and was realy impressed. I think from now on I should use her stuff to inspire me!!!! The open back layout I have recently become a huge fan of and the hat is too adorable. I can't wait to see what she puts out next.

Check out her other creation here and her blog here.

Thank you tzipporit!

Sarah from tzipporit kindly featured my shop at her blog. Check out her blog post here;)
She is also a fellow etsian, and has a vintage shop and a handmade jewelry shop featuring many delicate lace jewelries. I think her vintage dresses are really reasonably priced, ranging from 12.99 to 29.99! Her lace rose earrings are my favorite!!

Backless dress by Petite Republic

I just sew a post over at Petite Republic about her new creation - backless dress! I'm so flattered because she mentioned that she fell in love with my garden party dress and wanted to make her own.

I think her dress turned out so lovely. She used Danielle dress pattern from BurdaStyle as a base, and changed up the back panel. Although I separated the back pane in two (top and bottom), she uses one big panel with a hole in the middle.

She also shares her tips for using interface for the bust area, so it's slightly padded. Obviously, you cannot wear a regular bra with this backless dress. I didn't think of using the interface, and it is such a great idea! I should do that next time I make this dress.
When I wear this patterned dress myself (I made it in gray satin for myself to wear it to an upcoming wedding! will show it here soon..) I use sticky bra I stole from my sister. I believe they sell it at Victoria's Secret, but it is a bra made out of silicon or something, and has no straps, and it literally sticks to your boobs. The only problem with it is that it gets really gross when you sweat, since the silicon like material does not observe sweat.

Anyway, check out her blog and all creations! She has occasional giveaway at her blog as well.

Market

Pic of mememachine gallery via verypurpleperson.

Tokyo Made Market has been opened since Monday December 21st! I have not seen the gallery displayed for the Market myself yet, but Novita from verypurpleperson kindly sent me a picture above. She is participating in the event as well.

I'm planning to be there on the 25th and 27th, so if you have a chance to drop by, let me know!!

Tokyo Made featured me as a seller in their blog:) Check it out here.

Featured in Glamour.com

I'm excited to say that my back bow party dress was featured in Glamour.com! Check out the article, Five Holiday Party Outfit Ideas Courtesy of Real Women.

Also, Jenny, who wrote the article started a fashion website called TweetMyStyle. Great thing about this website is that you can log in using your twitter account, and have a choice whether to post your outfit photo on your facebook account or twitter account at the same time! I think this is awesome because I forget my pass ward all the time.

P.S. Thank you so much for your input on new business card designs!

Featured in Scoutie Girl

Jan from Scoutie Girl kindly featured my white lacy kimono top in her website today! The article is here.

Indie Online

My flower mini dress that I made out of a thrifted sheet was featured in Indie Online on march 30th:)


* I ordered an adorable neckless from Daisy Chain Dreams. She is sending it from UK... can't wait to receive it, and hoping that no mail trouble will occur this time!
* got a mosquito bites on my left toes... this is terrible:(

happy friday!