Braided hair tutorial

I've been doing different hair arrangement using braids lately. I like this one since its easy yet looks like I spent more time on it than I actually did :p I hope you like the tutorial!

1. You need two elastic bands and a couple of hair pins.
2. I like to start by curling my hair slightly with a curling iron, but this step  is totally up to you! I think this braided hair is great with straight hair, wavy or curled, as long as your hair has enough length to wrap a braided piece around the back of your head :)
3. First part your hair in the center. Then take a strand of hair right above your ear, leaving your bang, if you have it.
4. Then braid tightly.
5. Braid till the end, and tie it with the elastic band.
6. The side will look like this.
7-8. Do the same for the other side.
9. Take the braid, and wrap it around the back of your head and pin it right behind your ear. Make sure to hide the end under your non-braided hair.
10. Do the same for the other side.

And tada! It's so easy and takes less than 3 minutes:)

Scrap heap project: Progress 1

I wrote about the scrap heap project that I will be working on during my maternity leave. Actually, before I start my leave I already jump started the project:p It's coming rather slow, since I'm trying to experiment different techniques that I usually avoid when I'm busy, such as pin tucks, and lace insertion.
I got the idea for the lace insertion from this Colette Pattern post. I made a lace insertion on the skirt hem, just like Sarai did for her dress. I think it turned out lovely, but was disappointed after I completed the skirt, because the zipper I used was too short and there was no way for any skinny person to put her butt in! This is what happens when you are pregnant and can't test the project as you sew.. So I asked Andy to take out the zipper for me (He is great at doing it! I hate de-stitching seams), and tried again with a longer zipper. And guess what happened? The zipper broke while I tried to put the skirt on my dress form. Ha. So I gave up! The skirt is still incomplete:( 

Anyway, going back to more positive side - I love Colette Patterns blog! I am always inspired by their ideas and introduction to different techniques. I think Sarai's post on surface cording, piping, bias binding and layers of lace is so pretty!

What did you guys work on this weekend?

Have a great weekend!

Hello! I could not squeeze in the time for Friday blog post yesterday, and I know I usually do the inspiration posts on Wednesdays. However, I thought this pretty Nadinoo SS11 Lookbook will complete the week and I could not wait until next Wednesday to share these lovely images!  I'm always so excited to see what this UK designer comes up with!

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend:) xo

38 weeks

38 weeks! I can't believe I only have 2 weeks or less to go. It could be tonight that baby Sophia Kiko decides to pop out. It's a weird feeling, exciting, but strange!

My little sister (4 years my younger) and my parents came over to my place, and we snapped these photos right outside of our house. 

The baby moved when my sister touched my belly - she is so active..always kicking, punching and stretching.  Except when Andy touches my belly, then she freezes! I think she is shy.

Look how flat my sister's belly is! I hope to get back into shape once the baby is born.

And she can fly...like a bird.

I barely made it off the ground. My belly is just too huge.

This blue dress was my recent vintage find from "Sanbiki no Koneko" (three kittens) in Shimokitazawa. I bought it for 600 yen (about 6 bucks). I really liked the bat sleeves, and elastic waist, so I decided to take this home with me.

One problem with the dress was that it was too long for my liking, down to mid calf level. I decided to hem it shorter.  But, having learned the lesson from my hemming experience of this polka dot dress a few weeks ago I decided to readjust my approach to hemming. If you hem a dress or skirt in the traditional way while you are in your third trimester, the center front of the skirt will raise more than expected because of the big belly. So, you must compensate!
So, this time I cut the front center of the dress 3 inches longer than the side and back.

From the side view, you can see that there is a slope - front center is longer than the side and back on dress form. Once the baby is out, I can hem the dress again to even out the front:)

Doing this will make allowance for the expanding pregnancy belly and make it so that the dress will not rise too high.  

By the way, I was asked about maternity tights and leggings by one of the blog readers recently. I thought my answers might help some other pregnant ladies out there, so I decided to post them here.

1. What about Comfort and Durability (will they last the whole pregnancy?): 

Maternity tights are super comfortable. I can't live without them now. The maternity tights have a longer length allowance from crotch to waist, and they cover the whole belly. They seem to stretch more than regular tights. As for durability, I guess it depends on how often you wear them, just like regular tights! Mine are still wearable, no  holes or other such wear and tear yet! 

2. In regards to fashion, what sort of things can they be worn with? 

I pair them with everything! Dresses, long tops, shorts etc. 

3. What are they like compared to standard tights (eg differences)?   

As I mentioned above, maternity tights has longer and stretchier in the torso in order to cover the big belly!

Inspiration: Sessun x Urban Outfitters

images via Sally Jane Vintage blog

A collection of clothes by Sessun is now available at Urban Outfitters.I love the vintage inspired lookbook above, and the bicycle! Their clothes are unfortunately still out of my price range though..:(

Pay it Forward 2011 - CLOSED

Guess what I found in my mailbox today? A handmade gift from lovely nette!
This truly made my day - all the cute stuff pictured below was handmade by her. A couple of weeks ago, nette posted about "Pay it Forward 2011". It's a chain mail about friendship and sharing, and, as I saw on her site the first 5 people who commented on her post would receive handmade gift from her. I was the lucky enough to be number 5! It must be admitted that Nette did allow me to cheat, because although I posted, I did not post about "Pay it Forward 2011"thinking that there had already been 5 people ahead of me. But Nette kindly let me know that it wasn't the case and allowed me to be the 5;)

I'm just truly amazed by her craftmanship:
I received a stuffed elephant for the baby, a small mirror with my initial cross stitched on, a pale pink mini bag, and a pin.

I haven't bought diaper bag yet, and I'm not sure if I will - but this mini tote will be perfect to hold a couple of diapers, wipes, bottles and other necessities. I will be using this along with my regular bag to go out! Oh I'm so excited.

I know Nette intended this cutest elephant for my baby, but this little guy is way too cute - so he will stay in my bedroom for a while!!

This is how "Pay it Forward 2011" works, a quote from Nette's blog:

"The first five people who comment on this blog post will receive a handmade gift from me.

The only requirement in return, you must FIRST write a blog post explaining 'Pay It Forward 2011'.
Then, about the most exciting part, make and send a handmade gift to the first 5 visitors who comment and commit to do the same. "

So here is the fun part:

I would love to extend this cause, but modify it a bit. My version will work so that the first 3 visitors who comment and commit to do the same, "win".  I'm cheating by not using 5, but making handmade gift s for 3 people is what I'm capable for right now..sorry!  The gift will be a combination of the following: vintage pattern, Japanese fabric ,  notions, and some handmade goodies.

Looking forward to seeing the comments from you all! xo

Weekend recap

Let me say this, Spring weather in Japan is so moody!  Its worse than pregnant women! Saturday was beautiful, it was the warmest day we have had in months. My parents and sister came over to my place, and we had a lunch together. We went to a place called Volks, nothing fancy, it's just a Hamberg restaurant.  Many of you may be unfamiliar with the ways of Japan will not know the Hamberg but suffice to say we Japanese took the classic American hamburger and made out of it our own creation.  Volks is nice because it comes with a salad, soup and bread buffet. This time, I went little nuts with the bread bar - I'm usually staying away from bread because of the high calorie count, but on Saturday I allowed myself to enjoy as much bread as I wanted :p My family is excited for the arrival of the baby..maybe in less than 2 weeks now!

But getting back to the weather, Sunday unlike Saturday was miserably cold. Spring weather needs to make up its mind. Andy and I went to church, had people over for the Bible study, and I cooked dinner for the first time in months. I used to cook dinner every night, but for the last couple of months I have been so busy with sewing and work that Andy kindly took over that duty and has been cooking as one of his reular assigned duties. But Sunday I really wanted to feel like a good wife and cook nice meal. In fulfilling this urge I decided to make lasagna. I used to make lasagna a lot when we Andy and I were first married living in Philly, but we havent had it since we moved to Japan. So in preparation for dinner we went to a grocery store to get ingredients, but for some odd reason lasagna noodles in Japan are expensive to the point of being obscene. It was $6 for a tiny box of lasagna, and I just couldn't bring myself to pay that much for noodles that in the States cost $1. So, I ended up getting regular pasta, meat sauce, and cheese, but here again as with the lasagna noodles I was met with resistance.  The store didn't have ricotta cheese. I was irritated but not to be defeated, I improvised.  I used crushed tofu mixed with salt, pepper, and cheese as a replacement  for ricotta cheese and regular spaghetti noodles as a replacement for lasagna. Below on the left is a picture. It wasn't quite good-old Italian lasagna, but Andy and I were both satisfied :) Below on the right is a picture of our $2.95 wine!  I had a taste and Andy had the rest.  It wasnt great but it was better than the boxed wine we used to drink!

As for is weekends sewing, I finished this custom order dress - a cut out dress in gingham check. I love how it came out and I think I'm going to make one for the shop as I still have some fabric left over.
I also finished the last batch of bridesmaid dresses before I go on leave. I'm happy with how the dresses turned out, all have a lovely pearl vintage button in the front :) The same dress was featured on Washiongtonian.com, Etsy Stylist.

The weather was moody, my cooking attempt was weird but satisfying and the dresses were finished and I am pleased with the turnout.  Nothing eventful but not too bad of a weekend.  How about you guys?

Oh if you are interested, check out the interview I did with Girl With a Satchel! I'm also offering special discount at Fabulously Frugal.

Five lovely things.

It's Friday! I'm so happy..Hope everyone has lovely plans for the weekend:) Here are five lovely things that I would like to share:

1. I love this shop I found on etsy the other day: Flapperdoodle. She has the cutest prints ever! The shop also has a print for Japan earthquake relief.

2. Oilcloth storage bin tutorial at Design Sponge.  I personally dislike sewing oilcloth (I think oilcloth is really hard to sew!), so I might use regular fabric with thick iron-on interface instead. I need a couple of these small storage bins to hold my notions, lace, buttons etc and also for to hold some diapers and cute headbands for the baby's room:)

3. Anarchy Street back lace cut out shirt
I've been eyeing this shirt ever since I saw Aime of Song of Style wearing it. Unfortunately it's sold out now, but I'm thinking this can be made with a thrifted white shirt with lace?

4. Rucksack in Cinnamon Brown
Another find from etsy. I want this so bad, but $162 is a bit out of my price range... This would be perfect to hold my 15 inch screen laptop.

5. Longer length pleated skirt & flats
I don't think I own this between knee, but not quite maxi length skirt. Natalie styled it up so nicely and I can't wait to imitate her outfit above. As much as I try, I don't think this style works well with my huge bump:p

Have a great weekend! 

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 :)