jeudi 31 décembre 2009

New year's dress

So I usually not go out to celebrate the new year because it's not my cup of tea. This year however I wanted to make an effort for my brother but things happened and eventually I won't have to leave my den! I'm spending the evening with a glass of champagne or two and a brand new anthology of ghost stories. The party dress -which would have been more suited for Halloween given that it looks like a giant pumpkin- is therefore staying on the form^^.






And yes the back is hideous, I don't know why I opted for stretch satin with such a design. Happy new year!

mercredi 30 décembre 2009

S'pore 2009

Back from my Christmas trip to Singapore, I visited gardens and ate till I dropped and did some shopping^^. More importantly I was able to buy some Japanese sewing books at Kinokuniya, I think I'll start drafting tonight! The next post should be sewing-oriented again because I sewed my New Year's dress 3 weeks ago and I'll try and show it tomorrow.


/ Unagi (eel) tempura with plain rice and a very strong, tasty miso soup.


One of the twin 3-level pagodas at the Chinese garden.


The Japanese section of the garden, there were hundreds of bonsai trees, some over a hundred years old.


Tempura 饂飩 / udon :)


Princess Masako's orchid flower at the Botanic Garden.

lundi 21 décembre 2009

団扇 - uchiwa

I'm currently obsessed with traditional Japanese fans known as "uchiwa", especially the ones featuring Morning Glories. These modest, lovely flowers blossom in summer and that's why they are so often featured on the fans. I guess I love uchiwa because after spending two summers in Japan I'm reminded of all the wonderful sights and activities one can have there when I see them.




Actually I love these uchiwa so much I would like to carry one with me all the time. But they're quite big so instead of having a real one I tried to make one I could bring everywhere.



I used "magic plastic" (? that's what we call it here, it shrinks and thickens when baked) and copied the print from the first fan featured above. I love it :)

samedi 19 décembre 2009

Mini batik dress

I made this dress a few weeks ago but I hadn't had the opportunity to take photos of it yet. That's a shame because I like it a lot and wear it quite often. I took a Burda magazine pattern (the "Paris" dress from the 08/09 issue) and changed it a little because I only had a small yard of fabric -at first I wanted to make a bag out of it, I'm glad I waited^^. I shortened the skirt and the sleeves and I cut the back in two so that I could add a little volume to the skirt before attaching it to the bodice.

There are lovely, easy-to-make pleats at the front and my only regret is I didn't have enough fabric to sew a self-made belt.

My little grey skirt + pouch

Yesterday evening I went out -which doesn't happen often since I'm a sewing-addict and I spend my free time well, sewing- and I didn't have anything to wear! Of course! As a consequence I made this quick mini skirt to wear with a simple tee and black heels.

It's the same pattern as the hot pink skirt but I shortened it, narrowed the width at the hem and made a larger waistband. I also put a small placket in the middle of the waistband so that I can put a rectangle of fabric in it to have a bow.


I also made the pendant, I'm in love with these settings (which you can find on etsy) that are big enough to allow to store a lot of elements.
In a different style, I made a zipper pouch to carry my crochet stuff while I'm away on vacation.
It's not very original but the fabric is too cute! Alice in Wonderland galore^^

lundi 14 décembre 2009

Hot pink skirt


Presenting my hot pink skirt: the design is from an Ottobre magazine and I used blended shantung to make it. Blended as in with lots of polyester fibres that get in the way when sewing :( Next time I buy this kind of fabric I'm going to check carefully the wrong side because if I had done that I would have seen all the problems that ensued with this one. The fabric unravelled a lot, it had polyester black threads jutting out of the buttonholes, it wouldn't press well and gathering was really difficult! Fortunately the design is quite simple, it's a bit tulip-ish and the large waistband is very flattering. I handsewed the buttonholes and put vintage buttons. It was also one of my first linings, I often skip this step but it was necessary with such a fragile fabric.


dimanche 13 décembre 2009

Vintage dress Simplicity 7005

I'm so proud to present my latest vintage project! It's from this pattern:

I made it in a navy blue (why, that's a surprise!) cotton. I chose view 2, with the 3 bound buttonholes. The pattern is wondeful, I had nothing to change and it fits me perfectly! The most difficult part was to find buttons that would go well with it, I opted for simple emerald flat buttons. The hem went quite well even though it took a little time because I had to use the "gathering thread" technique (not sure that this is the right name :) before ironing and HAND sewing, hum! Anyway, here are the horrible pics: