Favourite outfit of the moment

I haven't worn a dress or shorts in weeks because I've been living in blouse + skirt combos: I'm obsessed! And that's all because I found a nice little pattern that looks great tucked in skirts and has allowed me to use remnants I had in my stash. I took 04/2011 Burda magazine's 108 shirt dress, shortened it and curved the hem and the armholes so that they would end higher on the shoulders. I didn't sew the front darts for a more relaxed fit and didn't add the sleeves and I got the cutest sleeveless shirt ever :)

I made this one with bits of fabric that were left after I made a dress for my mum, it's navy cotton printed with tiny white raindrops, I finished the armholes with bias tape and the buttons are from my stash.

I HAD to show my beloved heart-shaped bag!

 

Here it is worn with a white linen skirt, it's self-drafted ie I put pleats on two rectangles and sewed them down to shape the waist, added belt loops and a side zipper et voilà:

I have two more shirts like this one, both made using remnants from past projects and I'm planning more!

Me Made May 2015

As I said when I wrote my pledge on Zoe's blog, last year I couldn't document my MMM because I was working two jobs - for a few months I was a vet's assistant in addition to giving my usual lessons after office hours and at the weekend. It was a wonderful experience, I LOVE animals so I'd literally fly to work because I knew I'd be with them and the vet and I would do our best to help them!
Unfortunately the doctor is quite old and he has almost retired since the beginning of the year except for emergencies so for now I'm back to teaching only, sigh :(
Anyway, this year I swore I'd wear at least two me-made things everyday, garments and accessories, which shouldn't be too difficult because now my wardrobe is almost completely handmade except for bras and jeans!
So let's start with day 01:

Me-made knit top and cotton skirt from Burda mag patterns, self-drafted handbag and the super cute star earrings were made by my friend Vanessa!

 Day 02:

Self-drafted poplin top, denim shorts from a Japanese pattern, earrings and bracelet made by me :)

Day 03:

Me-made knit tee-shirt copied from an RTW top and cotton shorts from a Japanese pattern.

Tiny hearts

I cannot resist a cute print so when I saw this heart fabric I had to have it! I also like the fact that the hearts are black, it makes the fabric quite understated actually:

It's cotton of course, easy to sew and comfortable to wear :) I used one of my favourite patterns, my self-drafted kimono sleeved top/dress with a wide encased elastic at the waist:

Here's the thing worn:

And yes it passed the test of a full day of work at the four corners of the island as you can see from my big smiling face above!

Crop top and culottes outfit

So, about that grey knit crop top in my last post, OMG I LOVE that pattern!!! It comes from one of the last Female magazines that were published in 2013:

You can make it with woven fabrics but something told me that it would be too tight with my big arms and that it would look super boxy so I went with knits and it's excellent! You can't really tell from the picture above but it's a hi-lo design with a curved back hem which makes it easier to wear because, well, it is cropped and therefore much shorter than what I'm used to wearing -I lengthened it by 1 inch just in case by the way^^

 

Decent back length -pheeew

And since it's shorter I had to make a bottom that would have a regular or higher waist and still be comfortable and cute if possible. Culottes sounded great but I was a bit disheartened after failing twice with Megan Nielsen's Tania which was much too poofy, short and therefore unpractical for me. A quick internet search and a link to Petit Main Sauvage's impeccable tutorial appeared. Thanks Lauriana, you're a sewing goddess!

And if you're wondering what's happening with my hair I'm trying to emulate my new favorite anime character Jibanyan using Directions pink dye and henna but maybe this is not the best solution^^ Sigh, the road is still long to that perfect orange shade:

A complete outfit for Marie

I haven't posted about my doll for a while but it doesn't mean she was sitting around wearing a barrel all this time^^ Actually the outfit she's wearing today inspired me to make a little something similar for me and I wanted to finish it so that I could show you both Marie's stuff and mine.
So here she is:

She's wearing a milliardaire muumuu -it's Cacharel fabric!- with trim at the neckline, the two straps close at the back with snaps:

I also crocheted a cardigan with some light green cotton yarn leftover:

And she has super simple sandals made with two straps of brown bias tape and a crocheted cotton bag with the same bias for the handles:

And it's that bag that got me inspired, I used the same yarn in a slightly different colour to make one for me, except that mine has a lining and the straps are twill tape:

 

The feel good top

Since I'm still lacking time for ambitious sewing projects these days, I'm sticking to TNT patterns and the quickest, most satisfying one for me is still my loose, kimono-sleeved top so yes, I've made another one! BUT this time it's a tunic length so that's totally new -I admit I had one like this but I gave it away so not only am I generous but that also resulted in an intolerable gap in my wardrobe.
Plus the (Ikea) fabric I chose has a multitude of adorable animals/flowers/fruits scattered on it and I wanted to keep as many as I could, hence the longer length :)

That clothes hanger pic is horrible but I wanted to make it very clear that there's a dark green frog on the front, at the bottom and a light green one on the back, at the top^^ I had bias remnants in my stash that matched the colours of the garment so I finished the necline in black, the sleeves in white and the hem in green. It's so comfortable and cheerful, I spent a great day wearing it -and it almost didn't wrinkle!

Lolita fashion part three

For parts one and two please look here :) So for my latest take on this trend I stuck to the extravagant fabric/sober pattern recipe I used for the previous dresses and made my extremely basic loose-fitted, kimono-sleeved dress with amazing Sevenberry border fabric:

Dots! Flowers! Stripes! Black, white and colours! I die! Seriously I wonder how I didn't have a seizure when I saw this perfect fabric on the discount shelf in Tomato (200 yens a meter ie €1.50), you know this moment will definitely go down as one of the highlights of my life and be remembered fondly on my death bed^^. That's how much I love my fabric even though I'll admit that being a light weight canvas it's a bit hot but I guess I can take it.

I finished everything with green bias tape from my stash.

I didn't even bother putting on makeup because THAT DRESS!

My witch dress

Last year I went with bright orange for my Halloween garment and realised I really can't with this colour so this year I made something black:

It's a self-drafted knit dress with kimono sleeves and a slightly flared maxi skirt, I wish I could have made it a tiny bit longer but I ran out of fabric obviously.
And not only is Halloween my favourite celebration -tonight I'm totally reading E.F. Benson's creepy stories before watching a Kaidan Restaurant marathon :)- but it's also my mum's birthday, so I made her this dress using a great Mrs. Stylebook pattern and flower printed cotton from a local shop:

Happy Halloween!

My vacation wardrobe

I've just come back from my yearly Asian vacation and it was AMAZING! This time I went with my cousin/bff and we had so much fun now I want to travel with her only :) We spent a few days in Singapore and 2 weeks in beautiful Japan, starting with Tokyo, then Fukuoka, Nagasaki, Kyoto, Osaka, Okayama, Takamatsu and back to Tokyo.
I wanted to share a few pics of the me-made outfits I brought, I wore almost everything I had planned to except for a rayon mini dress that shrinked when I washed it and a cotton dress that looked atrocious no matter how much ironing I gave it :(

This is my NHK sewing book dress with a 60's flair made with Japanese cotton in a green quilting print, it was a breeze to wear in the summer temperatures! The pic was taken on Sentosa island in Singapore.

This khaki jersey top/ dotted navy shorts combo got a lot of wear during the trip, it was comfortable and would dry super quickly without wrinkling when I washed it. The top's pattern comes from Female and the shorts are self-drafted. The pic was taken in megastore La Foret in Harajuku, such a cool and stylish place for inspiration :)

A Japanese pattern navy linen dress with ecru crochet details totally inspired by one of Zoe's amazing creation, it's very flattering and I felt like a doll in it! This pic was taken in Nagasaki near the Promenade, I must say this was my favourite city this time, it was beautiful, original and people were adorable. Also I love willows!

 

Argh I look seriously chubby here but I just had to show you my classic red checked pattern Japanese cotton dress, I used an A-line dress pattern from the Sweet Dress Book and if I remember correctly the pic was taken in a cafe Veloce in Fukuoka.

 

Here I'm wearing my eternal denim shorts that are getting seriously worn out and need a replacement with a coral jersey top from a Female pattern. We had a blast in Osaka where the pic was taken and Icoca is so cute!

Me-made cropped leggings in black jersey, the shirt is from Uniqlo and the pic was taken in a temple near Nijo castle in Kyoto. It used to be the emperor's private garden, what an excellent place to visit!

I'm getting so emotional everytime I go to Inari, this is my most favourite place ever! I'm wearing a self-drafted top in Japanese cottton with sky print and my denim shorts next to one of the temple's gorgeous kitsune.

A Japanese pattern maxi dress in tropical print cotton in Ueno station, I've always loved deep water creatures and there was an expo about them at the Natural Sciences Museum!

Same place different outfit with a self-drafted dress in dotted cotton and refashioned denim jacket.

So about this year's bounty I brought back 2 Female issues and some fabrics including Liberty and Sevenberry cotton lawns that I can't wait to turn into cool garments!

A little romance

I made another lace baby doll top, almost one year after the first one, except this time it's only the border that's embroidered. I must admit the fabric was an impulse purchase because I have so much stash I really shouldn't buy anymore stuff! It was 8€ a meter and 90cm were enough for the top which is plain voile at the back. I saw similar designs in some of the few designers stores around town and the average price is 200-250€ so I feel a little less guilty with my 7.20€ garment^^.

Sewing for me

I had been SO neglecting myself, it was high time I sewed a little something for me^^
I still don't have a pic of my cousin's jacket but I have some of one I've just made for me using the same pattern, design F from the third Stylish Dress Book:

I made size 11 and didn't change a thing to the pattern but I must say that with my bigger arms I should have altered the sleeves for a little more ease. Construction is really simple on this one, you attach the front and back, set in the sleeves, attach the facings and finish the hems and that's it! Also there should be breast pockets but I'm not a fan of these so I didn't put them. I used some green blended linen from my stash, it's light but surprisingly warm, perfect for the ongoing winter.

 You can see my extremely kitsch hem lace, I know it is ugly but I really wanted to bust that notion stash :(

I couldn't think of a suited trim for the jacket so I handsewed sequins along the front and neckline and around the sleeves' hem, I love decorating or finishing garments by hand because it takes a little time and care and I find that very relaxing!

I made the striped top underneath a few months ago using my self-drafted baby doll pattern and medium weight cotton from a local shop, I love that fabric and I'm glad that I still have some left because I want to make cropped trousers and a bag from it -I won't be wearing them all at the same time, I swear^^:

First ugly duckling of the year

For a reminder on what ugly ducklings are please click here :) Today's garment actually fits twice in the UD category: first I can't believe I was attracted to that highly synthetic fabric in harsh electric blue -I LOVE blue but my palette for this colour's usually navy and pastel- and second its the first dropped waist dress I've ever owned. As is often the case I don't know why I woke up one morning with the strong desire to make such a garment but I followed my fancy and I'm very happy with the result!

I used a Japanese top pattern with bust darts for the dress, I lengthened it, changed the sleeves that I finished with elastic and added three rows of shirring on the hips.

 

Also here are the last three days of MMM13:
- on 29th I wore my nautical dress from an altered Burda pattern:

- on 30th my chambray V top from the first Stylish Dress book:

- and on 31st my self-drafted fruity cotton skirt:

Lots of thank you to the awesome Zoe for hosting MMM again this year, it was a pleasure to show my me-mades and above all I was amazed at how talented and stylish all the participants were!