Friday, May 28, 2010

Leia dress

Day28!
Day28-2

A new dress has been done.
I sewed this very casual pretty dress, in polyester georgette and contrasting cotton/silk blend, using a pattern called "Leia" from TAMANEGI-KOBO. It was an easy sewing, except the front yoke. The seam above chest is winding as you can see in the technical drawing below, and it needed a bit of help with glues and hemming tapes to get it done neatly. Basically, I glued the yoke and the bodice using a common stick glue (the type that is used for paper and is water soluble, but not the type that is called "fabric glue/adhesive" for hand craft) but didn't do traditional basting at all this time. I pasted those parts with glue as they should be placed, and then sewed the winding seam without any basting pin.

image courtesy of TAMANEGI-KOBO

My glues! The blue color turns into clear and invisible as it dries, very convenient!
I can't say whether your stick type glue would work exactly same as mine or not, but if you can be relatively sure that it doesn't seem to cause stains on your fabric, I'd recommend you once to check if it is usable for your sewing (onto fabric). I confess that I love pasting fabrics! I use pins, threads, laundry pegs, iron-on hemming tapes and stick glues for basting. If I needed to sew very correctly at very difficult corner on very slippery fabrics and also if I knew I was going to wash the garment in water anyway, I'd definitely paste them with hemming tape or glue as a basting. I use them in easier cases too. Since the pasted seam allowances can not be practically opened after stitching, I have to spend a second to think if it is alright with those seams kept closed, though. After introducing adhesive bastings and PDF patterns to my sewing, the scene of my hobby is very similar to the one in kid's Arts and Crafts classroom, with pens, scissors, glues, papers, tapes, cutters, hammers, tweezers, etc., and I've been amused by that. Me at sewing looks very unprofessional. But who cares?

100528-front1
100528-side1

I think this dress has quite a use. Very casual and relaxed in a good way.
(It is pretty and goes very well with my new .... ahem, new pair of sandals!)

Take care and have a good weekend!
y.

Friday, May 21, 2010

dress (1 piece Kimono Tee)

Hello!

With some encouraging comments, I decided to explore my borders to the stripy world. I mean, after posting this T shirt I received some comments that I should not be hesitating but could be happier with wearing more of bolder/brighter stripes. I took their words very reasonable, and I've been feeling to try ever since. Recently, I happened to get (this is a funny expression though, we all know I bought it) this fabric, and I convinced myself that it was the time.

1 piece Kimono Tee dress
1 piece Kimono Tee dress
BurdaStyle 1 piece Kimono Tee

Thanks pixelink, for sharing such a simple and pretty pattern. I love it very much!

I made a dress from the tee pattern, by just lengthening it without any width alteration. I also added some rows of elastic shirring at low waist, for blousing the top half of the dress. It was so quick! (FYI: I cut the front and back body parts separately because of those stripes to match, so it's no longer 1 piece but I'd name it "1 piece Kimono Tee dress" with my deepest respect.)

I am very happy with how it turned out. I think the pattern went very well with the stripes. Great thing is that I feel happy in it too!


I tell you this. I feel that I need to tell it every now and then.
I'm always most grateful to you for your feedback, encouragements, advices and all. I love the fact they make me sew. They encourage me to be better. Better in many ways, including a stripy way.
Thank you!!

yoshimi

Saturday, May 15, 2010

so far so good

Zoe is organizing the fabulous Me-Made-May project, in which you pledge to construct your outfits with your Me-Made garments all through the month, May. I witnessed her own successful Me-Made-March project on her blog, and then was excited to read that she was going to organize the similar project in May as well, asking anybody to join with her. I thought it was very nice idea for every sewist to have such ruled period, a month to try as much as possible staying on the side of own sewn garments, because it would reveal how much one is doing well or not well on building a wardrobe by self-deed. It would become clearer what items would be better in the list for future projects. I know that not all of us are sewing for the purpose of building a wardrobe, but I believe that we all love our own successful results which are lovely and wished to appear on so many occasions. I think we need to research what to sew, once in a long period.

Also, as I had never checked my outfit of a single day as a part of whole month's, I thought that keeping a record a day for making a big picture would give me clues for the better and wiser clothing.



...And now,

is the time for you to laugh at me writing such a great thing about the project and having not joined it.

And it's all my fault.
I solely doubted if it could be possible for me to dress myself in Me-Made garments without any of store-bought garment in May, because I loved my Not-Me-Made cardigan collection so much. They are my shields and second skins. I didn't think I'd survive without them. I could have a choice that I was going to try to wear Me-Made garments as much as possible allowing exception of a piece of store-bought (obviously, one of cardigans), because that was still enough challenging to me. However, I was coward. I was stupid, stubborn, and inflexible. Thus I failed to overcome the fear of failure.
I promised myself to prepare for the next time in full scale, and it was the best that I could do.

So. Nonetheless.
I have been recording my outfit of the day, secretly, since May started.
As I haven't made any pledge, I allow myself to wear whatever this time.

Having a half month with 15 pictures, I've noticed that it's great to check and see how I tend to dress and how much I am doing well with Me-Made garments, even without a pledge. I was believing that I wore my cardigans every day without exception, but I see myself in them only once in three days (ha!). I also realized that I'm doing OK-ish in a whole package, even though I've been always moaning in each morning that I have no right clothes for the day. Hopefully, at the end of May, I will confidently distinguish a group of clothes that are actually useful and lovely on me from others that are sitting in my closet for making wardrobe just look bigger. From the picture, I see I may better wear more of nice colors (ask me what "nice" means three years later because I don't know yet) too. This research can be more beneficial than looking at others dressed in the fashion magazines...

I really regret not having joined the project.
If there were a pledge declared and I could achieve the goal in the end of the month, I'd be feeling so very great as well as getting so much reward from the accomplishment. See? I should be more flexible and work harder on myself. Otherwise, a damn slow progress.

Thus I failed. But I am doing so far so good, in this May.

How are you doing?

love,
yoshimi

ME-MADE-MAY-YOSHIMI-PART1

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Tutorial: fabric roses



I made another bag (photo below) today and applied an white rose on it. It was sunny and I felt great when I started, but the weather was getting darker and actually stormy outside at the end of my photo session of a petty tutorial. Sigh. Please allow me to use those pics that were taken on a dark afternoon. I made an album for step by step tutorial for the fabric roses, if I could call it so. I hope it is clearly explaining!

Fabric rose tutorial on Flickr



=====
pattern: Reversible Bag from BurdaStyle
fabric for bag:
silk/cotton/rayon blend, shiny milky white, circle patterned
polyester satin, pale blue
for flower:
white polyester organza
cream colored nylon tulle
=====

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Verypurpleperson's fabulous Reversible Bag, irreversible version

day2
I used a silver printed (silver color coated) linen, as a main body of the bag. Because the silver print was certainly heat sensitive, I couldn't use my irons at all but had to use my fingers and nails to make all seams open this time. It was so funny to see myself seriously trying seams flat and open with my own organs and body temperature. I was funnily believing that I could make it look fine and neat this time. It is usually impossible! I love love love my irons at all, I can't sew without them.

Other than missing the ironing pleasure, I enjoyed making it very much.

flower side
reversible bag, irreversible ver.
another side
100502
inside
100502
As you can see in the pictures, I have put a pocket and a set of magnetic button closure inside, and some of my handmade flowers outside.
I'm so happy with the result, and love the pattern indeed. Thank you Novita, though I made it not reversible while it was intended to be useful in that way. I think I'm carrying this bag everywhere, it is pretty as well as so very useful!
flowers

=====
pattern: Reversible Bag from BurdaStyle, 110% printed out
fabric for bag:
plain woven linen, silver print coated
white cotton twill
for flowers:
gray polyester organdy
off white (nylon?) tulle
=====
100502

Have a good day!