crochetie

Cargo Pants

2011-09-03T11:41:00.000+09:00

Hi girls!
How was your week?
I have something to show you today!! Yay! It's my first cargo pants!! Wooo!!! The pattern is from Female Magazine. It was a good pattern I think. The side pockets are little small for my hands, but it's still alright. I love it so much, so gonna make another one in beige on this weekend!
Also before it gets cold, I want to make a couple of jackets. Do you have your autumn sewing plan?

Thank you so much for reading:) xoxo

Hello, Sophia!!

2011-08-28T13:28:00.000+09:00

Hi girls!!
I guess most of you knows this girl Sophia from iroiro crafts. I just met her yesterday and went fabric shopping together!! It was so great time!
We talked a lot and it was fun to talk about new projects and choose fabric. I usually go fabric shopping by myself, but having her around was absolutely wonderful!! I am sure she will create something pretty with fabrics she got soon;)

We took a picture in front of Nippori station where the garment district is. Also she made a pretty gift for me!! How sweet person she is!
Thank you, Sophia for the great time and the cute gifts! I hope to see you again in the near future!

Here is my newest work. It's a simple knit dress. 2 hours project that I did on Friday night after drinking beer:D It's that easy. hehe

I hope you have a sweet sewing week;)

I was .... sewing! Hisashiburi!!

2011-08-20T22:22:00.000+09:00

I have been away from online for a long time by now... It's always like this in summer. There are so much to do outside!!!

Well, I took pictures of my creation today.

The hat is really easy and useful, so I highly recommend making one!
The gingham pants are also my handmade;)
My fav is this linen floral dress. Isn't it just gorgeous? I am not sure where to wear, but it will be my favorite summer dress for sure!

The bottom one was made by double gauze. It's a comfy dress I can even wear when I sleep....zzz

How is your summer? I hope everybody is enjoying and filled by happiness and joy.

Thank you for reading!!

Simple & Natural　シンプルでナチュラルな服

2011-07-23T15:21:00.000+09:00

Hello girrrrls! It has been a while, eh? It's almost August, can you believe that?

Here are my new works. I made them, but didn't take pictures right after that, so it's worn a couple of times already...

Pink top and gingham check shorts. I like when it's rolled up. This pink top is really comfy, so I am thinking to make more in other fab.

Lace top and sky blue maxi skirt. Maxi skirt is something I wanted to have, and I finally made it. It's so easy, and that was why I didn't make it before. But making something really simple is also not bad;) I feel like I can make 5 of them a day:D

Remember this top? I had some fabric left, and it became a matching shorts! It's elastic waist, but having the bow make it look so pretty;) Pretty sure I will wear it once a week!!

Inspiration from these magazines.

Kayo Horaguchi's Twin Blouse

2011-07-13T18:20:00.001+09:00

Finally I finished these blouse!! How do I like it? I LOVE IT!! Mine is in brown and green one is for my best friend. Actually she came here this week to stay just for a night. It was great to see her smile when she saw the dots blouse:)

The pattern is from FEMALE magazine and I just feel good how the design gets along with the beautiful fabric! I also made covered buttons;)

Did you like my dots blouse from my last post? The pattern is from this book.
さり気なく甘い服 ―着こなしを楽しむベストアイテム―

Have a happy week!

naniiro dots for Sana

2011-07-10T12:08:00.002+09:00

Hi girls!
How are you doing? It's getting REALLY hot these days, and I sometimes can't fall asleep without
AC┐(´д｀)┌
Do you remember that I made a slip by bambi pattern from Burdastyle? It's actually very useful in this season. I should make more of them. When I am at home, I wear the slip or camisole & shorts. We are not trying to use AC, because electricity problem is pretty serious here. It's probably why I started using more gauze and linen fabric.

I made this naniiro dots shirts for my dear friend Sana. She brought some fabric for me to sew;) Isn't it so cute? I like those not-perfect-shaped dots:) I hope she will love it. Also I am working on blouse for her and me now. It's Kayo Horaguchi's fabric and just found out that there are many products of her design! You can see pretty umbrella here. Also search "Kayo Horaguchi Amazon", and you can see many of her items!!

I should have sewed little more, but my new buddy android is just so much fun to play with:D Me and my husband went to ride bicycle on the other day and took some pictures with android. We use fxcamera, retro camera, and picplz. They work really great and the quality of photo is much better than I expected;)
さな～、ついにできたよ～！かわいいね。一緒に合わせる服を考えておいてね。これからもう一つのブラウス縫いまーす！

Well, I will try to sew more on this week;) I promise.

Have a great weekend!!

Sew Comfy Dress

2011-07-03T15:28:00.002+09:00

I finally got android!! How long have we waited? I am so happy to play with it everywhere I go! Hope to take more pictures of my life (maybe fabric shopping and stuff!) and update on SSN websites little more often.
Please let me know of any good applications.

This is my latest sewing work. Fabric is made by linen and rayon.
This one has no zipper or buttons, so it was pretty easy to make. When you make ruffled skirt like this, cut fabrics 1.5 times longer than the row above;) (That's what I learned this time.)
I wasn't sure if it should have been this length or maxi, but when I put it on while I was making, this knee length was just so pretty and I stopped using other 2 rows. I may add them later though.

Sorry about my silly face expression.... :p

Next project will be my friend's clothing. Remember this fabrics she got? She wants blouse and I want..... still dunno.

I hope rest of your weekend will be great enough;)

Linen top & pants

2011-06-29T13:11:00.000+09:00

Linen(English), Lin(French), Leinen(Germany), 麻asa(Japanese).
Maybe it's good to know:)

"A simple design with basic color"

I think that's something we need in our closet at least.
Last year, I mostly made clothing with cute & colorful fabrics, and they were mostly dresses. Well, that what I wanted to make at the time, so it's o k a y.
But this year, I try to focus on using nice material and make basic clothing line for myself. Also I want to pick fabrics which is easy to take care. After 1.5 years of sewing, I learned a bit about materials, you know. Not only "look good", you've gotta "feel good" as well in the garment.

This navy fabric is linen and cotton mix. It doesn't stretch at all (I would say 95%), and it caused some problems when I made the pants. I really should have known it doesn't stretch and I have a bit leg....(+д+)

The left picture is with Kabaya.（Indonesian traditional clothing)

The bow blouse in the right picture is also my handmade. It's 100% polyester which made me sweat all over my back.......

I hope you enjoy creating as well;)

Have a happy week!

Gauze Blouse

2011-06-25T10:27:00.010+09:00

Like I said before, I want to make more clothing by linen and gauze in this summer and just finished my first gauze blouse. I put it on day before yesterday when it was 34℃. I've gotta tell you that this is really comfortable to wear even on such a hot day!! I guess the gauze does let air go through, so it keeps your body cool and also absorb the sweat pretty well. I recommend using gauze fabric;) But make sure to do "stay stitch" on shoulder line, curbs, and anywhere can be stretched out.

Wait, I almost forgot mentioning to the backpack. When I went shopping with my mom, I found this, and wanted it so much, but for some reason, I told myself to be patient.... Then 2 days later, I got a package from my mom!!! Yes, she went back to the shop after I left, and then picked it up and sent it to me:) Isn't that sweet? I am so happy that it really became mine!!

Oh by the way, I woke up at 6am this morning, and guess what? My husband was already up! It's getting really humid and hot these days and was hard to sleep... Well the good thing is I have done cooking, washing, cleaning and taking a picture before 9:30am!! Rest of my days will be with my darling sewing machine;)

I hope you have a sweet sweet weekend, girls;)

Shirts Dress from Female Magazine 2011 Spring

2011-06-22T12:11:00.004+09:00

How have you been doing? I have been quite busy and no time to think about I have no time:) But it doesn't mean I am not sewing, yes, I am!

Here is my newest one!
I used a pattern from Female magazine 2011 Spring. It was my first time to try the collar like this, and was good to learn. Also curved hem line on the side was a bit tricky, but was enjoyable.
I always wanted white shirts, but at the same time didn't want anything tighten my neck, cuz it's already so warm over here. I love the one with brown belt the most. How about you girls?

Image from Female Magazine

Have a happy sewing!!

Hello, Hello!!

2011-06-13T22:17:00.000+09:00

Thank you for reading and following, and I'm sorry for not updating much lately.
Here is my new dress!! F i n a l l y ! !
These days, I am more into comfortable design and fabrics. In this summer, I will try to use linen fabric more and also double gauze;) They are easy to wear and take care as well;)

Also I am working on my friend's shorts. He designed and picked fabrics, and I am making it!! It should be done in a week;) (I was asked to do it a couple of month ago, and finally started!! Sorry, T!!)

This is a part of the project and it's my first piping!! It makes the garment strong and firm which I was really attracted.

Thank you for reading!! Have a great week!!

♥ ♥ ♥

Lace Cardigan..how would you coordinate?

2011-05-28T15:52:00.000+09:00

Hello my dear friends,

Did you sew or buy any summer clothing yet? I just made this cardigan!! Having cardigan in summer is necessary for me as I don't like the AC wind hits my skin directly.
This dress is a bit too short to go out, so I am seeking the style I can enjoy wearing this cardigan. If you have any idea, please let me know;)

I also wanna sew bathing suits in this summer. Hope it's not too hard... My friend and I are planning to wear matching bathing suits! hehe

Maybe something like this♥

Elizabeth Taylor from GLAMOUR

I hope you have a great weekend!!

xoxo

Knit Draped Pants

2011-05-24T18:23:00.000+09:00

About 2 weeks ago, I made this draped pants, and didn't have any decent idea of styling, but my husband helped me yesterday and I admire his sense! The necktie bow is a good idea;) I wore his shirts and hat.

The pants is low-waisted, but I will make it high-waited next time and see how the drape changes. Also it would be better attaching pockets. Hmmm more and more to improve..

I am going to visit my little nephew tomorrow! He is almost done with his "terrible two" which we have been waiting for!!
Okay, gotta bake some tofu cookie now!

Have a great time with your family too;)

xoxo

Panties made by handkerchief

2011-05-19T20:01:00.000+09:00

On the other day, my best friend visited us and we spent a great time together. I wanted to give her something as her birthday was in this month and decided to make a pretty panties:D

Here is a result!

When I was looking for a panty pattern, I found this fabulous website which shows so many cute hanties (panty made by handkerchief). I was happy to see the result as it's so pretty!!
Here is a link to the pattern if you have a hard time to look for it.
Also Novita from verypurpleperson posted her panty on the other day which is really cute! So please go check it out too!!

This is Kayo Horaguchi's fabric!!! Isn't it lovely? My best friend went to get fabric for both of us and now I will work on her clothing and mine. Mine is in brown and I am considering making something like this dress from Dear Golden Vintage.
I am not sure about the shape of this dress, but I like the way the fabric was applied!!

Hope your day will be brighter than yesterday's.

♥♥♥♥♥

A cute clipart book and Anne of Green Gables bag

2011-05-17T17:49:00.000+09:00

I got this cute book a couple of days ago and have been enjoying playing with.
The title is Otome no Sozaishu.
Found it here.
There are tons of cute buttons, sewing tools, flowers, jewelry, plants, and stuff. I do wanna print them on fabric and make a cute brooch or something!

Just made letter sets!

Also I made this tote bag by Anne of Green Gables fabric which had been in my drawers over 2 years!

Pockets and a little embroidery work inside:)

Hope I showed you something makes you creative;)

Have a beautiful day.

xoxo

Surrounded by pretty things

2011-05-10T21:07:00.000+09:00

Hello!

I've received some pretty gifts from my online friends Aida and Annette, my high school friend Naoko , and my sister-in-law! They all made me super happy and motivated me do more crafts!!
Thank you so much all!!

Aida made this beautiful egg by real egg, hemp cord and cut branches.
Annette's embroidery work is fabulous, you can see more here.

Also I made this dress today by the fabric Annette found for me. ｱﾘｶﾞﾄ!(´▽｀)
Isn't it so lovely? I am in love with the fabric, it's so cheerful!!

Thank you so so much, girls!! I have been forgetting why I wanted to "make" things, but receiving handmade gifts reminded me such a important reason....
Also I appreciate my friend Naoko who sent me relaxing organic body mist! Now it's my favorite!!
At last, my dear sister-in-law, she gave me bunch of threads for serger!! I'm ready to use them!!

どうもありがとう！！！大切に使うね！

Long Cardigan Dress and... Hummus

2011-05-08T23:16:00.000+09:00

Hi friends,

How are you? Today I finally have something to share with;) It has been a while since I sewed something I wanted. This time, I used a dress pattern from last year, and modified it. I got rid of back zipper, and have the front open and added velvet ribbons as closure. It looks like a dress from the back, but it's more like sleeveless long cardigan. I also made 2 pockets.
This fabric is very interesting. The base is khaki chiffon, and it has gingham check by black velvet.

I also have been enjoying cooking as you know from my previous post.
This time, I show you my first homemade tomato hummus!

Here is ingredients:
garbano beans/chickpeas
peanut butter
extra virgin olive oil
tomato
sun dried tomato in oil
mashed roasted garlic
cumin
lemon juice
salt

yummy yummy!

Have a happy day!!

How to cook Salmon Crunchy Roll

2011-05-01T16:34:00.000+09:00

I know!! It's not my sewing project this time:P I have been sewing, (thanks all for encouraging) but they are all for my customer which is not new design. So give me a couple of more days, and I will be updating my new project;)

Here is my crunchy roll! While we were in CA, we missed food from Japan, and went to have sushi a couple of times. But they weren't exactly the same as you probably know, it's Americanized.
Well, actually I loved rolls they make! It was way too different from the one here, but it was so tasty!!ヽ(’o’)ﾉ

If you want to try some, this may help;)

You need:
Rice, Rice vinegar, Seaweed sheet, Crunchy tempura batter,
Salmon, Crab stick, Cucumber, Avokado (any seafood & veges you like), and Mayonnaise,

Sauce:
Soy sauce, Sweet cooking rice wine (called mirin), and Sugar.

Enjoy & have a great week!!

Back home now!!

2011-04-24T14:47:00.000+09:00

Hello friends,

I came back to Japan a couple of days ago. I am sorry about my absence for a while.
To be honest with you, I had a thought about taking a break from sewing & blogging. It was a bit hard for me to just focus on creating like before the earthquake happen. Many different things to think about, you know. But even though I stop doing it, some part of me wants to make something like I used to, and it is a pleasure of my life. So I told myself to keep doing it. Well, I was emotional about what happened to my country and it made me re-think about what the life is and how I want to live this life. Too deep? or did this big disaster make you think about such a thing as well?

By the way, during my stay in the States, I had a chance to go fabric shopping to LA garment district, and mood fabrics:) Thank you very much for people who gave me many advices:) They were really amazing!! I also wanted to go to other places too, but sadly we didn't make it this time. So I will try next time when I go there;)
Here are some fabrics I got:) The top bottom one was ANNA SUI fabric, and I didn't even know until getting back home:0 It made me extra happy! Like I said, some part of me has the same passion as I used to have..... yes! passion for getting new fabrics:D These fabrics will be happy if i give them a life as clothing, so I should be sewing soon, really.

Garment district in L.A. was just great. I can be there all day.

Thank you Melody & Justin for taking us:)

I activated my etsy shop, and started working again. So if you have been mad about my shop closed, please check it out now:) I appreciate some of you already asked me to work for you:) I will do my best:)
emorie
Sky Airways dress is now in stock again;)

I also wanna appreciate my family-in-law, host families and friends who gave us such a peaceful and relaxed time while we were there. I love being in the States as much as living in Japan:)

Have a happy day.
xoxo

A bit of this and that

2011-03-28T05:25:00.000+09:00

Hello my friends!!

Thank you very much for your thoughtful messages for us, we appreciate you all a lot.
Since we came to the States, it's been a week and we are slightly getting used to live here.
Even though there are some difference between living in Japan and the States, we have been enjoying it.
Actually 5 years ago, I met my husband here in Cali. So there are many things reminds me beginning of our relationship which is kind of sweet:) Corner Bakery Cafe is one of them. We used to go eat there a lot. My favorite dish is Chicken Pomodoro Sandwiches.

I love pickles on the side! We don't do it in Japan so much.

Oh yes, I went to Joann for fabric shopping on yesterday. Even though they had a bunch of beautiful fabrics, none of them was good deal for me. I guess I am too used to buy wholesale price, so sadly I didn't get anything there. But one of my lovely reader and some others told me there is a fabric district in downtown LA, so I will try to check that out soon. I am in Southern Orange County now, and if anybody knows any fabric store around this area, I would love to know that.

As I don't have much materials here, my husband gave me his old shirts to work on.

This is an easy cotton top for summer. I wish I could have more material to add sleeves as it's not so hot outside yet.

I have been practicing painting with photoshop in past couple of weeks. As I can't sew as much as I want to here, painting would be great thing to work on.

Here are my husband's sketch and painted by me. The models are both from the magazine FUDGE.

I enjoyed designing clothing too as it has unlimited possibility with photoshop:D It's kind of difficult to make a clean line, but at least you can enjoy seeing how the color works together.

I hope the condition in Japan will be better soon and we will be able to go home with a peace of mind...

But until then, we decided to enjoy spending time with our family and friends in America as much as we can:)

I just wanna ask you if there are anybody who has been waiting for my response for email or any questions. I have been spacing out for a past few weeks by this terrible disaster. If so, please kindly let me know. I am not sure what I was supposed to do before. But now things a little organized in my mind and I'm ready to write back:)

Thanks for reading, dear friends:)

Have a beautiful day.

♥

I'm sorry!!

2011-03-21T23:28:00.000+09:00

I was going to announce about my used book store this time, but actually I won't be able to do it for a while. I am truly sorry about it...

We are temporary away from home because of the situation in Japan. I am now in Southern California with my husband's family.
It was a hard decision for us to make... My family and friends are still in Japan, so it felt kind of pain to leave them... But at the same time, my husband's family were really worried about us, so we decided to come here. It was actually all of sudden, and we only had 12 hours to pack everything and find a hotel for our ferret! But somehow we made it:)
I hope things won't get any worse in Japan...

Luckily I have my another sewing machine here which I bought about 5 years ago, so I guess I will start sew something. But I have no serger... hmm

Anyway, I wanted to let you know that we are here, relaxing and having nice time with our family and old friends.
It may take some time for me to update something, but I will try;)

Thank you very much!
xoxo

Day 3 from the earthquake

2011-03-14T17:54:00.000+09:00

Dear friends,

Thank you very much for your messages. We all Japanese people were encouraged from the world. Where I live is in Kanto area which is near Tokyo, and we are right now totally fine. We have water, gas, electricity working properly. But in Tohoku which located north of Japan and where the huge earthquakes hit, they don't have enough food, water, gas or electricity. I beg you to donate any amount of money to help people.
Tohoku is still really cold, it is about -3C, 27F, and they don't even have enough blanket. Imagine they are sleeping on the floor with wrapping news paper around their body, no warm food, no heat and still big possibility of aftershocks. I feel bad that there aren't much thing we can do. But saving electricity is something I can do in this area. Around here, there will be power outage sometime soon as electricity company can't make enough energy anymore. In Tokyo train has been messed up because of this, and many people are stuck at home. Business won't be able to work like usual with Japan for a while, and please understand that too. This power outage seems to continue in next two months. Please read more about this earthquakes here, Japan Times.

My home town is Tohoku, and have so many people I know there. By this moment, I heard from most of my relatives and friends and they were all safe. Some of them are still sleeping in a car, but at least, they were okay. One of my friend called me and said it's really dark at night, cold, and not much food, but she was strong & kind enough to worry about me. I was so surprised that. The thing is they are trying to stay strong in this condition and care about others... I just wanted more people to know the fact. They deserve to have a normal life back a.s.a.p...

In a couple of days, I am going to open a used book store online which you can buy sewing & craft books. Please come back and check that out. I would like to donate from that sales. Sewing clothing may be not easy as the power cuts, so I just sell used Japanese pattern and craft books.

I got so much positive feeling by reading all your comments. Thank you so much. You girls are really thoughtful:)

Thank you so much,

Ophelia

I'm fine.

2011-03-12T02:09:00.000+09:00

Dear friends,

The earthquake was really bad, but we are fine. Thank you for all your messages.

Ophelia

Alpine Meadow Dress & Dear Seamstresses

2011-03-10T19:30:00.001+09:00

Hey ladies,

Hope you are doing well and planning something fun on the weekend!
From the last post, you know that I have been lazy, and I just decided to make a version of my old design. This time, I made the bodice little tight, got rid of waist ribbons, attached lace at the hem, and changed gathered to pleated.

It looks pretty well and I was lucky to have this lace for the hem. It makes the dress even more romantic;)

Alpine Meadow Dress

Dear Seamstresses,

I would like to introduce one of my little helper for sewing. It's a fabric marker made by stiff craft paper, and 1.5cm deco tapes.
When I make a dress or skirt, I use this marker which can save my time and help me to mark properly. You don't even have to use measure because the deco tape tells you;)

It's convenient for me, but I'm not sure for you too or not. Just wanted to show you what I use;)
If you have any good tip of sewing, please share♪

Alright, I hope you will have a beautiful day!!

Dress, gift and award.

2011-03-07T12:57:00.000+09:00

Hey girls,

I have to admit that I have been extremely lazy these days:( I just wanted to sit on the floor and watch TV & movies with eating snack. That's not what I always like to do, but once in a while, this lazy girl appears and don't let me be creative or productive. But it's a part of me, so I have to accept that.

By the way, the pale blue dress is done, and wanted to share with you all;)

Sky Airways

I also got this pretty gift from Tilly from Tilly and the Buttons! She celebrated my 1 year sewing-versary:) In fact, she started sewing almost same time as me, and we were both excited about the fact, and decided to send each other a gift! It's a lovely coincidence! You may already read her post, but please take your time to read her 1 year blog-iversary post. You will be inspired a lot by her beautiful creations!!
Oh don't miss her latest project called Banana Sweetie Skirt. It's so lovely! I love she used floral fabric for facing. It's so charming.
Thank you Tilly!! Be creative and keep motivating us!!!

Also another thing I would like to write about is this Stylish Blogger Award I got from Cecili from Sewing and so on. Her blog is one of my favorite! Thank you so much, Cecili! I would love to give the award back to you!:)
I have to give you 7 facts about me to receive this award. 7 facts about me? Okay, let me think...
1. I like looking at maps.

2. I don't like to wear nail polish.

3. When I was a kid, I used to lick tooth paste.....(it was strawberry taste....)

4. I like to daydream.

5. I have very weird voice like anime character.

6. I believed that I was going to get married to my Dad when I was a little.

7. I don't like to stay in once place. Right now, I want to move to Okinawa.

I would like to give this award to all blogger who fascinate me daily basis. But picked random 7 friends from my google reader.
Cindora
L'Amour de Faire à La Main
Meydale
New day with Tijusai
... Kathle ...
Sown Brooklyn
nette

Please enjoy telling us 7 things about you if you have time;)

Have a great week!! xoxo