the autumn breeze

the autumn breeze by lunatepetal featuring a tea dress

LOVE this dress from Alexa Chung for Madewell!

so simple, so sweet.

japasese sewing books

yesterday, I and little L(my daughter) had a playdate with other ha-pa(half-Japanese) kids and their moms in the valley.

I had no idea until recently that there were a quite few japanese people living in this valley.

(well,,, yes, you can find japanese people everywhere, that's true!)

one of the mothers kindly lent me some of her japanese sewing/pattern books.

(thank you!)

this one on dresses is awesome!

they all are so very lovely and look comfortable to wear.

it's so attempting to try them all!

these books on kids clothes are also very cute.

I don't even know why I borrowed these,,, obviously they are still way too big for little L.

but for sure I have to copy some of the patterns for when she is bigger(in 8yrs or something!).

look at the trench coat and the sailor pants on the covers!

I want those!!

a dress for my bestfriend

I got an order on a dress from my BESTEST friend, Mika, about 2 months ago.

I can't believe how long it took me to finish it...

a bit embarrassing, almost.

I've never worked on a custom order (for clothes) before.

it was a definitely an experience,

especially I couldn't take specific measurements, nor could I check it fits nicely on her...

but today I received an e-mail from her saying she got the dress and she is happy with it!

it was nerve racking, but well worth it.

she is happy with the dress, that is the most important thing!

so, here is the finished product!

I used Danielle pattern from Burda Style.

I changed the sleeves into tent sleeves.

I refered to the how-to on Burda Style,

but ended up with too much volume...

so I made little adjustments here and there.

the back didn't line up properly...

well, I should have checked, but it was too late(too much work) to fix it.

so I got a hint from this dress Satomi made.

hide it with a bow!!

how clever :)

the bow is attached by snap buttons.

comfortably dressy

Oh

it's been a looooooooooooooooooong time since the last time I sewed something.

I FINALLY managed to make a dress last week.

I had an idea of making something comfortable, yet still kind of dressy at the same time.

I don't like dressed in something restricting and uncomfortable.

I decided to use jersey fabric.

I love jersey! - so comfortable.

I wanted to use (charcoal) grey,

but they didn't have the right color/weight jersey at the local fabric store I usually go to.

so, it became my Little Black Dress.

I got these booties from Laws of General Economy.

it is a great blog that I go check it out every once in a while.

purple flower maxi

I saw this really pretty maxi dress in a local eco-clothing store.

very pretty flower printed fabric.

I really wanted it, but it was a bit more than I am generally willing to spend on a piece of clothes.

I thought the design was simple enough that I could make it!

so I went fabric hunting.

there was nothing really catching my eyes in the fabric store.

but I thought I'd give it a try with this purple flower fabric anyway...

interestingly enough, as soon as I started working on the dress,

Chie posted a how-to on her kimono top.

I did not follow her how-to since I already started making it with Burdastyle Tara pattern

(I just LOVE how quick and easy Tara is!),

but it was a great reference.

thank you Chie :)

I am happy with how it came out.

but I'm not sure if I will keep it for myself

or list on my Etsy shop and keep looking for a perfect fabric for it...

colorful rain drops

I made this dress actually before the 'sailor's' dress.
I used this fabric I got in Japan.

I used Burda Style Tara pattern,
but now I am regretting a bit about the dress...
I saw a cute maxi dress in a local shop,
and I thought this fabric would have been a perfect one to make something like that!

Oh well,
I still like it :)

I guess now I have another excuse to go fabric hunting to find nice fabric to make the maxi dress :P

sailor's little girl

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

I finally received my battery charger from mom today :)

now, I can take pictures of a lot of things....

to start with...

this is a dress I made last week.

the pattern is Tara from Burda Style.
I always wanted to try this pattern.

it was very easy & quick!

I like that :)

I added some lace on the bust.

the back yoke is lowered a little,

and straps are crossed on the back then tied in a bow on the front.

I will list this dress on my Etsy store by tomorrow!

yellow fever

yellow yellow yellow

the color yellow has been catching my eyes a lot lately.

don't know why.

I never used to like it so much...

I think it is a harder color to wear

because it has to be just in the right hue & tone of yellow.

image: nitrolicious image:Nadinoo

image: liebemarlenevintage

image: nitorolicious

image: thisyearsmodel Image: rockettmansion

awghhhhhh

I think I need something yellow to wear this summer!

Which color has been catching your eyes?

dreamy spring - dress & head piece

So,

I guess I just can't stay away from making clothes with this fabric, and this pattern!

Last weekend, I had some time to sew and made a dress,

and a head piecefor the bloomy seasson around the corner!

Together, they look like this!

HMMMMMMMMMM
I LOVE SPRING!
Just love the feeling of everything is new and coming back to life after a long cold winter.
flowers are brooming, green tree buds are sprouting, and birds are singing pretty songs...
and it smells nice too!

Up here in Canada, we still have mostly cloudy days... :(

but I can here footsteps of the spring just around the corner!

Can't wait for the wamer sunny days!!!!!