Vacation after Vacation

It’s weird that Andy and I felt that we needed a “break” right after our vacation to Korea! But after that hectic trip, we needed some rest – so we asked my mom to come over to watch the baby for a couple of hours while treated ourselves to a nice aroma oil massage at a place called River-M. It is a small salon, but it was so good! The aroma oil that comes with the massage is a nice addition.  I picked Yuzu (Chinese lemon) aroma oil and Andy picked Rosemary. It was so good. I fell a sleep during the massage! After that, we went to see Transformers 3. This was the first time we have been out to movie since the baby was born. I love going to Friday night late show movies. In Japan, movie times after 8pm are called “late show”, and most movie theaters have some discount. It is usually 1800 yen ($20 USD) for a movie, but for late show, it’s only 1200 yen ($14 USD). We could not do the late show this time since we had to put Kiko to bed and my mom needed to get back home by 7, but it was so nice to be out to movie theater again,  just two of us!

I also started taking Gertie‘s Perfect Bombshell Dress course at Craftsy. I’ve read that Novita and Paunette took the course and the course was really good. I decided to take it because I think I need to gain some new skills in preparation for the wedding dress I’m making for my friend. I’ve read some stuff about boning, underlining etc for structured dresses, but the video will be so informative and beneficial for me in this new endeavor. Plus, I got 50% off discount of the course from the BurdaStyle’s news letter. So it was $29.99 instead of $59.

I’m on video 5 out of 15 now, and it’s already shown itself to be beneficial. I’m leaning a lot about making muslins. Even Gertie’s tutorial on how to use PDF pattern was good, because she does it in a slightly different way than I usually do. So it was refreshing to go over some basics!

I’m thinking of making the bombshell dress for myself for a wedding that I’m attending in September (the wedding for the girl I’m making the wedding dress for!). I’ve never gone for this type of dress with a structured upper bodice, because I have a very flat chest – but since I’m still breastfeeding, I became a bit bustier than I used to be and want to take an advantage of having a new body while I have it! hehe :p

When I make clothes for myself, I tend to go for purple, navy, or pale pink. But I want to try some new color..I’m thinking of seafoam, like this 50’s wiggle dress? Do you have any suggestions? I’m looking for a nice solid color that’s not white or cream (obviously!).

And last but not least, BurdaStyle is featuring my variation of Heidi dress this week! Alison from BurdaStyle contacted me a while ago to make a maternity variation of Burda or BurdaStyle pattern. I picked Heidi, because I like the pockets and pleats of the skirt. Also I found it more flattering to wear an I-line skirt during my pregnancy. You only have the bump for a limited amount of time, so why not show off?! My version can be worn during pregnancy since the skirt is made out of stretch knit, but even after the baby is born as a nursing wear, since I install a zipper on both sides.

Check out here for the step-by-step instruction of how to make this dress!