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Custom Wedding Dress & Kimono Upcycled Clothes | オーダーメイドウェディングドレス&着物ドレス

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Chie

Thoughts on Sewing for Other People

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ironing boardReading this blog post, made me think about the reasons I sell my clothes, as opposed to sewing only for myself. I have read and seen sewists’ struggle (too dramatic?) to keep their closet small on the blogsphere and Instagram. We love making clothes. We sew when we get new fabric. We sew when new patterns are released. I have been sewing clothes for more than 10 years. Can you imagine how many clothes I would have accumulated by now had I kept them all to myself?! I live in Tokyo. Tokyo apartments are notoriously small. I only have one tiny closet which I split in two to store my own clothes and the clothes for sale. Besides that, as a seamstress, I have a lot of other stuff to store in my house, such as patterns, threads, notions, fabrics, fabrics and fabrics…. 

Selling my handmade creations helped me keep my closet considerably minimal. Selling my clothes helped me keep going with my sewing obsession without filling the house with countless clothes. 

kimono upcycle dressRecent custom order, from antique kimono to wrap dress

Here are some ways that selling my creations helped me:

Sewing for other people is fun
Often, other people give me ideas that I would not have come up on my own. Sure, you might not be sewing exactly what you want to sew all the time, but it gives you more variety. Requests are unexpected, which is great depending on how you look at it. My kimono dress series wouldn’t have started unless I taken on a project for a client to upcycle her kimono. I would not have any ideas on how to make costumes. I would not have learned how to fix wedding dress when it is too small for a bride. The list goes on.

Sewing for other people challenges me

Had I not taken the offer from my friend to make her wedding dress back in 2011, I would not have had wedding dress business. Taking on an unfamiliar project is intimidating. But once you get over the fear and tackle the project, you learn. You learn new skills. And the more you do it, the easier it gets and less intimidating for you to take on new challenges.cream shift dress

Cream shift dress

I’m not criticizing for people who only sew for themselves. I think it’s great if you are like Katie, who sews for herself, reflect upon what she’s made and take and run with it. She learned what her style is, and was able to better create her capsule wardrobe. If she did  not sew for herself, she might not have gotten there. By writing this, I wanted to remind myself why I do what I do and that is is good for me to do. Sewing for other people is for my personal development and creative fulfillment as well as making other people happy with their new clothes. I also LOVE sewing for myself, and in fact, am currently enjoying wearing this new button up. Any thoughts? 

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MADE | Oversized Button Down

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striped oversized button up handmade My first Spring make of 2018! The white Archer button up was in my 10 x 10 challenge. I mentioned in this post how I love this shirt to wear underneath sweaters, but feel a bit outdated to wear it on its own. I see in Pinterest and Instagram that button downs are worn oversized, with the collar slightly pulled to the back creating a V neckline shape in the front. The Archer button up is great sewn default, but gives the impression of a well ordered good school when worn on its own. So I made my own version of oversized button up. I’m planning to wear it with a turtleneck sweater and skinny jeans in colder weather, and on its own with khaki shorts (another one I made recently, not blogged yet) when the weather warms up. striped oversized button up handmade striped oversized button up handmadeI bought this fabric a while ago to make the Off-Shoulder Blouse by FASHION MAKERY. I saw the blouse on Instagram and fell in love with it. Unfortunately I could not figure out how to print it properly; I printed out the first page of the pattern, and the test square that says 5cm x 5cm prints out as 3.2cm x 3.2cm. I did not scale the patterns and printed out on A4 paper as is, but it seemed like the patterns shrunk and I could not fix it. That was about six months ago…eventually I gave up. Has anyone have a similar problem with FASHION MAKERY PDF patterns?striped oversized button up handmade

Pattern Info

  • Pattern: Graineline Studio Archer Button Up Shirt, size 4
  • Fabric: Cotton blend stripe fabric bought in Nippori Tomato
  • Modifications: Added 10 cm on side as shown in above picture for left and right front pieces, back yokes and back. Lengthened the shirt by 20cm. Shortened the sleeve length to 36cm.


striped oversized button up handmade striped oversized button up handmadeJOIN MY MAILING LIST!

Winter 10 x 10 Challenge Day 6-10

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ootd geek sweatshirt

Winter 10 x 10 Challenge Day 6-10

Check out my 10 picks in my previous blog post. My day 1 – 5 post is here.

winter ootd

Day 6:
January 26, 2018
Red turtleneck + GEEK sweatshirt + dark red maxi skirt + jean jacket (not in 10 x 10 challenge item) + Zara boots 

Today was cold. A Russian friend of mind told me that Tokyo winters are colder than Moscow winters, which makes it really horrible since I’ve also met an Indian person who told me Tokyo summers feel hotter than Indian summers. Anyway, I needed to really bundle up. This was a day that I worked and took my kids out for a play date. Later in that evening, I had a friend’s exhibition in Sangenjaya. For that, I decided to switch up. I took off the sweatshirt, and pulled up the maxi skirt as if it is a strapless dress, which made the length of the skirt to be a little below the knees. I wore the same Zara boots in the evening and marked my waist with black leather belt. I’m really happy with the discovery of new way to wear it. I’ve never thought of putting together an outfit this way before this challenge. This challenge encouraged me to play with the pieces that  I already have in my closet. 

red turtle neck and pleated skirtDay 7:
January 27, 2018
Red turtleneck + pleated midi skirt

Similar to Day 1, but just a different top.white button down and ribbed skirtDay 8:
January 28, 2018
White button down (self-made) + dark red maxi skirt (wearing as a dress like day 6) + thrifted belt + Lands End canvas tote

Two more days to go! I feel like I can just keep going on wearing the same things over and over again the rest of the winter. Kind of getting used to mixing and matching the same items. Nothing much going on today. Just work. I was going to go to Herme’s exhibition in Ginza, “Greenland by Fujiko & Ukichiro Nakaya“. The exhibition is free. Unfortunately, my friend got sick and we had to cancel but If you are around Tokyo, you should check it out! 

Day 9:
January 29, 2018

For some reasons, I cannot find the photo for Day 9. Although I do not remember what I wore this day, I swear I did keep within the 10 x 10 challenge.

striped shirt and levis denim

Day 10:
January 30, 2018
White button down (self made) + GU stripe sweater + Levi’s mile high super skinny jeans

Today’s outfit is basically the same as the Day 2, but instead of putting the shirt over the sweater, I wore it underneath. Does this count as a new outfit mix? 

Overall, I’m really glad that I did this challenge. One of the benefits to this challenge was it gave me a chance to review my closet and purge some items I no longer wear. During this challenge, I ended up selling two cashmere sweaters I was not wearing anymore, one watch and one purse. I clung onto those items since I bought the sweaters myself and the quality was good. Those were the only reasons I kept them in my closet and  I did not love them. So I’m glad the challenge trigger the purging process. By selling those items, I made some money, so I bought new sandals (for my vacation)! 

Would I do this challenge again? Maybe in the summer. It is a good challenge to do periodically to face what you have bought or made. This put me in the mindset of what I should buy instead of binge buy to satisfy the urge of random spending. Whatever you bring in in your closet should be a good friend with other items in the closet; meaning the color should go with existing pieces and the style should compliment them as well.