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September on Instagram

September 30, 2013 By Chie

September literally flew by. Although it is still warm outside, I can feel the beginning of winter by the chilly mornings and evenings. We had a lot going on this month that kept us busy, from baby shower, wedding to moving into a new place in Tokyo. 1. Attaching the bows one by one.
2. I ran the biggest sale in my shop earlier this month due to the move! Thank you so much for those of you who purchased from me, for helping me to lighten up my boxes.
3. Isn’t this the cutest baby shower cake ever?
4. Lovely Ashley wearing the VV culotte style shorts to NYFW! You can get yours here.
5. Pad stitching away the tuxedo jacket lapels! It is time consuming but relaxing to use hands at the same time. Gertie’s Lady Gray coat sew-along has been tremendously helpful in this.
6. Completed the jacket sleeves.
7. We moved to downtown Tokyo this month. Here is the glimpse of our new Japanese style bedroom. I have a lot left to organize and decorate.
8. Kiko drew that and said “This mommy”.
9. I concluded the September by attending a wedding in the woods, place called Chichibu. There I found a swing hung on a tree. Too much fun on the swing as you can see.

Find me @vivatveritas.

{find me elsewhere: shop, facebook, etsy, twitter, pinterest}

Vivat Veritas on Maisha Magazine

September 29, 2013 By Chie

From almost 5 years of blogging and reading various blogs, my interest has expanded from just sewing to fashion, DIY, design, art and most recently, decor. I get most inspired from browsing through pinned images of lovely homes (here and here) and reading blogs like Apartment 34 or Made By Girl. Japanese magazine, Maisha (マイシャ) has been on my reading list for a while, and although I rarely buy magazines, Maisha has been an exception. Partly because with the purchase of the magazine for 500 yen, it gives you a gift certificate worth 1000 yen at FrancFranc(フランフラン). I find it to be a pretty good deal!

I would describe the magazine’s style to be a mix of modern and vintage with a hint of whimsical and kitsch details. I am happy that the September 2013 issue of the magazine which was published on the 25th is featuring my home. The place that was featured was my old place before our move to Tokyo last week. Although we left the place for a good reason (it started to get small for three of us), I still miss the relatively spacious living room (at least in Japanese standards), high ceiling and loft bed.

You can purchase the magazine at regular book stores or online here.{find me elsewhere: shop, facebook, etsy, twitter, pinterest}

Making a Tuxedo 2:: More Muslins

September 25, 2013 By Chie

As I previously wrote, I am currently making a wedding taxedo. It is in the collaboration with Rina, as she made the wedding dress, groom’s dress shirt and bow tie and I am making a tuxedo jacket and pants. The pants have been completed. I just need a proper model for the photos, and if I can get Channing Tatum for this task, I will be most pleased.. Since it is just my dream, I will have to convince Andy to put them on for some pictures. Making the tuxedo pants went pretty smooth despite the fact I used a pattern that was written in Russian, but I will save that story for another day.

The jacket has been extremely time consuming. If you are wondering why nothing new has been updated in the shop, this is why. The first muslin did not fit well, as you can see in this post. I think it would have fit him alright with a few miner adjustment like shortening sleeves, but the problem was that I used a regular fit jacket pattern and the groom wanted a slim fit. I didn’t realize that was what he was going after until the first fitting session. After that I made major pattern adjustments to the BurdaStyle Ehren pattern. It was pretty stressful since I don’t have much experience in sewing men’s clothes except for a few easy t-shirts. But after three muslins and 1 wearable muslin jacket for Andy, I think I finally got the patterns right.

To accomplish the slim fit, I took measurements of the slim fit suit jacket he owns and fits him well. Then I took in a lot on the side, front, back, shorten the jacket length, sleeve length, and changed the shape of the lapel. I wasn’t a big fan of the round collar-ish lapel (not sure how to describe it) that the original pattern had.

If you happen to be on a train during rush hour, you’d notice many business men with super slim fit suits. I don’t know what is up with this super slim fit suit trend in Japan, but some guys look ridiculous with skinny jeans shaped trousers with crotch area that are embarrassing to look at. Thankfully, the groom I’m working with is looking for more regular slim fit than super tight.