Blog

Mommy’s Diary: Handmade Polk-a-Dot Curtain for Nursery

December 21, 2012 By Chie

Decorating Kiko’s nursery has been a challenge since we live in a small Japanese rental town house. Her room is a Japanese room with tatami mat floor and low ceiling. On top of that, the ceiling is in wood pattern paper, so when I taped something on the ceiling and pealed it off later, the wood pattern came off! I think the traditional Japaneses room could be nice if you are not trying to make a colorful nursery out of it.

Anyway to brighten up her small room, I made a curtain in pink polk-a-dot pattern fabric the other day. I bought 5 meters of the fabric in Nippori. It was 100 yen (about 1.20 USD) a meter.

I just hemmed the both top and bottom of the fabric, and added the tie strings on top to tie the curtain on the curtain rail. With the left over fabric, I made the curtain straps.

I also made the window seat cushion cover. The inside I put the old mattress. Not the big bed matress, but the kind you use underneath futon in Japan. I cut the matress to the size of the window seat and sewed the edge.

Chunky 100 Yen Sweater to Knit Camisole

December 19, 2012 By Chie

Here is my latest DIY project – Too bad I forgot to take the “before” picture of the ugly sweater I recycled. I found the sweater for 100 yen at a nearby thrift shop last year. I bought it to chop up and remake something completely different, but didn’t get to it last winter. This sweater was so chunky and taking too much space my tiny closet and it started to get on my nerves. So putting other projects aside, I tackled the big sweater remake last week.

To be honest, the outcome of this knit camisole is not my most favorite. It was hard to sew this thick knit and it created a lot of fuzz around my sewing machine. I could not really decide on the length of this top, so I went for a bit longer than this bustier length, which made it hard to find a bottom to pair with..Only super high waisted pants or skirts can be worn with this top without showing my belly button.

I used the same pattern as this bustier, and eliminated the back button closure because the knit has a lot of stretch. I lined the entire thing with a cotton jersey. The knit is 100% wool and it scratches my skin, so the lining was a necessity. I added an elastic band all around the hem because the knit stretched out a bit while I was sewing.

Collaboration with Allison of Curvy Girl Chic

December 17, 2012 By Chie

Perhaps because the models I worked with for Vivat Veritas lookbooks are small, some people think I only make clothes for size small or petite people. But I do make and enjoy making clothes for people of all sizes! While I was on the lookout for curvy models to work with for a design collaboration, I happened to come across Curvy Girl Chic, a plus size fashion blog, owned by Allison Teng. I contacted Allison and was thrilled when she agreed to work with me in creating a unique piece based on one of my designs. She chose the kimono wrap, and gave me an inspiration board and tips on how to fit the curvy body better.

Sadly, the original dress she designed and I made got lost in the mail. It does not happen all that often and I don’t know why it had to be for this special dress I made for her. I was frustrated. After asking Allison to wait for the mail, time passed and the weather changed. By the time we realized that the dress was gone, the same design would no longer work because of the change in season.

So we reworked on the design and here is the outcome! The wrap is similar to the original, but I lengthened the sleeves and wrap itself and added some pleats to skirt. I really like how Allison tied the front part and styled it with a simple black dress and killer heals. Check out more photos at Allison’s blog here!

{Allison’s Inspiration Board}