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Rose Themed Wedding Dress Showcase

August 1, 2016 By Chie

Back in June, I hosted a three-day event where I showcased three of my new wedding dress designs. It was done in collaboration with a flower shop, AFRIKA ROSE and another bridal gown designer, Satomi Shiga of Rachel Bridal. Satomi and I met last year and we had been entertaining the idea of hosting an event together. Then we came across a flower shop that specializes in roses that are made in Kenya. We pitched the event idea of the event to the owner and she readily agreed.

We had about six months to put the event together and it was a success! We had a cocktail reception on the first night and the place was packed.

{I’m wearing the navy blue lace dress I made last November}Satomi did a live demonstration of the making of the dress below, with the real rose petals. She attached each petal with glue gun.
I showcased three wedding dresses, all with a “rose” theme. The mermaid style dress below is made out rose motif lace. It was inspired by the client work I did recently, which was similar in style. I love mermaid dresses and my own wedding dress was mermaid, but people don’t go for this style often in Japan.I made this second dress thinking of rose petals. Wanted to express the gradation and color change happening in petals, so I made a skirt in silk and ombre dyed with chemical dye. I used DYLON flamingo pink. I dyed bottom half with very watery paint first, let it dry, and did the same for two more times with thicker dye paint. The result was pretty good; I was really happy with how it came out.

The last one I made was a silk organza dress with flower print. When you wear the dress, the flower motif will appear like floral tattoos.
Here are some of Satomi’s dresses. {From left: AFRIKA ROSE owner, Megumi Haguida, Satomi Shiga of Rachel Bridal, Me and AFRIKA ROSE store manager, Ayaka Matsuno}

6月24日～26日の3日間に、「バラとドレスの美術館」というテーマで展示会を開きました。
広尾のアフリカローズというバラ専門のお花屋さんで場所をお借りして、ウェディングドレスデザイナーでラシェルブライダルのオーナーの志賀里美さんとコラボ展示会をしました。
お互い3点づつ、バラをテーマにドレスを作製してお披露目。
1日目の24日はレセプションでシャンパンサービスと、生花で作るウェディングドレスのライブデモンストレーションを行いました。

3日間、色々な方とお会い出来て、とっても楽しかったです。
展示したドレスは、レンタル可です。
お気軽にお問合せください。

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♥ 東京木場のアトリエVivat Veritas | 完全オーダーメイド | 花嫁様おひとりおひとりに合わせてお作りします！
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What to Do When Your Wedding Dress Color is Not Right

July 20, 2016 By Chie

A few months ago, I received a text message from a make up artist that I worked with in the past (for this shoot), asking for help. She bought a wedding dress online but the color was not the color she was expecting. The dress was made in pure white polyester satin and organza, and it did not fit well with her skin color. This strapless sweet heart neckline dress came with an organza long sleeve top which she did not like either. She wanted the color to be more of an off-white and ivory shade. So she attempted to dye the dress with coffee; however, the color did not becaus the dress fabric was synthetic.

Here is the before and after picture. I am not sure if I was able to capture the color correctly in pictures, but the one on the left is white and the one on the right is the same dress after the modification, which is off-white.
My plan was to take apart the top layers of the dress, and make new layers in off white satin, lace and chiffon using the patterns of the old wedding dress.Here is the picture of the dress after the dissection. The dress bodice with off white satin and lace layers added.
Here is the completed dress!

If your wedding dress color is not what you like, you can make the top layer based on the original dress. It is much easier and quicker than making a dress from scratch.

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Closet Case Files Carolyn Pajamas in Silk

July 7, 2016 By Chie

I made silk pajamas! After making my Ginger Jeans (white version here), I became a big fan of Closet Case Files patterns. The jeans fit pretty well for me and the high waisted version is more flattering to my body than most store bought jeans. So, when a friend asked me to make silk pajamas for her friend’s wedding gift, I immediately thought of Carolyn pajama patterns.With so many cheap versions out there (like this GU one), I wanted to make it special by crafting it in pure silk satin.

The fabric used is beige silk satin. I made my own pipping with some white silk left over from making wedding dresses. That was the recommendation from the pattern instructions, so the width of the pipping can match the seam allowances, which is 1.5cm in this case.

From putting together the patterns to finishing two pajamas took a long time…about 17 hours. One of my goals of 2016 was to keep track of my work hours in excel in order to up my efficiency. Silk satin slips around a lot so cutting it on proper grain was a challenge. I mostly used a rotary cutter and a mat to cut the fabric and interface. Silk PJ feels so luxurious! I am not sure how they will care for it since silk satin loses the shine once you wash it with water, but I am assuming this is for a special occasions. Any thoughts? For a men’s version, I used BurdaStyle Men’s Pajama Set 12/2010 #134. It is almost identical to Carolyn PJ patterns. The only modifications are to omit drawstring waist and added a pipping cuffs on pants hem. Unlike Closet Case Files pattern instructions, BurdaStyle’s instructions are like reading foreign language at times…I had to just guess and figure out.

Here is the picture of pants fly with hidden pocket for men’s PJ pants. 結婚プレゼント用に、男女お揃いのシルクパジャマを作りました。
素材は100％シルクのサテン。
ベージュに白のパイピングでクラシカルな雰囲気のパジャマが仕上がりました。
型紙は女性用はCloset Case Files Carolyn Pajama、男性用はBurdaStyle Men’s Pajama Setを使いました。