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Etsy Craft Party 2015

June 8, 2015 By Chie

My friend Natalie and I went to a Etsy Craft Party held in Shibuya last weekend. I’ve participated in the Tokyo Craft Party in both 2012 and 2013 and have met some wonderful people there including Taren of Oslo and Alfred. They always make for a good time. It was not a “party like a rock star” event but fun nonetheless. I was able to make this weird perpetual motion (yes I know that is wrong but I don’t know how else to describe it) origami thing called a flexagon. I simultaneously amazed my daughter and bored my husband with this thing.

All in all it was fun. I look forward to the next one.

Here are some groovy people I met at the party:
– Hiroko Japan (hand-dyed textile)
– RosieKarin (culinary illustrations)
– necocoa (prints and iPhone cases)
– Kaede (graphic designer)
今年もEtsyのクラフトパーティーに行ってきました♪
今年は金曜の夜、渋谷で。
2012年、2013年と行き、毎回楽しい出会いがあるイベントです。
日本でハンドメイドグッズというと、CreemaやMinneを良く聞きますが、
私はアメリカに居た2008年からずっとEtsyで販売しています。
Etsyにてカスタムオーダーやセレクトショップへの販売の道が開けたこともあり、結構忠実なユーザー。。
これから先、日本用サイトもできるみたいなので（今は部分のみ日本語になっています）期待してます！

Etsyロゴ入りケーキやクラフト出来るブースがあって、楽しかったです。

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Hand-worked Buttonhole

June 2, 2015 By Chie

For the Butterick 4610 white jacket, I made a handworked buttonhole. I have a home sewing machine that does buttonhole (Thread Banger) but I didn’t feel like taking the sewing machine out of closet for just one buttonhole, so I decided to finish it by hand. I usually use my Juki industrial sewing machine and Juki home serger. My Thread Banger, that has been used to death is neatly been stored in the back of my closet.

Tutorials for handworked buttonholes are out there online already, so I won’t write a step-by-step process here. This one from by gum, by golly and this from A Fashionable Stitch are great. They are easy to follow and there are tons of pictures for graphic learners like me. I also made a reference to my Japanese sewing book, “Atarashii Bubunnui (新しい部分縫い）by Yutaka Shimanaka (嶋中豊）, pictured below. I love this book! The book goes over every sewing techniques you can think of for casual clothes sewing, going over different type of zipper opening to pockets. I find myself referencing this book over and over again while I made a tuxedo. I happened to find this book along with other sewing text books from Bunka Publishing at a local library for sale for 100 yen (1USD) each! I got so lucky.

I think handworked buttonholes are very durable, but I prefer the look of bound buttonholes. I used the latter for my first and second Butterick jacket/coat. Of machine sewn buttonholes, bound buttonholes and handworked buttonholes, which finish do you like the most?

こちらの白ジャケットは１つボタンなのですが、ボタンホールを手縫いで穴かがりしました。
１個しかボタンホールがないので、家庭用ミシンを取り出して始末するのが面倒くさかったのもあるのですが。
手縫いの穴かがりのいいところは持ちがいいところ。
市販のファストファッションのボタンホールみたいに穴がぼろぼろになったりしません。
が、ちょっと手作り感が強いかも。

少しこういった細かいところで差をつけられるのが手作りの醍醐味ですね。

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Me Made May 15 | Most Worn Item

May 22, 2015 By Chie

Sometimes when I am in the midst of sewing, I doubt that I will love what I’m making or actually wear it. There is a gap between the ideal creation you are aiming for and what you end up making. I spent a few nights making this jacket and at the end, I totally hated the experience. The fabric was given to me by a friend, and it feels like men’s shirting fabric. As soon as I cut the fabric for this jacket I thought the fabric and patterns didn’t match. I finished making this in mid March or so and it sat in my closet without being worn until recently.

I was presently surprised by how much I like this number, now the weather is warmed up enough for me to wear it. I still think the fabric was not best suited for the pattern, but I love anything white and the light weight jacket is so useful during this season when it’s still a bit chilly outside with just a t-shirt at night and early morning. This turned out to be the most worn item for Me Made May 15!

Speaking of MMM15, I pledged, and have been incorporating at least one handmade clothes a day so far. I’m so proud of myself for making my own wardrobe! In the past seven years of my sewing life, I’ve accumulated enough clothes for myself to wear something every day.

The hardest part of MMM I found was to take pictures of my outfit daily. Most of the time I’m not in the mood for being photographed or I don’t take enough selfies… I have a big mirror in my sewing room, but if I take a selfie in front of that mirror, you will end up seeing all the mess I’m working on in the background, so the photos are not going to be pretty… I admire those of you who post MMM photos on instagram everyday.

Outfit details: Jacket – Selfmade, T-shirt – T by Alexander Wang (best white T!), Earring – gu, Jeans – bought on Rakuten for cheap and destroy them myself.

I used Butterick 4610 for this jacket. You can see my first and second tries. I’m modifying the pattern each time and hopefully, I can use the edited pattern to make a pants suit soon! I’ve been collecting images for my ideal suits quite a while.

Check out the inside of the jacket! Isn’t it neat (bias finish)?

What’s your most worn garment so far for this year’s MMM?

海外のソーイングコミュニティの中では、毎年Me Made Mayというイベント（？）をやります。
詳しくはこちらに記載されている通りなのですが（英語のみです）、
毎年5月は1か月間、自分の作ったものを毎日着て、写真をとってシェアする企画です。
私は毎日は余裕がなく写真を撮れないのですが、毎日１つは自分で作ったものを取り入れています！

お客様とミーティングするときなど、「これも作ったんですよ」とか言えると、ちょっとうれしいです（自己満）。
この白いジャケットは5月に一番良く着ているもの。
作ってる最中は、あーこれだめだと思いつつ作ったのですが、
なぜか毎日手に取ってしまう笑
生地など、改善点は満載なのですが、白だし、丈もちょうど良くて。
パターンはButterickの4610番を使いました。

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