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Sewing the Pink Coat:: Side Seams, Catch Stitches and Inseam Pockets

January 10, 2014 By Chie

Hello! I wanted to show you my pink coat sewing progress. Last time I cut out the patterns and added the seam allowances to the patterns. I finally got to the actual sewing part! As I sew this coat, I am referencing a lot to Gertie’s Lady Gray Coat sew-along. Her tutorials are very helpful, although I am skipping certain tailoring steps this time, such as using hair canvas and pad stitching the lapel. I’m also not using the bound buttonhole technique since I will be using snaps.

The patterns I’m using is the BurdaStyle Wool Long Coat 08/2012#101B. I sewed the back to side, added the inseam pockets, and sewed the side and front pieces. I overlocked the seam allowances, pressed and catch stitched the seam allowances so they lay flat. Thankfully, this pink wool blend fabric I’m using is very easy to work with; it does not fray or leave marks when I press without pressing cloth. It is pretty thick so it’s easy to catch stitch the seam allowances without showing the stitches to the right side.

For the fusible interface, I used the one that was recommended at the fabric store in Nippori, called ZakZak. The store clerk gave me this black one with glue spots that are about 3mm apart from each other, so it almost looks like a polk-a-dot print. She said that way, the interface would not attach to the fabric completely, and will give the fabric room to move around and breath.

Here is the picture of the side pockets. I was deciding whether to use polyester lining (I always have a roll of white polyester lining at hand) or silk satin, which was a left over from making this dress. When I met with Inna last summer, she was talking about how silk fabric would retain your skin temperature so it is warm in the winter and cool in the summer. As I was deciding on polyester vs silk for lining, I remembered her comments and decided to go with the silk. I am so happy with my decision to go with the silk! I love the luxurious silky (obviously) feel to my skin! It would be hard to go back to polyester lining coats. I’m pinning many winter coat inspirations on my Fashion Inspiration board on Pinterest! The boxy shapes worn as a cape is so refreshing, especially with the oversized clutch.Sources: 1/2/3/4

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DIY:: Cutout & Cropped Sweatshirt

January 8, 2014 By Chie

Hi everyone! I wanted to show my first DIY of 2014. I’ve mentioned the fashion blog, Karla’s Closet in this blog a numerous time. I am obsessed with her style. She is just so….cool, someone that I would love to be fashio friends with. On top of that she has an amazing figure! She is my style icon. I saw she added a peep hole in her sweatshirt in this post, and since then, I have not been able to stop thinking about wearing sweatshirts. I had not owned a single sweatshirt previously (not sure why, I wear hoodies as roomwear), but I searched online for a cheap sweatshirt so I could recycle. I found this white sweatshirt from Rakuten for 500 yen. It’s actually a child size, but I figured that they make sweatshirts oversized anyway, so it should be fine.

As you can see above, my “before” picture is rather sad, and unflattering. Here is what I did to make it better:

I wore the shirt in front of the mirror and figured out how much I wanted to shorten it. I ended up marking the line 16cm above the rib.

Chopped off the rib, and kept it since I wanted to attach it to the new hem line. Then I cut the shirt in the line I marked above. I re-attached the rib to the new hemline (make sure to pin the rib before sewing, and stretch out the rib as you sew, since the rib is shorter than the actual hemline). Then I overlocked the seam allowance and topstitched it from the front.

After that, I made the cutout detail in the neckline. It seems like Karla’s version is just chopped off without finishing the seam allowances, but I was afraid that they will fray.

Marked new line with french curve…

Attached the neckline facing and topstitched it. Voila! The only thing I DON’T like about this is that the neckline got stretched out as I finished the edges, and makes a weird curve. You can see it below.

Overall, I’m pretty happy with this little DIY! I like to wear it with the sleeves rolled up and a high waisted skirt. By the way, I made this skirt recently too! Just a simple I-line skirt, made with a stretched knit. I lined it with the same fabric to seal all the edges so that the edges won’t be stretched out.

Outfit details: Hat:Bop Basics, Sweatshirt: DIYed, Skirt: Made by me (similar here), Bag: Alexander Wang, Booties: Rag & Bone

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Year 2014

January 7, 2014 By Chie

Happy New Year everyone! Hope everyone enjoyed the Holiday festivities. We went back to my parents’ place from the 31st through the 2nd. We just relaxed, due to the cold that all three of us had. Plus, Andy and I were fighting because of things I don’t even remember, so for the entire time we were in the midst of a cold war. Not the best way to start the new year!

On bright note, a nice lady at my parents’ church let us borrow her daughter’s kimono for Kiko to wear. She kept her daughter’s for the past 24 years and the Kimono was still in a great condition, as you can see from the pictures. Kiko really enjoyed playing dress-up. Unfortunately, I did not have my SLR with me, so all the pictures here were taken by point-and-shoot and iPhone 5 cameras, and later edited in Photoshop using some Photoshop actions. In Japan, we have a tradition of dressing up girls in Kimonos when when they are around ages three and seven, and a boywhen he is five. We call it Shichi-go-san, meaning literally seven-five-three. People usually go to a shrine to celebrate the growth of their child. I love the bright red color of the kimono and the little bun Kiko had!