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MADE | Ballet Leotard

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little girls lace leotard w caption

Kiko recently started taking ballet lessons. She loves it. She gets to run around with other girls and she is enamored by all the girl clothes, and the little girl’s tutu leotard was no exception. I am a bit surprised by how much she is into tulle, dresses and pink since she spends a lot of time with Andy, who is all about boxing, weight lifting and other sorts of sweaty activity.

We went to her lessons a few times with just leggings and t-shirts, but all the other girls were dressed in pretty ballerina attire so I decided to make one for her. First thing I had in mind was to use up the fabric leftover I used to make jazz dance costume. I had a lot of white spandex fabric left over but I could not find it…I must have thrown them away during the move last year. So the only acceptable fabric for this project was the ivory stretch lace from this dress. It was an easy project and I am pleased with how it turned out. I like how it is a bit different from regular solid spandex leotard and I got to reduce the amount of ever growing fabric stash. girl leotard pattern drafting1

As for patterns, I started from Kiko’s bathing suit. I roughly traced the front and back of the bathing suit and added about an inch to the torso for length.

girl leotard pattern draftingHere are all the pattern pieces cut. There are only three: front, back and straps. Very simple! I can use this to make a bigger leotard by adjusting the base pattern when she grows out of this.girls leotard sewingThe leotard is fully lined with a skin color jersey. I first sewed the crotch for both fashion fabric and lining, then right sides facing, I sewed the leg hole (?) area. Before turning them inside out, I added the elastic bands in the seam allowances. I cut them an inch shorter than the length of the leg hole measurement, and stretched them a bit as I sewed. attaching tutu skirt to leotardI had some soft tulle left over from making this veil, so I cut them in long rectangle, gathered the top and attach it to the waist line. I still don’t like cutting and sewing tulle fabric. I get the urge to pull all my hair out whenever I have to deal with this fabric. It drives me crazy that there is no grain line and the fact that it rips so easily. little girls lace leotard4 little girls lace leotard1

This made me want to make Nettie bodysuit by Closet Case. I had seen Sonja and Inna made them and they look great on them. That is going to be the next project after I finish the silk Archer button up!lace leotard娘が最近バレエを始めたので、レッスン用のレオタードを作りました。
型紙は、水着をちょっと変化させて作ったもの。
以前作ったウェディングドレスの残り布を使いました。
タイツとバレエシューズはここで購入したものです。
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Three Baby Shower Gift Ideas

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three baby shower gift ideas

There is a baby boom happening around me lately. It seems like everyone is having a baby! As much as the time allows , I try to make some handmade gifts for them. It is more time consuming, but there is also something special about staying late at night, using my hands to create for your friends. For baby shower gifts, I try to avoid baby clothes because when you get a ton of new born clothes which won’t last for a long time because baby grows so quick. It might not be as fun but I like to give practical gifts like diapers and nursing pads because you will definitely need them. Here are some of my ideas to pretify the rather boring gifts:

1. Diaper cakeantonia29

This one is fun to make and you can be creative with the toppings. My friend made me one when I was having baby and I appreciated having extra diapers around when I forgot to buy some.diper cake how to1 diper cake how to2 diper cake how to3

I used one pack of diapers (about 80 diapers). I separated them in three, rolled them up (put in a toilet paper core in the middle for the biggest roll), and tie with an elastic band. To connect three diaper cake rolls together, I used disposable chopsticks, just stick a few of them in the middle.diper cake how to4 diper cake how to5Since my friend was having a baby boy, I used some fabric left overs in sky blue (from this dress) and trims. To secure the end, I stapled them together. Perhaps you can use hot glue gun to do the same. I added a cardboard cut in the same size circle of the bottom diaper roll, covered in the same blue fabric for the very bottom for extra security.antonia31 mini cars

Now the fun part: toppings! I found these tiny paper cars and trains at Okashi Tengoku （お菓子天国）. It literally means Snack Heaven. They have all kinds of Japanese snacks. The one I went was in the second floor of Toyosu Viva Home. To attach the toppings, I used tooth picks. It wasn’t the most secure way to put them on, but they stood ok.

2. Embroidered card

baby shower card3While I was in Philadelphia, I took some embroidery project with me. I worked on it while I sat on the couch and chatted with grandma. One of my favorite stitches I learned is the chain stitch. I looks pretty when you use a thick thread, like 6 thread embroidery strand. There are many tutorials on how to do chain stitch on the internet so I won’t go into the detail here. This tutorial is easy to follow.

To make the card, I stole a colored paper from Kiko’s craft drawer and drew the letter, “BOY”. Then using 6 embroidery together, chain stitch along the letter drawn with a pencil. baby shower card1 baby shower card2 baby shower card4baby shower gift

Guess what’s inside the tulle wrapping? It is nursing pads! Well, they were specifically requested by the mom-to-be. You need a lot of those for the first few months. I made myself some washable nursing pads, but by the end of breast feeding, I was tired of washing them after each use. Disposable ones would have come very handy.

3. Initial embroidered cloth washable wipesbaby cloth initial embroidery

The idea is the same as the gift idea #2. I bought a plain white cloth wipes and embroider the baby’s last name initial using chain stitch. baby cloth initial embroidery1 baby cloth initial embroidery2

Hope you like my ideas!

最近私の周りではベビーブームが来てます。
毎月、誰かが出産していて、よくベビーシャワー（産まれる前に妊婦さんにベビーグッズのプレゼントをあげるパーティーみたいなもの）にお呼ばれするので、時間がある限り、手作りギフトを持っていくようにしてます。

おむつケーキ。これは持ってくと結構注目の的になれるのでうれしいです♪
簡単だし、性別に合わせて上に載せるトッピングに凝ったりして、楽しい。
今回は男の子だったので、お菓子天国で買ったお菓子トラックなどを載せました。
女の子だったら、造花とか、赤ちゃんが使えるヘアグッズ（ヘッドバンドとか）でもかわいいかも。

他の二つは、刺繍のチェーンスティッチを使って、カスタマイズできるものです。
少し、時間をかけてパーソナリティを加えてみるのが好きです。
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MADE | Grainline Studio Archer Button Up Shirt

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grainline studio archer button up shirt vivat veritas8 copyI know Archer sew-along has long been over, but I am proud to say that I made the shirt! It all started when I saw this equipment silk blouse. I know it is a simple button up shirt, but everything seemed so perfect – the fit, length, and fabric. However, I could not bring myself to pay $300 for a shirt even though it is silk and I’m sure I’ll get a lot of wear out of it. So I was in search for a perfect button up shirt pattern, something that is loosely fitted (not like an office lady blouse) without pleats, long sleeves and has pockets. Somehow I stumbled upon the Grainline studio’s Archer button up shirt pattern and it fit the bill!

grainline studio archer button up shirt vivat veritas6 grainline studio archer button up shirt vivat veritas13

Although I was between size 0 and 2, I decided to just cut size 2 because I didn’t mind the shirt fit a bit loose on me. I did not make any modification at all. I was surprised how perfect it fit on me. The sleeve length was perfect. I often find sleeves too short when I buy retail clothes in Japan even for size large, so I was glad. The shirt length is good and covers my lower half which means I can wear it with jeggings as well. I might extend it by, maybe, two inches in length next time so I don’t have to keep tucking in the shirt when I wear it with a skirt. grainline studio archer button up shirt vivat veritas10                                                                     {Kiko’s t-shirt made by me, blogged here}

grainline studio archer button up shirt vivat veritas9The fabric is from the Ho Chi Min city trip earlier this year. I was going to do a separate blog post about my day at the fabric market in Ho Chi Min, but I never got to. I only ended up picking this fabric because I was overwhelmed by the massiveness of the fabric market and no one seemed to have spoken English or Japanese. It was so much bigger than the Japanese fabric row in Nippori. I managed to buy two meters of this chiffon (most likely poly) and I’m sure I got ripped off. I don’t remember exactly, but I paid somewhere between 4 USD to 6 USD.

I thoroughly enjoyed following Jen’s sew-along. I really love her way of writing. It is clear and easy to follow. I especially loved this video post on how to attach the collar and collar stand on the shirt. I’ve made shirts before, but I did not know the easy way to finish attaching the collar stand in the inside of the garment. I always had to fight with the excess seam allowances. I am so glad I learned this method.

grainline studio archer button up shirt vivat veritas12 grainline studio archer button up shirt vivat veritas11

Since the fabric is a light-weight chiffon, I had a hard time cutting the fabric. It slipped a lot and did not want to stay in place. Also sewing hems and pockets were challenging. In the sew-along, Jen just presses the 1/4 inches pocket seam allowances and attach to the shirt front, but I basted the pocket seam allowances, pinned them in place and sewed. I also basted the hem because it did not hold the iron press very well.

Overall, I am very pleased with my new closet addition. It makes me sad that Andy does not like it as much. He said “it is old woman-ish”. Maybe the floral print fabric? I don’t know. But I shan’t care because his favorite outfit of mine is sweat pants and white tank… Weird.

Next up is to make the same shirt in silk crape de chine! I bought this fabric and it was the most I spent on fabric for my own clothes. Thankfully I had some points saved up, so I only needed to pay extra 1000 yen (10 USD) out of my own pocket. The shop, called hideki is highly recommended because they ship quick and let you order fabric samples up to 10. I had something else in mind when I ordered the samples, but I was sold on this beautiful crape de chine when I saw the sample.

grainline studio archer button up shirt vivat veritas7grainline studio archer button up shirt vivat veritas14

Details | pattern: Grainline Archer Button Up | fabric: polyester chiffon from Viet Nam | Size: 2 | Modification: None |Interface: Used organza, instead of iron-on interface
Outfit details | Shirt made by me, denim from here (I roughed up the knees), Booties from my elementary school age(!) and Madewell leather jacket.

今年初めに行ったホーチミンの繊維街で買ったお花柄のシフォンで、シャツを作りました。
きっかけはEquipmentというブランドのシルクシャツを見たことから。ドレープ感、素材、胸ポケットと、すべて完璧なこのシャツ、自分で作りたい！と思い、型紙を探しました。

たどりついた型紙はGrainline StudioというインディペンデントパタンナーさんのArcher Button Upというもの。
PDFですぐダウンロードでき、”Sew-Along”という形で、ブログ読者さんに作り方を詳しく説明してくれるので、分かりやすかったです。

以前もボタンダウンのシャツは何度か作ったことがあったのですが、今回はシフォンの滑りやすい素材ということもあり、仕付け糸で仮に留めてポケットや裾を縫ったり、工夫しました。

主人は「なんかおばちゃんシャツみたい・・・」と反応悪。でも気にしないで着ます！

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