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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！
♥ ドレスのリメイクも賜ります。
♥ お問い合わせはこちら

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。

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How to Alter the Back of a Dress that is Too Small to Zip Up

June 8, 2016 By Chie

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How to Alter the Back of a Dress that is Too Small to Zip Up

What do you do if your wedding dress is a bit too small? Zipper don’t go up all the way? I had one of those situations with my customer who is renting a dress from a dress shop. She is renting a dress, so the adjustment needed to be removable. I suggested making a gusset and a ribbon to hide the gusset.

A gusset is a panel that is added to expand a garment in a given area. For this wedding dress, a removable gusset was added in the center back in a place of a zipper. The gusset is shaped like a wedge with the wide end of it in the area that you need extra room. I made a gusset with an invisible zipper in center back so that attaching the gusset to the dress will be easier when putting on a dress.

To make a gusset inconspicuous, I made a 2.5cm width satin ribbon in matching color so it goes like a corset laced up.This is “before” picture of the dress with a flat knit zipper in center back. Here is the picture of a gusset. Invisible zipper in center back and shirred with elastics for easy fitting. Also there are small loops on sides so it can be attached with strings sewn inside the dress.The loops are attached inside the dress by hand so the ribbon can go through.