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Inspiration: Rebecca Taylor SS2012

September 14, 2011 By Chie

Are you following NY fashion week? I’m not terribly good at following these shows, since keeping up with my google reader is already pretty overwhelming, but the pictures from the Rebecca Taylor SS 2012 show were so pretty and I wanted to share!

I love the sequin sweater in juicy orange, I think it is rather rare to see sequin items other than gold, silver and black. It is so cute when it’s paired with midi length flowy skirt. I usually don’t like sequins, since it looks too much like a party girl, but this one I love.

I’m also smitten by the bottom right look, with white knit dress, tiny jacket and patent orange sandals. The pop or orange in neutral seems so refreshing. I already can’t wait for next Spring season..

Images via MYFDBlog

This blue tie-dye dress looks like it is pretty easy to DIY. At least the top part of the dress seems very easy to draft. Or perhaps use this BurdaStyle Anda pattern, extend the sleeves a bit and add a sash? I’ve never dyed fabrics on my own, but this made me want to try some tie-dye!

DIY Cat Object

September 13, 2011 By Chie

I’ve been moving things around the house lately to decorate and organize the place better. We got rid of the old ugly TV that we never watched. We also bought a new cabinet for the kitchen, and re-painted the old one to turn it into a liquor cabinet (I’ll show you the result soon! 🙂 ) I stopped by at a local recycle shop on the way to the post office the other day, and I found this cat. It’s made out of wood, and one of the ears is cracked. It’s relatively ugly, but I brought her back home. It was only 200 yen.

Inspired by these white animal objects from cute furniture and interior decoration store, fran fran, I spray painted my cat white. I sprayed it with a couple of layers and voila! Now she is sitting on our liquor cabinet-to-be.

This pretty post card is my most recent purchase from a shopping (mostly window shopping) trip to Shimokita. I love it, and put it in a pretty frame to decorate the house.

Making Wedding Dress Pt.8 – Install a Zipper & Bones

September 12, 2011 By Chie

I tend to use invisible zippers for most of my creations. I think they are easy to install as long as you have the correct zipper foot. Also, I just generally like the clean look of it. So I tried to install an invisible zipper for this dress and ended in utter failure.

First, I used an iron-on interface along the line of where the zipper will be installed to stabilize the fabric. Then I trimmed the seam allowances a bit.

I did manage to install the zipper. However, the zipper did not go up. That’s because of all the gathered fabric from the ruched waist band! I kind of anticipated this to be a problem, but I went ahead to used the invisible zipper anyway hoping to get by. I should have followed my instincts and used a flat knit zipper:(

I ended up having to de-stitch and remove the zipper. I needed to buy a new zipper, so until I was able to make it to the store I worked on making the lining.

For the bodice lining, I used the fashion fabric, instead of the lining fabric which I originally bought. I did this because I wanted to have a bit more structure to the bodice. I cut out the pattern pieces just like I did to make the bodice.

Then I sewed just like I did for the outer bodice. By this time, I was an expert in making this bodice! In total, I sewed the same thing about 6 times including the multiple muslins I’ve made!

I went to 100 yen shop (like a dollar store in Japan), and bought this white bias strips. I am going to use this to make boning channels.

I sewed the sides of the bias tapes to where I want the bones to go in on lining fabric. Here is the look from the inside:

Then I cut the plastic bones to the appropriate length, put the boning caps and inserted them in the boning channels. The boning caps prevent the bones from poking through the fabric. I bought these from Tomato Notion shop in Nippori, for 25 yen each.

This is what it looks like from outside of the lining bodice. The boning gave a good structure to the bodice.

In retrospect, I did not have to make the boning channels, since I used the plastic boning which can be sewed directly on to the fabric. I guess if you use steel boning, you should make the channels, but for plastic ones, channels are not necessary. But, I do think the channels look prettier and neater! 🙂