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DIY

DIY:: T-shirt to a Dress Tutorial

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t-shirt to dress DIY Vivat Veritas BlogSorry for posting kids related topics in a row. I haven’t been sewing much for adults except for wedding dresses, and the things I’ve made for myself, I haven’t had taken pictures. I promise more grown-up projects will be posted soon!

I got this idea of turning a T-shirt that is too small for a child into a dress on Pinterest. I thought I pinned it on my DIY ideas board, but now I can’t seem to find it! Anyway, this DIY is super easy. It helps both parents and a child, if your child is like mine, who LOVES wearing dresses and insists on wearing one every day. Killing two birds with one stone! t-shirt to dress DIY - What You Need - Vivat Veritas Blog

The idea is to take a small T-shirt (or it does not have to be small, but you can recycle the small one to make it last longer!) and attach a rectangle shaped, gather skirt. The fabric for the skirt part can be anything. The one I saw on Pinterest uses cotton fabric. It seemed like it was a quilting cotton. I used jersey, which I intended to use for my Spring jacket/cardigan but never got around making it. I think tulle or lace might work well as well.

I cut the jersey in one big rectangle shape. The width of the fabric is about 2 times longer than the t-shirt hem length all around.t-shirt to dress DIY - Step by Step - Vivat Veritas BlogOnce you cut the fabric, sew the side seams together to create a tube shape. After that, hem the skirt hem, and attach the elastic band all around the top hem. Attach the elastic part into the T-shirt to make it into a dress! It took about 15 minutes to do this. t-shirt to dress2 DIY Vivat Veritas Blog t-shirt to dress3 DIY Vivat Veritas Blog

I’m glad this cute cupcake t-shirt will last another 6 months!

小さくなっておなかが見えてしまうようなTシャツにゴムでギャザーを寄せたスカートを縫い付けて、ワンピースにしました。
スカート部分はストレッチ素材を使って動きやすく。
かわいい柄のキルト用コットンや、チュール素材でもかわいく作れると思います。
ChieSignaturefind me elsewhere: shop, facebook, etsy, twitter, pinterest}

 

 

DIY Pale Pink Faux Leather Clutch

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pale pink faux leather clutch by vivat veritas

I bought this pink faux leather fabric at some shop in Nippori over a year ago. I love this shade of pink..feminine yet not princessy! Kiko, who is almost three, is all about pink now. She requests everything around her – from tooth brush to socks to hair tie to be pink, it is a bit ridiculous. Not sure how she got into pink so much but then I realized that I wear pink often too. I don’t say it out loud that pink is my favorite color (I tell people my favorite colors are blue and purple, which I think is an appropriate color for an almost 30-year-old) but I end up reaching for different shades of pink at fabric shops (evidence here and here).

This fabric waited for me to be worked on since I happened to use the fabric when my sewing machine was broken and I thought sewing the leather was the reason for the problem. It turned out, that the some parts near the needle was broken, but I was afraid of sewing the leather for fear of ruining the machine again.

Last Saturday, I pulled out the fabric again, because I wanted a clutch. I wanted Claire Vivier leather fold over clutch, but I could not bring myself to pay close to $200 for such a simple clutch. I mean, it is real leather as opposed to faux leather fabric I had, but still, the construction of the clutch is too simple for me to justify the purchase. pink vegan leather clutch2This was very simple and it took less than an hour to make. I added the purple zipper to contrast the pink color of the leather (the reality is that’s the only zipper I had!). Also added a thick wrist strap for it will be easier to carry. Next time I would add a snap button so that it stays folded over when I hang it from the wrist. pale pink faux leather clutch by vivat veritas3

Worn with thrifted pants and plaid shirt, and Tory Burch cardigan

I also made the matching headband with the scrap! Just cut out a skinny piece of leather, added two lines of decorative stitches and elastic bands at the end. I don’t carry around many stuff with me, so the small clutch is perfect. I usually carry the stuff pictured below: wallet, iPhone, lipsticks, mouth wash (Andy makes it!), keys and eye buds.pink vegan leather clutch1Next time I want to try making this envelop clutch. Also this tips on how to sew leather was very helpful.

pale pink faux leather clutch by vivat veritas2自分用にフェイクレザーでクラッチ作りました。
Claire Vivier のクラッチが欲しいなーって見てたんですが、よく見たらジッパーつけて横を縫ってるだけ？！みたいなデザインなので、自分で作ってみました。

太いリストストラップをつけて、持ちやすくしました。
なんかクラッチ持つだけで女らしくなる気分＆カジュアルな格好もおしゃれに見える気がします。
また色違いで作ってみよう。ChieSignature

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DIY:: Cutout & Cropped Sweatshirt

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before and after DIY sweatshirtHi 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:marking the line

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

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. stitching the folded over band sweatshirttopstitched sweatshirt hemI 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.handmade outfits by vivat veritas3

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. mark the new neckline with french curve

Marked new line with french curve…facing neckline

Attached the neckline facing and topstitched it. voila necklineVoila! 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. new necklinehandmade outfits by vivat veritas

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

ChieSignature

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