Designing my own fabric was one of my goals as a sewer. One deterring factor of not accomplishing this goal is that I’m not good at drawing. I’ve attempted a few times to consistently drawing, but it never lasted long. I just could not get into it. But! I have a good friend who can draw amazing flowers that would be perfect for dress fabric. Natalie Bleakly is a illustrator with a fashion background now living in Tokyo. She is showing her illustrations at a cafe gallery named ginger.tokyo in Kiyosumi Shirakawa. She was gracious enough to help me with my fabric order. 
Here is Natalie:
“The Camellia flower (a.k.a Tsubaki 椿) is a common flower found in Japan. The white camellia is definitely more rarely seen than it’s red or pink counterpart. I wanted to paint something that most people living in Japan would recognise straight away but, also admire the beauty and rarity of the flower. Although, the Camellia is not a rare flower in Japan, seeing it in white is really something special as it can mean several things including desire, passion, longevity and faithfulness. In Japan, is symbolizes the divine. It is often used in religious and sacred ceremonies and also represents the coming of spring. They can also mean purity, the love between mother and child or mourning when used in funeral flowers. When presented to a man, a white camellia is thought to bring luck.”
I’ve used Spoonflower in the past, but this time I ordered from Contrado. It’s great that they offer their services in multiple languages including Japanese. I first ordered a fabric sample pack as I was unable to decide between different types of satins. Fabric swaps were very helpful! It came with bunch of different fabric samples, including organza, scuba, stretch knits, chiffon etc. it’s a maker’s dream! I ended up with Duchess Satin. It has a very elegant sheen and nice weight for a drape.
Here is the fabric that’s arrived. It’s exactly what I wanted – thanks to Natalie who scaled the flower print in the size I needed! I’m going to be making a simple I line dress to show off the print.
このページを日本語で読む
Making clothes for my daughter has become a group effort these days. In the past, it was a one-way thing, where I decided everything. Now Kiko has an opinion on everything and we figure out what works and what doesn’t. She had a lot o say in regards say in to this particular dress – especially the length (longer the better!) I tried to convince her that knee length would be easier to ride a bike and whatnot, but she wanted a floor length dress. She said that she wanted a princess and pointed out that none of her dresses are floor length. So, she won. 
The pattern is from a magazine called B-Trendy by 
Of course, the creation process won’t end until we have a proper photoshoot session! She found the flower crown I used for a shoot 
娘に最近作ったドレスです。
Above pictures from 
Here are some pictures of the completed dress. It’s made out of ivory color tulle lace I bought off of etsy (it’s hard to find good lace in Japan) with satin underlay with lining supported with boning and bra cups. It is pretty structured so she did not have to wear a bra. There are two things I adore about this dress – 1. V-line back cut with scalloped lace 2. pockets! I’ve seen some wedding dresses with pockets on Pinterest and was convinced that it was the coolest thing to have. Not only it works well for posing for pictures but also it is good for a bride to have for practical reasons. You can hide lipstick for a touch-up or if you were me, a few Reese’s peanut butter cups. It happened to me – In my case, I was too busy smiling for photos and chatting with people so I completely missed my wedding meal. So many reasons to have pockets for a bride.
Some pictures for the fitting – I am always nerve wracked before fitting sessions, worrying about whether it fits well or not. But I try to remind myself that I can always fix it if the fit is not right!
