every day life

2014 in Review

December 31, 2014 By Chie

Today is the last day of 2014! This year has passed quickly and was a full of fun activities. I officially registered my business in the beginning of the year and decided to focus mainly on weddings. It was a lot of work but I had great fun and learned a lot. I blogged less due to lack of time, but I am hoping to be able to post twice a week in the 2015. Thank you so much for those who participated in the blog survey. I really enjoyed reading everyone’s responses and it has helped me greatly already. I appreciate everyone’s support <3

Wedding dresses
Here are some of the wedding dresses I made this year.

{Two-way wedding dress}{Boho wedding dress and bridesmaid dresses}

{Beachy boho wedding dress}

{Two-way wedding dress}{Three-way gold lace wedding dress}

{Wedding dress sketch for a customer} {Satin & organza flower girl’s dress}

Clothes I made for myself
Here is around up of what I’ve made for myself this year. There are some items that did not make to blog but have been my favorites nonetheless. Hopefully I can take pictures of them soon. I made bunch of tops, including Grainline Studio Archer button ups (made four in total!) but no skirt or pants. Andy’s grandmother bought me Ginger jeans pattern from Closet Case Files for Christmas, so it will be my first sewing project for the year 2015.

{Pink coat (BurdaStyle Wool Long Coat 08/2012#101B)}{Butterick 4610 Camel Wool Coat}{Butterick 4610 Pale Pink Jacket}

{Grainline Studio Archer button up shirt}{Grainline Studio Archer button up silk variation}

{Boyfriend T-shirt}{Daisy print kimono}

{Kawasaki city dress}{White tank dress with tulip hem}

Photoshoots
I did a several photoshoots this year but most of them did not end up on the blog, mostly because I did not have time to sort through the photos. I posted under the “2014 Lookbook”, so you can check them out here if you are interested. I contributed as a wardrobe stylist for a promotional video shoot by students at Tokyo Visual Arts. It was shown in a gallery in Shibuya, and the link to the video is here.
Another highlight is that I participated in a fashion show for the first time! It was very exciting. My blog post is here.

{Spring + Bridal Photoshoot}{Simple is Best}
{Bridal Lookbook with Paint with Stars} {Powder blue and sequin}{Antique studio shoot}{Collaboration with a photographer Taichi Hatano}

Easy DIYs
I love in-between projects. I can get an instant satisfaction out of easy DIYs. Here are some I’ve done this year.

{Sweatshirt DIY}{DIY Pale Pink Faux Leather Clutch}{DIY 90’s dress to a peplum top}{Toddler T-shirt to dress tutorial}{DIY Dress to a cropped top}{DIY Lace Shorts}{DIY clay deer head decor}{DIY distressed denim from thrifted jeans}

Trips
I had a chance to visit Ho Chi Min City for our 7th year wedding anniversary and Philadelphia, D.C., NY and Hawaii. I much prefer to spend money on travel than buying things.

{Ho Chi Min city, Viet Nam}{Philadelphia}{Washington, D.C.}{Hawaii}

Personal + Family
My daughter turned three and we started to foster care a ten year old girl. Due to her circumstances, our foster daughter only comes once every three weeks now and mainly lives in a group home, but we are excited to see how this will develop.

{Cupcake decorating party}

Wishing everyone a happy new year!! xo
今年のブログround upです。ウェディングドレス作りに専念し、自分のお洋服もたくさん作れた年でした。皆さん、よいお年を！

{find me elsewhere: shop, facebook, etsy, twitter, pinterest, instagram}

Looking Back on My 2014 New Year Resolution

December 15, 2014 By Chie

Only 10 days left till Christmas and 15 days left for the year 2014. My 2014 resolution was to stay organized, and I am proud to say that I did pretty well with keeping my resolution this year! My sewing room is in order most of the time, and I made sure to put things back in the original spot after I finish sewing. Since we have limited space, every single item needs to have a place of its own.

Staying organized includes being on top of the accounting part of the business so I’m not buried with receipts during tax season. I marked the beginning of the month in calendar to do all the accounting at once for the previous month. At first, it took me about three hours but as the months passed by, I was able to do it in within an hour.

Every morning, I write a list of things I need to do on a sticky note. If it is on a busy day, I write something like “finish shoulder seam of my coat” or “wrap dress for etsy order”, even if I know it takes only five minutes to do. That way, I can get some sense of accomplishment!

I’m mostly done with Christmas cards and New Year cards, which I used to delay till the very last minute. It is so much less stressful to finish it early! I ordered my business New Year cards from Nohana （ノハナ） and personal ones from T print　（Tプリント）. The prices were pretty much the same, but I like the quality at Nohana better. The cards were thicker and glossier. The good thing about T print is that they print the recipient addresses for you without additional cost.

So now I’m done with administrative hassle, I can enjoy some Christmasy stuff. We decorated the Christmas tree on one Saturday morning. We have a rather sad looking fake tree, very much like Charlie Brown’s, but every tree in Japan is like that unless you drive to Ikea to pick up a real tree! We also decorated some cookies. What kind of Holiday things do you like to do?

Also I’m thinking about doing a small giveaway (much like the one I did back in 2012) for the blog readers. Please write in the comments below what you would like as a giveaway gift♡　I would love to know if there is anything you cannot get in your country that is in Japan.

クリスマスまであと１０日、新年まで１５日です！
２０１４年の抱負は整理整頓でした。
今年はけっこう忘れずに整理整頓できたと思います。年賀状も完了したし！
皆様はこの忙しい時期、どうお過ごしですか？

Washington DC Photo Diary

October 15, 2014 By Chie

During my last U.S. trip, I visited my sister who lives in Washington, D.C. area. I have been to D.C. a few times when I was a student. Every time, the place leaves me with fun memories. The weather was perfect – not too hot or too cold. I dressed casually since I was expecting to walk a lot. My sister and I ended up walking about 4 miles, starting from Union Station, stopping at some museums, and ended in the Geroge Town University area.

{I’m wearing my DIY distressed denim. They are pretty much all I wore during my trip since I ate too much and my skinny jeans fit too snug. T-shirt is from T by Alexander Wang and jacket from Madewell.}

The museums in D.C. are free of charge! This is so great. I love free entertainment! Living in Tokyo with a small child, visiting museums has become such a luxury. Not only is the museum admission expensive (usually about 1800 yen (18 USD) per person) but also small and impossible with a 3 year old.