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Custom Wedding Dress & Kimono Upcycled Clothes | オーダーメイドウェディングドレス&着物ドレス

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Last Week

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Sorry for the radio silence last week! I had been sick the past 10 days… I used to never get sick, but now once I catch a cold I can’t seem to get over it easily. I’m not sure what happened! Maybe the pregnancy messed up my system.

Andy and I went to Hong Kong last weekend to celebrate his birthday. That was our first time in HK, and it was great! I wish I was less sick. We took a video at the fabric district. I will post it soon!

{Busy street of Hong Kong}

{Minnie Costume for my friend’s daughter in works}

{Naoshi exhibition I went over the weekend}

{Behind the scene photos of the photo shoot I participated last week}

Mommy’s Diary: Mommy Workout

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I love working out, but it wasn’t always my favorite way to spend my free time. I didn’t start working out until six years ago. I was always fairly thin, so I never thought I was in terrible shape nor in need of any exercise. That was until I tried to run at the track at my university gym. I was breathless after one la p(a 1/4 mile?). After that I joined a local gym and started different training programs including spinning, yoga and kettlebell tabata routines. Slowly, as working out became part of my life, I started to see great benefits from it. I started eating better and generally felt more energetic. While I was in collage, I had this habit of not eating until I hit a point of starvation. I wouldn’t eat till I was close to  passing out. I didn’t do this on purpose, but I had other things on my mind and tended to forget about eating.

Anyway, today I wanted to show you what kind of workout I do – most of it can be done at home with equipment, so it is perfect for moms with little kids.

1. Heavy weight lifting – Twice a week

I have an iPhone app, called “Strong Lifts 5×5 Tracker”. It is great. I gives you three different lifting exercises. It counts your resting time between each rep, and gradually increases the weights each time.

I try to lift twice a week, and never two days in a row. I give at least a day or two break in between to let the muscle repair. I used to do a lot of cardio exercises but realized unless I lift, my body won’t be changed..　I’m trying to get rid of the butt cellulite, and I think it’s slowly making a progress!

2. Randy Couture kick ass lifting workout – 1-2 times a week

pendalay rows x8
upright rows x8
overhead press x8
good morning x8
lunges x8
squat press x8
deadlifts x8

You do the above with dumbell or barbel without a break, and repeat it five times with one minute break between the sets. I usually use two 8kg dumbell for this workout. I like this workout since it is quick, no prep required. For me it takes about 20 minutes and can be easily done while Kiko is watching Elmo’s world.

3. 5km run – 1-2 times a week

The rest of the times, I run. I wasn’t running at all in July and August, since it was just way too hot out there, but now it cooled down a bit especially in the evening, it is more enjoyable to run outside.

I work out about 5 times a week, depending on the week. After a quick workout I feel so energized and refreshed to continue the rest of the day.

 

DIY: Black Tank Maxi Before & After

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I bought this black tank maxi dress at a small shop in Aoyama, Tokyo for 599 yen ($6). I don’t remember the name of the shop, but it was on a back street near the Max Mara store. The shop has a variety of clothes, shoes, accessories and watches for all 999 yen, but when I went there they were having a sale and some of their stuff were 599 yen.

I usually try things on even if the clothes are super cheap, but this shop didn’t have a fitting room. So I went ahead and bought this dress … mistake! I put it on when I came home and the fit was horrendous. Look at the pictures above! There were multiple problems with this dress – I don’t know how one simple dress can have so many flaws. The armholes were too tight and uncomfortable; neckline cut super unflattering; and the whole dress made me look like I was five-months pregnant.

So I decided to dissect the dress and made it better:

First, I lowered the neckline. I wanted the neckline not too low that I’m showing my bra, but low enough so I have breathing room (I hate turtle necks!!) and still look flattering. I wore the dress in front of the mirror, marked where I wanted the new neckline to be with chalk. After that, using a  french curve, I drew a new neckline and cut.

The neckline and arm holes are finished with bias strips.  I didn’t have the same black jersey for new bias tapes, but I had a similar one with the black block pattern. So I made bias tapes with that.

Using this bias strip, I finished the neckline and arm holes. I had to widen the arm holes because they were too tight.

For the body, I marked new lines based on my bust, waist, and hip measurements so the dress fit to my body. I did not include seam allowances because I wanted the dress to have minus ease, considering the fabric has a lot of stretch.

Finally I added a thigh high slit on the left side.

Now I like this simple maxi dress so much better. I can see a lot of possibilities for different styling, using belt, scarves, accessories and jackets. It is also a great transition piece to have from Summer to Fall.