- Kids skirt with embroidery
I upcycled a dress to kids skirt for a friend who has twin girls. Underneath the skirts, I added bloomers and connected the skirt and bloomer at waist. I also made embroidery fish and bird at hem so they can figure out which one is theirs. As I wrote before, I am into hand embroidery now.
- Closet Case Files Carolyn Pajamas
I recently made this pink & ivory version as a friend’s birthday gift. It is fun to make and fairly quick to sew (it takes me about five hours from start to finish) which makes it a good handmade gift. This time I bought piping at Nakamura online shop since I thought it would save me some time. But I wished I made my own piping that fits the seam allowances. In this particular patterns, 1.5cm seam allowances are already included. My store-bought piping width was 0.8cm. It was hard to sew at curves when then seam allowances and piping width don’t match. Overall I am happy with the end result and my friend seemed to have liked it. My Aztec Carolyn here and silk satin here. For more ideas, here (black one with white piping), here (navy blue and white piping) and here (pancake print!!).
- Teapot Cozy
I had an opportunity to make teapot cozies for a tea shop in Takasaki this month. I made sure to make a few extra so I can gift them to my friends and family. I made my own pattern based on the instructions from the tea shop owner, but you can find many different versions for free online. The floral print fabric and the beige cotton lining sandwitches the thick quilt batting. Inside, the seams are finished with bias strips. It would be fun to give with teapot and delicious smelling loose tea.
Woven labels from Dutch Labels Shop
For more gift ideas, check out Shopbop and take advantage of the big sale! Sale ends 11:59PM PST (Los Angeles Time) Tuesday, 11/29). クリスマスシーズンが早くも近づいていますね。
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Fitting and Completed Dress | Making of Junel’s Wedding Dress
Above pictures from Junel
Nothing satisfies the maker’s soul more than seeing a customer rocking a handmade dress! Junel had a wedding in Singapore in October. 
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!
Check out my previous post for the fabrics and inspiration for this dress.
Fabrics and Inspiration | Making of Junel’s Wedding Dress
Junel and I met at Etsy craft party back in 2015. We followed each other on instagram but hadn’t had a chance to meet each other since then. This Spring, she contacted me to make her wedding dress and I was happy to say yes! Her wedding is in Singapore but she is based in Tokyo. She was looking for a casual knee length dress that would fit her lunch wedding, but had hard time fining the right one in Japan. Japanese wedding dress shops often have many Disney princess inspired puffy dresses but if you are looking for something casual and relaxed it can be a bit tricky.
from left to right
– David’s Bridal
– Inbal Dror
– BHLND
As always, we started by collecting and sharing images of her dream wedding dress on Pinterest. After she pinned, we looked at the collection of pictures and tried to figure out common themes. Knee length, lace and V neckline were consistently at the front of the line. This process is very helpful in narrowing down the options since browsing pictures on Pinterest can be overwhelming. Going back to the board and look for a common theme will help navigate what style of the dress we want to go for. 
Here is the sketch we came up with based on the pinned images. We ended up making both front and back V necklines. The right sketch above is by Junel. Her illustration is amazing! She is a freelance illustrator. 
We picked this ivory tulle lace. Since finding good quality lace is rather difficult in Japan, I bought this on etsy. Ivory has more casual feel to it than pure white, which is what she was going for in her wedding. The scalloped edge will be used for the hem of the dress and V neckline.
NEXT POST | I’ll show you the finished dress and the fitting with Junel!
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