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Hawaii Photo Diary

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Picture from my instagramDSC_0440

I had an opportunity to go to Hawaii the end of last month and here are some photos from the trip. I was only there for two nights, but it was great to soak up the sun shine, relax at the beach and get a lot of reading done. After watching the show “The Borgias“, I really got in to the Cesare Borgia character (mainly because he was cute in the show, but it is said that real Cesare Borgia was considered to be the most beautiful man in the 15th century), which led me to read books on Lucrezia Borgia (younger sister of Cesare), other women in Italian Renaissance including Caterina Sforza and Isabella D’este and the Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli. I was told that you read the Prince in school if you go to American school, but since I went through Japanese education up to high school, I was never introduced to the book. So it was great to spend all my time reading, but I won’t lie, by the end of the first day, I wanted to go home. Hawaii was too beautiful not to share with someone you love.
写真 2 (3)写真 1 (2)

All the random stuff I stock up when I have a chance to get to America land – antiperspirant, cold medicine, pretty napkins, brownie mix, mod podge… 写真 3 (2)DSC_0441 DSC_0446DSC_0447 DSC_0453

Climbed the Diamond Head.DSC_0455be happyDSC_0465DSC_0471

I went to Fabric Mart in Honolulu.
1631 Kalakaua Ave, Honolulu HI 96826

They had a pretty good selections on quilting cotton. I ended up only buying some patterns, one for wide legged pants and the other for girl’s dress.

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MADE | Archer Button up Silk Variation

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archer button up shirt silk version7 cover photoMy second try on Grainline Studio Archer Button up shirt! I made the first one in chiffon polyester and was pretty happy with it. It was actually a wearable muslin to prepare for this silk shirt. My attempt to recreate this Equipment shirt without paying $300.

First, this was the most expensive fabric I bought for myself! I buy nice fabrics for bridal customers but I tend to go to sales rack for my own sewing… I ordered it online from Hideki for 2.5 meters, and it cost 5000 yen (50 USD). Thankfully I had my credit card points saved up so I got it for free more or less. The fabric is silk crape de chine in blue gray. I ordered a sample before purchasing. The store lets you order up to 10 samples but I think it is only available to Japan domestic customers. The color I ordered is now sold out but they still have it in pink and gray here.archer button up shirt silk version by vivatveritasarcher button up shirt silk version1I made two modifications to the pattern.

1) add the pocket tab. When you look at this Equipment silk shirt, you can see that there are square pockets with tab on both sides. I drafted the pattern for the tab based on a Japanese sewing book all about pockets. It is pretty easy. The key to it is to add about 4mm on the width of the pocket tab, so that it sits slightly wider than the actual pocket.

2) add sleeve tabs (inspired by Sophie’s shirt!).
I like to roll up the sleeves. For fabrics like chiffon or silk crape de chine, it is hard to keep the roll up sleeves stayed since the fabric is slippery. That’s something I realized after wearing my previous shirt for a few times. I made the tabs based on the store bought shirt I have, but it turned out the width was a bit too narrow for the buttons I used. It was too late to fix it and not that noticeable so I did not fix it.

archer button up shirt silk version8archer button up shirt silk version11I always have hard time when I fold the facings under and topstitch in place from the right side of the garment. I hate the suprise of uneven hem or the hem not being caught. I had to unstitch and fix that. archer button up shirt silk version5

So my question now is…how do you keep the silk shirt without a stain under armpits? I’ve seen one idea on Pinterest, where you attach panty liners on the shirt to prevent a stain. Although it might work just fine, that’s not the most sexy thing. When I wore this shirt, I just wore a long sleeve undershirt and used a lot of anti-perspirin (something I stock up when I go to the U.S.! Evidence here), but that means I can only wear this shirt in the winter. Any suggestions?archer button up shirt silk version6Details | pattern: Grainline Archer Button Up | fabric: silk crape de chine from Hideki | Size: 2 | Modification: added pocket tabs and sleeve tabs |Interface: light weight fusible stretch interface

Outfit details | Shirt made by me, denim DIYed (blogged here), heels from Steven Madden.

シルクのシャツ、作りました。
Equipmentというブランドのシルクシャツが欲しかったのですが、とってもお高いので、自分で作ってみました。
生地はヨーロッパ服地のひできという楽天ショップで買ったシルクデシン。
柔らかくて、熱を保持するので、あったかいです。

デニムは３９０マートで買ったものを自分でリメイク♪

chie sig2

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MADE | Chunkeanie by Woolly Wormhead

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woollywormhead knit hat6 copy
As a sewer, I had stayed away from knitting. I thought knitting was not productive, as it takes hours to complete one project, whereas you can sew up a piece of clothes in a few hours, especially for easy items like a t-shirt or a simple top. If it takes 6, 7 hours to knit up a simple hat, it makes more sense to buy one!? But my friend gave me a book on knitting in exchange for a can of pumpkin (bought during my recent Hawaii trip since they don’t sell a can of pumpkin in Japan..You have to mash them yourself) recently, and convinced me that I should knit. So when I picked up three balls of wool yarns for this simple knit hat project, I wasn’t the most excited. However, when I started the simple motion of knit, purl, knit, purl while watching the Tudors, I was hooked. Something about the simple repetition was so soothing.

Another reason why I had stayed away from knitting was because the knitting patterns confused me. For instance, the pattern I used, Chunkeanie by Woolly Wormhead read, “Rnd 1: *ssk, P16, k2tog; rpt from * to end [72 sts]”. I had no idea what it meant. Learning English was enough for me and I wasn’t ready to learn another language. Thankfully, we have a wonderful thing called Google and by just searching “ssk knitting”, I was able to find videos on youtube to explain what I should do.

I made the largest size in the pattern (the one starts from 80 stitches), and it fit Andy’s head perfectly. Every winter, he wears the ugliest black rib knit hat. I don’t even know where he found it. He said it wasn’t particularly comfortable so he agreed to let me replace his hat with this new one.

This was my first time knitting circle in DPNs. The end stitches are a bit loose, but it ended up being not noticable since the whole hat stretches out when you wear it.

I’m knitting another one for my friend, and thinking of embellishing the hat with some Swarovski crystals. After that, I might try Benton sweater by Brookyn Tweed. Jen’s version looks so good.

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今年初の編み物完成品です。
Woolly Wormheadというサイトの、Chunkeanieという無料型紙を使って作りました。

使用したのは、１００％ウールの、100均の毛糸。1個半使いました。
サイズはいちばん大きいサイズを作って、旦那にぴったりでした。
chie sig2

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