Get in touch

Vivat Veritas

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

/ Archives for blogs

blogs

2014 New Year’s Resolution

By

what a mess craft suppliesI feel I dread to make a new year’s resolution every year; yet I still manage to come up with one every year (2010, 2011, and 2013). I stuck to my last year’s resolution pretty well. Although I did not sketch every day as I wanted to, I sketch and doodle a fair amount and at least have gotten over the fear of sketching. I want to continue to improve this are this year as well, but my real goal this year is to stay organized. I am not naturally a super organized person, and if you let me, I will have piles of papers all over my ironing board. But since I started sewing, selling my clothes and working from home, I have realized that I save more time being organized, even if the organization process may take some time. On top of that, I watched a few youtube videos by Alejandra (just happened to come across while I was searching something else) and it really motivated to create a neat and clean space.

As a starter, I decided to organize one of the drawers I keep some sewing supplies. In it, I have all kinds of stuff – zippers, laces, buttons, belt buckles, stamps, snap buttons and more! I went to 100 yen shop to buy a couple of plastic containers. I picked plastic containers as opposed to other filing and organizing tools since I can reuse them in the kitchen if I no longer need them. I separated all the trinkets and labeled them using washi tapes, which are also removable.

One thing I noticed while I was organizing was that I was buying more than I needed. My natural instinct is to buy items like lace, zippers and elastics in bulk, because you always need them; however, while I was organizing I found many of the above items that have not been used for more than a year. I’ve decided not to buy any more sales zippers unless they are white or black, invisible zippers. I have many zippers in moss green, brown, navy blue or pale pink that I can’t find any use for.

I feel so much better having a clean drawer! I am planning on tackling one drawer at a time. organizing supplies for craft itemsafter organizingplastic containers

ChieSignature

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

Sewing the Pink Coat:: Side Seams, Catch Stitches and Inseam Pockets

By

1 catch stitch

Hello! I wanted to show you my pink coat sewing progress. Last time I cut out the patterns and added the seam allowances to the patterns. I finally got to the actual sewing part! As I sew this coat, I am referencing a lot to Gertie’s Lady Gray Coat sew-along. Her tutorials are very helpful, although I am skipping certain tailoring steps this time, such as using hair canvas and pad stitching the lapel. I’m also not using the bound buttonhole technique since I will be using snaps.

The patterns I’m using is the BurdaStyle Wool Long Coat 08/2012#101B. I sewed the back to side, added the inseam pockets, and sewed the side and front pieces. I overlocked the seam allowances, pressed and catch stitched the seam allowances so they lay flat. Thankfully, this pink wool blend fabric I’m using is very easy to work with; it does not fray or leave marks when I press without pressing cloth. It is pretty thick so it’s easy to catch stitch the seam allowances without showing the stitches to the right side. 2 interface on hem

For the fusible interface, I used the one that was recommended at the fabric store in Nippori, called ZakZak. The store clerk gave me this black one with glue spots that are about 3mm apart from each other, so it almost looks like a polk-a-dot print. She said that way, the interface would not attach to the fabric completely, and will give the fabric room to move around and breath. 3 attatching pockets

Here is the picture of the side pockets. I was deciding whether to use polyester lining (I always have a roll of white polyester lining at hand) or silk satin, which was a left over from making this dress. When I met with Inna last summer, she was talking about how silk fabric would retain your skin temperature so it is warm in the winter and cool in the summer. As I was deciding on polyester vs silk for lining, I remembered her comments and decided to go with the silk. I am so happy with my decision to go with the silk! I love the luxurious silky (obviously) feel to my skin! It would be hard to go back to polyester lining coats. 4 pocket completedI’m pinning many winter coat inspirations on my Fashion Inspiration board on Pinterest! The boxy shapes worn as a cape is so refreshing, especially with the oversized clutch.coat inspiration board by vivat veritasSources: 1/2/3/4

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

 

DIY:: Cutout & Cropped Sweatshirt

By

before and after DIY sweatshirtHi everyone! I wanted to show my first DIY of 2014. I’ve mentioned the fashion blog, Karla’s Closet in this blog a numerous time. I am obsessed with her style. She is just so….cool, someone that I would love to be fashio friends with. On top of that she has an amazing figure! She is my style icon. I saw she added a peep hole in her sweatshirt in this post, and since then, I have not been able to stop thinking about wearing sweatshirts. I had not owned a single  sweatshirt  previously (not sure why, I wear hoodies as roomwear), but I searched online for a cheap sweatshirt so I could recycle. I found this white sweatshirt from Rakuten for 500 yen. It’s actually a child size, but I figured that they make sweatshirts oversized anyway, so it should be fine.

As you can see above, my “before” picture is rather sad, and unflattering. Here is what I did to make it better:marking the line

I wore the shirt in front of the mirror and figured out how much I wanted to shorten it. I ended up marking the line 16cm above the rib. chopped

Chopped off the rib, and kept it since I wanted to attach it to the new hem line. Then I cut the shirt in the line I marked above. stitching the folded over band sweatshirttopstitched sweatshirt hemI re-attached the rib to the new hemline (make sure to pin the rib before sewing, and stretch out the rib as you sew, since the rib is shorter than the actual hemline). Then I overlocked the seam allowance and topstitched it from the front.handmade outfits by vivat veritas3

After that, I made the cutout detail in the neckline. It seems like Karla’s version is just chopped off without finishing the seam allowances, but I was afraid that they will fray. mark the new neckline with french curve

Marked new line with french curve…facing neckline

Attached the neckline facing and topstitched it. voila necklineVoila! The only thing I DON’T like about this is that the neckline got stretched out as I finished the edges, and makes a weird curve. You can see it below. new necklinehandmade outfits by vivat veritas

Overall, I’m pretty happy with this little DIY! I like to wear it with the sleeves rolled up and a high waisted skirt. By the way, I made this skirt recently too! Just a simple I-line skirt, made with a stretched knit. I lined it with the same fabric to seal all the edges so that the edges won’t be stretched out.

Outfit details: Hat:Bop Basics, Sweatshirt: DIYed, Skirt: Made by me (similar here), Bag: Alexander Wang, Booties: Rag & Bone

ChieSignature

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