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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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personal

Valentine’s Day Idea | $20 Gift Exchange

February 13, 2015 By Chie

valentines day 20 dollar gift exchange idea

Early Valentine’s day lunch at Bar de ESPANA LIBRA

Andy and I exchange gifts on special occasions that has a limit of $20. It started when we first got married. We were 22, and broke (Andy was still a student) but still wanted to make special days special. So we came up with the $20 gift exchange idea and even after 8 years of marriage we stuck with it.

When I tell my friends that I have a $20 limit on anniversary gifts, birthday gifts, valentine’s day gifts etc, they seem perplexed. But there is a lot you can do with $20! I love that it forces you to be a bit more creative. Here are some gifts I’ve given to Andy in the past:
– Three indoor golf lessons (found on Groupon)
– Handmade grappling dummy. These can cost up to 450 bucks.I used an online tutorial and made it out of PVC pipe, pillow and duct tape.
– Some CDs bought on ebay (you can tell that this is a gift from a while ago)
For this Valentine’s day, I gave him a new backpack which I scored with gift certificate, so it was still under the budget. It wasn’t the most creative gift, but it doesn’t have to be every time, right?
japanese hair curler heatless
japanese hair curler heatless2Andy gave me these heatless curlers! I do heatless curls overnight some nights. I usually wet my hair a bit and taking a piece of rag, I roll my hair with it and sleep with that on my hair. The curls usually last all day and I like that fact that it does not damage my hair. He always made fun of me for having rags all twisted up in my hair at bedtime so he bought me these plastic tube curlers. I haven’t tried them yet but they seem more comfortable than having rags in my hair!
Anyway, I always enjoy our gift exchange tradition. It’s fun. Would you try it with your boyfriend/husband? How do you decide on what to get for gifts and how much to spend? I’d love to read about it!
結婚した当時から、何かのイベント(誕生日、記念日、クリスマスなど)に、2000円リミットでプレゼントを旦那さんとあげっこするのが恒例になっています。
きっかけは、結婚後すぐは旦那さんが学生だったこともあり、自由になるお金が少なかったからなのですが、もう8年目になると、2000円だけという課題事態を楽しんでいます。
私は今回は貯めておいたギフトカードを使って新しいリュックをプレゼントしました。
旦那さんからは、熱を使わないカーラー!
寝る前に、今まで端切れに髪を巻き付けて寝ていた(翌朝ゆるウェーブになってるんです!)のですが、それを見かねたらしく、ちゃんとしたカーラーを買ってくれました。chie sig2
{find me elsewhere: shop, facebook, etsy, twitter, pinterest, instagram}

Filed Under: blog, blogs, every day life, holiday, personal, 日本語 Tagged With: gift idea, valentine's day

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.


vv wedding dress small1
{Two-way wedding dress}Vivat Veritas Beach Wedding1{Boho wedding dress and bridesmaid dresses}

beachy wedding dress{Beachy boho wedding dress}

Style2 Skirt9{Two-way wedding dress}natsumi vivat veritas wedding dress custom order1{Three-way gold lace wedding dress}

dress sketch3{Wedding dress sketch for a customer}Flower Girl4 {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 completed2 by vivat veritas{Pink coat (BurdaStyle Wool Long Coat 08/2012#101B)}butterick 4610 modification camel wool coat by vivat veritas7{Butterick 4610 Camel Wool Coat}butterick 4610 boyfriend jacket by vivat veritas1{Butterick 4610 Pale Pink Jacket}

grainline studio archer button up shirt vivat veritas9{Grainline Studio Archer button up shirt}archer button up shirt silk version5{Grainline Studio Archer button up silk variation}

handmade gray t-shirt by vivatveritas1{Boyfriend T-shirt}daisy kimono close up1{Daisy print kimono}

kawasaki city dress by vivat veritas2{Kawasaki city dress}white tank dress with tulip hem vivat veritas blog3{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.

bts5{Spring + Bridal Photoshoot}ami vivat veritas portfolio shoot2{Simple is Best}
Vivat Veritas Bridal Lookbook 2014 Boho Wedding Custom Dress3{Bridal Lookbook with Paint with Stars} Powder Blue and White Piping Scooter Dress VIVATVERITAS{Powder blue and sequin}IMG_1545antique studio shoot wedding dress vivat veritas{Antique studio shoot}630 butterfly hatano and vivat veritas collaboration wedding 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.

before and after DIY sweatshirt{Sweatshirt DIY}pale pink faux leather clutch by vivat veritas2{DIY Pale Pink Faux Leather Clutch}Untitled-1{DIY 90’s dress to a peplum top}t-shirt to dress DIY Vivat Veritas Blog{Toddler T-shirt to dress tutorial}DIY dress to cropped top by vivat veritas{DIY Dress to a cropped top}DIY lace shorts by vivat veritas{DIY Lace Shorts}dear head{DIY clay deer head decor}DIY Distressed Boyfriend Denim2 by Vivat Veritas{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.

new world sigon breakfast1{Ho Chi Min city, Viet Nam}philadelphia city hall2{Philadelphia}DC2014-1{Washington, D.C.}写真 2 (3){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 shop birthday party by vivat veritas{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!
chie sig2

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

Filed Under: blog, blogs, creation, every day life, personal, 日本語 Tagged With: 2014, end of year, year round up

Japanese New Year Holiday

January 5, 2014 By Chie

Hi, this is Rina! How was everyone’s new year holiday? I’m wondering how people outside of Japan enjoy this holiday. In Japan, people eat Osechi-ryori (seasonal japanese traditional dishes), visit relatives and exchange seasonal greeting, and visit to a shrine on new year’s day.

photo1 photo2

{Osechi-ryori; each food has a  meaning of new year wish}

I think Osechi-ryori is slightly different from each region and family. Every year I  try to learn how to make these dishes and learn my mother’s taste. It isn’t easy, but it is so much interesting to learn them and experience traditional Japanese culture.

photo3{Otoso (spiced sake drunk wish to lead a long life)}photo4{Ozouni (japanese soup with mochi, rice cake)}

There was a big surprise on the end of 2013. My two-years-older sister gave birth to a little girl! It was about three week ahead of the expected birth date. None of my family member didn’t expected to see the baby within 2013. It was the greatest gift in 2013 for me and my family.photo5

It seems every newborn wears this little knit hat. I’m wondering why…. it looks pretty though!

photo6

so small, so cute! I guess baby clothes are going to list on my to-make list in this year.

明けましておめでとうございます!日本以外の国ではどういう風にお正月をお祝いするんでしょうか?気になります。

私はおせち料理を作って、食べて、初詣に行って、おじいちゃんおばあちゃんに会って…平和なお正月休みを過ごしました。

ただ、年末には家族の中でびっくりなことがありました。2つ年上のお姉ちゃんが、予定日より3週間程早く、小さな女の子を産みました!家族の誰一人として、まさか年内に産まれるとは思っていなかったので、どたばた騒ぎできたが、本当にほんとうに素敵な「びっくり」になりました。

今年は、赤ちゃんの服がto-makeリストに載ること間違いなしです!

川崎大師で引いたおみくじによると、今年の私の運勢は波乱に満ちたものになるとのことでしたが、そんなおみくじにもめげず!今年も頑張りたいと思います。

今年もよろしくおねがいします :)rina signature

More Rina’s posts….

– DIY: Bead Necklace
– Fashion’s Night Out in Tokyo
– Silk Painting Groom’s Vest

Filed Under: blog, blogs, every day life, holiday, personal, 日本語 Tagged With: Japanese New Year, new year

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大正から昭和初期、若い女性たちの間で流行した銘仙。 かすりの技法を用いた平織りの絹織物で、さらりと 大正から昭和初期、若い女性たちの間で流行した銘仙。

かすりの技法を用いた平織りの絹織物で、さらりとした軽い着心地と、鮮やかな色柄・大胆なデザインが特徴です。

境界がにじんだような風合いと、鮮やかで大胆な色使い🌈

独特のにじみは、たて糸とよこ糸をわずかにずらして織ることで生まれます。

自分の一枚を自由に楽しむために生まれた、女性たちの心意気そのもののような布。その大胆さをそのままに、クロップ丈のキャミソールとまとうラップパンツで、今の暮らしにも映える一枚へ仕立て直しました。

Photographer @capturetokyo
Model @yaos.aisai 
Make up and hair @mami_hmua

Meisen — the kimono fabric that swept through fashion among young women in 1912 to the early 1930s.

A plain-weave silk textured with a kasuri (ikat) technique, prized for its light, breezy feel and its bold colors and daring patterns.

That soft, blurred-edge quality comes together with vivid, fearless color combinations 🌈

The signature blur comes from weaving the warp and weft threads slightly offset from one another.

This fabric was born from women’s desire to wear something entirely their own — it carries their spirit of freedom in every thread. Keeping that same boldness intact, I’ve remade it into a cropped camisole and wrap pants that drape and move with you — a piece that fits naturally into everyday life today🧚

 #KimonoUpcycled #MeisenSilk #VintageJapan #着物リメイク #銘仙
和のかたちを、新しい日常へ。 一本の帯を丁寧にほどき、普段づかいできるワンショルダーバッグへと仕立 和のかたちを、新しい日常へ。

一本の帯を丁寧にほどき、普段づかいできるワンショルダーバッグへと仕立て直しました🌸

見た目からは想像できないほどの収容力。ハサミや糸、リッパー、ペンチ…制作道具もすっぽりまとまって収まります✂️✨入れるのは私だけだと思うけど😆

内側の裏地も可愛い♡

一本の帯が、誰かの日々をまとう相棒に生まれ変わりますように。

From tradition, into everyday life.

One obi, carefully unstitched and reborn as a one-shoulder bag for daily wear🌸

It holds far more than it looks — scissors, thread, a seam ripper, pliers… all my sewing tools tucked neatly inside✂️✨ Though I’m probably the only one who’d pack it like this😆

The lining inside is a little secret I’m quite fond of♡

#帯リメイク #着物リメイク #DIY #アップサイクル #制作動画
金色に輝く森は元は着物の羽織でした👘 漆黒の地に、金彩の木立が幾重にも連なって
夜の神秘的な森を歩 金色に輝く森は元は着物の羽織でした👘

漆黒の地に、金彩の木立が幾重にも連なって
夜の神秘的な森を歩いているような、静かで奥行きのある一枚🌳

水着の上に羽織れば、そのまま街へ歩き出せるビーチカバーアップにも。

お揃いのキャミソールは既に素敵なお客様の元にお嫁に行きました👰‍♀️
 
Photographer @capturetokyo
Model @kumabeeesan
Make up and hair @mami_hmua

A forest of gold, once a kimono jacket👘
L
ayer upon layer of gilded trees on jet-black silk. A quiet, deep piece, like walking through a mystical night forest🌳

Wear it over a swimsuit and go straight from the beach into the city as an effortless cover-up🖤

The matching camisole has already found its way to a wonderful new home👰‍♀️

#着物リメイク #ラップパンツ #kimonoremake
Furisode — the long-sleeved kimono young women tra Furisode — the long-sleeved kimono young women traditionally wear once in their lives, for their Coming of Age Day ceremony (Seijin Shiki) at 20 — often gets worn just that one time. I actually wore my cousin’s furisode for mine, so hers got a second life. But most don’t. They live for one single day, then disappear into the back of a drawer, unseen for decades 😴

But beautiful silk doesn’t have to end there.
From a once-in-a-lifetime ceremonial robe to something you can wear again and again. This piece — butterflies mid-flight, flowers in bloom — deserved a new season. So I remade it into an i line dress.

振袖は、生涯でたった一度しか袖を通さないことが多いです。

私自身は従姉妹の振袖を着たのでその振袖は二度人に着られたけど、成人式の日だけを生きて、あとはタンスの奥で眠り続ける😴誰にも見られないまま、何十年も。

でも良い生地には、終わりがないんです。

一度きりの晴れ着から、何度でもまとえる一着へ。蝶が舞い、花が咲くこの1着に、新しい季節を与えたくて、マーメイドラインのドレスに仕立て直しました。

#kimonoremake #振袖リメイク #upcycledsilk
オーストラリアからのお客様がオンラインで着物を選び、オーダーしてくださいました✂️ まずは仮縫いを オーストラリアからのお客様がオンラインで着物を選び、オーダーしてくださいました✂️

まずは仮縫いを郵送でお届けし、Zoomの画面越しに丈や身幅を確認しながら、少しずつドレスは形になっていきました。

桜の下で、鳥居の朱色の中で笑う二人の写真が届いたとき、 遠く離れた場所からでも、確かにこの手で紡いだものが誰かの人生の一部になったのだと感じて嬉しかったです♡

A customer from Australia chose her kimono online and placed an order✂️

I first mailed a mock-up, and little by little, checking the length and width over Zoom, the dress took shape.

When the photos arrived of the two of them smiling under the cherry blossoms, in the vermillion red of the torii gate — even from far away, I felt so happy knowing that something woven by my hands had truly become part of someone's life♡

📷@whoshotthephotographer
👰‍♀️@cscambary 

#KimonoUpcycled #MadeToOrder #BridalCouture
#着物リメイク #国際オーダー
このシルクの軽さ、暑い季節にちょうどいい🫠 一枚の着物から、ワイドパンツを作りました✂️薄手のシル このシルクの軽さ、暑い季節にちょうどいい🫠

一枚の着物から、ワイドパンツを作りました✂️薄手のシルクは風を通して、歩くたびに裾がふわりと揺れます♪

後ろ姿には、着物の袖だった部分を使っていてお尻の部分の花柄が上下逆さまになっています👻最初は迷ったけれど、これはこれで面白いなと思ってそのまま残しました🫶🏻

一点ものなので、この一本だけ。気になる方はプロフィールのリンクから見てみてください♡

This silk is so light, perfect for the hot season 🫠

I made these wide-leg pants from a kimono✂️ The thin silk lets the breeze through, and the hem sways softly with every step ♪

The back is made from what used to be the kimono sleeves, so the floral pattern on the hips ends up upside down👻 I wasn’t sure at first, but honestly it grew on me, so I left it as is 🫶🏻

One of a kind, just this one pair. If you’re curious, the link is in my profile ♡

#着物リメイク #kimonoremake #正絹 #一点もの #和柄 夏の装い ワイドパンツ
数年前に制作したシルクのドレス。 今回「Released. Reimagined.」というコンセプ 数年前に制作したシルクのドレス。

今回「Released. Reimagined.」というコンセプトに合わせて、@redyeingproject さんに黒染めをお願いしました。

Helen x Vivat Veritasのイベントにベンダーとして出展してくださったご縁から生まれたコラボレーションです。

「服を捨てる前に、黒染めという選択肢を。」
色あせた服を、グラム単位の染め直しで蘇らせる——そんなコンセプトに強く共感しました。

天然素材のシルクスカート部分は深く美しい黒へ。
シャンティレースの部分は、少し緑がかった表情のある色に変化しました。

一着を長く着続けるための、小さな選択。
Before / Afterの写真、ぜひご覧ください🩷🖤

A silk dress I made a few years ago.

For this ""Released. Reimagined."" concept, I asked @redyeingproject to dye it black.

This collaboration grew out of a connection made when he joined the Helen x Vivat Veritas event as a vendor.

""Before you throw it away, consider black dyeing.""
His concept — reviving faded clothes through by-the-gram redyeing — really resonated with me.

The silk skirt, a natural fiber, transformed into a deep, beautiful black.
The chantilly lace took on a subtly greenish tone.

A small choice, in service of wearing one piece for longer.
Take a look at the before/after photos🩷🖤

黒染め
@redyeingproject

Photographers
@nothing_special_88
@japanphotographer_

Model
@sienna.christinaaa

Jewelry
@viviange

Hair
@angh0
@sho_kanaida
@iam__little__boy

Make up and videos
@glam_by_jyoti

#黒染め #RedyeingProject #ReleasedReimagined #着物リメイク #サステナブルファッション
実はこのお洋服、今回のショーに入れるか自分では迷っていました。結構前に作った作品だったので。でもヘレ 実はこのお洋服、今回のショーに入れるか自分では迷っていました。結構前に作った作品だったので。でもヘレンと話す中で、これも一緒に見せようと決めました。

ヘレンと3週間近く一緒に準備を進める中で、コレクションの作り方、見る人を楽しませる魅せ方、ルック全体の組み立て方など、本当にたくさんのことを学びました。自分一人だったらこのルックスを入れる決断はしなかったと思う。誰かと一緒に作ることで見えてくるものがあるんだなと、改めて実感しました。
ヘレン、ありがとう♡

Honestly, I wasn't sure whether to include this piece in this show. It was something I'd made a while back. But talking it through with Helen, we decided to show it together after all.

Working with Helen for almost three weeks to prepare for the show, I learned so much — how to build a collection, how to style looks that engage an audience, how to put together a look as a whole. I don't think I would have made the decision to include this piece if I'd been on my own. Creating something together with someone else really opens your eyes to things you wouldn't see alone.

thank you Helen @designerhelen♡

Model @izumi_nishida

Photographer 
@nothing_special_88 

Jewelry
@viviange

Hair 
@angh0
@sho_kanaida
@iam__little__boy

Make up
@glam_by_jyoti

#KimonoUpcycled #SustainableFashion #DesignerCollab #着物リメイク #ものづくり
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