日本語

Trip to Ho Chi Min City

March 5, 2014 By Chie

Hello! Andy and I just came back from our 7th year wedding anniversary trip to Vietnam. We spent the last three days in Ho Chi Min City. Our anniversary was actually back in December, and we planned on going on vacation in early January, but we had to cancel our trip due to the anti-government protesters in Bangkok. We changed our plan, and instead of going to Thailand, we went to Vietnam. It was my first time there, and it was great! The weather felt so nice after the exceptionally cold winter in Tokyo. It actually was not as hot as I expected; at night it became breezy and nice to walk around in.

We spent our days having nice hotel breakfasts, hanging out at pool, and walking around the city. We walked from central city in District one all the way to Chit Lon, which is famous for their fabric district. I will write a separate post covering our adventure at the Viet Nam fabric market!

３泊でベトナム、ホーチミン市に行ってきました！
天候も、ホテルでのステイも、街の探索も本当にenjoyできてリフレッシュしてかえってきました。

ベトナムの布市場、Chit Lonも行ってきました。そちらの様子はまた別のブログ記事で♪

今日は東京はしとしと冷たい雨。
なんだか現実引き戻されましたが、やっぱり日本は安心します。

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Sewing the Pink Coat:: Completed!

February 27, 2014 By Chie

As I blogged here and here, I was making myself BurdaStyle Wool Long Coat 08/2012#101B this year. Finally the coat is completed! Actually I was done about a month or two ago..Just did not have a chance to take pictures and blog. I am very pleased with this coat. I’ve warn it many times, and it has helped me survived this winter which was unusually cold for Tokyo.

I love:
– the boxy men’s wear inspired silhouette
– it covers my body down to my knees, and is double breasted front style which keeps me warm
– the pink color! It is easier for people to find me in a crowd of gray and black coats
– silk lining. It is very warm and luxurious. It was worth the money for the fabric!

I am not so crazy about:
– the sleeve insertion. Can you see the wrinkle around the armhole in my back view picture above?
– the shoulder width of the coat patterns. They were very wide, and I had to take in about 5 inches! Next time I sew this coat, I would do a narrow shoulder adjustment before I start sewing.

Overall, I am happy with the result. I bought three meters of this wool fabric, and used two meters for the coat. I also made a coat for Kiko with the rest of the fabric. Kiko’s coat is done, I just need to take pictures! It is super cute, I can’t wait to show it here.

今年はピンクのチェスターコートを自分用に作りました。布は日暮里で１ｍ３００円だったウール、裏地はシルクサテンです（こっちは高かった！）。でも奮発して裏地シルクにして正解でした。滑りがいいし、とにかく自分の体温を保持してくれるから、あったかいです。なんか高級感があって、腕を通すたびに幸せな気分になります笑

３ｍ買ったウール、１ｍ余ったので娘にもコート作りました。
こちらは丸襟がかわいいお嬢様コート。お揃いはちょっと恥ずかしいけど、「Mommy made it!」と言ってもらえてうれしいです。

去年はこのコート作りました。

Worn with forever21 sweater, Moose and Nigel pendant and 3.1 Philip Lim Pashli Mini Bag

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

2014 Weco Party

February 11, 2014 By Chie

I have been shifting my business focus more toward Japanese wedding scenes from selling on etsy. It does not mean that I will close my etsy shop, but some opportunities have been opening up to get into making wedding dresses, and I am trying my best to embrace the change and move toward the new business goal.

As I was researching Japanese wedding scenes, I came across with a website called “Weco“. Weco is a short for “Wedding Coordinators”. It is an online publication which publishes books annually, featuring wedding planners, photographers, dress designers who work independently. I know it is pretty normal in the states to have freelance wedding planners, but here in Japan, wedding scenes are so dominated by hotels running everything; from fake chapel to priests, boutiques you MUST rent the dress from for very high price (usually goes up to 3000 U.S. dollars to rent) and even to small details like gifts to the guests. Weco features freelancers who work independently to create unique weddings. I thought the concept fits my vision perfectly.

Yesterday, I attended the party hosted by Weco. I was intimidated at first, since I was there alone. But it turned out many people there showed up alone themselves, and I was able to meet some cool people! The party decorations were done by Ayame, a free lance wedding planner who works in L.A. and Japan. The party had a great atmosphere with live music; I wish I could have taken Andy with me!

I wore this dress I made last year.

先日銀座で行われた、Weco２０１４年発売記念交流会に参加してきました。

Wecoとは、ウェディングコーディネーターのこと。

ウェディングの際に、式場を選ぶのではなく、ウェディングプランナーをまず選ぶ、ということを促進している媒体です。

一人で行ったので、ちょっと緊張してたのですが、

それぞれ違ったお仕事や背景を持った方と知り合いになれて、

勇気を出して行ってみて良かったな、と思いました。

パーティーも、素敵なライブミュージックと、プランナーのAyameさんの飾りつけが素敵で感激★

今後娘の誕生日会の飾りつけに真似しようと、色々アイディア頂いてかえってきました。