手作り

MADE: Khaki Wrap Dress

August 19, 2016 By Chie

At the beginning of the Summer, I purged some of the clothes in my closet. That purge included ridding some clothes I hand made in the past like this dress, high-low skirt, shirt dress (Archer pattern modification) and this floral skirt (I kept the top). They were made four years ago and worn many times, so the fabric was starting to fall apart. The floral skirt was nice, but the organza insert felt too sexy for me to wear in my daily life as a mom. As sad as I was to part with my creation, it also gave me an opportunity to make new summer clothes!

Since I made this parka, I wanted to incorporate more of khaki color in my closet. I have a lot of white and black as basic neutral colors but just black and white felt boring. As I always do, I browse through Pinterest to collect pretty images of the dresses to pin down what I want to make. I pin those in my “Fashion” board.

{1 | 2 | 3 | 4 }

Here is the end result! I think it looks like the closest to #4 above. I might be able to wear it in the fall as well with a black turtle neck inside. The fabric is from Nippori Tomato, second floor knit section. It’s a medium weight jersey with a bit of velvet like feel in the right side of the fabric. It’s soft and comfortable!

The pattern was borrowed from my recent client work. I lengthened the skirt length by 5cm and added big patch pockets on both sides. I love the pockets and use them often to hold key when I am running out of the door.

最近自分用に作ったカーキ色のラップワンピースです。
クローゼットの中には入れるハンガーの数を決めていて、それにかからないものは出来るだけ人にあげたり、リサイクルショップに持って行ったり、状態が悪い場合は処分して、服だらけにならないように気を付けています。
断捨離についての本読むの好きなので笑

今年の夏も、着ていないものを随分処分しました。
その中には自分で数年前に手作りしたものもあって、別れるのが少し辛かったのですが、
やっぱり生地が駆使されて薄くなっていたり、丈が短く感じて長いこと着ていなかったりのものばかり。
なので心を鬼にしてさよならしました。

クローゼットのスペースが空いた分、新しいドレスを作りました。
カーキ色のシンプルラップ（カシュクール）ドレス。
ポケットもつけました。
出掛けにささっと鍵とか駐輪券とかを放り込んでおけるので便利です。

{worn with Dolce Vita sandals}

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Closet Case Files Carolyn Pajamas in Silk

July 7, 2016 By Chie

I made silk pajamas! After making my Ginger Jeans (white version here), I became a big fan of Closet Case Files patterns. The jeans fit pretty well for me and the high waisted version is more flattering to my body than most store bought jeans. So, when a friend asked me to make silk pajamas for her friend’s wedding gift, I immediately thought of Carolyn pajama patterns.With so many cheap versions out there (like this GU one), I wanted to make it special by crafting it in pure silk satin.

The fabric used is beige silk satin. I made my own pipping with some white silk left over from making wedding dresses. That was the recommendation from the pattern instructions, so the width of the pipping can match the seam allowances, which is 1.5cm in this case.

From putting together the patterns to finishing two pajamas took a long time…about 17 hours. One of my goals of 2016 was to keep track of my work hours in excel in order to up my efficiency. Silk satin slips around a lot so cutting it on proper grain was a challenge. I mostly used a rotary cutter and a mat to cut the fabric and interface. Silk PJ feels so luxurious! I am not sure how they will care for it since silk satin loses the shine once you wash it with water, but I am assuming this is for a special occasions. Any thoughts? For a men’s version, I used BurdaStyle Men’s Pajama Set 12/2010 #134. It is almost identical to Carolyn PJ patterns. The only modifications are to omit drawstring waist and added a pipping cuffs on pants hem. Unlike Closet Case Files pattern instructions, BurdaStyle’s instructions are like reading foreign language at times…I had to just guess and figure out.

Here is the picture of pants fly with hidden pocket for men’s PJ pants. 結婚プレゼント用に、男女お揃いのシルクパジャマを作りました。
素材は100％シルクのサテン。
ベージュに白のパイピングでクラシカルな雰囲気のパジャマが仕上がりました。
型紙は女性用はCloset Case Files Carolyn Pajama、男性用はBurdaStyle Men’s Pajama Setを使いました。

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Panda Knit Dress from Yuki Araki’s Sewing Book

April 1, 2016 By Chie

I was really excited when I found this adorable panda knit fabric in Nippori Tomato for 200 yen per meter. I had something for my daughter in mind when I bought it. Since she is active and likes playing outside, I wanted to make something simple and easy to wash. This long-T dress was the perfect candidate! The pattern is from my favorite kids pattern designer, Yuki Araki. Some of her works have been translated into English (you can read review here), but for this dress, I used Japanese version, titled “Yuki Araki’s Girl’s Clothes (セレクト版　荒木由紀の女の子のお洋服）, which I borrowed from a local library. Yuki Araki’s designs are girly and classic. I still love the coat I made for Kiko from her book back in 2014. Nothing much to mention in terms of construction of the dress. It is pretty simple to sew and it took me two hours from tracing the patterns, cutting the fabric and finishing up the dress. The dress has a back slit for easy neck opening and gathered neckline in the front. The neckline is finished with the same fabric (not cut in bias since it is knit fabric and already has stretch). I added the snap button in the back neckline and black bow to cover the stitches. For my four-year-old, I cut size 120. The length was shorten by about 7cm not by choice but by the fabric limitation. I only bought 1m of the fabric and now regret not buying more in different colors (they had the same print in blue and green!). Pattern | Yuki Araki’s Girls Clothes, “Long Sleeve Knit Dress” (荒木由紀の女の子のお洋服から　長袖ニットワンピ）
Size | 120 for 110cm height daughter
Modifications | Shortened the length by 7cm, added a bow on snap button, and added elastics on sleeve hems.
Make it again? | Yes! Actually already made another one in black and white stripes. It is a versatile pattern for daily wear. とってもかわいい柄のニット生地を日暮里トマトで見つけたので、普段着用ワンピを作ってみました。
なんとちっちゃいパンダさんがたくさん！
ピンクのみ1メートルだけ買ったのですが、他の色も買っておけばよかったとちょっと後悔。
1メートル200円と、破格でした。