Last year, I was asked to make the costumes for two J-pop singers’ re-debut. The group was originally made up of six girls, but they reduced the number to two. To celebrate the re-grouping, they performed at a live house in new outfits. I don’t have a much experience in sewing costumes save making myself a Halloween costume a few years ago. From that one experience, I learned that you have to use “costumy fabrics” in order to have the costumes stand out in a crowd or on the stage. The design that the singer’s PR company presented was relatively simple without extravagant decorations or a massive amount of boning. I’m thinking I could even use the same pattern and make a wearable romper for myself in the summer. I further refined the design and suggested the main fabric to be sequined paired with cape of all white fur.
Here is my sketch for the costumes. 
Above is the cape muslin. I drafted the pattern based on this pin. Then I made the cape with white fur and lined it with satin. The process required a surgical mask and vacuum cleaner…it created so much fuzz and mess! Every time I made a cut, I had to use the vacuum cleaner to remove the excess hair. I used velvet ribbon to tie in the center and added the straps on shoulder so the singers can use it to keep the cape in place while dancing. 
Bra cups are catch stitched inside. Underneath the sequined skirt, there is a white shorts attached. The sequined fabric almost destroyed my good scissors… I recommend using old pair or cheap ones when you have to cut sequins. 
昨年末、某J-POPアイドルのコスチューム作りをお手伝いさせていただきました。
コスチュームは自分のハロウィン用に作った以来だったので、出来るかなーってかんじだったのですが、生地をコスチューム感たっぷりのキラキラにしたら、割と様になりました。
ファーのケープは型紙は作りは簡単だったのですが、裁断、縫製が毛だらけになって大変でした。
マスク着用、掃除機片手に毛と格闘してました。
Find me elsewhere:
Sewing for my four-year-old is fun. It has become much more fun than when she was a baby. She has ideas, opinions and wants to collaborate with me to make her own special garment (What I made for her in the past 
Both Kiko and I were happy with the finished dress, buuut I made a crucial mistake. Can you see the nicely finished french seam on shoulder outside? This is what happens when I work at night in dim light. I placed the finished top panel inside out. Oh well it’s for a child and she will grow out of it quick.
娘に結婚式お呼ばれ用に作った真ピンクのワンピ。
Winter is my least favorite season. Not only do I hate being cold, but also fashion wise, I get sick of multiple layers. Usually I end up wearing jeans and a Uniqlo sweater. So boring! But…..I had a chance to get to Nippori last weekend and that gave me some sewjo to make myself something fun to wear. After going through piles of knits on the second floor of Tomato fabric store, I ended up with this beige knit. It is medium to thick knit made out of 80% of rayon. The rest of the fabric content is a mixture of polyester and polyurethane, so the knit does not go too stretchy after some washes. The wrong side of the fabric is flannelized to keep it warm and it feels good against the skin.
The pattern was from a store bought dress I had. I did not do anything special except for lengthening the sleeves. I sewed the front neckline with an elastic so that the neckline would not get stretched. The whole thing is serged and the hem was done by hand. This way the hem sewing line is invisible. Sewing was simple and in total it took less than two hours to make.
I’m planning on wearing with cardigan, long boots (from Zara) and plaid scarf for now. Once the weather warms up, I want to pair it with white sneakers and leather jacket. 
