手作り

Last Minute Baby Gift | Bear Knit Hat

December 7, 2015 By Chie

Handmade bear knit hats as baby shower gifts!

Hello! It’s Monday morning here and and I just received an email from my friend, who asked if we can get together tomorrow afternoon for coffee. It will probably be the last time we hang out together for a while since she is having a baby next month. So here is what I made for her – a quick handmade gift for her new born baby.

Pattern | It’s from a Japanese sewing book, titled 赤ちゃんのお出かけは毎日がおしゃれ日和. I searched for an English version, but it does not seem to exit. The author’s name is Emiko. I borrowed the book from our local library. There are only two pieces to the pattern, so it is easy to draft it yourself.

Fabric | Stretch knit I had laying around. The gray one is left over from this T-shirt. I bought the pink knit fabric somewhere online, thinking of making Nettie bodysuit, but the width was too narrow (it was almost like rib knit with both edges folded)

Sewing | These two hats took 30 minutes to make. They are easy! They are lined with knit fabric in different colors. I made them in Japanese size 50, but in retrospect, I should have cut the smallest size, size 42 for a newborn. Oh well, baby can wear them next year!

Baby shower gift using Japanese sewing book, 赤ちゃんのお出かけは毎日がおしゃれ日和

I also bought precious little wooden spoons and tied a ribbon around them. I also added non-caffeine herbal tea for the ladies and post cards by Oslo and Alfred.

P.S. Here are some other ideas for baby gifts! How to make diaper cake and idea for a baby dress.出産お祝いに、ちょこっとしたプレゼントを手作りしました。
くま耳付き帽子の型紙は、図書館で借りたemicoさんの本「赤ちゃんのお出かけは毎日がおしゃれ日和」から。
とっても簡単にできます。

ノンカフェインの紅茶と、ベビースプーンと一緒に、プレゼントします。

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MADE | Navy Blue Lace Dress

December 1, 2015 By Chie

In November, I attended two weddings. This meant I had an excuse to make myself a new dress! I was browsing through etsy and came across Fabric Bistro, a fabric shop based in California with a collection of great lace fabrics. Good lace fabrics are hard to find in Japan. Nippori is not a good place to go for quality lace. Iwai lace has beautiful French lace but, very expensive. Fabric Bistro is great, except that it is hard to sort through the more than 4000 items in their shop!

I imagined my dress to be like this one; long sleeve, I-line skirt using scallop at dress hem. The problem I had was the lack of fabric. I ordered 1.75 yards, but since the fabric width was rather narrow, I did not have enough fabric for the long sleeves.

I went ahead and started cutting the fabric without a pattern. I just used my measurements and adjusted as I went along. There were some hiccups – the dress is so hard to walk in, especially going up the stairs. I did not add a slit or vent in skirt back because I feared that it would ruin the scallop lace design. Being uncomfortable at the wedding for a day was something I was willing to deal with:)

I wanted to place the scallop in a way that would show off the lace pattern, so I used it for skirt hem and back V neckline. The front waist line is not connected with a seamline to use the scallop as well. I added a hidden button and a loop in center front around waistline so that the front would not keep opening. Back waistline is connected together and elastic band was inserted for cinched waist. I’m not a huge fan of sleeves but for Japanese weddings, it is taboo to reveal too much skin as a guest, so I added small cap sleeves.

I made a slip to wear underneath with four way stretch fabric. I am happy with the decision not to line the lace fabric, but to add a slip because yon switch the look around depending on what color of slip you wear. I might make a slip in nude color to really show off the navy blue lace in the future.

Here is a photo from the wedding – I made Kiko’s dress too! She helped me design it. Will be posting about it soon.

With my sister and her husband. The wedding was a lot of fun!
P.S. Here is the dress I made for the last wedding I attended.

11月は2回結婚式にお呼ばれしていたので、自分用ドレスを作りました。
生地はカリフォルニアのレースを豊富に扱っている生地屋さんからお取り寄せしました。
日本で質の良いレースを見つけるのはなかなか難しいです。
少なくとも、日暮里ではなかなか見つからないと思います。残念ながら。

自分のサイズに合わせて、型紙なしで作りました。袖は、本当はノースリーブが良かったけど、結婚式だということで控えめなキャップスリーブに。
このドレス、中に着るスリップの色によって雰囲気が変えられるんです。
今回は同色のネイビーで作ったけれど、ベージュのスリップにして、レースの柄を引き立たせてもとてもステキだと思います。

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MADE | BurdaStyle Parka 09/2012 #129

November 9, 2015 By Chie

My new parka is ready for just in time for the coming cold! I’ve been wanting to make a parka since I realized I did not have a single item in Khaki color in my closet. I was deciding between this military jacket and BurdaStyle 09/2012 #129, but finally decided to go for the version with a hood.

Guess what, how much it cost to make this parka? 700 yen! That’s about 5 USD in today’s conversion. I bought 4 meters of khaki fabric, 2 meters of knit for lining, and 1 meter for sleeve lining all at Nippori Tomato. I had interface and buttons already. The material was cheap, but it took me about 10 hours to finish. BurdaStyle is notorious for confusing sewing instructions and this parka was no exception, unfortunately. Many of the instructions didn’t make sense. So, I had to use my gut instinct. I do not recommend this pattern for a sewing beginner. It has details like bellows pocket, fly front and button holes.
Here is some pattern review.
Size: I cut the smallest size, size 36.
Modifications: I read on BurdaStyle member project that she slimmed the sleeves a bit so I did the same. I took in about 10cm all around arm. I am glad I did this since even after the modification, the parka has plenty of room for laying.
What I love: The pockets. They are great. They fit a wallet, water bottle, iPhone, snacks… so many things. If I don’t feel like carrying my purse, I can just go out with this Parka.
What I would change: I found the elbow patch kind of unnecessary. If I were to do it, I might do it in leather or some other fabric with different texture.

I also hated the back vent. It’s slightly curved and it looks weird. The back hem itself has a slanted design, which I am not a huge fan of. I would modify it to have the straight hem.

I have something to say about the hood too. It is way too big to be functional. It covers your entire face so you can’t see what’s in front of you! I would definitely make it smaller next time.
Some fun variation ideas: Add some fur around the edge of the hood for some winter proof variation? Or use some kind of fluffy fabric for lining (except for sleeves). It might also be nice to add some breast pockets for additional details. Finally, replace the buttons with zipper.

Next up… I’m making a blue lace dress to wear to my friend’s wedding!

秋から冬への変わり目のシーズン用に、パーカを作りました。
型紙は、BurdaStyleのこちら。
PDFでダウンロード出来ます。が！５０枚近くプリントし、貼り付けるのは結構な作業。