creation

Fitting and Completed Dress | Making of Junel’s Wedding Dress

November 21, 2016 By Chie

Above pictures from Junel

Nothing satisfies the maker’s soul more than seeing a customer rocking a handmade dress! Junel had a wedding in Singapore in October. Here are some pictures of the completed dress. It’s made out of ivory color tulle lace I bought off of etsy (it’s hard to find good lace in Japan) with satin underlay with lining supported with boning and bra cups. It is pretty structured so she did not have to wear a bra. There are two things I adore about this dress – 1. V-line back cut with scalloped lace 2. pockets! I’ve seen some wedding dresses with pockets on Pinterest and was convinced that it was the coolest thing to have. Not only it works well for posing for pictures but also it is good for a bride to have for practical reasons. You can hide lipstick for a touch-up or if you were me, a few Reese’s peanut butter cups. It happened to me – In my case, I was too busy smiling for photos and chatting with people so I completely missed my wedding meal. So many reasons to have pockets for a bride. Some pictures for the fitting – I am always nerve wracked before fitting sessions, worrying about whether it fits well or not. But I try to remind myself that I can always fix it if the fit is not right!

Check out my previous post for the fabrics and inspiration for this dress.

MADE| Merckwaerdigh BHS10-D

September 9, 2016 By Chie

Last year when I visited Philadelphia, I stopped by at Madalynne studio to take a private bra sewing lesson. We started with Merckwaerdigh BHS10-D (size 75A), but due to lack of time, were unable to finish. Since coming back to Japan, I completely forgot about this UFO (UnFinished Objects) and did not pick it up until after close to a year had passed! I am happy that I’m done with the project now but this is one item I won’t be able to wear. It does not fit me at all. I can’t lie, I had some doubts when I originally decided on making an underwire bra. I have not worn bra with underwire for almost 10 years. I have been wearing soft bras (this, this and this) without wire or camisole that comes with bra cups. I said good bye to underwire bras a long time ago when I realized that I don’t have big enough boobs :(……. but looking at beautiful bras that Novita makes, I decided to give it a go.
I had to pull out my old home sewing machine since the instructions called for zigzag stitches which my industrial sewing machine does not offer. I had hard time adjusting the thread tension and some stitches look wonky. The wire channel installment was easier than I thought. I had to cut mine so it fit the bra size. I bought a bra kit from Merckwaerdigh on etsy, and small notions like wire, hook and eye and sliders at the Japanese site Jimura.

Besides some uneven stitches, the bra looks pretty; however, when it is on my body, the underwire moves around and the cup looks flat on my chest. I might need a bra cup inserted.
Here is a short video showing my bra.

ワイヤー入りブラを作りました。
型紙はこちらから。

サイズは75Aです。
ランジェリー作りは少しの生地で出来るので楽しいです。
ただ、せっかく作ったのに、サイズが全く合いませんでした。
ワイヤー入りが合わないのかも。残念！

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Lavender Wedding Dress

August 26, 2016 By Chie

I’m excited to show you some recent work I’ve been doing for a client. It is common to wear more than one dress at wedding in Japan. You wear one white wedding dress to walk the aisle and for the reception. After, you switch it up to what we call “color dress”. The color scheme can be anything…..except for something like an animal print, which makes you imagine dead animal and is against Japanese wedding custom. I have seen red, pink, gold, blue…pretty much every color in the past. I personally like all white for weddings, since I feel like it is the unique privilege of the bride on that day, but it’s not my wedding!

So the client ordered lavender purple. Usually I go to Nippori to buy fabrics, but for this dress, I ordered everything from Ogawamine. I have some sample fabric sheets from them and ordering everything in matching color was easy. I ordered satin, tulle, organza and taffeta lining in the same color by phone. Much quicker than running around Nippori to find fabrics!

Here are some inspirational images and my sketch presented to the client. The original inspirational dress seems to have three layers of skirt; satin, tulle and asymmetric organza pieces, draped from bodice. I made the bodice and satin skirt as usual – satin underlined with muslin for bodice, and organza for skirt. I chose organza for underlining for skirt instead of cotton muslin so the muslin won’t weight down the strapless dress. After that, I draped organza from the neckline, pinning small tucks along the way. Once pinned in the places I want, I hand sewed the tucks together.The bridal belt was purchased from Crystal and Pearl Bridal on etsy, and I added the organza ribbon that matches with the dress color.