handmade

What Should I Make With These Fabrics?

April 23, 2018 By Chie

What should I make with these fabrics?

My sister recently gave me a handful of kimono obi fabric. She knows that I upcycle kimonos and thought I could use some more material. In addition to a few rolls of silk kimono, she also gave me a few obi’s. These obi’s are beautiful – they are delicately embroidered and deliciously thick.

The problems are

1. They are quite narrow in width, about 3 cm.
2. Not long enough for a most garment sewing.

Mustard butterfly obi and gold medallion patterned obi

Ideas

In order to incorporate this fabric to garment, I have to either make a small item like mini skirt or incorporate partially. Perhaps a pencil dress, using obi as a statement fabric in the center, and from side to back use stretch knit to compensate for a good fit?

Yellow floral patterned obi and bright orange obi

Inspiration

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 (via Pinterest)

Let me know your thoughts!

MADE | Oversized Button Down

February 26, 2018 By Chie

My first Spring make of 2018! The white Archer button up was in my 10 x 10 challenge. I mentioned in this post how I love this shirt to wear underneath sweaters, but feel a bit outdated to wear it on its own. I see in Pinterest and Instagram that button downs are worn oversized, with the collar slightly pulled to the back creating a V neckline shape in the front. The Archer button up is great sewn default, but gives the impression of a well ordered good school when worn on its own. So I made my own version of oversized button up. I’m planning to wear it with a turtleneck sweater and skinny jeans in colder weather, and on its own with khaki shorts (another one I made recently, not blogged yet) when the weather warms up. I bought this fabric a while ago to make the Off-Shoulder Blouse by FASHION MAKERY. I saw the blouse on Instagram and fell in love with it. Unfortunately I could not figure out how to print it properly; I printed out the first page of the pattern, and the test square that says 5cm x 5cm prints out as 3.2cm x 3.2cm. I did not scale the patterns and printed out on A4 paper as is, but it seemed like the patterns shrunk and I could not fix it. That was about six months ago…eventually I gave up. Has anyone have a similar problem with FASHION MAKERY PDF patterns?

Pattern Info

Pattern: Graineline Studio Archer Button Up Shirt, size 4
Fabric: Cotton blend stripe fabric bought in Nippori Tomato
Modifications: Added 10 cm on side as shown in above picture for left and right front pieces, back yokes and back. Lengthened the shirt by 20cm. Shortened the sleeve length to 36cm.

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My Recent Antique Kimono Finds

December 14, 2017 By Chie

Hi everyone! I recently bought a few silk kimonos using an app called “Mercari”. It is an app where you can buy and sell pretty much anything, new, or second hand! I picked up three kimono jackets (shorter length than regular kimono) from one seller for an amazing price, so wanted to show what I got in mail. She even included a fourth one as a thank you gift. Since they are jackets, I have less fabric to work with when upcycling it, but I was able to get one camisole style wrap dress from one kimono jacket.

Since the app is in Japanese, and lots of sellers don’t post listings in English, it might be difficult to shop from overseas. But if you are in Japan and can get some Japanese language help, it is a good place to score kimonos for a reasonable price. I usually search by “着物（kimono）” and “正絹(silk)”, and sort by price. Some price includes shipping fee and some don’t, but usually sellers are willing to negotiate those terms, which is another fun part of shopping on Mercari.

Hope you enjoy the video!

Watch video here

0:00 Intro
0:34 Red kimono dress
0:58 Where I bought these kimonos
2:28 Crane print kimono jacket
3:53 Red bean color kimono jacket
5:45 Cotton fuschia pink kimono jacket (free gift from the seller!)