Month: June 2014

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Matatabi Makers: nani IRO month

This month Miss Matatabi is celebrating nani IRO month, so in honor of my favorite Japanese fabric designer, I got in on the fun, too.

Saké Puppets for Miss Matatabi Makers' nani IRO monthI admitted to the world that I’m a sweaty beast, and sometimes I call Japanese double gauze my sweat sponge fabric. I think I’ve talked about this before, but the breathability of Japanese double gauze is ideally suited to handle Tokyo’s humid summers. I’m already hearing horror stories about NYC in the summer, so I thought I might as well attach it with some breezy nani IRO for the sweaty days ahead. Saké Puppets for Miss Matatabi Makers' nani IRO monthThe fabric is Pierre Pocho double gauze from the 2014 Spring nani IRO collection and the pattern is Sewaholic’s Belcarra blouse. The few changed I made include omitting the cuffs on the sleeves and instead finishing them with a rolled hem, attaching the neckline facing differently to create more of a border, and finishing it all with French seams.

Take that, summer.

Click over to Miss Matatabi’s site to check out more details, and all of the other wonderful nani IRO projects emerging this month.

Thanks Frances!!

nani IRO month!

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Me-Made-May ’14: Weeks 3 through 5

A final (very belated) recap of Me-Made-May.

Week 3:

wk3/1: Sewaholic Cambie
wk3/2: Little Black Elisalex
MeMadeMay wk3/3: Unblogged Sewaholic Belcarra

and a couple of bonus days!!

MeMadeMay wk3/4: Unblogged Charlotte skirt 3
MeMadeMay wk3/5: Unblogged Sewaholic Cambie

Week 4:

wk4/1: Archer & coffee
wk4/2: Same Archer (> <)
wk4/3: A week of repeats

Week 5:

wk5/1: Charlotte skirt
wk5/2: Sewaholic Lonsdale dress

My biggest shame for the month was my failure to post my final #MMMay14 submission, a silk dress that I worked on for weeks, and which remains … undocumented. It turns out that the wedding it was made for had too many cocktails and disco dance floors, and not enough time for a photo op.

In truth, the biggest hardship of Me-Made-May wasn’t figuring out how to integrate these garments into an everyday wardrobe, it was taking the damn selfies to prove I was doing it. Oof. No more!

I did, however, learn a few things about my sewing style and habits.

1. It is time to learn to sew pants.

2. I haven’t blogged most of my finished projects. So many of the garments I’m sewing these days are un-photoed, un-blogged. I guess it doesn’t really matter, but I learn so much from everyone else’s sewing notes, I’d love to be able to share in the collective knowledge if I can.

3. If I could sew my own underwear, I’d nail #MMMay15. Though the selfies would be a bigger problem…

Overall, #MMMay14 was a positive experience. I’m not going to completely replace all the ready-to-wear pieces in my closet, but instead use them to compliment the unique pieces I enjoy making.

Huzzah! Now, time for more stitching!