19 September 2014 by Angela

Matatabi Makers: City Blazer

Hi friends. I’m still here! and I’m still sewing/stitching/(mis)adventuring! Just being a bit slow with writing and photos and … with life in general. But I recently made a linen blazer for this month’s Miss Matatabi Makers contribution, and I love it. LOVE IT! So I wanted to share it here with you, too.

As I mentioned over on Miss Matatabi’s blog, I purchased the ByHandLondon Victoria blazer pattern months ago and then let it sit on my sewing table. I couldn’t find the right fabric. I went to Mood more than once in search of something fancy, but it was Miss Matatabi’s linens that hit the mark. To bulk it up for cooler weather, I lined the blazer in one of my favorite nani IRO prints. Linen and double gauze are a dream combo, and the natural fibers let the blazer breath but still provide warmth.

This pattern has a clever construction and was quick to put together. At first I though it was too slouchy and casual. But after wearing it for, uh about 20 seconds, I realized it is exactly what my life needed. So comfortable! So versatile! These photos were taken after a bike ride through Brooklyn while waiting for the ferry. The wind picked up a bit, but I was ready. Sunset and autumn chill? No problem, man. This city blazer can handle it!

You can see more details over on Miss Matatabi’s blog. Thanks, friends! I’ll be seeing you all around again soon!

18 June 2014 by Angela

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.

I 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 month The 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!!

15 April 2014 by Angela

Sashiko for Spring

Ah, sashiko for Spring. This is a bag pattern I reverse-engineered from a cotton gift bag I received while living in Japan. It was given to me while staying at a ryokan, so you can carry a few belongings as you wander in your yukata from breakfast to nap time to the bath and back again. I love the way the two handles tie together — loosely to slide over your wrist or elbow like a handbag, or tightly like a pouch to prevent treasures from falling out. I added some freeform sashiko geometry on one side, and used my sashiko sampler pattern for the other. The bag is lined in old nani IRO double gauze, a scrap I had stashed in the depths of a craft box that followed me from Tokyo. Honestly, nothing compliments sashko-in-angles better than a light, floral nani IRO.Well hello, Spring.

14 June 2013 by Angela

The Rainy Season Sweat Wicking Dress

Tsuyu, I love you and I hate you.

According to the Japan Times the rainy season began 10 days early. I have a love/hate relationship with this time of year. The bad: damp tissues, moldy sinks, towels that never dry, and the smell of damp feet. The good: I love love love waking up to the sound of rain in the morning. And any excuse to linger in cafes or drink tea all day while sewing or go to movies mid-afternoon. I don’t even mind the crazy curly hairdos. The temperature isn’t too hot or too cold, and the rain is rarely heavy enough to require more than a large clear umbrella.

The absolute worst part of rainy season? The fact that when it is over, it is summer. Hot, humid, and wet but in a different, nastier way. To prepare I am making dresses, and Japanese fabric is perfectly suited for Japanese summers. How convenient.

This wrap dress is made with nani IRO woodblock pocho in gray/green double gauze cotton using Vogue 8646, the first Vogue pattern I’ve tried. It was just OK. I skipped a muslin because it’s a wrap dress (read: easy to fit), and made the size 10 with an extra 1″ in length in the bodice. I could have used another inch, I think. And the bodice feels too big. I hand-stitched the hem around the neckline which gives a nice finish and removed some bulk from the front. I am thinking about adding long ties, to actually wrap this sucker around my body and tighten it up a bit. But for a rainy-season-turned-sweaty-summer dress, it’ll do just fine. Japanese double gauze is like wearing a ShamWow. Sweat-wicking at its finest, my friends.

I bribed my husband into taking my picture with the promise of buying him lunch. And then this happened. Whooeee!

We both ordered omurice like 5-year olds, because what else do you do on a rainy day?

7 May 2013 by Angela

Works In Progress: Summer Dress

I’m finally cutting into my nani iro woodblock pocho double gauze. Translation: I’m sewing a dress.

Photo from Instagram.

5 April 2013 by Angela

Blue Waltz Dress

I haven’t bought new clothes in a while because every time I see something I like in a store I find a detail or something that isn’t quite right and convince myself to make it instead. This would be fine if I actually made the thing.

I finished my wool Hollyburn skirt just in time for … spring. As the weather warmed up, wearing a full wool skirt felt silly. And hot. So I tried to think a season ahead when choosing my next sewing project. Enter the Elisalex dress in Nani iro blue waltz.Tokyo’s summers are really hot and linen dresses are ideal. A lot of Nani iro fabric comes in this linen-cotton blend or double gauze cotton, which are great for sweaty Japanese summers. Coincidence? I think not.

I love the way this dress fits. The bodice is lined and just the right amount of snug.

I made a muslin for this dress which helped me decide to lengthen the bodice an inch. The muslin is still wearable though I’m not in love with the fabric, so I have designated it as my clean-the-house dress. Scrubbing floors in a dress = much more fun than scrubbing floors in sweatpants.

I went with an exposed zipper using this tutorial by Gretchen Hirsch and after seeing this tip by Closet Case Files added a very thin interfacing to give the skirt a little more poof. I don’t have a full-length mirror and now that I see these photos I might shorten the hem to the knees. I purchased the Nani iro from Miss Matatabi and lined the bodice in an orange and red cotton voile from my stash.

Summer, bring it on.

29 July 2012 by Angela

I made a shirt.

I totally did. I turned a piece of fabric into something wearable.

Ignore the wrinkles and the pink belly button dot. If I can’t see them then you can’t see them. That’s the way it works, right?

And no, I’m not going to model it. I thought about the idea, but really… guys, I’m an awkward lanky goof, and when there is a camera involved it’s a hot mess.

But back to my shirt. My shirt! A friend was wearing one she made, and when I commented on how much I liked it she ~~bullied~~ encouraged me to try sewing one for myself. I ordered the pattern online that same evening, and with speedy, instant gratification it was sent via PDF five minutes later.

All I could think about was sewing this shirt. I was possessed. I bought fabric the next morning, brought it home and washed it and watched it air dry, drumming my fingers, telling it to hurry up already.

It took me 4 hours to make, start to finish. Everything that could possibly go wrong did. I sewed the pocket upside down, then the side seams inside out. I had to rip out all the stitches but I didn’t mind. I was making a shirt, yo.

And then it was finished and I was in love. I put it on immediately, which was easy to do because I was wearing only my underwear solely in anticipation of the moment when I could put on my bespoke top. Bespoke — la tee dah!

Then I sat down and sewed another one.

I told you, I was possessed. The second one has a hand-sewn pocket. I used more expensive nani IRO fabric (I was ready!) and it only took me an hour. I’ve already worn it twice.

What shall I sew next?! Do you have pattern suggestions? Please send them my way! I’m giddy! I want to sew all the shirts!