1 Year Anniversary

January 16th, 2013

It’s been a year since my hubby helped me to launch this website, so I thought it’s fitting to write an entry looking back at the last year.

So much have changed, a most awesome new baby and a new dream job really shook up my life quite a bit. Through learning about fashion design, I learned the importance of having a creative outlet in my life and it really changed me as a person for the better. In so many ways, I think I wouldn’t have landed my current job without having gone through this experience.

I’ve said that I wouldn’t make baby clothes, but I lied. With very limited time, making baby clothes is actually the best way to practice my skills. The clothe is small, so it takes a lot less time to draft a pattern, tweak it and sew up the final garment. Unfortunately I no longer have 40 hours to put into a jacket and another 20 hours to come up with the pattern.

I always wanted to make something when I saw this pattern from spoon flowers: http://www.spoonflower.com/fabric/524703 so after some thinking, I decided to make some pants for Brendan. I started with copying the pants pattern from one of Brendan’s pants. It took some estimation and guessing. Knit is pretty forgiving, so I feel better about just to try something.  IMG_0105

After truing up the seams, I added 1 inch seam allowance.

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to test out the draft, I used an old t-shirt. yes, it’s a very old t-shirt, from my high school PE class, it’s time for it to serve some other purposes. =D

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now, on to sewing. since the test garment is so small, it took only 30 minutes to sew this baby up. it’s very rewarding to get a test garment together so fast, horay for baby clothes!

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The most exciting part is to have Brendan try it on, but all he wanted to do was tummy time, so I didn’t get a front view of the shot. He’s such an active kid. The pants fit for the most part, except the crotch can be a bit bigger since we are using cloth diaper. I actually added 1 inch to each of the pieces for the final draft, so it’s 4 inches all around.

After some tweaking around the pattern, I cut the fashion fabric and whipped up the final pants. With all the seam finishes, it took about 2 hours. It was hard to find the time to do it, but I did it. Brendan moves a lot and rarely wants to be held now a day, but we managed to get a picture together. The pants actually fit better than the picture. here you go. Notice he’s about to kick off his right sock?

By the time we managed to get a picture taken of Brendan wearing the pants, it’s already been a month since I made the pants. Notice it’s getting a bit short, that’s how fast this little guy is growing. crazy, eh? This morning, he’s been eying the cheerio while I ate my breakfast. so I fed him some even though he’s not supposed to have that much solids yet, but he LOVES it.

DragonBoyPants-web

so that’s it, Brendan’s designer custom made pants from his Mama. hahah!

The last year was also filled with incredible sadness towards the end with the unexpected murder of my beloved aunt Susie, who welcomed me into the family with open arms when I marry the love of my life. She has always been a source of inspiration for me through our shared interests in cooking, crafts and most importantly hard work. Many mornings, I woke up feeling like she’s still with us.

Looking back, from the tragedy that took place in my life when I was 16 to now, I couldn’t have had more joy in my life than ever before. Tragedy did strike again, but I was able to move on. It’s not because of incredible good luck of winning the lottery of some sort, it’s because I found in myself what brings joys to my life and no one/nothing could ever take that away from me. I hope that’s something my son will understand when he grows up.

So here here, to turning one year older.

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Goldfish Shirt

October 3rd, 2012

Finally got a chance to update what I’ve been up to lately. Being pregnant and having a baby really took a lot of time out of my life. but I’m back. whoohoo! I just hope the baby keeps up with the good sleeping habit, so I can get more free time at night. fingers crossed!

It’s not an easy thing to find clothes for my little one. They just don’t make good boy’s clothes. but I came across this etsy site and thought it’s cool.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/71156070/goldfish-bowl-onesie

for $18, it’s not bad. but after reading the fine print that the shirt needs to be hand washed and it cost extra $$ to have it sewn down in order to machine wash it. First I thought who has the time to hand wash clothes when you have a tiny baby, but then I thought… hey! My little guy’s got some blank shirt, I can turn this into a project of my own.

so with a trip to Michael’s, some cutting and some glue, ta-da! This took literally 10 minutes. wow, I thought…that Etsy lady is making good money. lol!

after running the shirt under the sewing machine, it’s time to put it on! pretty cool right? sewing took a while, since the applique was already glued on. It was kind of hard to go around the goldfish and the bubbles. If I were to do it again, I’d probably sew everything together before the final step of sewing the whole thing on the shirt. I might also try a thinner fabric than the eco felt, it’s just a bit bulky on a baby’s shirt.

so there you go, here’s a picture of Brendan rocking it.

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Surprise Discovery on Marimekko

March 29th, 2012

Marimekko is not a name that I would associate with Finnish language, but I’ve always loved Marimekko’s design from Crate and Barrel and have a duvet set from them. I actually always thought it’s a Japanese name and I have to say I’m not usually a fan of Japanese aesthetics, I love their food though. but hey, I’ve never been afraid to love what I love just because the label associated with it.

While reading about the Mad Men Fashion File, I surprisingly found out about Marimekko is actually a Finnish textile label made famous in America by Jacqueline Kennedy. Of course, I’ve always been a HUGE fan of Jackie’s style since when I was a kid. I’ve wanted those buggy sunglasses since I was 10 years old, so glad those glasses were finally brought back. You can read about the article here: http://blogs.amctv.com/mad-men/2012/03/season-5-premiere-fashion.php

Just like Coco Chanel said, fashion fades away and style always remains the same. Over the years I’ve made my mistakes in choosing clothes. But I’ve always held on to the same principles in the things I like and they almost always relate to each other. It’s so interesting how art works in people in its unique ways. People say don’t judge the book by its cover, but I certainly believe you can judge a person by their clothes. What do you think?

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The Real Problem isn’t the Time

February 9th, 2012

People often asked me how do I find the time to do everything I’m doing in my life. My answer is, well, I just find the time. You must think things can’t be that easy, right? You are right, it’s not. Sometimes I fall behind and this week happens to be one of those.

My weekly schedule starts the day after my class. This semester, class is on Wednesday, which means:

Thursday: dinner at the in-laws

Friday: is for relaxing, not HW.

Saturday: spin class + other social activities, I still have a life.

Sunday: farmer’s market + super bowl party.

The next thing I know, it’s Monday dinner at my parents house. The thing with having dinner at your parents house is that you can’t just eat and leave, it’s not a restaurant. Willie’s mom also called Monday night and said she found the chives Willie’s been looking for, so we gotta make spring rolls on Tuesday. Then it’s Wednesday, seems like my week was going by fast.

Monday night, I was panicking, class in two days and I haven’t done any homework. I’m also behind on my pants project. I’ve been wanting to make these pants, but didn’t want to look for the pants sloper (the basic pattern) from my pants drafting class. Ever since we moved furniture around in the studio, I’ve been scared that I’ve lost them. If I had the sloper out to begin with, I could’ve easily spent 30 minutes here and there tracing out the pattern, add the design and seam allowance. Not everything had to be done at the same time and it’s easy to find that 30 minutes in a day, but the where about of the sloper is an unknown factor that was quite scary. I recognized it’s more of a mental obstacle to get myself to find the sloper, not a time constrain.

On Sunday, Willie was at flight training. After I picked up food for the super bowl party and before I had to pick Willie up at the airport, I had about 30 to myself in the house. I got sick of my inaction and started digging for the sloper. I went through folders and binders with my heart pounding. Finally I found the SLOPER! also realized at the same time I was very thirsty, maybe because all the nervousness. As I was going downstairs getting a glass of water, Willie called me to let me know he just landed. Perfect, I down the water and was out the door. The giants also made my day by winning the super bowl!

Back to Monday night, yes, I was kicking myself for not doing my HW, but I was feeling confident I’m well on my way to make those pants very soon. It’s like a big rock was out of way. After coming back from my parents’ house, I headed to the studio directly and was done sewing the two samples in 45 minutes and ready for Wednesday night.

Willie had been pre-cooking the stuffing for spring roll while I sewed away, so it all worked out. We were good for Tuesday night rolling the spring roll. Tuesday night, I traced out the patterns for the pants sloper and hemmed my jeans that’s long been over due. see the two samples and the traced out pattern in the pictures. Just like that, I was back on track.

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Upcycled Scarf

January 29th, 2012

My one goal this semester is making great things out of cheap material. Coco Chanel was famous for making cheap material couture, such as her use of knit during WWII when resource was scarce and man-made pearl in her jewelry line. It’s the craftsmanship, not necessary the material that matters.

The concept of great fashion doesn’t necessary have to be made out of expensive material is not a new to me., but I haven’t attempted to do it. Mostly because I didn’t have an idea what cheap material I’d use, since anything that’s natural fiber isn’t so cheap now a day. The perfect opportunity came when I learned about katwise’s upcycle coat from one of my classmates, she has a store on etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/katwise Did I mention I have been obsessed with etsy lately?

at first glance, the upcycled coat didn’t seem appealing to me since it looks a bit too hippy, like straight out of Berkeley or Haight Ashbury and I’m more a Nobill Hill kinda girl (if you are familiar with San Francisco). But I convinced myself that any technique can be useful in some ways, so I started brain storming ideas. I do have some sweaters that have holes in the elbows which is a shame because the rest of the sweater is ok.

Last week’s class, we learned about lettuce edge. When the instructor first showed it, I loved the idea, but then I was immediate daunted thinking that it must be really hard to make lettuce edge. As it turned out, lettuce edge is one of the easiest things to make as long as you have knit material.

This last Christmas I noticed this infinity scarf trend in fashion. I love scarfs, it’s great a way to mix and match in an outfit and make up different looks. so old sweater + lettuce edge + infinity scarf, I came up with the idea of making an infinity scarf with lettuce edge using my cut up old sweater. since I’m not using different color sweater, it’s not going to look so much like patched garment and less hippy. I also don’t have a surger which is what Katwise recommended, but it actually worked out with just straight stitch, since I made the side stitched up the wrong side.

 

so to start, here’s my old alpaca sweater:

here’s the sweater after it’s all cut up:

here’s the scarf after it’s all done:

I think I’m pretty happy with the result. Wore it to dinner at my parents’ house and my mom wants me to turn her cashmere sweater into scarf after it’s worm out. so if you have an old sweater and want to turn it into a scarf, you know I’m here!

Posted in CCFD, edge finish, Fashion, recycled, ruffle, scarf | 2 Comments »

Tutus

January 26th, 2012


I’m so excited! I got to see a real ballet tutu up close for the very first time in class today. One of the classmates is a ballet tutu designer and he showed a few techniques in my designer techniques class. I tried to make a tutu last year for Halloween, but it didn’t work out and with the time constrain I had to scratch the whole idea. I learned today, if you really want to gather the ruffles correctly, you need a Johnson ruffler machine. There’s a 9 months wait for the machine, which is completely hand-made. wow!

anyways, so if you have Johnson ruffler machine, this is the kind of gathering it’ll do. The machine was originally developed to make curtains.
every ruffle is perfect folded, which is really cool.

just for a comparison, this is the ruffle sample I made in my sample book using normal bernina sewing machine. night and day difference right? the folds are not nearly as even.



Now, I really want to show you the tutu. This is what the it looks like from far away, the way a ballerina wears it.

This is what the wrong side out looks like, which shows all the layers that’s used to build up the stiff looking tutu. There are a total of 12 layers, gathered together. The outer layers require more panels gathered up than the inner layers, it’s a lot of fabrics. Unfortunately it’s a bit blurry as this is the best my iphone can do under low lighting.

This is what the tutu looks like up close:

The applique  is all hand-made, the details are really amazing, gold-colored netting and blush tulle. Actually I just realized that’s my wedding color theme, maybe that’s why I like it so much.

the edges of the tutu bottom is scalloped to give the tutu more depth

Tutu inside out, this specific pink ballet tutu is made of different color  tulle such as pink, blush, nude, cream, pink spray painted with gold, etc. All these details gives incredible texture and depth to the design. You can also add lace or ribbon at the bottom as it is shown on the blue and gold tutu to give the tutu a different look.

The designer’s got his own website, which I’d like to give credit to: http://www.gtlsdesigns.com/ Many people ask me how I find the time and energy to go school at night after a full day of work? Well, I’m looking at ballet tutus at school! What is there not to love and what can be more relaxing? If I’m not in class, I would’ve been watching E news or Anderson Cooper moving maps on big touch screen TV. Time is definitely better spent looking at tutus. lol!

 

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Mistakes are Blessings and Opportunities

January 4th, 2012

Are mistakes really so bad? That’s the way I’ve always been taught. My parents always believed if I went to the right college and marry the right husband, life will be good for me. It’s like that’s a proven recipe for life and you should never venture outside of that. But more and more, I’m finding it not be so true anymore.

I remember the first day in beginning sewing, my teacher said we’ll need a seam ripper to take out the stitches if we make a mistake and I remember thinking to myself “I don’t need that, I’ll just not make mistakes”. Well, that thought was short-lived. I’m a pro at taking out stitches now. During demonstrations at school, my teacher often make mistakes and they will show us what to do with thread jam, pucker, dripping iron and what not. Ronda (our department chair) said it’s important to show us that mistakes do occur in sewing even for professionals and we have to learn how to fix those.

Yesterday while talking about creativity, Ronda made the comment that mistakes are truly blessing and opportunities. That thought stayed with me on my drive home. Creative thoughts are usually not the first thing comes to my mind when I need to be creative. Many times I let my mind wander on my drive back from school and come up with ideas, actually I came up with great ideas of what to show in designer’s techniques during yesterday’s drive. I had many not so good ideas also on those drive back. If I still remember it the next day and still think it’s a good idea the next day, it usually ends up being a good idea.

Another thought on mistakes being opportunities. I learned how to sew the right way from school, hence I didn’t have to make mistakes to figure out the right way. However there’s always that lazy side of me that sometimes cut corners, it’s almost human nature. When I do cut corners, I regret it every single time. Over time, I cut corners less times. But sometimes under time pressure, I know what kind of compromise I can make and still get the project done and get to bed. After all, I have a full-time job and can’t put that to risk. If I haven’t made those mistakes, I wouldn’t know the trade-off of effort and quality of work. Those contestants on project runway all cut corners or they won’t have anything done in the time given. I also feel as though the knowledge to do it the right way never really solidify until I do it the wrong way at least once or twice.

Looking at life from a larger perspective, I said wrong things and made bad choices many times. I regret a lot of things, but I know given the situation at the time knowing what I did, I wouldn’t have done it differently. My mom said the reason I regret it is because I have grown and know better. There’s the Chinese proverb that says “失败乃成功之母“, which translates to failure is the mother of success. Basically it’s saying failure gives birth to success. I didn’t understand it when I was kid, but now I see it.

Posted in CCFD, Childhood, Chinese, Fashion | No Comments »