Simple

I sewed another shirt using Alder shirt dress pattern from Grainline Studio. This time it was made as a simple sleeveless shirt. I chopped off the lower half of the pattern and used the rest of it practically without modification. If I say something special about it, it would be that it is missing one of the pockets and the collar due to the fabric shortage but it has got a small embroidery in the chest as if it is compensating the missing parts.

Ah, you have to be informed that I was a teen when I embroidered the last time. I find that all my humble skill in embroidery has been lost by now. Now I can do it only humorously.

The shirt is pretty, and comfortable in the hot weather too.


*
This year in Japan, the rainy season was suddenly taken over by hot days and the summer started without delay. At this moment I'm struggling with this hotness more than usual (I'm a snowman, in case you don't know me), as we didn't have enough time for adapting to the heat.



**
By the way, on this coming weekend, I will attend a casual one-hour workshop for tie dying dyeing. I'm going to attend it with one of my sewing good friends and we will learn how to tie and dye, as beginners. I'm so excited! Hopefully I will come home with something good enough to show you in the blog post. Wish me luck, please :)

Hope you're having a beautiful day!


Love,
yoshimi


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Simple sleeveless shirt
pattern: Alder from Grainline Studio, with size adjustments (raised armhole base and shortened shoulder width).
fabric: Lightweight linen woven fabric, pale pink brown, with off white pinstripes. Slightly sheer but can be worn as a single layer. Crisp and casual. Not too coarse. Typical linen plain woven. Same fabric was used in this shirt.
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two small things

Hello!


I sewed two easy garments for hot weather over this weekend. I used two pieces of my recent holiday fabric consequence already! They're both very simple but they are one and only kind of things that were made especially for me. Can I still count it as luxury? :)

1. Batwing top
I love batwing tops but it is sometimes annoying that their hems are creeping up above the waist when I raise my arm(s) up. For this top, I lengthened the side seam by slash-open method, by 3cm, to give it a little extra margin to accommodate my action.

It's a small addition to the pattern and I think more logical fitting alterations will be needed if the side seam is lengthened heavily. I mean, I avoided it and took an easy way.

The shoulder lines in the garment sit OK after modification. I got more range of motion for reaching to high shelves too. This simple batwing tee pattern is my old and trusty pattern (no longer available) from the blog "Love Sewing!".

This is my favorite necklace. Summer tops need to go well with it.

2. Cache-cœur sleeveless shirt
Using Alder pattern from Grainline Studio, I sewed a crossover shirt in a light brown/pink linen fabric. I put some extra width to it at the hem, so that the both ends of plackets can be buttoned on at sides to make a crossover.

ah, yes, too much smiling

I am not sure whether I was successful about my version of this crossover, however, I am very much likely to wear it often because I love this linen on my complexion. I'm trying to think that this shirt has an unusual shape from the beginning and no one would notice anything extra strange.

... Maybe I should have tried one Alder without modification first in this fabric (it is really likely so as it seems a very good pattern), or maybe I should have bought one of those commercial crossover shirt patterns. Said that, I think I'd try Alder without weird modifications before long and everything will be under control, hehehe.

Did you sew something over the weekend? Just checking! (^_^)


Love,
yoshimi



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Batwing top
pattern: Batwing tunic PDF download (no longer available) from Love Sewing!
fabric: Lightweight cotton jersey, probably polyester blend. Stretches mildly. Slightly stiff and springy. Smooth. Not sheer.

Cache-cœur sleeveless shirt
pattern: Alder from Grainline Studio, heavily modified. Size and shape adjusted for my body type too (raised armhole base, shortened shoulder width and some minor adjustments) .
fabric: Lightweight linen woven fabric, pale pink brown, with off white pinstripes. Slightly sheer but can be worn as a single layer. Crisp and casual. Not too coarse. Typical linen plain woven.


White baggy pants
pattern: Joker from Tamanegi-kobo. The pattern is one of my best favorites of all sewing patterns. I chose one larger size than usual to get loose fitting.
fabric: Cotton linen white stretch, bottom weight. Casual.
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additional pic (2015/July/16)

faux suede scout tee

I bought this pink faux suede polyester fabric in Nippori fabric district in Tokyo when Carolyn and Cassie were spending time with me during their holiday in Japan in January. I thought that very simple blouses in such suede fabrics would be unusual, but at the same time they could be very pretty too. So I decided that one small piece of this pink fabric was my catch of the day. I remember I returned home with a big happy grin, knowing it would bring an experimental fun project.

Although I've made some bags with those faux suede fabrics before(1, 2, 3), this was the first time for me to make a garment with this specific material. I really wasn't sure if the result would be wearable, and it took awhile for me to be enough courageous about the blouse. But you know, you will see how things turn out only after trying them actually for yourself. After all, sewing this blouse was easy-peasy and the result looks not bad at all, to my eyes. I washed the fabric before and also after sewing, and found that there was no problem or shape-changing with soaking the fabric in the water. Now you can agree with me in the safe side that this is a wearable garment, can't you.

I used Grainline Studio's Scout Woven Tee pattern for this blouse. I chose one larger size for my measurement except shoulders that were in my usual size. As the fabric had little flexibility, I think I did very right about the size. An elastic band was inserted the inside of the bottom hem with zig-zag stitches to get a slight blousing effect, and it makes the wearer looking wearing something soft and balloon-ish and I think it is kinda cute. I altered the neckline to a boat neck and added an invisible zipper in the back center from the top to the halfway down, too. I can put it on and off without the zipper operation, if I tell you the truth, but you really don't have to point it out loud as only garments that have harmless imperfections can be interesting in the squirrelly world, for sure.

I hope you're having a good week!!


Much love,
yoshimi

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spring scout tee in pink faux suede
pattern: Scout Woven Tee from Grainline Studio
intentional choice of one larger size (except around shoulders), boat neck, neckline facing, back zipper, elastic band at hem
fabric: Polyester faux suede (aka ultrasuede) in light salmon pink
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Grainline Studio Tiny Pocket Tank 2 - and my adjustment

Happy Birthday Dear N, I'm wearing this top for celebrating your birthday, because I know you would like it.

I made another Tiny Pocket Tank in a floral print. I think it's lovely. Great for summer.

*
Today I am unusually posting about my sewing process of my creations (what a lazy sewist blogger I am...) I was initially thinking I'd just be silent about the pattern alteration that I made to my new and floral Tiny Pocket Tank as usual, but I changed my mind. For making a new tank, I wanted to release the horizontal creases of pulling which had been seen just above my busts of the first tank, and thought that some of you may like to know what I'd do in such case, as it seemed there were some people who had similar creases in their tanks as mine.

creases

I think it was not the size (because the highest point of my chests were siting in the first tank top without discomfort, though I noticed that I would better use one larger size for the next try for other reason), but it was the shape that asked some alteration to the pattern. Starting like an expert who can tell something valuable about pattern alterations, I have to confess that I cannot be sure whether my way is the decent way or not, because I only have some books and an internet access but I've never attended any sewing class nor learnt sewing systematically. What I know is it's working to my body. And I am one of those who don't mind fair amount of humps and bumps including creases in the garments generally (because they're a part of your lovely character!) So, never cut your fabric before checking and simulating even if you're having the same issue in your tank, please!


Before getting started

In my opinion, those little woven tops with fewer seams are very often difficult to fit, for many body types, and even for me who never mind fair amount of creases. It doesn't mean the patterns aren't working well, it does mean that all bodies are different to each other even if two individuals in the same size were compared. and fewer seams emphasize this truth. Let's feel easy about changing such patterns and get them personalized :)

 (Note: those patterns in the pictures are miniatures, but not the real ones)

In the case of my tank, changing the length and angle of neckline affects the creases above the top bust.

When the neckline was slightly shortened by moving the shoulder strap area toward FC(1), some severer creases at the interested area were observed (though it is not very well seen in this picture, sorry!) In contrast, and as you already guessed, when an extra 1.25cm of length to the (half) neckline(3), I got less and lighter creases at the area. Please note that lengthening the neckline by this method affected neck opening too much and caused partially revealing of the shoulder straps of my undergarment (which is not very good). And also note that the muslin(3) hangs rather baggy all over. I hope you can see the differences.

click to enlarge, please

Getting started:
What I actually did to the pattern for my floral tank top 

A. to get shallower neckline and longer bust dart
I separated neckline from the blouse and raised by 2cm by sliding the cut piece and then trimmed the excess part off the shoulder. made longer bust dart by just applying farther endpoint.
(*these alterations were not for releasing the creases, but may have changed the shape of the neckline slightly, just to be exact.) 

 B. to release interested creases by lengthening the neckline
I moved the shoulder part toward the side seam by rotating separated shoulder part by about 1.25cm, as shown.

C. to level seam lengths and shape
I trimmed away 1 ~ 1.25cm length of neckline from FC by removing the red area in the picture, and added some simlar length of armhole to underarm by simply extending the line at the side (dashed line in the picture). cut the side line nicely. smoothed the neckline and armhole carefully. This step made my bra straps hidden and also decreased unwanted volume from the front body.

D. to check
I sewed a muslin. I saw several relaxed creases, but I was sure it would be fine in fashion fabrics.

And it's all done.
Sewed the cheerfully printed tank.


I wish you a lovely Friday!
Ciao!

Love,
yoshimi

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Tank top
pattern: Tiny Pocket Tank pattern from Grainline Studio, size, without the pocket
fabric: Floral pattern cotton lawn, shirting weight, light, can be worn as a single layer
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I really love this fabric. It is pretty in real. I insist.

Tiny Pocket Tank (sans pocket)

Hello!
I sewed a tank as a wearable muslin yesterday. This small garment has two layers of very thin silk/cotton lawn and the two layers have different shapes and sizes at bottom hems, so that the garment looks more fluttering. These two layers give a good amount of comfort into the garment for escaping from transparency too. The pattern I used is the Tiny Pocket Tank pattern from Grainline Studio, sans pocket. Knowing that my measurements indicated size 8 in the chart, I used size 4 and felt that I'd better use size 6 next time. I'm getting ready for the Summer!

My husband and I spent some time in Gotemba outlet shopping mall today. It was a nice and bright day, and that is the reason why I could hardly open my eyes in the pictures. (My eyes are least open whenever I smile. The combination of some bright light and a fun day made my eyes transformed into another set of eyebrows, inevitably.)

On the way back home, we stopped by Toraya Kobo which is an experimental small cafe that is operated by a famous Japanese confectionery. Toraya has a small factory for some of their confections in some very quiet place near the shopping mall, and they provide an open and pleasant cafe space where customer can drop in for some green tea with their wagashi confections too. I enjoyed their endlessly refill-able green tea and a seasonal namagashi which tasted both really excellent. With some reason, they don't advertise this cafe really much. Therefore there are always only few people in the space and it is so quiet and almost, well... deserted. That is one of my favorite places to have a Zen moment. (I really hope they won't consider to stop providing the service because of the small number of customers...)

By the way, it's been a month since Carolyn and I started our new photo blog, photo maisonette. I'm enjoying it very much and also finding how I generally see the things that surround me. My photographs are very myopic and it is true that I am quite mentally myopic. It is funny that my photographs don't tell the stories behind the scenes but they do tell what kind of person I am, gradually and progressively.

Happy sewing!

xoxo
yoshimi


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tank top: Tiny Pocket Tank from Grainline Studio
double layered. outer shell has wider hem, longer length.
silk/cotton(60/40) lawn. contrasting bias binding with cotton voile.

stripe cardigan: Fujiko pullover pattern from Tamanegi-kobo
cotton/Nylon gauze jersey. blog post here.

linen pants: Joker pants pattern from Tamanegi-kobo
linen, crepe weave(-ish, not sure)
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Summer hat

I finished my new crochet hat lately. It's a two-tone hat with white and light beige stripes. The stripes are rather thick and er... they somehow remind me of some kind of, well... prison uniforms. Said that, I like these stripes very much and the hat itself as well.

I crocheted it without a decent pattern but basically followed what I did for my previous hat I made in the last summer. I made the brim wider, and also added two crochet flowers on the side this time. Although the brim turned out to be floppy slightly more than I originally wished, I think it's within the OK side. The material is paper tape-like hemp yarn and the hat came out very light and comfortably cool in the sun. Hooray the hemp!

By the way, when I crochet, I'm so free style creator. I don't mind to rip (I mean disassemble, not truly ripping) my crochet at all when it doesn't go as I wish, and it does happen very often. By repeating ripping, I'd eventually meet the results that I can be happy with. This is my crochet tactic and there is usually no respectable recipe in it. Some people have asked me if I could tell them the written patterns I used, especially on hats, but I have never been able to reply with a kind answer since I started being free style. I feel terrible when I reply that I have nothing useful to provide, because I know this would seem that I'm mean and stingy. I wish people could know that I was not stingy but I was stupid. If possible...

Sewing-wise, I'm wearing my new Scout Woven Tee from Grainline Studio and Jade skirt from Tamanegi-kobo in the pictures. The yellow top is made of linen, which is very comfortable and airy. I put a set of funny big and wide pockets whose bottom lines are poking off the hemline, as you can see from the pictures. I put side split slits on both side at hem, and also made the front body shorter and the back longer, which you might not see well from the pictures. The skirt is made of jean denim but has nothing particularly special in itself. However, I am so in love with this skirt at this moment. I am a denim person, I think. How about you?

Have a happy week!


Love,
yoshimi

Thank you, Chigu, for taking those beautiful pictures and our happy lunchtime!

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Summer hat: crochet, improvised pattern.
yarn: manila hemp yarn, a stiff and paper-like tape which is made of hemp fiber, 400m(8skeins)
if you are one of Ravelrers, my project for this hat is here.

Light yellow top: Scout Woven Tee pattern from Grainline Studio
added pockets, shortened front by 4cm, lengthened back by 4cm
I applied facings for neckline, but didn't use bias binding.
Plain woven light linen, chambray.

Jean denim skirt: Jade skirt pattern from Tamanegi-kobo
lengthened by 5cm
Indigo heavy denim, cotton.
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Volume and volume

Hello friends, I've never thought to dress in the "pattern on pattern" way, like small flower print shirt on paisley print skirt, because I think it is difficult to pull off such combo, but today I dress funnily and wore stripes on stripes, accidentally ha-ha-ha...

I was a bit upset when I left home in the morning. The blouse has been finished and untouched for some days and I wanted to try it so badly. I decided to wear it with a skirt that I made yesterday for the blouse, but ended up finding that the eyelets that I put on the skirt as decoration scratched my tights to kill my legs. I told myself to forget the skirt and it was fine by me. However I was not happy with the blouse that was kept neglected. Being upset in the busy morning, I rushed to my closet and instantly grabbed a skirt that was matching to the blouse color-wise. I noticed that the skirt had horizontal stripes but I didn't care. I needed to wear a vertical striped blouse and a horizontal striped skirt together rather than to wait for another day. At the end of the day, I started feeling these aren't that bad together. I even started thinking that it is fun to explore something uncertain/unplanned when choosing outfits.

I made this blouse using Grainline Studio's Scout Woven Tee. I'm happy with its voluminous-ish look, which I intentionally wished. Here is my review for PR:

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Pattern Description: A woven t-shirt with capped sleeves and scoop neck. Fitted at the shoulders, this top falls into a loose shape below the bust. Techniques involved include straight seams, bias binding, setting sleeves and basic hemming.

Pattern Sizing: 0-12. I made size 6 with blending size 4 at around shoulders.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes, I was expecting my one intentionally roomy with size 6 though. (From the chart, I am size 6 at bust. I knew this pattern run a bit large for my measurements from my previous garment.)

Were the instructions easy to follow? Yes, I think so. The instructions have a lot of illustrations, which is great.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I like the design. It is difficult for me to say what exactly makes it  nicer than other similar patterns but I think it surely has some good balance in the simple shape. I have no particular dislike of it so far.

Fabric Used: Cotton blend. Containing silk, polyester, and polyurethane. The fabric I used is stretchy and also a bit parachute-y. There are silk ribbons woven in the fabric and they make stripe effect. I wanted some volume in the blouse so I used this stiff material instead of using soft and drapey fabrics.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: Neckline was executed with facing w/ fusible interfacing instead of binding with bias tape. Sleeves were lengthened by 10cm. I made small tucks at side of sleeve ends to make them slightly balloon shaped. Bodice was shortened by 2cm and hemmed as instructed. I pinched bodice by 4cm in total at around bust area at side seams, at the end of constructions.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? Yes and yes! I love this pattern and would like to make more, using different fabrics and different alterations. You'll need to check how it does fit you by performing at least one experimental sewing, but I think it's very worth trying.

Conclusion: It's a good and simple pattern. It is a good one especially for the people who have just started sewing because it's easy yet not giving disappointing results. That written, I think the people who have experienced the sadness of dart-less/panel-less blouses would love it, too, because they know how difficult it is to achieve a pretty blouse with such few seams.
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By the way, I've signed up for Me-Made-May'13.


'I, yoshimi of "yoshimi the flying squirrel", sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May '13. I endeavour to wear at least one me made garment each day for the duration of May 2013, with no repeats.'


I'm so looking forward to it!
Happy sewing to you and all.

love,
yoshimi

Archer button up shirt

For me, spring is shirt. Correctly, I feel like making shirts at the onset of spring. Sometimes it comes early, sometimes it comes reluctantly. This year the feeling came to me very late, but this time it was very strong. In the night some days ago, Saturday night, I suddenly needed an indigo shirt for this spring. Next morning I went off to the shopping mall for hunting some indigo-dyed dungaree, muttering "dungaree dungaree dungaree, dungaree dungaree dungaree, ..." but without any actual sound. I am sure that there were at least 5 people who heard auditory hallucination from my brain activity in the mall. The emotion was that desperate.

Anyway, at the point I came to the only handcraft shop in the mall, though I was an insane, I was a happy one thinking I was going to buy a nice fabric for my shirt. However, you know what happened, I found that they didn't have any decent apparel fabrics any more. They now have fabrics only for school bags and table napkins (or something similar) because, I dunno, because they decided to annoy me. I was disappointed but couldn't give it up for a while. I hung around its small fabric corner for more than an hour knowing that I was not getting any fiber material from the rack. I sighed. I am mature enough to know that wrong fabrics make wrong clothes. Still muttering, I was finally on my way home. Then I noticed there was one UNIQLO store between me and my car. I dropped in to make a double check they didn't have my fabric either. Well, actually, they had. After spending some more time in UNIQLO and I bought two of men's shirts from the rack of discount, calling them fabrics. I am not doing it all the time, but I allowed myself to do it because it was a bad day.

And here you see my new dungaree shirt. The pattern is Archer button up shirt from Grainline Studio. I know some of you would like to see someone else's version of Archer shirt to check how it is like because it was released quite recently. I hope it helps you a bit.

Sleeve tops have unfaded sections from inside of the shoulder seams of the original shirt.

plackets and pockets are left intact. never mind the narrow space between 1st and 2nd button holes!

It has the seams that were originally side seams in the lower back because of the fabric width limitation. You may be distinguishing the old threads(yellowish off white) from new ones(off white).

I am so happy with my new shirt. I think it is my best favorite shirt ever. I am so glad that I dared to allow myself to consume two functioning (not for me though) shirts to get my material. I am guilty but I'd count it as good that I learned a lot about constructions and inner materials of retailed shirts during disassembling. It wasn't a plan. But it was a very happy ending on the whole. On the whole. Okay, this is my say. Well... thank you for your patience!

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Shirt
Pattern: Archer button up shirt from Grainline Studio
-styleB
-size6, graded down to size4 only around shoulders
-front plackets and front pockets were transplanted from one of the material shirts without disassembling.
-sleeves were shortened because the shortage of material.
-height of collars was lowered by 0.5cm
(my measurements are 166-91-72-91cm/5'5"-36-28-36inch)
Fabric: Shirting cotton plain woven, probably chambray, or thinner dungaree, indigo blue, micro-dots in off white, pre-washed, resourced from retailed men's shirts

Pants
Pattern: Stretch skinny pants from Pumila (shop closed)
Fabric: Stretch cotton twill, very light gray
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Talk to you soon!!
xoxo

yoshimi