After almost four years...

Rachelle finally came to Singapore!

We spent time with the girls and the default leading man who took the photo.

Today was a fun day, tomorrow should be another :)

watercolored

I rarely find printed fabric that I like, so imagine my surprise when I saw this. It is satin but the backside is matte. Perfect! Naturally, I used this side. The colors are very faint, like watercolor. The background of the fabric is cream colored--a bonus.

As the cloth was not exactly cheap, I got the minimum amount to make a dress. Later I got so worried that I won't have enough. Thanks to careful planning, I had enough to make a maxi dress. The picture shows the amount of scrap cloth I had after sewing. No joke, that is everything!

Initially, I thought I would keep it as the one in the left photo, I could just put on a belt when I feel like it. I have a few belts that would go well with the dress. But then, I thought that it looked unfinished. So I added a detail.

I think it looks so much better. I can't wait to wear this!

layered :)

My niece cut her hair and excitedly told her mom "Look Mama, I'm so pretty!".

I was laughing so hard when my sister told me because I did the same when I was a kid. I think I got spanked then I went to our room (I shared a room with my sister), locked the door, took the scissors from the sewing kit and chopped off my bangs. I realized later that it was not flattering and regretted the act. I know a few people who did the same, usually for the same reasons.

I do know of a certain boy who did it because he wanted to improve his haircut--he has that thing in common with A.

Anyways, Ar is still cute. In fact, I am guessing that after my sister gets the hair evened out this weekend, she will look more like Dora.

double ponchoish retaso and dumbo

I made two more Ponchoish pieces today. When gathering the excess cloth to throw away, I was suddenly reminded of a childhood favorite story book, Dumbo. I think I would be the only person who think of Dumbo faced with this mess.

Yukata? Kaya yata.

My colleague was very kind to get me a Yukata from her recent visit to Japan. And I couldn't wait to make my own version. I however, was not able get enough cloth and as a result I made something inspired by the Yukata.

This is the right side of the fabric that I had. The outline is silver and it is more sparkly that it appears in the photo. I'm sure that the outline will wash off in time, but I can't wait that long. Obviously, I refused to use this side. This is a cotton fabric, by the way.

This is (obviously) the back side of the cloth. It is very casual and somewhat has a washed out look. It is perfect (for me).

I think I would like to wear it as it is with leggings or pants. It is very comfortable, you can do jumping jacks with ease wearing this top.

I could wear it with an obi too. I didn't make this obi, but I plan to make a few very soon.

Photos with my arms outstretched. I have no idea what situation will require me to pose like this so I could show off the sleeves. Maybe I should ask the regulars to play patintero this weekend.

Ants Marching

I could just go on and on about this dress. I like it so much. First off, it is in my favorite color, exciting white, it is cotton so it is very easy to sew and comfortable to wear. The print is very subtle too, it doesn't distract you from noticing the details of the dress. Plus it is not intrusive to me visually (Roch, I understand that we are different, I respect that, it doesn't make me want to see you less).

The print on the fabric is so cute. I like the fact that at first glance it just seems as though there are small hints of color here and there, but if you look closely--ants! Orange, blue, gray and brown ones! (Someone seems sweet. Hahahahaha.)

I put in one pocket to balance my favorite part of the dress which is featured in the next photo.

The strap! I am so excited about the strap. I was able to get some D-rings yesterday and I couldn't wait to make something. If you should know, I got home around 1AM, took a shower, fixed up, started sewing and ended up sleeping past 5AM. That is excited for you.

Poncho-ish

I love this fabric, it is so soft and it feels nice against the skin. It comes in a lot of colors too (I think Miss October, November and December are going somewhere again real soon), I am very much tempted to get a few more. I had to buy a different machine needle to sew this and working on it is not very easy. One fold and the machine chokes and ruins the fabric. I like how this one turned out and I must say that personally, I think it was worth the effort. The only sad note I have about this is that I ran out of fabric, I was intending to add some detail to it.

Long Top

I made a top a long time ago. It is a very easy piece, I intend to use it as a cover up when I go to the beach. I like the fabric a lot, it is very comfortable and the print had a diagonal orientation so I didn't have a hard time slanting the cloth at an angle when I was cutting it. Nothing special about it, although I knotted the strap before sewing so it gathers a bit.

someday

I was in the bus on my way to work and there was a pogi boy (with a very clean haircut) of around 8 years in front of me with his nanny. I was holding on the headset of the seat and I felt pressure on my ring, I looked down and saw that nothing was hitting it anymore, I moved my hand a bit. Then it happened again, and again, I moved my hand each time.

I tried to ignore it, then for no reason, I looked down and saw pogi boy pressing on the ring. He looked away when he saw me looking. His nanny realized what was happening and told him off, he immediately pressed on my ring again then moved closer to the exit doors.

Admittedly, it is quite cute. I hope though that this pogi boy doesn't grow touching and pressing anything he feels like ummmm touching--and pressing, otherwise, girls beware, be afraid, be very afraid.

Turtle Power

I am so glad I finally finished this dress. I had been wanting to make a casual weekend dress that isn't too casual.

I spend extra time sewing a pouch on the dress. I might as well have one hand in my (pouch) pocket and the other one hitting a high five!

I also put a lot of effort to add more detail by utilizing other stitches. I finished the collar, arm hole and hem with the honeycomb stitch edged by a triple running stitch. These make the edges sharper. Should look interesting on a linen dress.

Here is the usual (seemingly suspect line up) photo.

assembler?

I recently had an inventory of my jewelry (and was not surprised to realize that these are no crown jewels) and found out that there were a few items I never wore. To mitigate the situation I scouted the internet for some tahitian pearls, I figured I could string a few with different colors, something like a spectrum of green into an invisible omega that I have had for ages. Because I scrimped, I ended up winning two of the five pearls--so much for my spectrum.

A genius (or indulgent) idea came to me last night, I could play jewelry designer and make a lariat necklace off the pearls and a necklace given by a friend (Kristine, this is you). I'm trying to be modest here, but I think I did well! When I looked at the finished product, I could not stop smiling.

(I didn't assemble it with my bare hands, I needed special tools though, these comprised of a cuticle nipper, scissors and tweezers. It was also convenient that the pearl seller half-drilled the pearls for me.)

favorite fabric

This is my favorite fabric ever. I almost never buy printed clothes and it is very rare that I get printed cloth. This one however, excited me. I even took a snapshot and used it as my mobile's background and God knows I never personalize anything. For years, my ringtone has been the nokia theme and you can well image that the theme as it was when I got the unit (It is quite simple to be me). I think it has been established just how much I like this cloth.

I took extra time cutting the cloth and even utilized a french curve. I didn't use a pattern (I still haven't used a pattern until now!), instead I measured a top that I have and tweaked the measurements to go from a button down poloshirt style collar to a have round neckline with a side slit (think: cheongsam minus the collar) dress instead. I also got carried away and curved the hem similar to a dress that I have which I am very fond of.

After much sewing with tons of detailing, I was quite happy with the end result. It looked even better after our dear Neneng has ironed it. It looked crisp at the edges without looking too stiff.

I feel (and look) stupid raising my arms like that, but it is the only way the shape of the dress could be seen. As usual, I am pissed with my photography, the dress looks better in person.

I wore this on Saturday. Saturday was fun, we had hot dark chocolate at Max Brenner, saw a play, had kare-kare and lechon kawali and fabric shopped. I'd like to thank Miss October for watching Avenue Q (for the second time) with me. (Btw, I got a fever when I got home, but Saturday was well worth the binat!)

juZt niZe

On the train home, I saw a girl carry a bag that says ME Bizness Apparel. I smiled. I know two other girls who would smile (or howl in laughter) to themselves (or everyone within three meters) at the sight of this bag.

One question: Is there some conspiracy to replace consonants with Z as often as possible?

I am sure this is not what I mean when I say I need to catch some zzzzs.

(I refuse to type the three letter word consisting only of an i and zs.)

what now?

When you run across something that you know would never get old, what do you do? Duck? Block? Look away? Walk away? Stand there and watch?

shiny and new

I think I have quite a lot of time in my hands the past few days. I am suddenly remembering things that I would have known in the past but chose to block. I feel like I accidentally re-learnt riding a bike and shockingly, I realized that I had been riding the bike wrong (there is an argument there that there is no "right way" when it comes to riding bikes and other potentially enjoyable and possibly, dangerous activities or engagements). I guess my point is that, I read the whole bike thing wrong. And I feel like a moron.

It will get old. I tend to tell myself that a lot, especially lately. I won't go into the details. I'm sure it is true, I just don't know how long it would take.

what's the point in my pride?

My sister sent over her mp3 player as she claims that something is wrong with the power (it is now working after I updated the firmware) and she now sports a new (and as usual, so much cooler than the older ones) iPod. Good for her.

I am still using my first edition Nano.

Anyways, this entry is about a song. As I was fidgeting over the player when I came across a song I liked so much but somehow forgot all about. I'm not the type to post lyrics (I indulged on it once in the past) so I won't. But if you know the song, I'm pretty sure you'd understand my enthusiasm. It's kinda cute.

I am not sure if this is a remake, but this old song sounds older.

sunny disposition from a dress

I woke up feeling pain in my abdomen, it is not because I did crunches, because I didn't. I think it is related to the monthly thing. I took one pain killer then a bath hoping that when I finish getting ready for work, the pain would have subsided. It didn't falter.

I called my boss then went back to bed. I tossed and turn for nearly an hour but my middle still hurt. I popped another pill. I waited. Nothing. No change.

At lunch time I was sure I needed to go to the doctor. When I got there, I found out that the clinic has discontinued their alliance with my insurance company so I had to call to inquire what could be done. I was lucky enough that there was a clinic at the same building tied up with my insurance company--and the doctor was quite good too.

After taking another pill (this time from the doctor) the pain was still just barely bearable plus I was feeling hungry too as I didn't have anything but water since I woke up. I headed to a deli at the basement of the building where I absolutely love the parma ham and arugula pizza. It was out of stock. I left the place and headed to the opposite shop where I remembered wanting to try the roast chicken. As I as in the booth I told the waiter that I wanted the roast chicken and a coke light. Minutes later the drink came and with it, a message from the manager that they have ran out of my order. I got meatball spaghetti instead. Nothing great, as ordinary as scrambled eggs but somehow it improved the my overall physical state, warm food does wonders to the body.

On my way back it started to rain and I was reminded that it is so cool that I get to stay home wrapped in comforter all day--even if the price I have to pay was pain in my tummy.

With all of today's hassle I surprised myself that I didn't curse or get pissed, I just took it at face value and moved on. Why such great mood? Maybe because I was wearing the yellow dress.

canary yellow? can(vas)!

Lately, I keep finding out that I seem to underestimate the effort behind simple looking dresses. Although this one was straightforward in the cloth cutting department, putting in the details really took a lot of meticulous work. It is my first time to make pockets too! Next time, I'm gonna give the slit pocket a shot.

I was pleasantly surprised with how this one worked out, as the cloth was so much thicker than what was ideal for such dress. And who would have thought I would wear a yellow dress.

back to almost basic gray

I was very much inspired by Halloween costumes that I decided to make a peasant-ish dress. Of course I am not aiming for a costume, just something that hints of the mentioned inspiration (feeling artist hahaha). I used the back side of a fabric that I got a few days ago because I felt that the front side was too loud. The dalmatian print did not encourage me to explore more drastic patterns. You can't imagine how much that dress stands out in my closet. I used the front side of the fabric to make the belt though. I thought it looked nice that way.

The dress looks nice with my wrestler belt too. Maybe I'll post a photo after the dress has been washed and ironed.

a very simple complicated dress

You can imagine how totally exhausting it is to take pictures of clothes that you sew. I accidentally pressed the button, it is like I am gesturing the loser L sign to myself. Great.

This looks simple enough but trust me, it is quite tricky, I suddenly have some respect to similar clothes (from this specific shop) which I bought. I ended up doing a lot of tweaking to make this dress wearable. I did take my time on the finishing as a dress (that seems) this simple should be well finished, otherwise it just looks like you wore a flour sack hoping it would pass off as a dress. I don't think I would sew a dress like this again. Oh, and one would notice that I picked a fabric more colorful and printed then those that I usually wear. I could almost hear a certain Ms. October say that you can actually break free from the norm. This is me, living dangerously (I feel like a Dalmatian).

seriously sewing

I had been sewing non-stop the past week (I think sewing, dream sewing, talk sewing--practically live sewing) that I have neglected my resolve to exercise more. I was not able to go to the gym the whole week, no walking sessions too. Although I am itching to sew some more tonight, I would put it off until after some gym time.

ulam ko, patis

I found myself home alone for Sunday lunch. Neneng is off today, my sister in law is still in transit to sg and my brother will be away for one more week. I had to put something together for lunch, the initial intention was to have prawns but upon inspection of our ref, I found that there was none! I cooked garlic in oil and crab fat then put the rice in. To incorporate vegetables into my diet, I sliced some tomatoes to go with the meal. I ended up having patis (fish sauce) as my ulam. This reminds me of what students from a certain school would shout at kids for the other school during NCAA, "Ulam niyo patis".

For dessert, I had one of these.

mosaic or watermark?

I saw an interesting dress online and decided to make something like it, instead of the usual strap, I decided mine would be tied. I need to improve more on the gathering technique though.

The fabric is not easy to work with, the bottom part, that is. I'm not quite sure what kind it is but it is a similar to chiffon, a thicker and more slippery version. I don't particularly favor this fabric because it is not agreeable with the weather and never mind if the colors are not the ones I would usually go for (the strap fabric should make it more me) but the pattern was something I could not resists. I can't decide if it looks like mosaic or watermarks, either way, I really like it.

I'd like to thank Roch for getting me the multi-colored tailor's chalk and more pins. It was my first time to use the blue marker, and it looks very good. It even matched the khaki of the fabric. And I never run out of pins anymore!

I can't seem to capture the actual colors of the dress.

waterproof-ish

I was so happy with the dress I made yesterday, and this isn't me justifying staying home on a Friday night to sew. I applied the facing technique on the armholes and neckline of the dress, I had been wanting to try it out for a very long time and finally, I've done it. I also made a pattern myself, as I have never bought (or used) a pattern before (and haven't seen one pattern that I would willingly buy) I measured the polo dress I was wearing yesterday for a collarless-and-sleeveless-and-buttonless counterpart. Of course I had to tweak the measurements and cutting a bit to get some of the "effects" that I wanted. The photos doesn't quite capture the dress, I was disappointed after looking at the pictures, the dress isn't photogenic. I used the seemingly waterproof cloth, similar to the ones commonly used for casual non-industrial cargo pants.

Although I didn't write in code, I think I am the only one who could understand these.

I think the neckline is my favorite part of the dress. And it is not because I spent a lot of time on it, but because it is not only comfortable, but also fits right into my clothing preference bank.

Whenever I see (or remember) that the front and back patterns are not at all symmetrical, I smile to myself. This is so cool!

This looks simple enough but it took me nearly four hours to make it, these includes measuring the other dress, noting the measurements, drawing into my sewing journal, drawing on the cloth, cutting the cloth, figuring out how to do the facing, sewing, cutting extra thread and containing my excitement.

I really wish I could take better pictures of the clothes that I make.

lightning lightning

I was telling my friend that I was looking for a cloth with a hound's tooth pattern so that I could make it into a dress.

T: I hope I can find something with a hound's tooth patten, black with some other color, instead of the usual white.
F: Hmmmm. What is that pattern nga pala?
T: It isn't checked or plaid, wait, I'll pull something up (googles an image and sends to friend).
F: Oh. Yeah! The pattern na parang lightning lightning.

-0O0-

Here are some photos of the lightning lightning dress with and without the belt that I blogged previously about. I am excited to wear these after ironing. The dress should look a lot neater and the belt more crisp.

I like the dress without the belt too. I can wear it this way on fat days or when going to buffets.

Can you make out where the buttons are from?

This photo not only show the different views of the dress but also my consistency (or the lack of it) in setting up the camera to take pictures of myself.