NANI IRO Fabric ordered

I ordered the Nani Iro fabric.
I was having such a hard time deciding whichi fabric to get.

1) Nani Iro Majorca (spell?)

Or
2) Echino collection



From the start, I liked the Majorca pattern, and thought Echino was a little too plain.
Then I saw this picture.
How pretty is this!!!!

Then I thought, is Majorca too colorful?

So I searched around google to see if anyone made anything out of these fabrics...
Not much found.
But on Kocca website, I saw they made a girl's dress with Majorca, and it was also very pretty, not too flashy.

So I decided on Majorca.
I still want something conservative in black (so I can wear it to work too), but with a little "Bam!"
This should be it!! :)

The price was $26.10 including s/h. Whooooooa!
As a sewing beginner, I couldn't imagine spending this much on a fabric...
I mean, don't we sew to save money?
But I rationalized, that you can't really find this kind of patterns anywhere.
And if you do, it must be at some expensive boutique, and not for $26.

By the way, I'm making a top out of Simplicity 2892, and settled on the pleated one without sleeves.
I wanted to make the gathered one, but it took more fabric...
I didn't want to spend *too* much on a fabric!

I bought a muslin fabric to make the practice run.
When I use Nani Iro, I want everything to be perfect!!

Aaaah when I get better, I really want to make a dress out of Nani Iro!!

Sigh....

So, I'm trying to move onto making clothes.

However, I find it so difficult to find the right FABRICS!!!

The fabric store that I always go to (Aiea Fabric Mart) doesn't seem to have what I'm looking for...

They have lots of cotton printed fabrics, but not the texture I'm looking for.

I want something very soft, enough to make it a pajama.

What they have all seem to have the crunchy, hard feel to it.

I asked what kind of knit fabrics they have... and they all seemed to be too thick.



Since my family lives in Japan, I go there often and always (of course) shop for clothes.

Their material is so much better!!

During the summer, their material seem to be much lighter and breezy compared to the U.S. ones.

Especially it's always so hot in Hawaii, it's nice to have that kind of fabrics here.



...Then I found them. On Etsy. (Hooray for Etsy once again!)

Under "Japanese fabrics", they have double gauze fabrics with collection name "Nani Iro."

They're priced about $12-16/yd.

It seemed a little too pricey for me, so I checked their Japanese site.

(Good thing I can still read Japanese, ya?)

And the price wasn't actually that much different. Wow! That's pretty cool!!

Then I started thinking what kind of clothes should I make with this material...

A top? A dress?

I decided I want to use Simplicity 2892. It's a top with ruffle or pleats at the neckline.
So cute!!!
...Then I checked how many yds of fabric I need.
I'm probably size 6-8... They require 2 1/8yrd...
With Nani Iro fabric, that would be over $30!!!!
Hmm.... Is it really worth making your own clothes!?
I think I can get a similar cute shirt for about $10 on sale... (;_;)

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Addition...

Well, the good news is, I found some Japanese website that you can buy these fabrics at 10cm increment. ...Meaning, if I can get a precise measurement, I probably don't need to get 2yds like the pattern suggests.

The bad news is, of course, the shipping.

I found ONE website that ship it for the actual weight, which is about $6.

That's not bad.

The others charge like $15.

So I'm gonna check out the pattern and make sure how much I EXACTLY need!!

Kariza dress into something else

Have you heard of Kariza dress?

It's one of that convertible, multi-size wrap dress that you see at mall kiosk.
When we were on vacation in Maui, I bought it, falling into the tourist trap. (Even though I live in Hawaii!)
Looking at those pretty girls demonstrating it at the kiosk, it seemed like the best thing ever!
It was $60, so I did think about it over and over while we were there.
I bought it on the last day of our vacation.
...That was about 5 years ago.

How is it?
...well... it doesn't work. Ok, at least for me.
Maybe because I'm just too small (4'11", 100lbs), but it just seems like too much fabric wrapped around me.
I even modified it, by chopping some of the sides off, so it's a little smaller.
It still didn't work. It jst didn't look right, because it's just a piece of fabric, with no shape!
I kept going back to it every few months, try it on, and sigh... it still doesn't look right!

But I held on to the dress, just because it's a nice fabric (silk), and because it was $60, I just didn't see myself throwing it away.

Ok, long enough intro.

Since I'm getting deep into sewing, I decided to use this fabric to make something else.


This is the Kariza dress.

I had a pattern, New Look #6437 for a camisole style top and a skirt, so I decided to use this.
I've tried this pattern before, but measured it a little off , so the end product was too small/tight for me, that I gave us sewing. (Ok, I used the measurement without wearing a bra... didn't realize that you need a little allowance for the under garments.)

I'm planning to make a skirt with the top piece, and a strap camisole with the bottom piece.
We'll see how it turns out...
I cut the material, and so far so good. :)

Jewelry pictures

Pictures of jewelries I've made in the past.
I wish I kept all the pictures... :(

Aventurine and Brown pearl set

Purple turquoise, Mother of pearl and Cherry quartz set

Carnelian and Cherry Quartz

Rectangle Onyx

Red turquoise and beads ball set

Lapislazuli and wood beads set

I made this to match jeans...

Blue Mother of pearl set

Hair pins using Swarovski crystals, or Czech beads

My friends called them "Mika pins"

Aventurine and pearl weaved necklace

Weaved necklace using seed beads (and others)

Rose quartz set

Mother of pearl chips and pearl bracelet with Flower clasp

One of my favorite!

Dragon and Phoenix necklace

It's reversible!

Flower motif made with dagger beads

Hooray! Foot attachment

I've been wanting to "upgrade" my sewing machine...
My sewing machine is a basic-basic one, that I bought few years ago when I first started sewing.
What this doesn't have is the "overlock/overcast" option.
You can use this option to sew the edges of fabrics to prevent frey.
I've been wanting this option for the longest time, because I really want to start sewing clothes.

I've tried sewing a dress before, when I didn't know about this overlocking concept.
So although my dress turned out ok, from outside, the fabric was starting to frey inside.
I could hem them, but it'll just make it bulky...
Then I found out about overlocking option, and that my sewing machine doesn't have it. :(

So I was looking into buying a new sewing machine...
A better sewing machine with overlocking option?
Or should I just go overboard and buy a serger?
Hmm....

Then I found out that my sewing machine actually have an optional "overlock foot" that I can purchase!!! I don't need a new sewing machine!!! Hooray!!!
Of course it would be nice to just get a new sewing machine, but after spending $800 on new waterheater this week, new sewing machine would be a luxury item that I don't need...
"The need to have first, not want to have."

I found out that this foot costs about $15.
...I also found out that some companies charges $70 to ship this to Hawaii. Are they crazy!?
I found it on good o' ebay for $15 with free shipping. Gotta love ebay!!!

Watch out, world! I'm moving onto making clothes!!!

Purse pictures

Sometimes I email the link to my blog pages to someone from Etsy who's interested in my bags... After so many purse updates, there're few pages to list.

So I decided to put all pictures together in one page. Much easier to see!

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

This is the bag I made for my friend's birthday gift. It's reversible! :)

"Mother-and-daughter" matching bags.



Wristlets

Bamboo handle bag for "Aunties"


This is the diaper bag I made for my friend who just had a beautiful baby boy. :)
I always wanted a sling diaper bag, with lots of pockets.

Front

Back

Lots of pockets inside... with elastic bands to fit different size of things... I even made pockets for pens! Don't you hate looking for pens all over your purse?

A purse made with placemats. :) Sold on Etsy! :)

Newest... Shoulder Bag. I love this fabric!!

Shoulder Bag

I finally got a fabric that I've been wanted.
I've been eyeing this fabric, but I wanted it even more, after I went to the LeSportSac store with my sister-in-law.
Their "Hawaii edition" prints were similar to this.
And looking at their price... $20 for a cosmetic bag? $40 for a shoulder bag? At an outlet?
I think I can make it... so while my sister-in-law was shopping, I kept looking at their style to see which one I wanted to make.


They had a really cute, big slouchy bag, that my sister-in-law got for my other sister-in-law.
It was so cute, but I've been getting tired of big bags... They are so nice because you can fit everything in, but I can't find anything!!! I can barely find my cell phone.

So I decided to make a shoulder bag that I can just fit my wallet & cell phone.
Ta-Dah! :)


However, this is a prototype... There're so many things that I want to add, that one of these days I'm gonna take it all apart and do it all over.

First of all... I want to add another zipper pocket.
I fit my wallet in the big main pocket, and my cell phone in the outer pocket.
But it would be nice to have another pocket underneath, to fit my lipstick.
I can put it together with my cell phone now, but what's the fun in that?

Second, I want to add an adjuster to my strap.
It's fine now because I measured it to fit me, but it would be good to have an adjuster if I were to make it for someone else.

Third, I think I want to use a thicker interfacing. I guess it's not thick enough right now, that the shape of the purse changes depending on what I put inside.
I want something more stiffer so it'll hold the shape.

Cute though, yea? :)

Fundraising

I'm putting some of my creations on Etsy.
I'm trying to "raise a fund" to buy me a new sewing machine!!
The one I have is a basic-basic sewing machine, that I bought maybe 5-6 years ago when I first started sewing.
What I want is a sewing machine that would "close-sew" the edges so it won't fringe. (I'm sure there's a term for it)
Then I can start making clothes!!!

I could probably just buy the sewing machine, but I don't feel right just spending $200 on my hobby, when I already have a perfectly good working sewing machine.
So I'm trying to raise fund by selling my hobby products, then use the money to buy it.
Then I don't feel too bad...

Bag saga continues...

X'mas is done, and my baby boy's 1st birthday party is done.
I need something to do!!!

I'm still into bag making...
My next project is a YOGA MAT.

Well, first of all, I want to make a little shoulder bag for my best friend's daughter who's turning 4 in February. That should be easy.

Next one is my sister-in-law who was in town to help with our baby's birthday party.
She was such a good company to have.
I think I'm gonna make her another purse too.

...Then, I have a cousin-in-law who takes yoga class, so I think I want to make her a yoga bag.

Hmm... is that enough bags to make???