I've moved.

Sorry for disappearing for awhile. I haven't stopped sewing or anything like that. I've gotten lazy keeping up this blog and have been posting my new sewing projects over at my main blog: Apple Buni. So if you are still interested in what I've been up to than come over and take a peek. Just click on the sewing category and you'll see all my sewing posts. I'll be seeing you there.

Kawaii Fabric Delivery

I love getting kawaii wrapped packages. Look at the cute Washi tape! *high pitched squeal** Especially when that package contains kawaii Japanese fabric. I just received some fabric from Staci at A Vintage Fairytale on Etsy. I made my purchase on Thursday and received it on Monday. Superfast and beautifully wrapped. I even received some cute little extras. See the upper right box.

Thank you so much Staci. I love all my items. I can't wait to get started and sew something.

And if you're wondering about the other pictures I promised? Well, I just finished another dress over the weekend, but made the stupid mistake of trying to line a stretch rayon with a slippery acetate. A slippery knit material with a slippery woven material. These things don't mix. They don't hang right. They just don't look good together. Sometimes I really think I should just stop sewing clothes altogether. I never seem to learn. I will display my shame soon. I promise. For real this time.

Hope your sewing endeavours are better than mine.

xoxo

The Experienced Novice

Hello Kitty meets Liberty of London



Photo from Fabric.com.


Has anyone seen this yet?? Liberty of London has collaborated with Hello Kitty and created some limited edition prints from their famous tana lawn. Aaaaahhh. I am just drooling over this. I found these beauties over at Fabric.com. Why must you torment me while I am still on my fabric diet!

My personal favorite.

Can you just picture all the cute things you can make from these fabrics.

I see bags, scarves, skirts and so much more. My mind is just reeling with ideas. I have to take a deep breath, step back and put down the credit card. These fabric pieces aren't cheap. Especially when they are being sold at $32/yard. I will need to save and plan my projects accordingly.

Please let me know if you have made anything from these fabrics because I am dying to know how to look like once they're made into something. *sigh* Now I'm off to dream about future Hello Kitty fabric projects. Happy sewing everyone.

Paradise Kiss the Movie

Again I have been missing action. Alas, I've been busy doing so many things that I will hopefully post about real soon. First, I need to talk about something I have just heard about. Paradise Kiss (the Manga) has been released as a movie in Japan. AAAAAAaaahhhh!!! I can't believe it. My blog was originally named after Paradise Kiss and I even named my dressform Yukari (the heroine of the manga).

If you don't know what I'm talking about than go here. I found the trailer for the movie on Youtube and posted it below for your viewing pleasure.

And if you're wondering what any of this has to do with sewing. I'll state that reading this manga had rekindled my interest in sewing clothes back when it first came out in English 2001-2002. I was still living in San Jose at the time and had no access to a sewing machine, but I swore I would sew my own clothes one day. Okay, enough gushing. I swear I will go back to my sewing posts. I already finished a Lolita inspired skirt and a top. Just need to take pictures. Happy sewing everyone.

Sakura Top & Beach Bags

A had little bit of rayon fabric leftover from my Simplicity 7500 dress and realized that it was just the right size for a pillow case tunic. I used the dimensions for a pillow case top using the tutorial from the blog A Beautiful Mess. I added red straps using some red jersey fabric I had lying around. Unfortunately, my photographer was too busy to take a picture of me wearing it so Yukari (my dummy) will model it for me.


 I was really pleased with how easy this top came together. I think its because I used my serger for most of the seams. No need to worry about fraying like the first time I used this fabric.


 And because pillow case tops are very shapeless, which isn't very flattering on me. I decided that I needed some type of sash or belt for it. I remembered admiring some American Apparel scarves (see below) that can also double as a sash.

So I made one myself using the same jersey fabric that was I used for my straps. My scarf ended up a little bit skinnier than the American Apparel versions, but I still like it. Reminds me of the "spring" scarves that I used to see people wear.

I am so in love with it and how easy it was to make. I didn't use any pattern or tutorial. Just cut out two 6" x 2 yard lengths of jersey or any super stretchy material. Pin fabric pieces right sides together and serge (1/2 inch seam) all the way around leaving room at one end to turn the fabric right side out. Sew your opening closed, iron if you want to and sit back and admire your work. I might even make a tutorial with pictures if anyone is interested. I'm planning on making more scarves using some leftover knit fabric.


 

I was also in a bag making mood after I was finished with my top so I made myself a canvas beach bag using some IKEA fabric that my baby brother picked up for me two years ago. I used the tutorial from Elle Apparel. I love how the bag turned out. The bag has lots of room and the picture below has two towels and lots of swim suits. I might make some small bags to hold mine and Buni's swimsuits and maybe a bag for dirty clothes.

You can't really tell since the fabric is so busy, but I sewed my first pocket and even added a little bit something if you look closely. Do you see it?


 How about now? A little Apple-Buni tag. Back to some more sewing. Happy weekend everyone.

Crayon Roll

I've been wanting to make one of these crayon rolls ever since I first saw them on the web 2 years ago. Now that my daughter Buni is really into drawing I thought this would be perfect thing to make for her so she can color when we are out and about.
The web is chock full of tutorials on how to make crayon rolls. Just GOOGLE crayon roll tutorials and whole bunch of tutorials will pop up. I got the idea to make mine from reading a tutorial on how to make a purse organizer. My crayon roll is 12 inches wide by 5 inches tall and holds twelve crayons. The fabric I used are two fat quarters I got on sale at Joanns. The acorn fabric is an old Michael Miller design.

Front View

I didn't take a picture of it, but the top half of the crayon roll folds down to cover the crayons and keep them from falling out.

Back View

If you have questions on how I made this than leave me a comment. Happy sewing.

Stitch Diaries & Sewing Feet

During my hiatus I celebrated my birthday by purchasing some (Distinctive brand) sewing feet from Amazon.




As soon as I got my sewing feet I started to try them out and realized that I needed a way to document the settings that I used on my sewing machine since each foot requires different settings. I also thought it would be useful to have something visual regarding what type of stitching each foot did. Thus my stitch diary was born. My mom told me that they made a similar stitch diary back in High School when she still lived in the Philippines except all the stitches were hand stitched.I initially purchased a SMASH book like the one pictured to act as a mini scrap book, but realized that it is also the perfect size for a stitch diary.

As you can see I sewed on scrap fabric using the various sewing feet I purchased, taped them to my SMASH book with some washi tape and recorded the settings I used.



The edge joining foot on bottom left was a personal favorite. I also loved the ruffler, but have yet to try it on a real project. The narrow hem foot on the top left wasn't my favorite since it took forever to figure out how to use it properly and even then the results weren't very good.




Do you see the button and button hole on the right? That was the first time I sewed a button and buttonhole. So easy after I read the instructions for the one step button hole for my sewing machine. I can't believe I was so afraid to use it. Now I need to find the perfect project to use it on.



The side cutter overlock foot on the left was kind of like having a serger foot for your sewing machine. The side cutter overlock foot cut and overlocked at the same time. Also the picot foot was very similar to the overcast foot so I wasn't too impressed with. Still trying to get my head around all the different kinds of feet. I still have to try my bias tape foot and my pintuck foot. Hopefully I'll be adding more entries into my stitch diary real soon.

If you are interested in the sewing feet I used than do a search for "Distinctive Sewing Feet" on Amazon. The prices are very reasonable. The home decorator kit and the kit with various hemming feet were $50 each. The feet are for low shank sewing machine that can snap on and off. The feet worked for my Brother sewing machine so double check before you purchase it. Happy sewing.