I love Nani Iro (Riding peplum top and Zippy top)

Posted on June 26, 2014 by Lala

Another Riding peplum top here (my fourth) using Nani Iro Sen Ritsu double gauze. When Simon saw me trying it on, he said “that’s summery!”. Well, that’s good enough for me. It’s a size small with 3/4 seam allowance at the sides just to cinch it in a little bit. I french seamed the shoulder seams but got a bit lazy in the end and just overlocked the side seams. I followed Andrea’s narrow hem by serger tip and I like it! It really makes folding the hem easier, I’m not fond of using the iron to press tiny hems because I always seem to steam my fingers, ouch. I’ll definitely use this technique of hemming again but maybe not with a double gauze fabric because I think I sort of stretched the hem, good thing it’s a peplum and no one will notice it.

I got the Nani Iro fabric from MissMatatabi as usual, and oh it just so happens that June is Nani Iro Month.

How pretty is this fabric, right?

I bought 2.5 meters of this fabric so I even managed to make another top – a Zippy top and as with my previous tops, I skipped the facings and zipper and just used bias binding. I’ve cut it a month ago though so now I can’t remember if it’s a small or a medium haha, probably a medium. When I tried it on though, a purple flower was right on top of my left boob and I can’t stop looking at it. So it’s patch pocket to the rescue.

before the patch pocket, yaiks

Nani Iro Staple dress

Posted on May 10, 2014 by Lala

I made another Staple dress. This is actually my 6th(!) Staple dress but I only blogged about the first one. This time, I used a pretty and oh so soft Nani Iro double gauze fabric called Sen Ritsu D – Japan from Miss Matatabi. It’s my favorite among all my staple dresses and I know I should move on to another pattern but it’s so easy to wear that I most probably will make another one, I’m thinking of a polka dot Nani Iro.

I wanted this to be a fast make so I skipped the pockets. I french seamed the side and shoulder seams, made 6 lines of shirring, and used happy yellow bias tapes and elastic thread. I recently bought the Zippy top pdf pattern so that’s my plan this weekend, make a few easy tops. Happy weekend everyone!

More Riding peplum tops

Posted on April 4, 2014 by Lala

It’s been quiet here for the past 2 months, it seemed a long time ago now but I had a nice long holiday in the Philippines and Cambodia and I had something like LASIK (they call it RELEX here in Singapore) done to my eyes. So no more contact lenses for me ever :)! I’ve done some sewing, mostly basic stuff because after a year of sewing, the chicken in me still avoid anything that involves zippers and buttons and linings. So here are two more Riding peplum tops from April Rhodes, I still used Size S but unlike my Chambray Riding peplum top, the fit is not tight at all, I even had to pinch a bit on the sides of the yellow and blue geometric top. I got the fabric from Spotlight for 16 dollars per meter (I bought 2 meters and made one more shirt out of it), the label said it was linen and rayon. It’s very light and I like the drape, it’s just that a slight breeze can lift the peplum up so I have to remember to hold it when I’m outdoors.

This next top was actually my first Riding peplum top but I only got to take photos of it now. The fabric is Nani Iro Nuance Muji wata double gauze from Miss Matatabi, and I love it! It’s soft and comfortable and the blue and gray colours look amazing, this is one of my most worn handmade tops.

I have 3 Riding peplum tops now and I’ve just finished cutting my fourth one 🙂

Chambray Riding Peplum top

Posted on January 1, 2014 by Lala

This is actually my second Riding Peplum top . I’m obsessed with this latest pattern from April Rhodes that I’m planning to cut my third top tonight. It’s really easy to make with 4 pattern pieces and I only used 1.2 meters of fabric for a Size S top. The fabric is the very popular Robert Kaufmann’s Chambray Union with tiny woven dots and the fabric is so soft and lovely, it’s quite perfect for this top.

The side and shoulder seams were french seamed, for the waist seam I used simulated french seam and for the hem I used my new favorite method of hemming from Grainline’s easy roll hem method. I also used Grainline’s armhole and neck binding method, I’ve used this method a couple of times before so I didn’t read the instructions anymore and I only realized later that I clipped the seam binding only instead of clipping the garment seam. Aargh that’s why it’s not laying as flat as usual. It still looks ok though (or I don’t want to unpick it anymore).

I’m not quite sure what happened because this top turned a bit tight that I had to wear a non-padded, non-wire bra so I can wear it comfortably. My first top (which I haven’t photographed yet) was a bit loose in the same size S but I used a Nani Iro double gauze fabric for it so I’m not sure if I stretched my first top. Anyway, I love them both and I hope to solve the mystery with the third top soon.

I also bought my sewing machine around this time last year and I’m so glad I did! I can’t wait to learn more and sew more 🙂

My first rolled hem

Very neat insides 🙂

The Staple dress

Posted on September 3, 2013 by Lala

I’m very happy with this dress that I’m wearing it to work today. I’ve seen so many beautiful versions of it like Meredith’s and Abbey’s and Rae’s that I finally bought the paper pattern last week. This is by the way April Rhodes’ The Staple dress pattern. I love it that she used nice thick white paper instead of tissue paper so it was so much easier to trace. It’s tagged as a beginner pattern and I learned new skills like shirring, pinked seams and hidden pockets! I worked on it for 3 nights (I’m very slow) and I was so nervous about the shirring that I was tempted to leave it out because I already liked the dress with a belt when I tried it on. I practiced a lot that the 10m reel was almost used up by the time I finish the dress and what worked for me (my machine’s a Brother NV30 and I I used Gutermann elastic thread) was giving it a bit of tension when I was winding the elastic thread in my bobbin. I tried at first winding the thread without stretching but it ended flat and didn’t gather at all. Anyway, I followed the pattern’s instructions and blasted the shirring with steam and the shirring gathered even more. I made 4 rows of shirring and I’ll probably try 6 rows on my next Staple to cinch in the waist more. I made a size S but I might try the XS next time like Janey.

I got my fabric in Chinatown for 12 sgd a meter (it was the last 3.x meters) and the Auntie even gave me her sample square of the fabric which was around 20×20 inches and this is what I used for the neck and sleeve bindings. I think I have a leftover enough for another top and bias bindings. Yay! It’s the softest and silkiest fabric I’ve ever worked on, it’s even softer than voile but the selvedge just said 100% cotton made in Japan. Now that I’m wearing it, I can see that it creases on the skirt area but the pattern is quite busy so it’s ok and it sort of reminds of a Nani Iro Painting Muji fabric so yes I love it!