7 Stylish Dress M

My very first Japanese Pattern book I purchased and my absolute favorite. Seriously.

I've already made a shirt for me (pattern "B") sometime back, a dress for Sophie (pattern "N") and now I've made pattern "M" for moi.

I made two slight alterations. I added about 1 1/2" to the length of the top so that it would hit just above the waist and I shortened the length of the skirt. Also, the pattern is very loose and really, only skinny tall girls can get away with such a loose fitted dress and not have it looking like a moo-moo. So being height challenged and "blessed" with chid-bearing hips, I opted to add a belt to give me shape.

Eyelet... a lovely fabric, no? I always associate this fabric with dainty little girls' Easter dresses. In fact my mom made me dress when I was little. Mine was mint green. I still need to make an underskirt. It might be a bit too risque to wear it without one, ay? Which explains why there's no photo of me in this dress. Oh dear, I wouldn't want to scare you away!

*wink*

Pics to come... SOON!

2 stop... waiting... brewing

So here's something other than sewing! One of my many creative endeavors. It's good to break away from one craft and delve into something else. It helps me to refocus and rejuvenate.

It started with the rainbows (bottom right). I love that design and had even used it in my old blog as a background. Then I started to dot. Dot-dot-dot...dot-dot-dot... and then I stopped. I didn't know where to go so I wrapped it up and placed it in a safe place so my mind can brew.
It'll come to me.
And when it does, I'll paint again... and I did.
I painted curved branches with flower buds (not shown) and as I am typing I just realized I didn't take any pics of that side... what the heck?! Anyways, I did a wax release method with a pale orange background. Organic and soothing... trust me.
I came to a stop.
Waiting... brewing...
Look! There's a tree with a special carving of my beloved and me!
Stop.
Waiting... brewing...
I thought of leaves and a vine, and I've seen this design replicated in different ways on various textiles. Then I thought, "why not add make it a bit more personal" and hence our family name.
And so here is where I am now.

You can see a pinch of the wax release design. Dumb me. How could I have missed that?! Well... not all is lost.
Once this is done, I have a poem (I don't know if it's really a poem per say)that I wrote and I want to transfer it to the inside. It actually came from one of my old blogs posts. Here it goes:


When the money well runs dry and your stomach rumbles, 
when the sunshine is clouded, 
always know you are loved. 
When there is love, there is hope. 
There is joy to lighten your step. 
Respect those who care and the favor returns, 
ten fold. 
It is with love, 
will you endure the roughest seas and the darkest moments in life. 
LOVE is the greatest gift to have 
and even greater to give.


This came to me as I was drawing on our kitchen chalkboard. It was a rough time in my life (and that's a whole 'nother post). I want to have it somewhere where I can see it and be reminded how blessed I am.


So once the bowl is finished, I'll show you. Almost there...