Christmas Gift to Myself

クリスマスという口実で、ロータリーカッターの刃とミシン針のまとめ買い。
ついでに今持ってる45ミリに加えて28ミリの小さいロータリーカッターも買っちゃった。
ちなみにこのオルファという会社名はカッターの替え刃がパキパキ折れるところから、「折る刃」を外来語風にしたのが由来らしいよ。裁縫業界では日本製品は海外でもかなり強いね。
ちなみにこれ全部で2万円ぐらいするんだよね。そんな高い買い物には見えないよね（爆）

Using Christmas as an excuse, I bought some (or 300) sewing machine needles, rotary cutter blades, and a new rotary cutter (28mm). (Yup, I like buying bulk)

I wanted a small rotary cutter for cutting paper patterns because my retractable craft knife gets dulled so quickly on the self healing mat.

It was funny that the blades I got were in totally Japanese original packaging, obviously not meant for oversea sale, although the image on Amazon was showing English on the package.

By the way, did you know that the name "Olfa" comes from Japanese words "oru-ha"? 'Oru' means to fold or break, and 'ha' means blades. Basically it comes from innovation of breakable retractable craft knife blades. So Olfa = breakable blades. A little trivia for you.

Fixing the Hem

出来上がった赤ずきんちゃん風犬の雨合羽ですが、裾につけたパイピングが裾全体をフレアに広げてくれるのが気に入らなかったので、パイピングつけなおしました。
引っ張り目に付けなおしたら、裾がいい感じに犬の体にフィットするようになりました。

As I mentioned, I did not like how the piping was flaring up the hem of the dog coat, I re-attached the piping; this time pulling the piping as I sewed. So this time, the piping was about 3.5" shorter than it was, and the hem edge nicely hugs the body. Now I am happily done with the coat. Yey.

Little Red Riding Hood Dog Coat

雨の多いイギリスへの引っ越しを前に、雨の嫌いなユキに雨合羽を作りました。
既成の型紙では合わなかったので、適当に自分で型紙を作ってあとは試作品を作りつつ成り行き任せ。

犬ではない別の生き物みたいです。

 かわうそ？首、結構長いの。

出来上がりは赤ずきんちゃん風。裾と襟には反射テープのパイピングを入れてみました。安全第一ですから。

 

一応首の付け根のところから首輪に紐がつけれるようにしてみた。

 ET?

 フードは雨除けに伸ばしても、半分に折ってもよし。

Now that we are moving from desert southwest to rainy England, I made a raincoat for the Blue Heeler, who does not like rain.

I originally planned to make a coat using Simplicity 1578. However, it was too big and shortening did not work. So I ended up creating a pattern by pseudo draping and by making like 4 mock-ups. The final pattern still needs some tweaking, but I am overall happy with it.

The fabric is a Polartec Power Shield, which is supposedly finished with durable water repellent and blocks 98% of the wind but yet breathable. The outside is a smooth (but matte) nylon and inside is fleece.

The color is more accurate in the flashed photo above

Whopping $28/yard, this fabric was the most expensive fabric I have ever purchased (or as expensive as silk charmeuse). Luckily, one yard was enough to make the coat.

(I really like this fabric. It would be perfect for another Minoru or Jailie 2795...)

I also bought 2 yards of the sort of matching red reflecting tape pictured above, but 2 yards weren't long enough, so I used a package of silver reflective piping tape (I used most of the 2.5 yard package) for the hem and the edge of the hood. Safety first.

There is a small opening at the center back where the hood attaches to the coat where a leash can go through. I added a flap over it. Darts at thigh and near the tail for shaping of the rear end.

Hood is long enough that it can be folded back to be a collar if it's not raining. It is lined with self fabric so it looks good when it's folded over as well.

There is also a belly flap. It is attached to the inside of the coat and keeps the coat in place and the belly warm.

You can't tell from these photos, but I used rayon embroidery thread for top stitching and I really like how it shines a bit over the matte finish of the fabric.

I think it might be a bit tight at the front leg, but I'm very happy with how it turned out. I will probably re-do the piping at the hem because it is flaring out right now and it needs to be re-attached with a slight tension to keep it in shape, but overall, it was a great success!

Merry Christmas

私は金曜が半ドンで、月曜が振替休日なので、3.5連休です。
ちなみにオットは毎年恒例の年末2週間半休み。小学生の冬休み並み。長すぎ。車庫も家もない今は、彼は全くすることがなく、毎日ゲーム三昧のようです。
クリスマスイブの昨日は、「雪が見たい」というオットの意向で山までドライブに行ってきました。雪国育ちでない人らしいですね。

午後1時。気温約19度。アパートの隣のガソリンスタンドで給油中。

犬も同伴です。バックシートを倒してあるので、ユキは山道のくねくねカーブも椅子から落ちることなく安心。

ライチは窓から見える風景を満喫中。ちなみにライチの下にあるのは冷蔵庫。

1時間半後、山の頂上付近。気温2度。その上暴風。雪は道路の片隅にちまっと残ってるのみ。雪降ると道路閉鎖になるので降ってなくてよかった。

I am having a 3 and a half day weekend, and the Man of the House is having a 2 and a half "week" off. Now that he does not have a garage or a house to take care of, he has been playing a computer game all day, every day.

Already spending a week of doing nothing, he was pretty bored and wanted to go to a mountain to see some snow yesterday. Only those who did not grow up with snow would go to a mountain to see snow.

When we left, it was 66 degrees. One and a half hours later, near the mountain top, it was 36 degrees with strong wind. It was COLD. We just let the dogs out for a few minutes and turned right back.

Patchwork Cosmetic Pouch

ポーチ最終作です。もうこれでかわいい布使い切りました。

Ok, this is the end of the quilting fabric I bought for my boxy bag production.

Since I used the small square that I cut off from the boxy bag, all the pieces are interfaced, which makes it really bulky at the joining seams.

I used the ByAnnie's Soft & Stable again for sew-in interfacing.

I am so glad I was able to use every bit of the fabric.

Zippered Pouch Rabbit Hole

コスメポーチのあまり布で小銭入れ？カード入れ？を作りました。手のひらサイズです。
同じ布ばっかりであきた？でもかわいい布は小さな端切れも捨てられないのよねぇ。

Yup, it's the same old fabric from the boxy bag and the cosmetic pouch. I'm deep into the zippered pouch rabbit hole.

Rogue One

映画スターウォーズシリーズのスピンオフ（エピソード３と４の間の話）が木曜日に公開されて、土曜に早速見に行ってきました。なんか、近所の映画館、価格破壊？かと思うような、全館、全入場料たった５ドルという驚きの安さでした。
ちなみに映画は、結構よかったです。１話完結なのがいい。スターウォーズシリーズの中ではもしかして一番好きかも。

Star Wars series' new spin-off movie (story between Episode III and IV), Rogue One opened Thursday and we already went there on Saturday. I'm not particularly a Star Wars fan, so I actually like this movie the best of all Star Wars movies. (I like the movie that ends in one movie)

What was crazy was that for some reason, the theater in our neighborhood has gone down its admission price to $5 for all admission, for any screen including Imax/3D (I watched the regular one since I don't like 3D). Five dollars for 7 o'clock show. I would go to movies more often if they can keep the $5 price.

So Sew Easy Cosmetic Pouches

角型ポーチ１５個完成したら、オットに「もう２個作って」と頼まれた。その上２個が５個まで増えた。布が足りないし、時間もないので、簡単な三角ポーチを作りました。
前から見ると四角だけど横から見ると三角です。

When I finally finished the boxy bag mass production, Man of the House asked me if I have 2 extras for him to give away. Well, I did not so more pouch making continued, 5 more to be exact.

Since I did not have enough fabric and did not have enough time, I made simpler pouches. The pattern is a free downloadable pattern from So Sew Easy (from which I got the boxy bag pattern). She has TONS of free downloadable patterns and tutorials. She also has a video tutorial for this pouch (here).

I used the left over fabric from my boxy bag mass production. The pouch has a triangular shape if you look from the side, so it sits nicely and has a plenty of room to put cosmetic stuff in.

I used the nylon fabric again for the lining.

I covered the zipper ends because I don't like the dimpled corner.

Here you can see the shape of the pattern and my zipper ends covered with self fabric. The pattern also does not call for color blocking but I did not have enough fabric so it was out of necessity to split the exterior fabric.

I also used the damask fabric for one of the pouches. It was a left over from my cushion cover project.

I also made another boxy pouch using Sew4Home tutorial, and the leftover fabric from my dirndl.
The pouches are definitely a scrap buster.

Say Goodbye to Wedding Dress

そういえば来週結婚記念日です。１４年。
そんな節目の年に（どこが？）ウェディングドレス処分しました（笑）
いや、着てみたらさ、ファスナー上がらなかったんだわ、中年太りで（泣）後姿は見せられません。

I was separating my clothes for purging, storing, and taking with me to England pile, and came across my wedding dress.

Yup, it's navy blue. Don't expect a white wedding dress from me. Lots of memories. I went to wedding dress shopping on the day of my wedding and experienced my first (and hopefully my last) out-of-gas situation in the middle of a lunch traffic (I wasn't driving so not my fault, I have to add).
At the time, I weighed only 100 pounds (or less) and it was impossible to find a dress that fit me at a mall. So I had to buy a size 6. I bought this navy blue dress intending to get multiple wear out of it since I didn't believe in a value of one-time use only white wedding dress. After my wedding, I had it altered to fit me properly, and wore it 4 other occasions.

Well, last time I wore it was 10 years ago and the dress was still in the dry cleaner's plastic bag from that time.

Since I was in a purging mood, I tried it on to see if I could fit ...And I did not. The zipper stopped right below my bra strap. I guess my rib cage is expanding from visceral fat, which is far worse than subcutaneous fat...

The dress went into a donation pile. Good bye my wedding dress. And good bye to my skinny past. Oh, yeah, next week is our wedding anniversary too.

Tiny Pouch

会社のホリデーパーティのプレゼント交換のために折り畳み式多機能ツールを買いました。
角型ポーチのあまり布で、この多機能ツールを入れる手のひらサイズのポーチを作りました。でも微妙に箱がはいらなくて、とりあえず多機能ツールと取扱説明書だけ入れました。

I bought a multi-tool for office party's white elephant gift exchange. Since I just finished the boxy bags, I used the left over fabric to make a tiny pouch. The box did not fit unfortunately. Oh well.

Boxy Bags Time Lapse, sort of

約１か月かかった角型ポーチの制作進行過程。
ちなみに裁縫室がなくなったので、居間の片隅です。オットがテレビ見たいときはミシン使えません。ミシンの隣にソファーがあるので。アイロン台は衣装ケースの上にのっかっています。

The sewing room has been reduced to a sewing corner in the living room here at the apartment. The ironing board is just sitting on heavy duty bins that house my sewing supplies.

 

 感謝祭に義母と義妹にあげる用二つ完成。

These two went to my mother-in-law and sister-in-law.

 

I had to buy another package of interfacing. ByAnnie's Soft and Stable. Once you use this product, you don't want to make any pouches without it. GREAT product.

Who would thought I would be catch-stitching during bag making process.

All done.

 

15 Boxy Bags

うちの職場では職員一人一人にサンタの靴下があてがわれ、１２月中は廊下の壁に飾られいます。

Stocking decoration in 2013

低価格（予算２ドル）なプレゼントをみんなで詰めあい、ホリデーパーティで開けて楽しみます。
昔のプレゼントを振り返ってみると
２０１１年：

I made a tissue cozy and business card holder in 2011.

２０１3年：

Tote bags in 2012. BES is my boss's initial. "El Jefe (the boss)" is for the boss.

２０１５年：

Key chain in 2015.

今年は職員が増えて私以外１３人。
そのうえホリデーパーティがいつもよりちょっと早いので、１１月から頑張って作りました。
角型コスメポーチ。義母と義妹にもあげるように、全部で１５個作りました。予算２ドルどころではないけど、いい同僚に恵まれているので頑張りました。

Boxy bags for 2016.

Our office has a tradition of assigning a Santa's stocking to each worker and do a stocking stuffer ($2 budget) to open at an office holiday party.
This year, we have 13 employees excluding me, and the holiday party was scheduled rather early in December, so I had to start working on the stocking stuffer in November.
I am blessed with nice co-workers in a small office, so I totally went over budget and made boxy bags (meant for cosmetic pouch).
I wanted to give one to my mother-in-law and sister-in-law so I made a total of 15 bags.