Sew in Love

Back home in Australia but San Francisco has my heart

After a life-changing, mind altering three years in San Francisco, our little family is moving back home to Australia. I’ll miss the foggy city that celebrates individualism and creativity. And I feel so lucky to have been part of the exciting tech community. When you live in San Francisco, you can’t help but be swept away by the entrepreneurial spirit of people following their passions and building companies they believe in.

I’ll miss the delicious Californian organic produce, Cowgirl Creamery cheeses and Anchor Steam beer. Oh and of course, the Mexican food! I took so many trips down to the Mission district, to eat tacos and pick up cheap fabric at the Mission Fabric Store. Here’s a tip – if you ever come to Australia, DON’T try the Mexican food! We do great ethnic food here, like Thai, Vietnamese, Lebanese, Indian, but we’re not quite there yet with Mexican food. Perhaps Australia is a bit too far away from Mexico…

What I’ll miss the most of course, are the amazing friends I made in San Francisco. The city is a melting pot of cultures, with lots of great minds flocking there to work in the tech industry. Dave and I are sure we made life-long friends in San Francisco, and we’ll forever treasure the fun times we had with our fellow expat friends.

Of course, San Francisco is where our little baby Umi was born. For this reason, I’ve left a little bit of my heart in San Francisco. 🙂

As we transition our lives to Australia and set up a new home, I’ll also be taking a bit of a break from blogging. (It also doesn’t help that I’m yet to purchase an Australian sewing machine!) Sew in Love will be back, however, better than ever. I’ve caught a bit of the Silicon Valley bug and now have big plans for the blog, so I hope you can check back in in a few weeks to be part of Sew in Love’s new adventures.

In the meantime, let’s keep in touch via Instagram and Facebook. I promise to post lots of beautiful Australian beach photos and cute baby pics!

DIY Lace-up Flats - I made me own version of the popular Aquazzura lace up flats for less than $25. All you need are a pair of black flats, elastic, faux leather cord and superglue. Learn how to make yourself a pair at www.sewinlove.com.au

Accessories DIY Fashion

How to make your own lace-up flats

Earlier in the year, lots of fashion bloggers were wearing lace-up flats. Now I’m definitely not one to be on top of the latest fashion trends of Paris and Milan etc, but I really liked how they added a feminine, ballerina touch to their outfits. So as much as I am aware lace-up flats are no longer “in vogue”, I’ve decided to whip myself up a DIY version. Can’t remember who, but a fashion designer once said she appreciates style, not fashion, so that’s what I’m doing too!

DIY Lace-up Flats - Click for the tutorial! These flats were all over fashion blogs in the Spring. I'm sure you can wear them into the Fall as well, just add jeans. My version cost me only $25 :)

Image credits: 01. Michael Kors via Popsugar | 02. Something Navy | 03. Free People | 04. Instagram user @Aquazzura

I believe the original trendsetter was Aquazzura and their lace-up flats retail for $675. There’s a ton of knock-offs available from the likes of Aldo, Topshop, Free People and the like. My version, although it lacks the gold hardware cost $25.

I scoured the internet for tutorials (there’s a lot out there). I found what I thought to be the best tutorial on YouTube, by InJoyy:

I followed her instructions with a couple of tweaks:

I used D’Orsay flats instead of ballerina flats as I based my shoes on Aldo’s Colyn.
I didn’t stitch the seams because I thought superglue was strong enough to hold the elastic in place (so far so good).
I used a patent faux leather pair of flats from Amazon, not suedette. Suedette is probably easier so I suggest don’t do what I did and use faux suede flats like these!

You may have seen I wore my DIY lace-up flats with my handmade cocoon dress. Umi is 4.5kg now (almost 9 pounds), so I needed stylish flats for walking around the city with the baby carrier. Unfortunately my slip-on sneakers don’t count as “stylish”, so I’m pretty chuffed with these lace-up flats!

What do you think? As a creative sewing / DIY lover, what are your thoughts on following on-trend fashion?

Here's a free Ninja Cosplay costume sewing pattern. It's a Japanese sewing pattern translated into English. It includes accessories such as the hood, mask, hand and shin guards!

DIY Fashion Japanese Sewing Patterns

Free Japanese Sewing Pattern in English: Ninja Cosplay Costume

This month when I was doing some pinning on my Halloween Pinterest board, I stumbled upon an awesome Japanese website full of free costume sewing patterns. The website is called DR-Cos, and it’s a Cosplay website where you can find costume sewing patterns to dress up as a ninja, nurse, maid, cheerleader, vampire, the list goes on and on! All theses sewing patterns are free to download. The only thing is, they are all in Japanese!

I reached out to the lovely lady behind DR-Cos, and she is more than happy for me to translate the sewing patterns into English and share them with you all 🙂

So first up, I’ve translated this free Ninja sewing pattern. It’s a great pattern because it includes all the “official” components of Ninja attire, such as the hood, hand guards and shin guards. The outfit also comes with authentic Hakama pants, which is are pleated formal pants with a waist tie, worn traditionally by men only.

DR-Cos has an English website as well, but the patterns are still all in Japanese. If you guys have a design you’d really like to be translated, please let me know by leaving a comment below.

The free Ninja sewing pattern has been translated into English over on my other blog, Japanese Sewing Patterns.

Cocoon Dress | Free Sewing Pattern | I found this free sewing pattern online and thought I'd try it out! The fabric is a very soft knit, making this dress very cozy to wear.

DIY Fashion Free Sewing Patterns

DIY Cocoon Dress – Free Sewing Pattern Review + Baby girl is here!

I’m not sure when cocoon dresses appeared on my radar, but as I reached the later stages of my pregnancy, I found myself Googling for images and sewing ideas. I came across this free sewing pattern by Studio Faro and finally had the chance to sew it when I started my maternity leave.

Cocoon dresses look so comfortable. I really like the minimalist chic look as well. Putting ideas together to see if I can do a DIY cocoon dress.

Image credits: 01. Aritzia | 02. Her New Tribe | 03. Jill Sander via Farfetch | 04. Unconditional via Farfetch

If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you would have seen I recently gave birth to my baby girl, Umi. What an adventure parenthood has been! Dave and I have had a lot of fun looking after this little life we’ve brought into the world. Umi is 4 weeks old now, and finally starting to look a bit like her Papa. She looked totally Asian up until recently, so Dave was feeling a bit left out I think, haha. Oh and in case you are wondering, Umi means “ocean” in Japanese.

The Sewing Pattern

I’ve called this a cocoon dress sewing pattern, but Studio Faro terms it a Triangle Drape Dress. Either way, all you need is a basic dress sloper. The instructions and pattern details can be found at Studio Faro. It’s a pretty straight forward pattern, but I think it’s so clever how you can turn a simple sloper into a draped dress!

Cocoon Dress | Free Sewing Pattern | I found this free sewing pattern online and thought I'd try it out! The fabric is a very soft knit, making this dress very cozy to wear.

I don’t have a dress sloper, so I just used my Reversible Shift Dress sewing pattern. I think it worked out ok, except for the neckline.

Cocoon-dress-free-sewing-pattern-fabric

The v-neck ended up being too low, so I got creative and made a twist detail on the centre neckline. I just twisted the fabric, pinned it, and hand stitched it in place. Don’t you think it looks like something out of a Drape Drape sewing book?

Cocoon Dress | Free Sewing Pattern | I found this free sewing pattern online and thought I'd try it out! The fabric is a very soft knit, making this dress very cozy to wear.

The Fabric

I used a bamboo knit to make this dress. It’s from High End Fabric on eBay. The fabric is beautiful, but I think for the purpose of this dress, it may have a bit too much drape. Maybe a lighter knit with polyester or something would be better. As much as I love bamboo knit, it results in the dress constantly falling off my shoulders. But I’m still happy with the way this dress turned out – I think it’s worth another try with a more stiff fabric.

Studio Faro has lots of free sewing patterns, so definitely go check out their website!

Japanese Sewing Patterns

Japanese Cosplay Costume Sewing Book Giveaway

{Update} This giveaway has ended.

Halloween is just around the corner, so here is a quick book review all about sewing Cosplay costumes! This Japanese sewing book has costume designs for women and men, as well as accessories and props to complement your outfit.

The title of this book translates to “Quick Cosplay Costumes” and has over 24 costume designs. Costumes include a hooded cape, a sailor outift (like Sailor Moon) and a puff sleeve dress for women. For the men, there’s jackets, pants and a hat. I’m giving away a copy of this book, so scroll down to find out how you can enter the competition.

The Book Review

You can watch the book review for “Quick Cosplay Costumes” on my YouTube channel.

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The Prizes

The lucky winner will receive this Cosplay sewing book as well as my ebook, How to Sew Japanese Sewing Patterns. My ebook explains Japanese sizing and the entire sewing process of Japanese patterns, so it will help you make sense of the Japanese instructions in Quick Cosplay Costumes. You can download a free sample of my ebook by clicking on the banner below!

How to Win (ends 11 October 2015)

Please note: This giveaway is open worldwide.

To enter to win Quick Cosplay Costumes and my ebook, leave a comment below answering this question:

What is your dream Halloween costume?

Winner will be chosen based on creativity and originality. Good luck everyone!

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