the invite:


in the meanwhile, i made 3 outfits for 2 clients. i'll put up pictures of the fabrics. beautiful. i don't have any pictures of them in their clothes. will work on that. personal sewing has been on hold as i have 2 more outfits to finish. slow and steady, i guess.

of note, there was a miscommunication between me and one of my client. she requested a two dresses with full skirts. really full. and you can't get any fuller than a gathered skirt which i sketched with lines coming down from the waist to the hem. she approved the sketch. so i sent her the clothes and she said she didn't think it would be gathered. so i said well, the original skirt of the pattern was a full a-line which she saw and wanted more fullness. so, i guess she really wanted the original skirt but didn't know that was what she wanted. so it got me thinking... how full can you make a skirt without doing gathers? will it just look heavy at the bottom if you did an a-line skirt with a ridiculously wide diameter? i smell experiments coming my way!

ps: client was cool about it though.

hi. i'm back =) just had a nice weekend and i'm here to give some updates.

no, i've not yet completed dh's jeans. it's not complicated, i just got sidetracked =) i mentioned i had paper stuff to do. i'll write more on it towards the end of this post. anyways, i told my mom to bring some native fabric for me whenever she comes to visit and last time she came she brought a whole bunch of them.




i really liked 3 out of 5 of them. you can always find uses for fabric. anyhoo, i really wanted to make something for myself since the last one did pan out so well and i wanted to give my upcoming side business some pr. my fave ankara was the black and red one. so i picked that and waded thru my pattern stash (yes, i do have one now =) and settled on mccall's 5094.


so, i didn't like any particular one of the views so i had to mix and match. loved the wide straps cause i don't do spaghetti straps. loved the sweetheart neckline and the triangle opening in the back. added the ties (my idea, the pattern's is sew on) at the back so i can enter into the garment with ease and moved the zipper from the back to the side. finally, i made the gown floor length and the skirt much narrower with little flare. i must say, i am very, very proud of the final result.


here's me wearing it in full force =) with dh and me. didn't get a sharp full length pic but this one with my sis will have to suffice. then i like the one picture of me doing the face powder dance. hehehheee.



my friend now wants me to make a whole bunch of stuff for her. here's to getting my first client =) i'm going home in august and the ladies in my sewing group want some fabric and headties. so i'll be doing a little intercontinental trading or just some intercontinental errand running! lol.

so, the event was the wedding of a couple who are friends of ours and also a client! yes, i was hired to make the place cards, church programs, menu and reception programs. i got great feedback and people apparently loved it so i may just be getting more business coming my way. yay!

paper. i love paper! joann's was having a paper sale some time back (yes... there's a great lag between my happenings and postings)... somthing like 5 for $1. i took advantage of that to get paper to build my portfolio for clients to browse through. cards, invitations, programs etc. nice, huh? i need to make more innovative styles and designs. the pocketfold is great but there are other things out there that i am capable of doing, u know? here a a few of them.


paper:
joann's

from my wedding paper stuff, i got my first customer. a friend of mine who wanted invites, church and reception programs. her colors are pink and green. we perused my favorite paper stores and i gave her options. it's nice having custom designed items especially if you're having a cultural wedding as the mainstream does not always accomodate you. she loved the prototypes and i moved on from there. here is what i ended up with.

invite

church program(pls. ignore the warpedness)

reception program

paper:
light pink folder - cardsandpockets.com
green and gold pattern paper - papersource.com
neenah ivory linen paper and envelopes - anchorpaper.com

ribbon:
jkm ribbons

fast forward to planning my fall '06 wedding. i decided i'll do all my paper stuff myself. i had a little photoshop design help from my fiance, helping to translate images floating in my head to reality. so, i got familiar with my now favorite paper sites and started ordering samples. i ended up making, invitations, church programs, reception programs and table numbers. here is what the invitation looked like:
paper:
burgundy paisley paper from paper mojo
orange zest paper from creative papers online
carnival coco cover paper from the paper mill store
gold astroparche cover paper and envelopes from the paper mill store and papermatters
raffia from joann's

looking through my boxes in the basement the other day, i noticed that i've always loved paper. those with interesting prints and textures. i saved and re-purposed them, or just held onto them for unknown future use. one red and blue tartan paper i used to cover the notebook i used for my "parting lines" was a wrapper for cheese my dad brought back from a trip to italy. i'll put up pictures of a few other examples.
blue and white paisley paper (origin: unknown, used to wrap a mini 2 ring folder)


aqua blue paper with flowers (origin: unknown, unused)


blue and green tartan wax paper (origin: pastry lunch in london, unused)


green embossed cardboard (origin: mac cosmetics, unused)