Saturday, November 30, 2013

Relax

I'm back!


I had a wonderful holiday week and lots of awesome meetings with so many nice people in Australia. I'm so glad that I decided that I'd go. Nice weather, beautiful places, interesting exhibitions, fantastic foods, and of course, awesome people! Now being home and sitting in front of my MacBook to write something on my latest creations, I just don't know how to start, I feel as if I'm still in the dream. It was that great. I am greatly thankful to everyone I met on my trip, for their kind friendship and help, and I wish that they know that I believe they made my little adventure an unforgettable experience!!

with Carolyn, and a very cute furry boy
 As for self made garments, I had brought three new handmade clothes (and wee plus) with me for this holiday and managed to take proper photos of only one of them, which is this white pullover with contrasting sleeves. The pattern for the pullover is Relax, so is the title of this post. I casually loved the name "Relax" and thought it would be fun to bring it to my holiday to get more relaxation. However, it took me nearly a month to finish this pullover and I have to say, it was tough. It seemed forever (for me, because I'm tortoise) but it could end just in time. That muttered, I think that the result turned out pretty lovely. I think it's clever pattern too! If you are interested in the pattern, please find my Ravelry project page for more info and photos.


When I was staying with Carolyn in Perth, I asked her for some photographs and she was super kind to give me these beautiful shots on the beach. I even had my handmade bathing suit photo session after the pullover session, because the place was seriously beautiful and I felt I had to try harder. Thank you so much, Carolyn, for being a great photographer, an encouraging friend, and above all else, a very good friend.

I totally made up this retro kind of bathing suit by tracing my old suit ;)

Other than the pullover, I had a new tunic blouse and a new dress in my baggage too. I didn't have any chance to use the tunic during this holiday, so I'd leave it for the next summer as a new garment without any words here. That seems totally OK. On the other hand, I had a mini-disaster with the dress, I regret to say!


I sewed a Nicola dress from Victory Patterns using a light blue cotton/silk fabric with flowery print for this holiday. Because I had been interested in their patterns for some time and also because I knew that Kristiann was going to join one of the meet-ups that were organized by Tj in Melbourne (a big thank-you to Tj and Maria, I cannot survive this world without you!), I thought it was the time for me to try one from their range. And I did. I purchased Nicola, chose size6, used 1.5m of wide fabric, made narrow shoulder adjustment, closed the front wrap and installed a long zipper on the left side, really loved the result, and could wear it when Kristiann was there. However, I couldn't ask anybody to take its proper photographs for my blogging. The reason I was not ready for taking pictures of it was I had an ironing crisis the night before. I was going to iron the dress, which was vacuum packed in a travel pack and much wrinkled, the day before in our hotel room, but I just found out the iron they had was the most despiteful thing I had ever seen in this world. And, oh, the ironing board. That was similarly evil. The iron and ironing board couple tried very hard to mess my pretty dress even worse, and I totally had to give up everything about nice presentation of the dress. How sad. I'll press it neatly and present it here soon, as I think it is a pretty dress and some of you might be interested in other's make, so I promise. Until then, please help me to pretend that the dress is still in the pipeline and hasn't been finished quite yet! Well, I know you're really kind!!

Please visit Tj's photo essay on "The Perfect Nose" if you'd like to have a look at some photographs from the meet-ups! You might find my dress in the pipeline in the blog post...

Take care everyone!

Love,
yoshimi

12 comments:

  1. My two favorite bloggers on one post! I love your "relax" top, it's so summery and you look very much relaxed wearing it :) I also love your bathing suit...such a perfect match of fabric and silhouette! You look stunning in both garments against gorgeous scenary!!!!!

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  2. The bathing suit is most excellent and I'm glad you found good weather to wear it in, given how recalcitrant Melbourne is at providing the like ;) Also the pullover is lovely; very modern. Re the Nicola-If I knew I would've brought my travel iron! Also, I thought it was lovely and so did Kristiann-in fact I Kristiann was very touched that you and Maria brought your Victory pattern makes and rocked them in spite of the weather (and the fact that you were travelling and didn't have access to your tools). So yea, I'd definitely pronounce that a success!

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  3. PS: when your Nicola review goes up I'll edit the meetup post to include it ;)

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  4. Yoshimi, your bathers are so cute! I love the little belt detail :) And even though it's not featured here, your Nicola was totally gorgeous & inspiring & I just had to go & buy the pattern yesterday! Along with a few others... woops :p

    I'm so glad you enjoyed your time here. Perth is certainly a very beautiful city & I'm guessing pretty unlike anywhere you've ever been! Your photos on the beach are lovely & am now thinking it's definitely time for a trip back!

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  5. You look so relaxed in your photos and your white pullover is very lovely and your swimsuit is gorgeous, love the lines and you look fabulous in all your outfits.

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  6. Your photos are beautiful, a wonderful lasting souvenir of what sounds like a fantastic holiday.

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  7. Love those photos Yoshimi! What a great team, you and Carolyn!
    Both the pullover and the bathing suit are fantastic but the photos with the sweater matching the sand and sea colour are breathtaking!
    So lovely to hear that you had such a great trip!

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  8. It was so lovely to meet you in Bendigo and your beach photo shoot with Caroline is gorgeous! I adore your bathing suit!!! and your Relax top - beautiful. I'm very glad Perth was warm ;)

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  9. Carolyn always does great pics. Perth is the best location and she's always so encouraging. Those bathers are very retro/cool.
    Your Nicola dress is beautiful and I hope you are able to post it up soon. You did great work in placing the print. I hope everyone is eager to see it.
    I really enjoyed the time we all spent together and I enjoyed making sure you were looked after while we were in Melbourne, but you got the hang of Melbourne life pretty quickly!

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  10. Your pictures and creations are both stunning as per usual Yoshimi! Sounds like you had a wonderful trip, how lovely!

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  11. Yoshimi, you look so gorgeous in your lovely outfits in the photos! and thank you so much for those kind words too. I had a perfectly wonderful time with you here in Perth and I am so happy you enjoyed your time in Melbourne too :)

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  12. Love your bathing suit! Can't believe you made it from tracing your old suit, great job!

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Thank you for your comments!!