happy valentine's day!!! :)

happy valentine's day everybody!!! xoxoxoxox!!! :)

friday dance: rocketeer

this morning, i walked by porkchop's room and heard him singing "up, up, here we go... up, up, here we go..." :) (from far east movement "rocketeer")

porkchop and i wish you a happy friday dance! :)

project restyle - brown dress... take 2

so, it's taken me a little while to post another finished product for project restyle because i wasn't satisfied with my first attempt...

you may remember i restyled this brown mini skirt.

after chopping off about 8 or 9 inches, i still had a brown vintage dress leftover:



i added some lace trim i had... i sewed some decorative contrast stitching... i even made a belt and came up with this cute dress:



but for as many times as i put it on and tried to style it to suit me... i just wasn't sold... so back to the chopping block it went... 5 inches later and two pockets short... i have a lovely new blouse for the spring:





i could've stopped at the shorter dress, but i just knew i wouldn't wear it... the first time i put on the blouse, i KNEW i would wear it.... :)



thanks for coming by and reading!

friday dance (on monday): rino & tvxq

only because i saw this tweet, from former harajuku girl, rino nakasone razalan this morning... i felt compelled to share the dance geekery...

start playing this one at the :05 mark:



and start playing this one at the 3:22 mark:



*insert snorting geek laugh track here*

and because you can't have too much rino:



hope you're experiencing a more than decent monday! :)

violet

just recently finished a beautiful violet birthday dress for our neighbor across the hall. above is the dress that was requested... not sure where it's from... and below, the dress i made.



i used simplicity pattern 3511 for the sleeves and the top front and back. then, i drafted a shirred circle skirt pattern since the 3511 skirt was really pretty flat. the fabric is a two toned dupioni silk. i gathered red and violet tulle for the ruffle...

i also made a matching dress for her bitty twin doll. still waiting for pics of them together. if i get one, i'll update this post... :)

hope you're having a relaxing sunday. thanks for coming by and reading!

read it: where the mountain meets the moon

relatively recently, i joined goodreads and library thing and started writing short reviews of some of the books on our collective nightstands. but, i thought it might be good to start posting them to the blog.

i just finished reading Grace Lin's Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. over the years we've read a few of Lin's books - Dim Sum for Everyone, Fortune Cookie Fortunes and Lissy's Friends. i'm always so impressed with her stories and illustrations. there's something about them that is so carefully crafted and well... full of grace. :) her latest novel is absolutely dazzling. from goodreads:

"In the Valley of Fruitless Mountain, a young girl named Minli spends her days working hard in the fields and her nights listening to her father spin fantastic tales about the Jade Dragon and the Old Man of the Moon. Minli’s mother, tired of their poor life, chides him for filling her head with nonsense. But Minli believes these enchanting stories and embarks on an extraordinary journey to find the Old Man of the Moon and ask him how her family can change their fortune. She encounters an assorted cast of characters and magical creatures along the way, including a dragon who accompanies her on her quest."

paloma got to read it first when we got it from the library. i was a little worried because she's only 7 and i've read reviews that it's geared towards 10 yos. but she picked it up eagerly - see dragon on cover - and finished it within a few days. she knew that i wanted to read it to her, but she couldn't wait. she even teased me, letting me know where she was in the book and what fantastical event was happening. she also kept complaining that peaches were not in season now and their constant presence in the book made her crave them. as soon as she finished, and i picked it up, she continually asked me, "where are you? are you done yet?"

finally, i read it and was so sad to put it down... unlike my experience with The Anybodies, i couldn't put it down. although both books focus on young girls with seemingly impossible quests, magical circumstances and creatures, i felt so much more sympathy and appreciation for minli. i loved every character really - even the silly laughing stone lion cub. minli's incredible adventure and the fables/parables interwoven into her story are as gorgeous and lush as the peaches she eats, the dragon well tea she drinks and the moon rain flowers that bloom. grace lin's pacing, prolific language, luminous and detailed illustrations complete the perfect package. it was especially clear to me that because of paloma's deep interest in all kinds of myths and fairytales and her own sense of innocent fearlessness that she feels a kindred spirit in minli.

last but not least, grace lin writes a final note at the end of the book - here's part of it:

"By the age of eleven, I had fully disregarded my Asian heritage. My wise mother, knowing that any type of forced cultural exposure would lead to scorn, silently left half a dozen Chinese folktale and fairy-tale books on the bookshelf. Unable to resist the pull of a new book, I very quietly began to read them."

she continues to say that she was disappointed at first in the translations and illustrations of the stories. however, eventually, she overlooked these flaws and rediscovered the core beauty of the stories and her asian roots.

as an asian american woman and now mother, i can totally relate to grace and her mom. there was a time in my life (hello, 1980s chicago!) when i found it too difficult to "be filipino enough". i didn't speak tagalog, bisaya or ilocano. for a filipino - i was too dark, too tall with an athletic, instead of lithe and willowy, build. i didn't play piano. i was far from graceful, etc... and the very prominent asymetrical cystic hygroma on my neck didn't help matters either.

but my father, like minli's, is an excellent storyteller. when he would visit, he would always retell stories about Juan Tamad other filipino mythical creatures like aswangs and wakwaks. it helped me to realize that i shouldn't dwell on not being filipino enough... i realized how proud i was that we had our own folktales... that i should focus on learning everything i could about what being filipino meant to me how my meager offerings would add to that definition.

as a mom, i worry that paloma and porkchop will also feel a disconnect to their filipino sides. like grace lin's mom, i have left many filipino children's books on their bookshelves to read. and they do! :) we will have to add Where the Mountain Meets the Moon to our collection. i'm especially thankful for this wonderful book, that exists among other not so great multicultural books, in that it might remind my children of the wonder of their own heritage, to reflect on what it means to be thankful, to have faith, to be patient, to understand what it means to be courageous, to read more, to tell stories and dream bigger - all the way up to the moon and back again....

friday dance: wondergirls

* if you haven't seen this wondergirls video yet, i HIGHLY recommend you fast forward to the 2:00 mark... and stop the video when they stop singing around the 5:40 mark...

you can thank me later... :)



happy friday!!!

project restyle: brown vintage dress + mini

sooooooo excited about my latest creation for

:)

i'm not sure what possessed me to buy this mini skirt save for the cute pleats and the tweedy comfort fabric... i mean... look at it:



it's the same size as my smallest cutting mat! *facepalm*

since buying it at the thrift store, it's been sitting in my closet... and keeping it company was this vintage brown Hope Reed dress that i've had FOREVER - probably a find from my days managing a vintage clothing store in the early 90s...



the dress was always too big (my dress form, Gladys, is also bigger than me), but i loved the pin tuck detailing on the collar and yoke.

so... i chopped off about a foot from the bottom of the dress... added it to the mini... used my handy dandy sewing machine to add some decorative stitching.... used some leftover muslin and lace for another underskirt:



et voici!



une jupe! "modified"!

i think i was inspired by some of the imaginative outfits japanese youth cobble together in the magazine FRUiTS. i have a well loved moldy old issue. i especially enjoy when they mashup two design influences like lolita and steampunk. i'm too "old" to wear their versions, so here's mine.

i'm working on the leftovers of the dress now... will post results later. :) thanks for coming by and reading! Happy Tuesday!

project restyle : denim

as i mentioned earlier, i threw my hat into the project restyle challenge that was introduced by the bloggers at a beautiful mess:



the challenge is so appealing to me because although i buy (and LOVE) vintage or thrift store items, i also find it very difficult to restyle them - even if the fit is all kinds of wrong... i sometimes feel as if i'm defacing a piece of history... BUT. i have ended up with a lot of vintage and thrift scores that i never wear.... i'm hopeful that this challenge will encourage me to move beyond my paradigm and into some really cute outfits - while exercising my creative process! :)

my journey starts with two restyled denim skirts that i had made with two old pairs of ill fitting jeans... (see!?) i really enjoyed making the skirts but when i tried them on they looked too (for lack of a better word) matronly. i may be a mom and not quite 40, but i wouldn't call myself "may-tron-lee"...



like most sewing enthusiasts, i have a gazillion scraps and random varied gimp lying around. i bought this really cool peter max / biba / lautrec mashup inspired fabric from the needle shop a few years ago:



then, i just started to cut... and cut.... and cut... and pieced everything back together... with all the cotton lace scraps i had and a piece of that fabric scrap above...



i still had some denim left over and found this really cute house slipper pattern from craftzine. one of my other personal hurdles is NOT finishing seams... you might not think so considering the skirt above, but it's REALLY difficult for me NOT to finish a seam. i was taught to make a garment as smooth on the inside as it is on the outside... so, after making the skirt it was nice to make the house slippers with finished edges... i needed a little balance. :) the pattern still works - it just required a little rethinking of the sewing directions... the denim scraps i had are only big enough for the size S (5/6) so they're going to an old HS friend of mine who has always had teeny tiny feet. :)



as always thanks for stopping by and reading! :)

friday dance: hypnotic edition

i was just perusing our cd collection for music to sew with and found this one:



i bought this from a street band that i loved and used to play all over chicago's downtown including my old hood, the south loop. so i was wondering whatever happened to them and i think i found them. i think they're now the hypnotic brass ensemble. they've toured all over the place and accompanied the gorillaz, snoop dog, mos def and this band, golden silvers:



catchy, no? so proud and excited for them... they're so talented! :) sad that they moved away from chicago though:



ennyhoo... so as i mentioned above, i'm sewing... i decided to jump on the Project Restyle bandwagon. i have to thank my friends @nuprinz and @snora88 for planting the seed. they had originally brought up a similar idea to me. but it seemed pretty daunting. glutton for punishment that i am, i'm going to do it anyway... :) wish me luck!



thanks for coming by! happy friday! stay warm fellow midwesterners!

friday dance: RAIN edition

*before you read the slobber that follows - let it be known that i am a VERY happily married woman... and to thin man, love o' my life, you know i loves you more than any (unbelievably gorgeous) preschool aged dude.... yer my main squeezage. but feel free to buy me a RAIN cd or desk calendar or t-shirt for my birthday.... hint hint wink wink knowhatimean... :)

ok... so waaaaay back in 2007, the lovely and all wise kimchi mamas posted this OUTRAGEOUS korean eye candy on their blog who answers to the name, Rain.

of course, being the relatively newly minted mom of two, my brain was completely fried. and fer crissakes, he's 10 years younger than me.... yes, i will admit he's REALLY cute, but beyond that i started to feel a little too predatory.

yeah. fast forward to 2010. i'm owning up to the whole predatory thing... MEOWRRRR.... i'm always late to parties... :)

the reason is twofold... i just finished two books recently: J.Carey's Naamah's Kiss and C. Clare's Clockwork Angel. both of which, if made into films, would have perfect parts for Rain - imho - assuming that the characters aren't whitewashed out of the films.... but i digress...

ennyhoo... right after i finished the books, i literally stumbled on my remote control and SOMEHOW, by some twist of fate (totally weird, no?) or my hips and knees, my cable on demand just started playing Rain's newest hollywood movie, Ninja Assassin. go figure, right?! just started playing. ON ITS OWN. so i couldn't NOT watch it. clearly, the universe was trying to tell me something. and when the universe talks... am i right!? ;) i'm preaching to the choir ladies, i know...

feel free to fwd to the 1:20 ish mark where the music and booty shaking begins:



and some highlights from ninja assassin made by another fan:



youtube also has some interviews and episodes from his most recent tv show the fugitive: plan b.

suffice to say, i have a problem. i'm mamazilla. i am a rainaholic. it has been two minutes since i last google stalked searched for RAIN:
i will never look at a grey cloud in the same way... evar again!!! *swoons*

happy friday!!!! and best wishes for a bright and prosperous new year!!! :)

operation gratitude

for a while now, i've been feeling a little blue... just a little... nothing too deep to overcome though. our financial situation has been pretty bleak for many months - a year even... honestly, we're fine... considering how little (financially) i had growing up - we're doing well... we're healthy (chicken pox free!), amply clothed, fed and sheltered.

recently, we heard from our former neighbors (but still very close friends) that our house was finally boarded up. we had no idea since the daily calls we receive from the bank impart no information or very late misinformation on their part...

i also really missed creating, writing and sending out our Christmas cards this year too. we just couldn't afford it. i am very surprised by my melancholy over it. i had no idea the act of correspondence (albeit one sided and slightly robotic) meant so much to me. and hence - my vivid smurfette blue pallor... :)

i'm hopeful that we'll have recovered financially and that we actually have GOOD news to share next year.

luckily, the thin man and i managed to scrape up enough to get the kids some gifts this year - ourselves, friends and family are still in negotiation... (yes, i know it's 3 days until the BIG day....) i've come to realize that getting creative with a financial budget is emotionally exhausting - i don't care how easy excel can make it - the numbers are still red! :( our families have also been very generous as always at this time. and santa's coming too, we can't forget santa! thankfully, the kids are also slowly learning to become more reflective about wants vs. needs as well as learning to be more patient.

as a child, when times were tight, and my emotions and impatience would sometimes consume me, my mother would remind me of our trips home to the philippines where the desperate poverty was never far from view. i remembered children like myself who i would see bathing in potholes full of fresh rainwater to get clean. i would stop complaining and do something... anything.... to reassure myself that "this too shall pass" and recount how much i had to be thankful for...

recently, i heard about Operation Gratitude, a non profit that sends care packages to soldiers overseas. inside the care packages, they also send knit scarves (in the winter) made by volunteers. after reading their guidelines, i knew this was something i could do easily.

i married into a family of military veterans and after hearing their stories have grown to sincerely appreciate the heartbreaking sacrifices the troops and their families make. i couldn't get beyond the feeling that this would help me lift my spirits and would help a soldier out there feel some warmth/comfort - physically, maybe even emotionallly - a mutual win-win situation... :)

i got myself acquainted with the mistake rib via crazy aunt purl. i found lion brand fisherman's wool yarn on sale at my local Michael's and got started. i finished up last week:



i know it won't get there in time for Christmas. but i know they're still accepting scarves so it will find a new owner eventually - hopefully, sooner than later. after i wrote my accompanying letter of thanks and concern to the soldier, i really felt a renewal of sorts. it never ceases to amaze me how making something and giving it to someone else always makes me feel like i received a gift instead....

2011 looks better and brighter with every passing day of 2010... :)

i hope this holiday season has brought you great joy, some peace and ample time to spend with your loved ones! as always, thanks for coming by and reading...

more sewing! & friday dance - madness edition

ok. i dunno what it's like at your house right now but at our house - it's absolute MADNESS....

unlike the serene & orderly appearance of this blog, my living room is resembling santa's workshop after a visit from a psycho with chain saw... there's glitter and boucle fuzz where glitter and boucle fuzz should just. not. be. O_o

i have waaaay too many projects going on at once for birthdays, donations, the holidays, new baby arrivals, etc... and the children are on crafting overdrive... they've turned it up to 11!!! :)

they're also still attending birthday parties... and i am still making birthday presents.... i SWEAR people are having WAY to much unprotected sex in the spring... jeez LOUISE!!!!

"mother's tired, she needs a rest...." :) ennyhooo.... here are my two latest creations:



the doll's dress is made from an alteration of simplicity 4786. i added the shoulder ruffle from simplicity 4268.

the girl's dress is an (neckline) alteration of simplicity 3510. i added the center front ruffles and sequin trim... just because. :)



the boy's shirt was made from butterick 3475. however, i didn't have the right size so, i had to grade up the pattern myself. it turned out well i think and apparently fits it's owner perfectly. hopefully, that will be true this summer. the fabric was actually a production sample i received from one of my former manufacturers when i worked for joe boxer. i wish i could remember the name of the fabric - we were so good as so many things at JB including naming colors and fabrics. :)

last but not remotely in the least... the porkchop celebrated his 5th birthday on tuesday. much love, hugging, gift wrap ripping, hilarity and cake ensued... HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my s'wonderfullest little man:



thanks for stopping by.... i hope you are having an AWESOME friday!!!! :)

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so little time, so many toys to sew...

so, first and foremost... the reason for the quiet blog? well, we've celebrated a number of birthdays which are usually preceded and followed with LOTS of sewing... however, not only did the kids bring home bags full of goodies... my dear (suffering) husband had the misfortune of bringing home the chicken pox.

thankfully, i'd already suffered thru them as a child and the kids have already been vaccinated... he had to stay away from the public for at least a week and was too sick to really do anything except stay in bed. so, i had to double up some parenting duties... honestly, i had no idea i could be this tired. so beware the birthday parties, parents... BEWARE.... :)

ennyhoo.... back to the birthday gifts... i was really proud of these three, all made for classmates in porkchop's jr. kindergarten class:



i made another bunny from martha stewart's encyclopedia of sewing and fabric crafts. i made the tote bag by copying another one we had lying around. the fabric flower was another made with the help of the wisecraft fabric flower tutorial. inside the bag, along with the bunny, i placed a lovely book perfect for ANY young girl, "my name is not isabella". the book is beautifully illustrated, educational and empowering for girls. it also gives a short bio of "women who changed the world" which includes "Mommy". :)



so, i didn't think the boys would appreciate a bunny... i've made teddy bears from the book "toys to sew". but, i felt like i needed to make something new. a little further in the book are patterns for dinosaurs, like the apatosaurus above. and this pattern (like the herbivore dinosaur) scared me the least. the patterns for the stegosaurus and the t-rex are really amazing but frankly, nightmarish. when i have more time, i'll try them.

maybe.

i put the initals of the boys' names on each bag and filled them with items purchased from our local toy store, building blocks toys, a melissa & doug paint craft, a kumon origami book, a magic drawing slate, and a dover sticker book. what can i say? i like to spread the crafty, artsy fartsy love... :)

ok. i REALLY have to return to the saltmines now... hopefully, i'll have another post up soon... thanks for coming by and reading!

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friday dance: death warmed over edition

i'm barely functioning on very little sleep... and this has been a horrific week to boot.... hope you're having a better day/week than me!

HAPPY FRIDAY ANYWAYS! :)

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friday dance - california love edition

when november's chilly winds blow thru me, i often think back to november 1995, when i moved to california.

so many things had gone wrong for me in chicago towards the end of college and after graduation... and at the urging of close, worried friends of mine, i traveled out to san francisco to visit with them for a week to give my self, body and soul, a much needed rest. i came back, got my stuff, returned and stayed in SF for the next six years...

i'm glad to be back in chicago now and i feel more at home and whole, than i did when i left. this song and this very young singer, alyssa bernal, remind me so much of a younger me and that feeling of freedom i felt even as i got on the train... an immense weight lifted incrementally as i got closer to the west... and that starstruck feeling i had gazing at the beauty and ferocity of the SF skyline, thru a filmy glass window, on a bus going over the bay bridge from oakland...

san francisco will always be a special place for me... i feel as if the city nursed me back to health with some tough love, as well as some TLC.... my life evolved and was irrevocably altered by the wonderful friendships i forged there, the challenges i confronted, the experiences i engaged in.... (and yes, meeting and marrying you too, thin man - that goes without saying, but i know you'll bring it up later if i don't mention it now. :) )

san francisco was my second chance.... and with some adversity, i bloomed.