Kaoru Marie

1. I've started {and stopped} a bunch of blogs over the years. Of course none have ever gained any strong readership, but it's something I enjoy doing. Every single time I started a blog I had the most difficult time coming up with a name. I once re-branded a blog because I was so over the original name. I enlisted my brother for help and I think he eventually came up with the winning name. I've gone back and forth many times over what I want to call this blog. I don't want to pigeon-hole myself into one specific craft (sewing, photography, lettering, etc.), which is why I didn't create a pun on sewing or include 'photography' in my name. I also knew I most likely wasn't going to become a hardcore photographer anyway. I use my name because it's an easy option and I haven't met anyone else with the First-Middle name combo so I'm assuming I'm the only one with this name so I think it has some uniqueness. For awhile though I gave this bl...

Ever since I started this blog I had visions of diving into learning html and designing my own blog layout........LOLZ! ......obviously that never happened. I know very, very basic html (how to add a link, make things bold), but creating my own blog template was way out of my reach. Honestly, you guys, I don't know what I was thinking. I started my first blog back in 2004 or 2005 and even then I wanted to learn html, so yeah....I should have known when I started this blog that wasn't going to happen. I found Dana's blog, Wonder Forest , somehow through the internets awhile back. She has such an interesting story in regards to web design. I was happy to see she designed blog templates for blogger that were in line with my aesthetic. I find that most people design for Wordpress, but it's not my favorite blogging platform. The other day Dana had a sale on her pre-made blogger templates and I couldn't pass it up. I would get sad every time I looked at my blog becau...

I skipped a week because I haven't done much online reading recently. Here are 5 things that caught my eye the past two weeks, including some non-sewing links. 1. I've been very fascinated lately with how nail salons do some of the intricate nail art these days. The other weekend I got sucked into the nail art YouTube and Instagram blackhole for several hours. I was really into painting my nails and using nail decal art when I was around 12 years old. My mom was super strict when I was growing up, but she begrudgingly let me do this. Although, I distinctly remember her saying I looked like a prostitute one time because I used pearly/silver nail polish. LOLZ!! THE HORROR!!! {Buzzfeed// Nail Art Tutorials } 2. All you sewing bloggers talking about making your own lingerie has almost convinced me to try it too. I've always wondered whether I'm wearing the correct bra size and I was shocked, SHOCKED to find out my size based on this bra size calculator. { The Sophist...

ok so not really an entire day, but a couple minutes. The other weekend I took out my camera with intentions of photographing some in-progress sewing projects. However, as soon as I held the camera in my hand I thought, ' in-progress shots? ugh, so boring .' And that's when I saw my cat, who diligently followed me into our sewing room. Yes, it's his room too because he's a cat and owns everything. It was just me and the cat that weekend and he was being adorably playful without the bipolar tendency to suddenly bite me. In other words, he was being just perfect that weekend. And too cute not to photograph.

super late to the "claim your blog on bloglovin" party. Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Focusing on one project at a time is not my strong suit. I love working on one project, then starting another, then another, and another. One reason why I have multiple projects in the works is because I don't like doing things like buttonholes, buttons, hems, bias binding. Things that usually occur near the end of the project. Things that complete a project. Another reason is that I like the variety of working on multiple projects. It might seem like I'm unfocused (I admit that I can be), but really it's just that my sewing life mimics my working life. Especially at my last job, it wasn't unusual for me to work on multiple projects every week. One time a colleague mentioned he had only charged his time to four projects in his 5+ years of working for the company. Another colleague and I were shocked; we routinely charged our time to more than four projects in a single week. Juggling multiple projects is not something I was just forced to do, but I also loved...

Another week, another round-up. 1. Have you heard of ' Fashion Camp '? It's a business in Orange County, CA offering sewing/fashion classes, workshops, and private events to kids and adults (although I think it's primarily geared towards kids). I think it's funny that I learned about this business through an article in ' Inc ' magazine. According to the article I read, the owner is trying to decide whether to expand to Los Angeles or San Diego. It's an interesting business concept. Instead of a store that focuses on fabric, notions, and patterns with classes and events, Fashion Camp is strictly focused on the teaching part. { Fashion Camp // Inc Magazine } 2. I came across this tutorial for inserting in-seam pockets with french seams at just the right moment. The pockets in the photo above are the ones I'm using in my shirt dress for the Cat Lady Sewing Challenge; I definitely wanted to enclose those raw edges. { Deborah Moebes on Sew Mama Se...