Kaoru Marie

I used to buy button-up blouses when I first started working because it was the easiest way for me to feel professional in such a conservative setting (I work in the engineering field). I didn't mind the weekly pile of ironing although I did mind the fading colors of my cotton blouses after one too many washes. Over the years my patience with ironing has waned to zero and now I can't remember the last time I bought a button-up blouse. These days I tend to favor the easier pull-on blouses, either the breezy, silk-like ones or knit tops. Ones that don't require a lot of pressing. Ones that don't require such precise fitting. Another reason I have strayed from buying button-up blouses is that once I started to focus on fit, I realized they weren't fitting all that well. Even the blouses in the petites section don't fit me well. Even though I've been sewing for several years,I put off trying to make my own because they looked like so much work. But after m...

I hate to sound like I'm bragging, but I'm so thrilled with some of the stuff I made this year. After several years of struggling with sewing and fit, I finally feel like I got it this year. I definitely have a lot to learn and my fitting isn't spot-on, but it has improved so much from when I first started sewing. Here are my Top 5 Garments of 2014 in no particular order. 1. Butterick 5526 Pink Plaid Flannel I love, love, love this shirt! It doesn't even fit perfectly, but I love it. It was meant to be a muslin since I bought a cheapish flannel from Jo-ann to test the pattern and my plaid-matching skills. But I've been wearing it almost every weekend since I made it and I want to throw it on as soon as I get home from work. Why did I wait so long to make a plaid flannel shirt? I'll be bummed when the weather warms up and the flannel won't be as comfy. 2. Deer and Doe Pavot Jacket I love this jacket! I love how it looks casual, but can still be sort...

Happy New Year, everyone! Hope your 2015 is off to a great start. I know mine is because I haven't done a lick of work yet :) I can't believe I actually contemplated going to work today. My decision was made when my coworker said, " when's the next time we'll have a 4-day weekend? " Good point, sir. So glad I decided to give myself a 4-day weekend because it feels so good right now knowing that we haven't even reached the weekend! Anyway...I had intentions of blogging about all of my finished garments for months, but I just never got around to photographing them "properly". Now that it is already 2015, I decided to do a quick round-up of stuff I've made throughout the year that have been languishing in my "to-blog-about" queue. I may or may not do a full-blown review of each garment in the future; I actually have a lot of posts drafted, but for now, this is just a quick and dirty photo-heavy post so I can get it off my chest. For ...