DIY: Tattoo Shirt Project - Introducing Tambour

I got my hands on this embroidery needle the other day and I've been working non-stop with them.

These needles, called Tambour needles, are used in Haute Couture and it makes it easier for the craftsmen embroidering large amount of fabric. I first encountered this item from Sofia Salazar's (@__hiedra__) posts on instagram. I have been lurking in the embroidery community of instagram and noticed a few other people using this needle as well and wanted to give it a try. Theres only one shop in Tokyo that handles tambour needles so I had some struggle, but I was able to get them in the end.  You should be able to find a lot of information in tambour stitching on the internet especially in English (or French which is where it's from!).

You need a few practice to get used to it, but once you do get the hang of it, it's so much easier to stitch this way.

And this is the finished piece! It's from this sketch I did of my boyfriend.  I love it because it's done in one stroke. Also the simplicity of the stitch really works with the visuals. 

I would say you can't use this needle in any kind of situation because this needle generally lets you produce chain stitches. I think the chain stitch has a distinct feel to it, mainly in good ways. The minimal look it gives off is very distinct from satin stitch (is this the correct term? I usually prefer to use this stitching method). Because of its feel, it might not stick with some works I want to create for this project. But it's definitely a fast way to get your design on a piece of cloth and it works for mass production by hand. 

Maria

Side Story:

Below is a photo of an embroidery piece I left behind because I got so tired of it. I'm keen to go back to it now though!

Wandering Kimono and Other Things

I went strolling around the city on New Year's Eve and Day. This is one of the few days the streets gets cleared of people returning to their hometowns for the holidays. A great chance to photograph my outfit at. Few days before this, I received a package in the mail and it was these beautiful handcrafted pair of shoes I bought off a second hand store. They are generally known in Japan as "Jika Tabi" (Tabi boots). They are traditional shoes in Japan but you might have heard about them from these Maison Margiela boots. Just that these pair that I got where made from leather. I've never seen anything like this living in Japan. 

Tabi Boots

So much easier to take photos when theres no one looking at you like you're breaking the law. 

I also hung out in Shibuya on Jan 1st, and was amazed by the crowd. There tends to be larger crowds on holiday in this part of the city, but the place seemed to be visited mainly by tourists, and not a single Japanese soul was to be witnessed. (Except for the workers.) It was a weird atmosphere. You would eavesdrop the couple sitting next to you, the group that passes you by, and no one seems to be speaking Japanese. 

Empty Stations

So excited for the New Year. I have a lot of things in mind I want to accomplish, but first, finals!


Maria

Prints and Patterns

  I went skipping stones in my Hanae Mori dress that I thrifted. It was such a beautiful day in February at the Tamagawa River, I didn't even need my jacket so I just slipped on my light Zara jacket. (It was super cold the next day though..)

On me:

Dress - Hanae Mori

Jacket - Zara

Back Pack - Zara

Oxford - Pertini

Tights - Kutsushitaya (靴下屋)

Watch - Triwa

The pattern of this dress reminds me of the cards used in the Japanese card game Hanafuda (花札). I believe the design is composed of momiji leaves and flowing water. 

  I don't know if you can tell in the pictures but the jacket has these whimsical patterns printed on them? It looks something like a really lazy paisley. (That's what I would call it) I love how I can match the two distinct patterns in this outfit, it works because the jacket's pattern is subtle.

Now that it's April, the weather is getting a lot better so I'm looking forward to wear all the spring/summer clothes I got in my winter sale. They've been rotting in my room for god knows how long. 

A Mixture of Everything

Greetings, Internet.

I haven't updated in a year. But I'm back with a few photos to throw out here so here we go! 

  I recently (7 months ago) got myself a new lens for my DSLR. It's the AF-S NIKKOR 35mm f/1.8G DX from Nikon. The first photo I took with it is of my pet hedgehog which can be seen above. Probably one of my best investments in a while. A little too bright sometimes but it works wonderfully under low light condition so I really love it. I love to go to aquariums to take photos so it the best lens I could get at a low price. All photos on this post are taken with this lens so I hope it interests you into looking into this lens! 

Photo taken at Enoshima Aquarium. One of the best aquariums in Japan. Follows the model of Montrey Aquarium in California. 

Cats love my coat. Love the blur. 

Some photos to remind myself that I meant to run a fashion blog... Photo was taken on my trip to Kamakura in October (I think). It's so much colder in Japan at the moment. I wore all Zara except for my shoes from Cole Haan and my backpack from Yoshida & Co., Ltd.

This year, I made Osechi with my mom like last year. Except this year, we used these authentic lacquer box given by our grandmother. 

Outfit on my birthday! Photo taken at Setagaya Art Museum.  

I'm wearing 

Black leather down jacket - Max&Co.

Green Ultralight down jacket - Uniqlo

Olive Skinny faux leather pants - Zara

Flower print shirt - Zara

Black leather combat boots - Staccato

Backpack - Yoshida & Co., Ltd

A little over exposed in the back ground but I wanted to share this. I found this stone lantern in the garden of Nezu Museum in Tokyo. A beautiful mixture of nature made and man made. Nezu Museum is a great place to be if you're interested in Japanese traditional art. The Garden there alone is beautiful and they have a cute cafe right beside it!

This was a brief overview/photo diary of my life in Tokyo the past few months. More posts to come in the next few months because I'm having my spring break. Trying to make more time for updating and getting my life straight! I hope you enjoyed this post (:

Maria

New Year and OOTD

HAPPY NEW YEAR

   I hope you enjoyed NYE and the actual day. This year I got to experience a Japanese style new years celebration with my family. It's only my second new year after moving to Tokyo and I never had a proper homemade Osechi (お節), a traditional Japanese cuisine eaten after New Years day for celebration, so I begged my mom for these pretty things. Usually Osechi is served in these layered boxes but we never owned these and its a pain to buy something you would only use once a year so we had to compromise with moms favourite plates with asian vibes. 

   These were considered delicacies in the past and people only got to eat them once a year. Nowadays we have more than enough types of food available at any time of the year so it's not really considered a delicacy. To tell the truth, Japanese food is often more on the healthy side so eating it as a celebration feels a bit different from eating roasted turkey for Thanks Giving. It's not as luxurious or filling. Even from a Japanese point of view, Osechi feels a little simple taste wise although it's time consuming to make. (and theres almost no meat involved) I like that simplicity but I'm not too sure if it's a taste everyone would enjoy. 

   And here's my lazy outfit of that day. If you're extra lazy to wear makeup, just wear sunglasses. 

My friends and I call this the gorilla jacket. I love it so much. It's super warm and cozy. 

Jacket - Diesel SALE (I dont know if its still available)

Croptop - Zara

Overalls - Some Japanese brand

Shoes - Zara

Bag - Zara

I'm 70% composed of Zara, I swear. 

I hope you have a wonderful year ahead of you (:

DIY: Tattoo Shirt Project

This is a small project i set myself to complete. It's called the "Tattoo Shirt Project". What I'm doing here is: instead of tattooing myself and horrify my mom, I would stitch patterns, words, images on my shirt. The motif of the embroideries I use would be something meaningful to me. I would add as much/less to the shirt depending on how I feel. There's no specific criteria to mark the completion to this piece, but I think that aspect would make this shirt even more special. I share with you the first quote added to this plain white shirt.

What you need: 

needle, thread of choice, something you want to stitch on (optional: embroidery hoop)

attach the embroidery hoop...

...and start stitching!

voila!

"Non je ne regrette rien"

The title of a song sang by Edith Piaf, who I love and adore. I love her voice and the lyrics she chirps. 

Although it may seem that stitching on a piece of shirt does not qualify as having equivalent commitment as to getting a tattoo, the effort you put in to complete an embroidery piece requires equivalent commitment in my opinion. 

I'm sorry if you were expecting a full step by step tutorial on how to do embroideries. I just wanted to share about this project I started. I'm sure someone more considerate than I am would had posted something on that on the internet by now. I got better as I went. If you're a beginner like me, don't give up! If you're tired, let it sit for a day or two and come back.

What's the difference between an university and a college?

14 days till becoming freshman? I thought this summer was never going to end. I want to be busy, i want to have schedules already.

So I thought I'd share with you some things I've been up to during the summer to kill my boredom. You can do what I do to kill your boredom too.

Cooking

I don't usually cook. But I do when I feel like gobbling up food in large portion. I make sweet things in huge batches so I can curl up in a ball and devour them. I made blueberry crumble muffins (recipe) and made short beard cookies form the left over crumble dough. I just added about a tablespoon of butter to it to make it less crumbly. Don't waste resources people.

Embroidery

Uncompleted embroidery piece on white shirt. Completed piece here

Movie

Love of my life, Little Mermaid♥
I watched a lot of movies, in the theaters or not. A lot of childhood Disney & Ghibli movies for recap and some new movies.

Hair Cut

This isn't a very great picture but I got a nape shave done. Made my life a little more exciting than it is. It's starting to grow out again so I have to learn to do it by myself soon. Or get a friend to help me. (i have friends i swear)

Hang Out (a lot)

I hung out with my friend in august which was pretty cool. I'm a Japanese living in Japan so I never got to experience whats it like to be a tourist. Above photo is taken on top of the Tokyo Sky Tree.

So my three month summer is coming to an end, and though it was the longest holiday I've ever had, somethings are left undone. But I don't regret the lazy days of curling up in my futon, scrolling my tumblr dash for what seemed like forever.

Some things I want to achieve in the next few days:

-Make a herb/succulent garden in my balcony
-Change tumblr theme
-Sing more Disney songs and know the lyrics to it by heart