So I finally finished my detachable collar following the tutorial I posted last time (http://iwearthecanvas.blogspot.com/2011/05/diy-fri-detachable-collar-tutorial.html) and using my fiancé’s Brooks Brothers dress shirt as pattern.

I love this fabric I bought at the Marché Saint Pierre when I was in Paris. It doesn’t show on the pictures but it has a slight silky shine.

I’m still a beginner in sewing so I made some mistakes. The more obvious mess up is that I mounted the base of the collar upside down. There are also a lot of threads and my buttonhole is too big. 

I couldn’t decide how to decorate this collar. Then I thought that a plain blue collar has a business-like style that broke the risk of looking like a playboy bunny uniform.

I gave me some ideas for new collars but it takes me so much time to achieve something these days. Detachable collars might no be fashionnable anymore when I finish them… :)

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It’s been a while since I wanted to make one of those detachable collars. Such a sewing project seems is simple enough for my rookie skills. After some research, I think the best tutorial is this one by Wear the Canvas. I’m still not fixed on the decoration I want. I’m obsessed about studs lately but I don’t think a studded faux-col is wearable easily.

Inspiration :

Shopping guide from Elle magazine september edition (french): http://www.elle.fr/Mode/Accessoires-de-Mode/On-veut-toutes-un-faux-col

A shop for these type of collars: http://www.claudineetcompagnie.bigcartel.com/

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Beautiful tentacles embroidery pattern. Makes me want to learn embroidery !

http://goldwillow.wordpress.com/2011/03/15/410/

(check out her Flickr photostream, I’m so jealous of her fabrics stash ! )

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Military epaulettes brooch.

I wanted to make something eccentric yet wearable. I like to dress quite casually these days and I needed unique and strong accessories to go with a simple t-shirt. I made the pair of epaulettes but only one with chains.

My model was of a US navy lieutenant according to this chart but my artistic talents were too limited for the embroided star.

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Another handmade Christmas present. I knitted this beanie for my uncle. I made two of them before finding the right design. This alpaca wool is incredibly soft. A friend brought it from Peru and I love how his gift becomes another gift from me to someone else.

Now that Christmas has passed, I can post the pics of the handmade presents I gave. I followed a simple (french) tutorial to make those small cases with fabrics I had from Japan. I’m still a novice but I feel I’m getting better. The first one was very simple and rectangular. Then I got confident and tried different designs (the gathered one was a pain). I put a lot of care making those and I hope it shows.

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Bullshit arty filters where not used here, because I’m too lazy to learn how. (And besides, there is enough arty bullshit in this already).

I bought a sewing kit in Japan last year. I didn’t know how to sew so I took something simple. Even then I had to find someone to translate the instructions and to search sewing intensively blogs before understanding it. For a first try I’m pretty proud.

After this mere success, a million crafts projects already pop up in my mind…

By the way, wonderful fabrics shop in Tokyo :

COTTON FIELD CO.LTD
2-2-7 Honcho Kichijyoji
Musashino-City Tokyo Japan
Approx location 

Ta-da!!!

I finally finished this Toad / Toadette iPhone sleeve request.

I realized I had inverted Toadette color once I had finished, duh! Still, as it was my first pattern knit, it gave me so much trouble that I’m pretty proud now. And who would know that making such small pompom was so difficult? At the end, a good glue gun saves it all!