My first dress.

A few months back, I found myself struggling to find the perfect dress to wear to my best friend's wedding. I'm not exactly super slim that I can just get anything off a blogshop (since their "free size" is usually for rather skinny people), nor am I rich enough to get a dress for my size from Dorothy Perkins or plus size shops. So I was stuck, thinking I might have to just wear a baju kurung to the wedding.

But then, a random trip to Kinokuniya make me stumble upon a whole row of Japanese dressmaking books with the patterns. I googled people who make dresses from these books and decided, okay, I'm gonna make my own clothes.

Though I didn't make a dress to wear to my best friend's wedding, I went out and bought this book:

I'm not exactly fluent in Japanese but because it's a "for beginners" book, it was easy to understand. So I decided to make the dress that's on the cover.

But of course, I have to trace the patterns. For people who want to sew from Japanese dress making books, the patterns don't come with seam allowances, so you have to make your own.

The patterns of choice. Bought these Japanese Cotton fabric at Kamdar. 3 meters of the cloth on the right which is the main fabric, 1 meter of the one on the left which is the bottom of the dress.

Truthfully, I didn't really need a total of 4 meters of cloth. I have so much cloth leftover! Patchwork galore!

These were taken before I put on the sleeves and sew the sides close.

The dress is done!

After 6 years of not touching a sewing machine, I created my first dress. I messed up the collar so I covered it up the messy stitches with large buttons. The sleeves are a bit off. But despite the imperfections, I'm wearing it today. 

It ain't perfect, but it's mine! :D