Ganbare

My brother, also an ex-exchange student, made this poster to support the survivors of the crisis in Japan.

"Hi guys. If you're wondering which NGO you should send your love to (in the form of money) to help them help earthquake and tsunami victims in Japan I suggest www.redcross.org.au or savethechildren.org.au. I wouldn't normally endorse big organisations as at times the bits they take out of donations are exorbitant but in catastrophes like this they are the ones with the most valuable contacts and in this instance Red Cross was the first major aid organisation on the ground to begin relief efforts. I just made this poster as incentive for you guys to donate. The slogan in Japanese is read as "nebare, kibare, ganbare", something we always chanted at sport events to encourage players to keep the fighting spirit. The Glico running man is an icon of Japan. Please keep the Japanese in Tohoku in your prayers and God Bless. (p.s. Lady Gaga is selling rubber wristbands with the money going to help with the crisis. How's that for value for money hah. http://bit.ly/gwJHZI )"

Thank you Shen!

Thank you so much Shen for following! :)

Tutorial: Make a Loose T-Shirt

830 Sign Spring 2011 via Fashion Gone Rogue

Apologies for the delay on the first of my promised mini-tutes! Summer seemed to pass by with just only a few warm days! Global warming's a sad occurrence.

Another thing that's sad is the recent natural disaster in Japan. This country is especially dear to me as I lived there for a year on exchange during my high school days. Last night I called my host family,  they live in Osaka so they were fine, although my father was in Tokyo at the time and the phone service was cut for following the quake, which made for a few shocking hours for my family. I'm not sure if anything I say may provide comfort, but I am so sorry Japan... I can't imagine how reminiscent the resulting nuclear accidents are of Nagasaki and Hiroshima.

Oh! By the way, if you are feeling charitable why not make this simple t-shirt and send it over to Japan?

Here's a tutorial for making a loose t-shirt. First, we'll make the pattern for the t-shirt. Then we'll put the pattern to cloth to cut and sew the t-shirt.

Click here to see pictures and the rest of this post!

Red Roses

Mui Mui Spring/Summer 2011

How fitting for Valentine's Day!

via Unbreakable Diamond

These past few weeks have been spent making a friend's dress for her 21st birthday party.

One night last December, the two of us were at Chadstone Shopping Centre, and talking about her plans for her 21st birthday celebrations. It was meant to be a coffee-type catch up but we got distracted by all the beautiful clothes on display (Chadstone hosts several big name brands including Chanel, Jimmy Choo and Lisa Ho).

As Rachel described her dream dress, (off-shoulder, puffy gossamer-like detail, draped, loose-ish, flattering, bold-coloured, striking), our walk escalated into a frantic-tearing-through-stores of "like this?"/"no"/"how 'bout this one?"/"are you kidding?"/"this one?"/"sorta"/"Oh my gosh, THIS one!"

It was a full-length dress of crimson red, layered in chiffon, pleated at the neckline and (empire) waist, detailed with ribbon roses and cord.

Trying it on, the colour brought out Rachel's Spanish side and flattered her body shape. Most especially, she loved the roses. 

Although it was one of those 'I have to get it' moments, the dress that Rachel tried was the last one in the store and it wasn't her size. 

So we decided to have a go at making our own, gratuitously photographing and measuring the dress in the dressing room.

Unrelated

Tunisa's got a new prime minister, Egypt's** and Yemen's PMs or their sons won't be running for re-election and Jordan's king's dismissed his government.

At home, Australia's floods, storms and cyclones means that we'll be in at state of recovery for the next two years or so.

It kind of seems like the end of the world or something.


**EDIT 14/2/11: Egypt's (former) president, not prime minister, sorry!