stress is just right around the corner.

Yesterday's outfit. It has been pretty good weather this whole week. A few days have been so warm that I wake up sweaty in the middle of the night. The air conditioner and heater are the same thing and sometimes it works as a heater and sometimes it works as an air conditioner but you can't choose between when what works, so sometimes I'd be using the air conditioner and all of a sudden it becomes really hot.Today was something in between. Kind of warm but a little bit chilly at times. I kind of like it that way. Heat is not my friend. I was watching an episode of a drama during my lunch break between classes. I like to multitask. When I finished my food, my episode wasn't over yet and I feel like I'm wasting time if I'm not doing at least two things at once so I did makeup while I finished the episode.tops from Taiwan, jacket from Harputs Union, Vena Cava silk shorts from Aritzia, Doc Martens, Tiffany & Co scarf, gift. There's only two weeks left of school; it's hard to believe that time has passed so quickly! Right now, I wish I had more time to do things I want and need to do. Like laundry and cleaning my room. And sewing clothes for myself and making stuffed animals and phone pouches. And drawing. And preparing for Fanime. All things that I can't do because I need to concentrate on getting my work done. Final projects have been assigned and I have a lot of things I need to be working on. Two essays due on monday, final dress and skirt for patternmaking, a collection for sketching and another collection for apparel presentation. A knit project and a recycling/upcyling in class final. Final tests. All fun things (minus the essays and tests) just not under stress and time constraints. Here's a few of the things I've been working on in the past week.This is my sketching assignment that I turned in today. I based it on images I found of the ocean. We get a new assignment for sketching every week. The one before was a guys collection that I based off of pictures of the suburbs that I took from my phone. For my current apparel presentation project, I am working of a collection based of flowers. My teacher is kind of ehn about this collection from me because he thinks it is too predictable from me and wanted to see something else. I don't know what else I can do to change it; there's not much time left so I don't think there is much that I can do. There's currently 30 pieces, and I have to narrow down to 8-10 to finalize and present. Cutting down always seems to be the hardest part. Working hard. Love, Kaia

bearing the work.

For my assignment in patternmaking, we were told to make a sleeve sewn on to a bodice.It's supposed to be half a bodice and just one sleeve but I don't like to make unfinished projects, especially with fabric because it seems like a waste to make something with all the time and effort and not to be able to wear it. So! I made my sleeve on a full bodice as a sweater so it could be worn. Critiques were today. Critiques are always really intimidating, especially in patternmaking because sewing details are examined very closely and I am not good at sewing.
I did elbow patches out of some pink corduroy fabric that I had, and then attached bear claws to the elastic hem sleeves. The claws are sewn with white jersey knit and stuffed, sewn closed, and are attached to the sleeves with snap buttons so that they could be easily removed.
Back is a centered zipper for getting in and out of. Bottom has a lace trim hem, as I lace trim everything I make. I was nervous, but the critique went pretty well. My professor didn't go too harsh on criticism; she told me that I could have done better on the zipper, and that the elbow patches could have been...rounder. "Hey, I have to find something to critique on."

Probably the biggest downside to this sweater is that I got the fabric from our fabric supply room so it's not the best in the world. Wearing it for a little bit is ok, but it gets really itchy when I'm in it too long. Not the most comfortable.

Making clothes is rewarding, though. I'm really terrible at making dresses but for one of my finals I have to construct a dress. Hopefully that will go ok...

Love, Kaia

afternoon tea.

Last weekend I had a field trip up to the Frick Collection on 70th and Madison. I had arrived 20 minutes early, before the doors of the museum were open and didn't want to wait outside because it was raining so I looked around for a cafe where I could buy myself breakfast. Unfortunately, being on Madison didn't give me much of a selection (the only stores in the area were upscale designer boutiques)

There was a macaron display next to Juicy Couture and I had thought it was part of Juicy, but as I walked down I noticed that it was a different store altogether.
Laduree, how convenient. I'd been meaning to go for some time but never made a trip up. I don't frequent anywhere above midtown.
Most of my pictures I took outside because photos are prohibited (though I managed to sneak a few). There is a Hello Kitty collaboration going on that just started recently. Before that was Tsumori Chisato so I went in expecting Tsumori boxes, but it seems that those are all out.
I couldn't get over how pretty the whole store is. To the right of the entrance, there's a gift section with everything from stationery to bags to scarfs to umbrellas. There'd been a scarf that I would have loved, I quickly put it back from shock after seeing the $70 price tag.
The macarons themselves are pricier than most also. For one, it's $2.70. Which makes some sense considering the prestige of name and crafting in Paris. Paulette's (now known as lette's) was over a full dollar cheaper. There used to be one in San Francisco, but they closed down before I ever got to try one.

I decided to splurge and buy the prettiest box. Each box is different price despite being the same size. Buying in a box is more expensive than buying individually.
I went with one of the Hello Kitty boxes of eight. I felt like I as paying a fortune until the cashier swiped up the two people in front of me ($250 for several boxes and $53 for one box).
It's still a huge splurge. When I was on the train, I kept thinking how many pints of Haagen Dazs I could have bought with the money. A LOT, in fact, since the price of one pint on sale is the same as the price of a macaron.
Laduree macarons are something that I feel would be given as a wedding present.
Choosing the flavors I wanted was hard not only because there are a lot of flavors but because the only flavor I really like is chocolate. Because it was my first time there, I thought it'd be a waste for me to get a whole box of chocolate.
I bought: raspberry, coffee, almond, praline, blackcurrant, vanilla, cherry blossom, and chocolate. I took down notes of them all in my notebook so I would remember the taste of each next time. A few of them are much too sweet to be enjoyed without a cup of tea, and I have a sweet tooth (so that's saying something). I took them with English breakfast tea with no sugar and for a few of them, that balanced the taste out.
These are so expensive that I can't imagine I'll be going back anytime soon, but having them once is a good experience. One mission completed!

Love, Kaia

i really want to make something right now.

A couple days ago I went buy fabric in Brooklyn. I like going to the garment district to get inspiration and look at all the fabrics, but once I set my eye on something and then see the price tag, it's a bit of a downer (and when I say a little I mean a lot). So it makes me really excited when I go buy discount fabrics at prices that I can actually afford.
In total, I bought 7 yards of mint tulle ($1 per yd!), 24 yards of white tulle ($1 per yd!), 5 yards of green plaid ($1 per yd!), 3 yards of light green cotton ($3 per yd!), and 3 yards of ash pink IDK synthetic something ($1 per yd!).
I had only meant to buy 10 yards of white tulle, but Emily said that I should just get the whole bolt and I was like why not because I thought it would be easier to just get the whole thing instead of having it all rolled out. But in the end the cutter still ended up rolling the whole thing out...
A few days ago I was just going to make my circle skirt pattern for my patternmaking class, but then I got really into it and ended up sewing the whole thing.The lace was only $1 for 2 yards, so total the skirt only took about $3 to make! Pretty happy with the outcome. I've been wearing it all day.

I've been wanting to sew all day! I want to make dresses and skirts. But I should really be doing other homework instead.

Love, Kaia

the wind roars.

This is actually last week's outfit. It's so incredibly windy today. I'm sitting in class, and it's roaring winds outside right now. The type of wind that would carry me away if I were trying to walk outside. It was really sunny when I was outside but cold.
dress and necklace from forever21, pants and jacket from Taiwan, Docs.

This is an outerwear design board from last week for sketching class. The projects for that class are similar to those of apparel design but condensed. We choose inspiration pictures and design a few garments to go with them and that's it. Apparel Presentation, on the other hand, we need to make several boards for inspiration, make a moodboard, develop rough designs, and create a full collection with croquis, flats, and swatches.
I had my apparel critique today and I hope it'll be graded alright. Even when my teacher really likes my work, the highest grade I've ever gotten as of yet is a B.
This collection is based on sculptural silhouettes, technology, and androgynous aspects. I started off with 53 designs that I did, and for our final decision my teacher Gene wanted us to narrow down to 8-10, which was way too difficult, so I did 15. Even 15 as hard. In the critique today, I went first. Gene said only good things about it, except for the floats (which I did instead of flats) being too crowded, which I totally understand because I feel the same way. In total front and back, there are 70 flats, and I stuffed it onto three boards when it should have taken much more room.

A little sleep deprived from working on this project. Deciding between doing homework when I go back after my night class or sleeping.

Love, Kaia