craft of patchwork

Rabu, 24 November 2010

:: Almost Done ::

I'm feeling sleepy today, must be because I've been running like crazy trying to get everything ready for Christmas, I made some final purchases online yesterday and had to paid extra for shipping $_$, so they can be on time, fingers crossed !

Posting Yesterday was impossible, my internet was acting weird until this morning so uploading images was a pain.
But enough of that, :) I wanted to show you what I did over the weekend.

I played with these lovely papers :), cutting,wrapping,folding and even sewing them to pack the ornaments I sent,these beauties are form the Martha Stewart Crafts line, Aren't they cute?

I prepared this Birthday-Christmas present for a very CRAFTY girl :) I didn't had the chance to send her something for her Birthday so I wanted to make it double this time, no, I'm not telling who because it's a surprise! I hope she gets it soon.

And these two cute FQ's are flying all the way to CANADA, along with a Christmas Card, another crafty surprise for a nice patient girl.

I did a lot of packing and these Holiday Deco-Tapes helped me to decorate envelopes and parcels, Love the Bells and the Holiday Greetings ^_^

How much did I pack? well see for yourself, I ship them out last Friday and clumsy me forgot to add some small letters and parcels I had in my outbox drawer X_X, so I need to make another trip to the post office.

I am almost done with all my Holiday errands, I only need to worry about Christmas Dinner and sending the last batch of snail mail :) Can't wait to stay home and relax a bit.

Well I hope you have a calm nice day and I'll show you the ornaments I sent on those brown paper bags on my next post

Take Care!

Mood: sleepy

.:: Danish Delight ::.

Nov. 29th, 2007 at 10:09 AM

How is your morning?

Mine is dry and a bit hot, the weather is kinda weird it makes me want to make sushi for lunch mmm...

It's Thursday already and I need to go to he post office to send some pending parcels, one for LiLi and some small letters and envelopes, I hope I get the chance to do it today, or at least before Sunday.

Anyway, I wanted to show you the projects I've done in this post but instead you are going to see a very Special Danish Delight, I've received a wonderful parcel from Mette, she send me all this wonderful goodies that I couldn't post just one picture I had to dedicate a whole post to it.

First - the Pincushion-
oh yes, one of my favorite sewing tools, She made this wonderful cute pin cushion, this is no small pincushion but I would really like it bigger to use it as a pillow because it's so pretty. You can see more of her nice items here at the Erleperle Shop

Can you see all those fabrics? ohh she send me the nicest stash, full of color, can't wait to make something with them, I think I will use them for a patchwork craft, a pouch? another pincushion? we shall see.

Holiday trims,heart buttons,pincushion,colorful papers,Mini-Unikko fabric and the nicest orange chocolate I've ever tasted, Mette did her research, I just love this parcel.

These are the Stamps that came with the parcel, I really love the shapes and colors, I had to rip them off the box and now they are safe in my international stamps collection.

And the Coffee, I'm sorry to tell you that this yummy coffee is all gone :(, no more, not even for a small cup, Willy and I were crazy with this special treat, light body with a very strong taste, I haven't experienced that combination in a coffee here but it really works and now we are longing for more.

Well that's all, if you want to see more of Mette's wonderful goodies, check out her Erleperle Blog
she makes the cutest things :) and I love her Style, ohh and
-- THANKS A BUNCH FOR YOUR PARCEL--- I still need to send mine, but I'm taking my time to make it extra special.

This parcel reminds me of LiLi, she always sends me the nicest things,she must be psiquic because she always knows what I want and like, I'll post more of the goodies LiLi send me later

Well. I want sushi for lunch today so I better get moving

Enjoy your day!!

from : http://users.livejournal.com/_shakty_/tag/mail

Beautiful beautiful patchwork

I am so smitten with my new patchwork "mook" (ISBN4056042837). The photos are gorgeous and I love all the projects. Not sure when I'll get around to making something, but much happy browsing is going on in the meantime.

February 02, 2006 in Books, Sewing and crafty stuff | Permalink | Comments (8)

Colour blinded

As part of the continuing post-exam indulgence I went to the Tokyo International Quilt Festival this afternoon. It was huge! When I read that it was at Tokyo Dome I thought it must be in one of the surrounding buildings, but it was actually in the baseball stadium and filled the whole field.
Quilts entered in the different competition categories were on display - kids, traditional, art quilts, Japanese style etc. - and there were also exhibitions of some vintage quilts from Hawaii and Tahiti, and from the Quilters' Guild in the UK, as well as works from contemporary Japanese textile artists. My favourites were the Japanese-style quilts, pieced from indigo fabric or scraps of kimonos.
I had never been to a quilt show before, so didn't realise that there would be stalls as well as the display. Big mistake! I arrived with only 700 yen in cash after I'd paid for my ticket, and so had so spend the afternoon being taunted by gorgeous books, fabrics and kits that I couldn't buy (none of the stalls took cards, and there was no ATM). Forced to decide between fabric and food, I spent my 700 yen on a bag of mixed buttons and some beautiful remnants. After a couple of hours I was dizzy with hunger and totally overwhelmed by all the incredible work. Next year I will know better and come armed with cash and comfortable shoes!

Fabrics old and new

While I was back in Sydney my mum helped me rummage through some of the cupboards at home, tracking down old bits of fabric and notions. I brought some of the goodies back to Tokyo with me.

The fabric on the left is a cot sheet that I remember from when my sister and brother were babies - I think my grandmother made it. The bottom right fabric is a length of cotton that has been hanging around for ages - my grandmother gave it to my mum, and I think it may have originated with my dad's paternal grandmother. The buttons are just a few of my grandmother's collection (she had jars labelled "pink/red" "blue" etc. that I used to play with as a child) which is now living at my parent's house.

I also went shopping for some new fabric at Tessuti in Chatswood. I love Japanese textiles, but it's fun to get something else for a change. These are the makings of a skirt, top and some pyjamas.

January 11, 2006 in Sewing and crafty stuff | Permalink | Comments (1)

Whew!

The Christmas Sewing Marathon is now complete, and I'm feeling very relieved. Now I just need to finish a powerpoint presentation for tomorrow, study for the two tests I have before we leave, get on top of the washing and pack!
The little purse on the left is something I made from my new book from Aranzi Aronzo - it is full of cute things and I can't wait to try more in the new year. More pictures of recent sewing here - but if you are family, no peeking 'til after Christmas, please!

December 20, 2005 in Sewing and crafty stuff | Permalink | Comments (7)

Gocco goodness

Every year I make Christmas cards with my trusty Print Gocco, so I was very sad to hear of its imminent demise. I am going to stock up on lots of bulbs, inks and screens while I still can.
This year's card is very simple, and I decided to use postcards, Japanese-style, which saves paper, postage and time (less room on the back to fill with news = quicker to write).

I always seem to over-ink my gocco screens, and so after I'd made enough cards I printed some extra and then cut out the trees to make little gift tags. This was just a last minute change of plan, but I actually like the tags better than the cards.

December 15, 2005 in Sewing and crafty stuff | Permalink | Comments (4)

Origami stars

I love the idea of home-made Christmas decorations, in fact home-made Christmas anything. Maybe because I'm in Japan where Christmas is nothing but a commercial event, I've been feeling a growing resistance to participating in the whole Christmas consumption bonanza. So this year I'm trying to make as many gifts as I can, and also some quick and easy decorations. These origami stars were so simple, but look really cute. I got the idea from here, and the folding instructions here.

December 14, 2005 in Sewing and crafty stuff | Permalink | Comments (2)

Inspiring afternoon

On Sunday I went to Design Festa, a twice-yearly all-weekend art and craft extravaganza held at the Tokyo Big Sight. It was great! This was my 2nd visit, and I came better prepared than last time; with lots of small change and sans bored husband.

There was so much to look at - 3 enormous halls full of booths and stalls, each one rented by some kind of creator to showcase or sell their work. There are t-shirts, postcards, paintings, tables, photos, brooches and clothes, as well almost anything else you can imagine.

I loved seeing all the different kinds of art and design, and came home with lots of gorgeous postcards, as well as some stationary, pins and a bag. I didn't even see half of what was there, it just took too long to squeeze through the crowds and look at what was on display. It is such a great event though - because anyone can hire a booth the people there range from those who are quite well established to school students, and as well as Japanese artists lots of people had flown in from other countries. It's really nice to be able to talk to the artists who've made things in person, and the whole place just buzzes with creativity.

I picked up lots of meishi, and thought I would include some links for people who are interested in Japanese arty/crafty stuff.
The gorgeous amigurumi toys to the left are from Soragumi. She had made so many different types of dogs... I loved the spaniels with curly wool ears. I bought postcards from illustrators here here, here and here; and some stationary from here. They are all kind of quirky and cute. This artist makes lovely prints, and I fell in love with one of this artist's paintings but it had already sold... These textile collages are also gorgeous. For fabric, these pouches made from vintage textiles are amazing, and I loved some of the fabrics in these bags.

There was so much more beautiful stuff but unfortunately a lot of people didn't have websites - I guess it's hard when you're just starting out. Most of the sites above are in Japanese, but the trusty "right click -> translate" trick usually works okay, and lets you navigate through to the images. Happy browsing!

November 28, 2005 in Art in Japan, Sewing and crafty stuff | Permalink | Comments (2)

Fabric from Thailand

At the end of last week I got a gorgeous box of fabric and notions from Sooz in Thailand. I love reading her stories about life in Chiang Mai, and seeing the way she uses local material in her craft, so I am very excited to get my hands on some of the things she uses! It's really inspiring to see some fabric that's so different to what's in the shops here - rather than being printed this has woven designs and slightly more muted colours.

And the trims and bobbles are great - lots of elephant designs.
I'm now trying to work out what to use it all for - the pile of fabric in the cupboard is rapidly growing, and I have a bunch of ideas in my head, but actually finding the time to get the sewing machine out is difficult.

When I have sewn recently, it's mostly been little bags from this book and some zippered pouches... this tutorial is fantastic and makes it really easy, even if you hate zippers like me. The two-tone totes and the smaller one are from the Japanese book, and were lots of fun to make - they are a good size, big enough for a book but not too huge. More photos here.

from : http://floatingworld.typepad.com/floating_world_views/sewing_and_crafty_stuff/

Gone swimming

The swimming bag is done! Dirty looks are a powerful motivating factor. It's just a big, simple tote - I based it on this bag from this book and made it a bit bigger. It fits a towel and my swimming gear easily, and there is room on top for groceries, so I can avoid adding to the stash of 100s of plastic bags I accumulate every week.
It was the first time I had sewn oilcloth, and the sewing machine was not a fan... it seemed to slip sideways a lot while I was sewing. But apart from that it was all very straight forward. The other thing about the oilcloth is that it has this really strong plasticky smell, but I'm hoping that will fade.
Right, now I'm off to the pool.

September 27, 2006 in Sewing and crafty stuff | Permalink | Comments (7)

Adventures in fabric town

Today I finally made it to "Textile Town" in Nippori, after hearing about it for ages. It's a street full of fabric stores, the biggest and best of which is called (of course) Tomato. It's not quite as big as Yuzawaya, but is cheaper and has a different range of fabrics. I picked up a few - the apple print top left I've seen online but never on sale, so I had to get that - I think it will be perfect for a small handbag or as part of a patchwork baby bib.
The bird and cloud print fabrics second from the top is to make a handbag out of. I have been wanting to try one of the patterns in my new Amy Butler book, and I need a dark-coloured bag now that the weather is getting colder so I will see how it goes.
The red and white polka dot was a remnant - it is quite a big piece and was only ¥200. I'm sure it will come in handy because I love spots and have so many prints with red in them.
The two fabrics at the bottom are to make a bag for my swimming stuff. I've been going to the local council pool recently, and don't have a bag big enough to fit a towel in so I've been stuffing it in a paper bag and incurring dirty looks from the pool receptionist who seems to suspect I am some kind of undesirable (as in this land of Louis Vuitton only a homeless person would carry such an unsavory bag). It's even worse when I go to the supermarket on the way home from the pool with wet hair AND a homeless person bag. To remedy the situation I thought I would make a bag big enough for my towel, swimsuit and compulsory swimming cap. The fabric second from the bottom is for the outside, and the one at the bottom is a kind of water-repellent oilcloth, so I'll use that for the lining. I am going to start work on this soon, as I don't think I can handle anymore scornful looks!
I planned to walk around Yanaka after fabric shopping, because I wanted to see the Jenny Holzer exhibition at SCAI, but it began raining hard so I decided to come home. Half the fun of Yanaka is just wandering around exploring and it is too hard to do that with a big bag of cloth and an umbrella. I'll have to try and make it up there another time soon... and maybe pay Tomato another visit too!

September 26, 2006 in Sewing and crafty stuff | Permalink | Comments (6)

Sunshine and paper

The good weather has continued - today when I walked back from returning the hire car I passed this house that I always love, and it looked even prettier than usual in the sunshine. These old-style Japanese houses really appeal to me, especially this one with its beautiful garden of potted plants. It's such a contrast to the apartment buildings and incineration plant that it's nestled in between.
I've been taking a break from sewing lately - I'm getting really frustrated with the sewing machine, and the mess that is my sewing cupboard. Instead I've been enjoying playing with paper, making woven collages like these (Mark: "but what's it for?" Me: "not sure. I just wanted to see if it would work) and cards like these. Coming up next: more stamp carving.

September 25, 2006 in Life in Japan, Sewing and crafty stuff | Permalink | Comments (5)

Too much paper

I love stationary in a completely irrational way. This is a long-lasting obsession, pre-dating the fabric preoccupation by at least a decade. I have clear memories of spending my pocket money when I was in primary school on pastel plastic paper clips with cartoon characters on them, and of coveting the Hello Kitty pencil tins that the Japanese kids in my class had. Living in Tokyo, for a stationary addict, is like being a kid in a candy store. There is so much fabulous stuff, from the Sanrio kitchiness to the beautiful hand printed washi paper.
I now have a cupboard crammed full of gorgeous paper and decided that it's time to get on with making some of the things I had in mind when I bought it. Project One was these note cards and little matching envelopes (also in blue) and some notebooks with decorated spines. I need to get my gocco out so I can make a batch of birthday cards too.
This means that the spare room is now covered with paper as well as fabric, but it feels good to be making clearing the cupboard at last.

September 11, 2006 in Sewing and crafty stuff | Permalink | Comments (3)

Latest obsession

Since I picked up this book at the local bookstore I have been fixated on carving tiny rubber stamps. There's something soothing about the concentration required, and I love the quick results. My stamps still turn out slightly wonky, but I'm getting more precise as I go along.

September 06, 2006 in Sewing and crafty stuff | Permalink | Comments (6)

Laptop Cosy

Ever since I bought my iBook I have been planning to make a cover for it, to keep it clean in my bag and stop it getting too scratched. I had some quilt padding left over, so just made a simple rectangular pouch with velcro at one end. The main fabric is black linen but I didn't have quite enough, so I made some strips of cotton patchwork to fill in the gaps.
This was just a quick project but it should do the job. I much prefer the soft feel of the linen to the scratchy polyesters and nylons that all the computer bags in the shops here are made of. I have a few scraps left over, so I'm planning to make a little drawstring bag for my mouse and cables.

September 02, 2006 in Sewing and crafty stuff | Permalink | Comments (6)

Sightseeing

I've spent the past few days pottering around Tokyo with my sister, which has been great fun. Saturday we went to Shibuya and looked at Tokyu Hands and the big crossing, and then to Ebisu Matsuri to catch up with friends, watch the dancing and eat yakitori. Yesterday we visited Harajuku for Meiji Jingu, where there was a gorgeous ikebana exhibition on, checked out some of the outrageous toys in Kiddyland and ate lunch at the fabulous Brown Rice Cafe (I always feel so healthy after eating there).
Today was Senso-ji in Asakusa and then the river cruise down to Hamarikyu Gardens and a walk into Ginza for department store gazing and Itoya. All very fun and made better by the weather, which is suddenly perfect - sunny with a breeze and much less humidity.
I finally got around to taking some photos of things I've sewn recently - a nightie, bag and skirt. The bag had it's first test today and passed with flying colours (although the strap is a bit scratchy on bare shoulders - better for t-shirts).
Tomorrow we're off to Kamakura, so I'm hoping the weather stays nice.

July 31, 2006 in Sewing and crafty stuff, Sightseeing in Tokyo | Permalink | Comments (3)

Typical

I went into the fabric store in Shibuya tonight planning to look at black and white fabrics and trims for backtack (I'm still procrastinating). I came out with a new skirt pattern, some velcro, and a couple metres of beautiful soft cottons in summer colours. Why does this always happen?
Some issues have been resolved though - having had a good look at the patterns that were supplied I've decided to use a different one, from this book, that I've been wanting to try for ages. It looks pretty similar to the BHG one that we were given, so hopefully no-one will mind. Now to get on with making it and packaging it all up to send off to Velda. I had better hurry up if I'm going to post it by June 1!

May 10, 2006 in Sewing and crafty stuff | Permalink | Comments (5)

Log cabin pillow

I have a sore throat this weekend, so have been staying in and doing not much. It was a good chance to use my new sewing machine, which I inherited when Jess went back to the UK. It's so much better than the old one - not temperamental at all, and the needle actually lines up with the presser foot which makes a huge difference.
I've been wanting to make one of these log cabin cushions for ages, and finally got around to it yesterday. I love the bright colours that Lisa uses, but this one is a present for someone with slightly more subdued taste than me so I went for mostly blues and browns. I'm really happy with how it turned out though, and it was much simpler to make than I expected. More photos here.

It's a little quilt for a friend's baby. I bought the fabric back in January but couldn't get motivated to start. The baby arrived in early March so that forced me into action... and once I got started it was actually really fun to make. Hopefully getting something finished will help me out of my creative apathy.

from : http://floatingworld.typepad.com/floating_world_views/sewing_and_crafty_stuff/

Discovery

When I was walking home from yoga class a different way yesterday morning I stumbled on Cocca, a new store selling beautiful handprinted fabrics and cute vintage notions. I didn't have enough time to look properly, but I am definitely going back before we leave to get some fabric to take home. (Pictures on the left are from the Cocca website)
I am going to miss our neighbourhood so much, it is my favourite part of the city... very central and convenient, and full of cute boutiques and coffee shops. For anyone visiting Tokyo, I really recommend a trip to Daikanyama and Ebisu. There are no "sights" as such, but the atmosphere is great, and there is lots of potential for just pottering around.
The moving preparation is going pretty well - we have now sold almost all the appliances, and I've been doing lots of sorting. I really miss having a Vinnies nearby - there are clothes and house things that I need to get rid of, and I feel really bad just throwing them in the garbage. It's hard to believe it's less than one week til we leave!

December 24, 2006 in Sewing and crafty stuff | Permalink | Comments (3)

Christmas cards, take 2

I keep telling myself that I am just fine with organising an international move in three weeks, but obviously there is some internal stress happening because I am being even more scatterbrained than usual. The day after making the Christmas cards last week I realised that I had printed "From Mark and Suzy, Christmas 2007" on the back of them all... thankfully before we sent any out (Mark had helped me print them, and he didn't notice either, which made me feel a bit better.) So that means next year's cards are already done, but I had to make another set for this year.
My iBook must be stressed too, because it stopped working for no apparent reason on Tuesday afternoon - it just wouldn't boot up and made a really loud fan noise, but after a trip to the Mac store it is back to normal now. Thank goodness for extended warranty.
But apart from things like that I think we are doing pretty well - I booked a moving company yesterday and we've already sold quite a few of the appliances and things. It's very busy, because this time of year always is even if you don't throw in a move, but I'm starting to be able to see past all the stuff that we need to do before leaving and to look forward to having some time off in Sydney when we get home.

December 15, 2006 in Life in Japan, Sewing and crafty stuff | Permalink | Comments (4)

Christmas cards

I finally made Christmas postcards, and am pretty happy with how they turned out. The "Be Merry" was a late addition - the first screen had other text in those spaces, but it wasn't printing properly so I taped over it, and then did a second screen with that afterwards.
This is the 5th year I've used the gocco to print cards, and every time I do I'm amazed by what a fantastic little machine it is - so quick and so little mess. I bought mine in Sydney in 2001 - when I did art in high school they had a bigger version of a gocco that plugged into the mains and which we used to burn silk screens. I really missed it after I finished school, so was excited when I realised I could have something similar to use at home. When I first got the machine I only used it to silk screen fabrics, but since I worked out how to print cards I rarely use it for anything else. I can't believe they're discontinuing supplies, I will have to make sure I stock up on enough for many future Christmas cards before they run out!

December 06, 2006 in Sewing and crafty stuff | Permalink | Comments (4)

Conquering buttonholes

There's been lots of stationary-making going on this week - thank you cards, Christmas party invitations, and labels for the coaster boxes. But I had a chance this afternoon to overcome my long-standing phobia of buttonholes and finish off a reversible baby bib. I love my mum's sewing machine, it's an old Elna Lotus that seems to do everything perfectly, and it made the buttonhole-making far easier than I had expected. Now I wonder why they ever seemed so scary, and I might even pluck up the courage to try making a blouse from this book in the not-too-distant future.

November 23, 2006 in Sewing and crafty stuff | Permalink | Comments (4)

Coasters from photos

I got a nice surprise when these coasters turned up in the post today - I'd ordered a few sets of them from Tokyo, printed from photos I've taken there in the past year.
I wanted to get my own made after seeing Ella Doran's & some similar ones around in shops - I loved the idea, but didn't like the photos on her Tokyo range, and they seemed very expensive. Getting these made was much cheaper, and it was fun to choose the pictures. I didn't know what the print quality would be like, though, so I was relieved when I opened the package and saw them... the colour and clarity are great, and they're very sturdy, with cork backs.
I'm already plotting what I could include on the next batch!

November 21, 2006 in Life in Japan, Sewing and crafty stuff | Permalink | Comments (5)

Brown paper packages

Now the wedding is over I'm really enjoying having some time to potter in Sydney. I went into the city today to meet a friend for coffee and do a bit of Christmas shopping, and stopped by the big Dymocks stationary store. I do love shopping in Sydney, I am so much more efficient here than in Tokyo - it helps being able to ask questions properly and knowing what is sold where. I love manilla parcel tags, and had given up on finding them in Tokyo so got a pack of them, and also a roll of brown paper to decorate with the stamps I carved a while ago. Hopefully it will all look Christmassy when tied up with red organza ribbons! I'm not usually this organised with Christmas shopping and wrapping, but it makes sense to get most of our presents for here sorted out before we go back to Tokyo, to save posting them back in a couple of weeks.

November 21, 2006 in Sewing and crafty stuff | Permalink | Comments (2)

And another bag

This bag was 90% finished when I left Tokyo, so I stuffed it in my suitcase and finished it off in one of the moments this week that wasn't devoted to pre-wedding preparations. It's based on this tutorial and the fabric is from Yuzawaya - the stripy one one on the outside was meant for a yukata or kimono, I think, because it's only about 50cm wide. I'm not usually a big fan of anything with orange in it, but this really grabbed me - it's got a gorgeous nubbly texture too.

November 17, 2006 in Sewing and crafty stuff | Permalink | Comments (1)

Birdy bag

It's been a nice weekend - yesterday I visited some museums in Ginza (there was a great jewellery exhibition at the Crafts Gallery) and today we went to the Nogi Shrine fleamarket, ate lunch at Bape Cafe and did some shopping in Omotesando. I fitted in a bit of sewing too - this bag is the first thing I've made from the Amy Butler book. The instructions were clear, and it was very quick and simple to put together. I bought fabric for this a few weeks ago, so it was good to finally get it made. While I was on a roll I started another bag from this tutorial too, and will hopefully finish that tonight or tomorrow too!

November 05, 2006 in Sewing and crafty stuff | Permalink | Comments (3)

Finished!

I've been back in Sydney this week, and got to meet the new niece so finally finished the baby quilt. The machine quilting was tricky, there's a little bit of lumpiness but on the whole I'm pleased with it - it should be fairly durable too, and survive lots of trips through the wash. I really like the fabric we found for the back - cute little owls.

October 28, 2006 in Sewing and crafty stuff | Permalink | Comments (7)

Quilt in progress...

A new niece arrived in Sydney on Thursday, so apart from pottering around (Yokohama, dinner at Benoit, yoga class etc.) much of the weekend was spent cutting out and piecing together a baby quilt. I love sewing things for babies - it's a great chance to use all the cute fabrics that I find so hard to resist, and I like sewing small things! And most people seem to appreciate having handmade things for their little ones, even if they're not into crafty stuff themselves. The top is all pieced now, so it just needs to be sandwiched, bound and quilted. Yesterday ended up being really busy so I couldn't do anything else, but I should have some time tonight so can hopefully make some more progress. I'm happy with how the top looks, so I'm just hoping I don't stuff up the quilting!
This morning I had my first proper cooking lesson at ABC - I was a bit scared because it was a Japanese-style menu with lots of different bits and some strange ingredients, but even though I only understood about half of it I was mostly able to work out what to do. The other students and the teacher were really friendly and didn't seem too fazed by having a gaijin there, and the finished meal was really yummy! I'm hoping it will get easier and I will understand more as I go along.

from : http://floatingworld.typepad.com/floating_world_views/sewing_and_crafty_stuff/

port-a-craft

One side effect of living in limbo is that I haven't been able to do any sewing. My notions, pattern books and almost all my fabrics are in storage, waiting for us to move into wherever we end up living, and I don't have the space to spread out and make a mess right now. But it's been a good excuse to try some more portable, less messy craft projects that I probably wouldn't have got round to otherwise. One is the sampler from Mailorder #5, which I am having fun picking away at. I did a bit of cross-stitch and tapestry when I was little, but I haven't tried it for years... it just seemed too finicky. I love how simple this sampler looks, and I think it would be great framed up next to this, so that motivated me to get started and now I'm enjoying it a lot more than I expected. The lovely lady at the local needlework shop warned me that it's addictive.

I've been knitting too. Ages ago I decided I had knitted enough rectangles, and it was time to try a pattern. And then I didn't do anything. I've finally found a pattern that looks non-scary enough for me to attempt, and I'm having fun knitting it up in lovely soft Zara wool. With these on the go, I'm hardly missing the sewing machine at all.

March 09, 2007 in Sewing and crafty stuff | Permalink | Comments (4)

vintage cuteness

We are still homeless, but I'm sick of thinking about that, so here is a cute distraction instead.
I was looking through my mum's sewing things today and found some really sweet children's patterns. This pair is incredibly old, and gorgeous - they must have been my grandmother's. I love the cover illustrations, the little girls look like kewpies. This one looks kind of 70s, so it might have been something mum made for me. I'm tempted to try sewing from one of them, but unfortunately I don't think any of the little girls I know have much call for petticoats.

March 02, 2007 in Sewing and crafty stuff | Permalink | Comments (4)

Final fabrics

The amazing fabric stores are one of the things that I'll miss most about Tokyo, so I had fun stocking up on some to take home with me before we left. Some of it is in our shipment (I had a great trip to Yuzawaya in Kichijoji with Laura!) but there were some other bits I found at the last minute and couldn't resist so they came home in our suitcase.
The teacups, florals and apples are actually tenugui from Kamawanu, a gorgeous shop in an old wooden house in Daikanyama. The fabric is really soft and I hope it will get even softer after a few washes. The other prints are from Tomato in Nippori - I made a quick trip there during my last week in Tokyo. I love all of these, especially the apples and elephants, and I can tell I'm going to have a hard time cutting them up!
Sydney has some good shops too though, so I am looking forward to paying a visit to an old favourite (Tessuti) before too long, and also checking out some new stores (Cloth, Prints Charming) that opened while I was overseas.
If anyone has tips for fabric/craft shopping (or any other shopping!) in Sydney, please let me know - I'm

from : http://floatingworld.typepad.com/floating_world_views/sewing_and_crafty_stuff/

Rabu, 24 November 2010

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