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Sanae Ishida

A crafty little atelier in a grey city

Happy 2019 + Secret Valentine Exchange Hiatus

January 4, 2019

Happy New Year!!! I hope 2019 has started off in a good way for you, my friends! K and a friend baked these lovely macarons a few days ago, and they're so delicious -- a perfect way to begin the year. She tells me that they used this video and it must be a darn excellent tutorial because the macarons came out very profesh. So I've been mulling over how to make this announcement. Typically, my first post of the year is all about the Secret Valentine Exchange and I was keeping my fingers ... Read more

Filed in: cooking, secret valentine exchange • by sanae • 15 Comments

Post Valentine’s Day SVE Update

February 15, 2018

Happy Day-After-Valentine's-Day! I hope you had a love-filled one! I'm still recovering from the flu -- I joked that I look like Botox gone wrong to M and an uncomfortable silence ensued. "You're supposed to disagree," I told him. "You actually look like a really swollen, bruised pumpkin," he answered. He then said that in fact, I appear jaundiced. I don't know, maybe I'm overthinking this with my flu-addled brain, but some communication lessons might be in order here. Honesty is not always the ... Read more

Filed in: secret valentine exchange • by sanae • 8 Comments

Happy Friday + SVE plans

January 26, 2018

Happy Friday, friends! I'm guessing that most Secret Valentine Exchange folks are following #2018sve on Instagram and are probably not checking ye olde blog posts much, but thought I'd do a little update. This year my partner lives in the US, so that gives me a little extra time to work on her gift. I've been poring over my fabric stash, trying to find something that feels just right. Above are a few contenders. So pretty aren't they? Are you playing or following along with the SVE ... Read more

Filed in: secret valentine exchange • by sanae • 2 Comments

2018 SVE Underway!

January 17, 2018

Hello my friends! Final tally of Secret Valentine Exchange participants came out to 576. 576!!!!!!!!! Ute and I are, as always, bowled over by the enthusiasm of all involved and this is an extra special year because after 5 years, we finally have not one but THREE gents joining in the festivities. Welcome, guys! We love how the diversity of the group keeps expanding for this global swap. A few housekeeping notes: If you included an instagram handle but have a private account, please ... Read more

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Happy New Year + 2018 Secret Valentine Exchange!! {CLOSED}

January 4, 2018

UPDATE: Sign-ups are now closed. We have 576 participants!!!!! WOW. Ute and I are busily getting all the partner information together and will send out emails by January 16th. If you signed up but didn't receive a confirmation email from Google Forms, please contact us at secret.valentine.exchange[at]gmail.com and we will trouble-shoot! Happy 2018, my friends! I'm having a hard time believing that we are now launching our 5th annual Secret Valentine Exchange!! Ute and I are teaming up as ... Read more

Filed in: secret valentine exchange • by sanae • 9 Comments

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The word that incites terror in most newbie sewing The word that incites terror in most newbie sewing enthusiasts: zippers. Now that I have a few years of sewing under my belt I’m less cowed by them, but there’s something about long, separating zippers that still makes me nervous. I powered through, however, and made this versatile twill hooded jacket originating from a @patterncouture_ zip-up hoodie pattern meant for knit fabrics that I modified a lot. I blogged about it! Link in bio if you’d like to see the different versions I created. 

To skip zippers altogether and make a truly summery garment, swipe and check out my NEW @creativebug Tiered Dress class (link also in bio!). Back to sewing more hot weather stuff because I’m going to Japan for a special trip next week! 🇯🇵🇯🇵
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