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Sanae Ishida

A crafty little atelier in a grey city

Travel Essentials

July 9, 2014

I'm an overpacker. Always have been. When we went yurt camping last year, M derided me for insisting on bringing a rice cooker, but we totally used it, and I won't apologize for my over-preparedness. Of course, I managed to not pack blankets or pillows, but only because the yurt website said that bedding was included (they were not. We had to make a jaunt to Walmart in the middle of our yurt trip so we wouldn't freeze our buns off - glamping was never less glamorous). We're heading out to the ... Read more

Filed in: gouache, illustration • by sanae • 31 Comments

Grit

July 8, 2014

K is not in love with tennis camp. At least not in the way she was with skateboard camp. See that up there? That's from this past weekend, and when she first started skateboarding about a couple of months ago, she could barely get a few inches up that ramp. Now she'll glide all the way up and swivel turn down. She wants to go to the skate park whenever possible, and I might be biased, but I think she's a natural. I wish I knew how to do stop motion with all my photos because she's improved by ... Read more

Filed in: life • by sanae • 12 Comments

Monday Outfit: Tennis (or Badminton) Whites

July 7, 2014

Good morning! Despite the rain, we powered through with our Fourth of July barbecue, and it was a jolly good time. We pitched in with the neighbors for a community ping pong table, which was a big hit at the party as expected. So today, I'm sharing an entirely self-drafted tennis dress I've been plotting for a while. K is starting tennis camp this week, and it seemed imperative that I make an appropriate outfit. Tennis holds a very special spot in my heart; about five billion years ago as ... Read more

Filed in: sewing, sewing for K • by sanae • 28 Comments

Happy Friday + Randomness

July 4, 2014

Happy Fourth of July! We're celebrating with our neighbors as is our annual tradition and I can't wait to watch the fireworks. The city closes down certain streets in our neighborhood for fireworks-viewing and throngs of people spread blankets on the road and settle in to watch the sky show held above the lake. That exciting, mildly illicit feeling of getting away with something courses through us when we sit smack dab in the middle of the ... Read more

Filed in: gouache, illustration, life, watercolor • by sanae • 4 Comments

Sewing for Me: McCall’s 6751

July 3, 2014

Ikat. Something happens to me when the temperature rises, and I long to wear ikat. That's a pretty nifty back, right? Can I just tell you that I continuously bias bound the entire top portion all the way around the neckline and the cross over straps and arm holes, and I believe that bias tape was at least 6 feet long?  It was taller than me, at any rate (I'm 5'4"). From the front, it looks like a plain ole tank, made in a lovely chevron-patterned ikat that I got from here ages ago: I'm ... Read more

Filed in: sewing, sewing for me • by sanae • 38 Comments

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I’ve been swimming in nostalgia these past few day I’ve been swimming in nostalgia these past few days, wading through my blog and Pinterest board of the clothes I made for K, who is not so little anymore. what a wild, fun time that was! Remember the old school days of sewing blogs?? I’m back in deadline mode for a number of projects so sewing will have to be put on hold (though maybe I’ll get lucky and sneak in some stitching time). I’m also putting Instagram on hold for the summer, as I do every year. I’ll be back in September with some exciting updates! Have a lovely season, my friends! 💙💙💙💙💙💙
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