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Sanae Ishida

A crafty little atelier in a grey city

2023 Advent Calendar – The Final One

November 30, 2023

This is it, my friends. The final Advent Calendar for my not-so-little girl. Next year around this time, she’ll be somewhere on a college campus, taking exams or grabbing food from the dorm cafeteria on her way to a class. The daunting phrase is looming above me all the time lately: empty nester. I have a plethora of thoughts on that. But I won't go into them right now. For 11 straight years, I’ve handcrafted a different advent calendar during the month of November to set it up by the last day ... Read more

Filed in: sewing • by sanae • 2 Comments

Creativebug: The Hanten Coat

October 31, 2023

Hello my friends! I know, I know, it seems like I am constantly updating you on Creativebug classes. I've had the enormous pleasure and honor of filming approximately 20 classes with them, so there's a lot to talk about. My latest class on how to draft and sew a Hanten Coat just launched and I love, love, love this coat. It's an enthusiastic nod to the traditional Japanese quilted short jacket by the same name. You can also check out a fun little styling reel I created with the ... Read more

Filed in: sewing, Teaching • by sanae • 2 Comments

Foxtasia + Squirrelly Thoughts

September 30, 2023

It's the end of September and here I am, pondering life as usual. I found this watercolor doodle in my sketchbook, and it reminded me of how M used to jokingly call me "Foxtasia." He has all sorts of nicknames for me, and the cutest is probably "Honeybunny." He has a thing for animal references, as you can tell. I just read an alarming article about how easy it is to create picture books with AI. I am overwhelmed by how it’s not just picture books that AI can seamlessly generate, but anything ... Read more

Filed in: digital, illustration, illustration + art, watercolor • by sanae • Leave a Comment

Summer of Sewing + Destashival in full swing

August 31, 2023

Hello, hello! Whew, what a summer it's been. We've been traveling here and there, often in the form of short road trips. Senior year of high school starts for K in less than a week and I'm feeling that surge of energy that comes with September and the beginning of the academic year. I've been looking forward to this. It's been a great few months, though. As you can see, I've sewn a lot. In fact, that image above isn't everything. I stitched up a grand total of 22 items.  I lost ... Read more

Filed in: sewing, Teaching • by sanae • 4 Comments

Creativebug Cuteness!

July 31, 2023

The end of July is full of festivities in our family: birthdays, trips and reunions, and just an overall celebration of summer. As you read this, I’ll be in the Midwest on the tail end of exploring college campuses and connecting with extended family. Can you believe that K is a senior in high school!!?? We are relishing this summer before things heat up with academics and college applications. Anyhow, I’m just bopping in and scheduling this little post before I head out on my trip. July has ... Read more

Filed in: sewing • by sanae • Leave a Comment

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I designed a bespoke set of fabrics for my upcomin I designed a bespoke set of fabrics for my upcoming GOOD NIGHT, NINJAS book launch (two more weeks!!). They’re not publicly available on Spoonflower at this time, but if there’s interest, I’ll pop it on there. Let me know in the comments! Now to do some super secret ninja sewing….🥷🥷🧵🪡🧵🪡🧵🪡
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