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Sanae Ishida

A crafty little atelier in a grey city

Sewing for Me: Bronte Top

December 3, 2014

I know I'm knocking your socks off with this dark grey top. With its sleek, chic silhouette in monochrome, I dare you to tell me that you're not overcome with the desire to spend an hour (or two) making one for yourself too. What's that? You saw something strikingly similar at H & M for $5 at the Black Friday sale? Point taken. You'll see, though, that on closer inspection, this top has so much going for it that blows fast fashion out of the water. The lapped shoulders up the ... Read more

Filed in: sewing, sewing for me • by sanae • 41 Comments

Monday Outfit: Hooded Knit Cardi + Sew Sweet Giveaway [CLOSED]

December 1, 2014

Good morning, friends! I thoroughly enjoyed the long weekend, and I'm feeling rejuvenated. We ended up at a Chinese restaurant on turkey day after all, and I believe this will have to be our annual tradition because it was so stress-free. I don't mind cooking, but the clean-up is a sore spot for me, so not having to while away time sudsing up dishes was a huge bonus. We also went to see the movie Big Hero 6, and it's an all-ages pleaser (and yes, I cried -- it was very touching)! To add spice to ... Read more

Filed in: giveaway, sewing, sewing for K • by sanae •

Monday Outfit: We’ll Call It A Muslin

November 24, 2014

Good morning! I hope you had a fantastic weekend, friends! I spent a good chunk of it making a puffy coat. Or at least attempted to. After a hackneyed research process, I stumbled upon the Alpine Wonderland Puffy Coat pattern, and it was exactly what I wanted to make for K. But wouldn't you know it, I didn't have quite enough of the fabric that K picked out of my stash, so I nixed the hood and improvised with the collar a bit. It's a take on the chinese collar, and I quilted the piece ... Read more

Filed in: sewing, sewing for K • by sanae • 22 Comments

Sewing for Me: Simplicity 1538

November 19, 2014

If you had told me last year that I'd be able to get the print of plaid fabric to match up for a button-down shirt, I would have laughed you out of the room. As it turns out, if I cut each pattern piece individually, I can get very, very decent results (i.e. cutting every piece from a single layer instead of folding the fabric to get two sleeve pieces at once, say). Not perfect, mind you, but pretty darn good. This is Simplicity 1538. And the cotton fabric is from Drygoods -- I hear this ... Read more

Filed in: sewing, sewing for me • by sanae • 37 Comments

Happy Friday + Randomness (a grey polka-dotted shirt)

November 14, 2014

Happy Friday, friends! I try to be a stickler about my blog schedule and meant to post this on Wednesday, but you know how it goes. Though I had a completed shirt, with the waning light situation (and oh, it's so frigid these days), I didn't have decent enough brightness to get photos until yesterday morning -- I jumped out of the shower and snapped a few quick pix while I toasted a couple of slices of bread for breakfast. Details, details: Pattern: Pattern m from Basic Black ... Read more

Filed in: sewing, sewing for me • by sanae • 20 Comments

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I just realized that this week marks 10 years sinc I just realized that this week marks 10 years since my first craft book Sewing Happiness was published. I’ve sewn literally thousands of garments and other textile projects in the last decade! I included a Sashiko primer in the book, and I’m delighted that this humble Japanese embroidery practice has stood the test of time - if anything, I’ve noticed that there’s an ever growing enthusiasm for hand stitching. Fun news: I’ll be teaching a virtual Sashiko workshop for @tatterbluelibrary on Thursday, April 30th at noon ET. Link in profile! Would love to see you there! 💙💙💙💙💙
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