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Sanae Ishida

A crafty little atelier in a grey city

2014 Summer Sewing Plans

May 28, 2014

It's another installment of unrealistic sewing planning -- one of my favorite activities! Over the last year or so of sewing for myself, I've become enamored with dresses. I just love the ease of slipping a dress on, ready for the day in an instant. And now that I've survived looking through thousands of images of myself and have become truly and deeply okay with my "giant squash legs" as K likes to call them, I'm intent on adding a lot more frocks to my wardrobe. I lean toward simple lines ... Read more

Filed in: gouache, illustration, sewing, watercolor • by sanae • 26 Comments

Me-Made-May 2014: Week 3

May 22, 2014

Final art for the book is due next week, so I'm devoting every available nanosecond to painting for the next 8 days, which means that I punted all sewing for the interim. Unless my stress level reaches explosive proportions, in which case I will have to engage in some sewing therapy. I know that I was on my soapbox about how productive I've become with Evernote yesterday, but all I was able to do for today was to re-serge the bottom hem of what you see above (the threads have a tendency to snap ... Read more

Filed in: sewing, sewing for me • by sanae • 12 Comments

Willow + Co Aster Cardigan

May 20, 2014

And we're back with the light grey walls. I'm a big fan of Vanessa's style and sewing. I'm an even bigger fan of her photography - she captures the light masterfully and her daughter is gorgeous and seems so sweet. I had the luxury of selecting a variety of patterns from the Willow & Co collection, and I definitely wanted to give the Aster Cardigan designed by Vanessa herself a whirl. As I'd hoped, it came together in a New York minute (actually more like a Seattle minute, which is ... Read more

Filed in: sewing, sewing for K • by sanae • 18 Comments

Willow & Co Glamping Tour: The Sophisticated Robin Hood Girl + Giveaway [Closed]

May 19, 2014

Today's is a good one, friends. Vanessa of the wonderful LBG Studio graciously included me in the happenin' Willow & Co Glamping Tour that's been aflutter in the sewing interwebs, and it's my turn to showcase their collection. And what a collection! I wanted very much to sew everything, but of course, I need to sleep. So I selected the very beautifully designed Fawn & Lily dress for today (I have another sewn project from the collection for tomorrow that's not officially part of ... Read more

Filed in: sewing, sewing for K • by sanae • 39 Comments

Vintage May

May 16, 2014

Like a shy, wallflower girl longing to be asked to boogie at the Spring Fling Dance, I was secretly hoping that Kristin and Jess would invite me to be part of their Vintage May Series, because it's common knowledge that it's one of the awesomest series around and who wouldn't want to participate? If there's one thing I'm certain of this sewing community, it's this: there's a big love of collaboration. So my wish came true, resulting in some more awkward dancing. I also made K do a severely ... Read more

Filed in: sewing, sewing for K • by sanae • 25 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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