Good morning! So. The first order of business now that the book is 99% done (at least in my mind) is absolutely critical: cleaning. I am, by nature, a neat and tidy person, but for the last few months I've really let the house go to pot. It's ugly, folks. The disarray has been steadily driving me crazy and probably had some impact on my productivity, but I tried my very best to choose taking care of my health via food and exercise and spending time with people over laundry or vacuuming when I ... Read more
Giveaway: Stylish Party Dresses [CLOSED]
Yet another giveaway! Tuttle Publishing has put forth a fun book -- all about party dresses! In case you were wondering, I didn't translate this one. And because it's not going to be available until September 15th, today's post is a bit of a sneak peek. There are 26 patterns (a - z) with that simple, flow-y and Japanese look and feel. The title is a little misleading since there are a number of separates too. That just adds to the versatility, I say. I flipped through the pages and liked ... Read more
Giveaway: Stylish Remakes [CLOSED]
Good morning! I haven't done a giveaway in a while, have I? The always good folks at Tuttle sent me the Stylish Remakes book to review, and what makes this special to me is that yours truly actually translated it. Yes, if you happen to get a hold of this freshly published (in English) book by Violette Room, you'll see my name next to "Translated from Japanese by". Exciting! Here you can see the Japanese version next to the English one. The Japanese copy is slightly smaller, and the cover ... Read more
Linen, Wool, Cotton Kids Giveaway [CLOSED]
Good morning! I thoroughly enjoyed a low-key weekend and I hope you had a great one too. I didn't do much other than eat, it seems. I grazed from one meal to the next, and the best part was that I didn't cook at all and felt very pampered indeed. Although I squeezed in a tiny little bit of sewing, the weekend was all about hanging out. My UFO pile seems to be shrinking a tad and my plan is to show you a finished item or two next week, but I acquired the English version of one of my ... Read more
Giveaway: She Wears the Pants [CLOSED]
A long time ago, when this blog was just a gleam in my eye, I had coffee with a writer friend who was an expert in the blogging world (at least more of an expert than I was or am). I confided in her that I used to maintain a blog that had petered out, but I loved it and wanted to maybe-sort-of-kind-of begin another one. I bounced around some ideas with her ("Sewing? That sounds like too much work," she declared). After much hemming and hawing, I was no closer to figuring out what sort of blog ... Read more