Hello, my friends! We just survived an epic, record-breaking Pacific Northwest heatwave (108 degrees on Monday) and I’ve never been more thankful for our scary-and-fit-for-a-horror-movie basement that remained at least 15 degrees cooler throughout the onslaught of scorching temps. For some reason, I always associate heatwaves with that bit in The Great Gatsby when the characters are all resting on tasteful settees or davenports with white curtains billowing about. My own situation was decidedly ... Read more
February Round-Up
Hello, my friends! Brief snow storms and budding allergies (ah-choo!) and book deadlines sum up this month for me. I'm in the midst of wrapping up a very big deadline for the next sewing book, so I'm doing a rapid-fire, bare-bones update today. Fingers crossed that there are no late nights ahead of me! Here are the things I created for this sweet, short month (you can see more images on Instagram here): WEEKLY SEWING A gingham cross-over button-down shirt from Simply Sewn: Clothes for ... Read more
Non-Halloween + Costumes over the years
Hello, hello my friends! I drew some Halloween-inspired watercolor doodles in my sketchbook today, and like this witch, I'm feeling a bit melancholy about this season. My neighbors are going all out in the decoration department, so there's an air of spooky festivity in our 'hood, but this is the first year in a very, very long time that I haven't sewn a costume for K because: pandemic. Trick-or-treating isn't happening, obviously. Then again, now that she's in high school, maybe it wasn't going ... Read more
Teen Sewing Bonanza
Hello, my friends! How are you doing? Are you still sheltering in place? Or has your area reopened and have you cautiously stepped out into the wild world? K and I are still in full self-quarantine mode and we're heading into day 80. M -- the most extroverted of us all in desperate need of contact with other humans -- has been venturing out a little more while remaining diligent about safety. At this point of lengthy cocooning, I'm not sure if I'm capable of having normal (i.e. coherent) ... Read more
It’s that time of year…
Hello, hello my friends! How are you? I'm flooded with relief right now since I've just wrapped up some major deadlines and have a few days to prepare for my mom's visit next week (my parents are in Los Angeles at the moment to take care of some U.S. paperwork but will be returning to Japan again during Thanksgiving week). K told me what she wanted for her costume and I made this quick sketch in Procreate today, and she said, "So pretty!" This one is looking like a relatively simple costume ... Read more