Aaaaah, it’s autumn! My favorite. I’ve enjoyed my summer break from blogging and social media-ing, but I’ve missed aspects of them too. How are you? This weekend, my little family will fly out to Chicago to drop off K — now 18-years-old — and we are all full of big, big feelings. I am excited for her. I think back to my own first days at UCLA, how I started my journaling habit almost 35 years ago in a little coffee shop tucked into the corner of a weathered campus building. 18-year-old Sanae …
Teaching
Creativebug: The Hanten Coat
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 …
Summer of Sewing + Destashival in full swing
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 …
Uncomfortable
Happy Halloween, my friends! If it's a thing in your area, are you dressing up and/or trick-or-treating? That very abstract inky image right above is actually my living room wall when sunshine suddenly burst through the clouds and cast a murky, Halloween-y shadow pattern. Although I want to get more into the spirit of things, my Hallow's Eve zest has been distracted by surreal events happening throughout the month. I've been very, very uncomfortable. I'm stepping out of my comfort zone, as it …
Another Drygoods Class!
Friends, I'm so excited to be teaching another class at my favorite fabric store/sewing studio! This time, we're focusing on baby outfits, and I'm certain that everyone needs to make an adorable pinafore and pair of bloomers at some point. Right? I think these would make fabulous holiday gifts as well as gifts for expectant parents any time of the year. I think what's most thrilling for me is that these are adapted from Japanese patterns but modified heavily by me, so they are, in …