The house: a disaster. The food: completely reliant on Trader Joe's frozen food section. The "studio" (aka my bedroom where I sew): unspeakable. And in an effort to walk my talk, I'm calling uncle and reaching out for help: is anyone out there willing to pattern test for book #2? I've already roped in a few wonderful folks, but I definitely need more testers as the sewing book I'm currently working on has over 20 projects. If interested, please email me: sanaeishida13[AT]gmail.com. These are ... Read more

  I am dying. Dying of excitement for my book launch, of course, but also in the literal sense. Three years ago, when my thyroid condition -- aptly named Graves Disease -- was at its most acute, my mortality was a daily reminder since my immune system kept shutting down. Compared to that period, I feel practically invincible these days. I eat a lot more vegetables and I rarely get sick, but it still doesn't change the fact that I am schlepping toward my demise, albeit slowly, every ... Read more

Happy Friday! Hey, Little K's in a magazine! The book got a nice write-up in the May issue of Seattle Magazine, available on stands now. I loved that the fact checker asked if the islands and body of water shown in the first spread actually exist. The answer is no, and in fact, I forgot all about it until now, but I made it so that the islands form the Japanese character for "people" or "hito". I don't know, I thought that would be fun. I showed you the progression from sketch to final here. The ... Read more

Happy Friday! That image up there pretty much sums up our spring break: sleeping in and blissed-out exhaustion from nonstop fun. What's odd is that despite being a rabid and chronic scheduler, I had virtually nothing planned, and what I did have planned shouldn't have been fun -- namely an appointment with the orthodontist: There's a striking pair of walls lined with silver boxes at the ortho office, and each box contains teeth molds for all the pediatric patients (sort of creepy, sort ... Read more

A few weeks ago, my mom sent K a box filled with thrifted animal print clothes. Dresses, skirts, jackets, scarves, lingerie (??), hair bands, and even a backpack, though I don't think a lot of it is meant for kids. Needless to say, K belted out a yelp of joy, and since then she's worn nothing but outfits from that box (except for the lingerie, which is all sorts of wrong on multiple levels). It's a sight to behold. From head to toe, she's generally decked out in spots and tiger stripes, and ... Read more