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Sanae Ishida

A crafty little atelier in a grey city

Happy Friday + Randomness

March 18, 2016

Happy Friday! The weather's been glorious in Seattle these past few days -- azure skies, bright sunshine, a proliferation of blooms nodding in the slight breeze, the works. I've been wandering from coffee shop to coffee shop, ticking things off of my list, composing emails, making plans, walking, walking, walking. Last weekend we had a lot going on that required zooming around the city, so I rented a car for a couple of days, and it's amazing how a few weeks without a vehicle will make you ... Read more

Filed in: life • by sanae • 11 Comments

Happy Friday + Randomness

March 11, 2016

Happy Friday! Have you ever wondered how I set-up my shots whenever I share my me-made-clothes? You probably haven't, but just in case...I place a mirror on a chair in the spot where I'll be standing, and set the focus using my reflection. I then use a remote that has this awesome ability to shoot consecutively non-stop with a single push of a button. This is the brand I use, which was a bit of an investment, but it has given me zero problems these last two years, which was not the case with my ... Read more

Filed in: life • by sanae • 22 Comments

The Niggling Things

February 29, 2016

Happy leap day! A bonus day is cause for merriment. Or, in my case, cause for tending to the niggling things. In addition to my massive cleaning spree, I've been slogging through the mountainous mending pile that's been accumulating on my ironing board. You know, the usual: holes in socks and jeans, ripped seams, garments that need to be shortened, curtains that need hemming, etc. etc. Remember the navy and black stripey dress? It just never felt quite right, so I hacked a few inches off ... Read more

Filed in: life • by sanae • 6 Comments

Trapped

February 24, 2016

Last night, I trapped myself inside of an IKEA Hemnes dresser. I was trying to single-handedly move this massive thing through an extremely narrow space into the utility room but there's this funny little protrusion of knobs and metal casings that I'm pretty sure is part of our ancient heater, and it's located in such a way that I couldn't simply slide the dresser through. All the drawers had been removed so it wasn't exactly heavy, but I quickly became aware of my faulty logic: I propped two of ... Read more

Filed in: life • by sanae • 18 Comments

Deep Cleaning = Lost in Memories

February 22, 2016

I have been deep, deep, deep in cleaning mode. I've finally fully tackled our heebie-jeebies-inducing utility room and I'm almost done with the rest of the basement. The next step is going through the monstrosity that I call my fabric stash. It's grown quite a lot in the last couple of years, and I've hauled most of the bins upstairs to go through them and mercilessly purge. The Marie Kondo method is firmly entrenched, and I've been asking myself "Does this spark joy?" in rapid fire. I was ... Read more

Filed in: life • by sanae • 8 Comments

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The word that incites terror in most newbie sewing The word that incites terror in most newbie sewing enthusiasts: zippers. Now that I have a few years of sewing under my belt I’m less cowed by them, but there’s something about long, separating zippers that still makes me nervous. I powered through, however, and made this versatile twill hooded jacket originating from a @patterncouture_ zip-up hoodie pattern meant for knit fabrics that I modified a lot. I blogged about it! Link in bio if you’d like to see the different versions I created. 

To skip zippers altogether and make a truly summery garment, swipe and check out my NEW @creativebug Tiered Dress class (link also in bio!). Back to sewing more hot weather stuff because I’m going to Japan for a special trip next week! 🇯🇵🇯🇵
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