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Sanae Ishida

A crafty little atelier in a grey city

The “Unicorn” Pillow

August 1, 2016

Remember all the hullabaloo about which top I should make with the pink ponies silk for K's birthday? Well, when 11pm rolled around the night before her 10th b-day and the fabric hadn't even been ironed, I knew that I was in trouble. And then I remembered that Shelley had left a brilliant comment about embroidering a unicorn horn, an idea with which I became obsessed. She also suggested wings, but that was beyond my mental and embroidery capabilities at the literal 11th hour. So I came up ... Read more

Filed in: sewing, sewing for K • by sanae • 12 Comments

Happy Friday + Giveaway! [CLOSED]

July 29, 2016

Happy Friday! This giveaway is all cuteness, my friends. Tuttle Publishing sent me this darling book: 501 Enchanting Embroidery Designs, and I was very, very tempted to keep this for myself. Normally I would have requested two copies (one for me, one for a giveaway), but these days I'm delving deeply into the minimalistic approach of letting go of things that I know I won't get around to anytime soon. When the moment comes when I'm ready for some ridiculously adorable embroidery, I'll purchase ... Read more

Filed in: giveaway • by sanae •

Procrastinating

July 27, 2016

I'm one of those super productive procrastinators. At the moment, I have a load of laundry going, dinner is prepped, I've cleaned off my desk, unpacked the luggage meant for the canceled teepee camping, paid bills, and have polished off a satisfying meal consisting of an avocado-tomato-egg sandwich. I even almost started to bake bread from scratch. In short, I've done everything except what I'm supposed to be doing: working on the illustrations for book #3. But look! I've taken a small ... Read more

Filed in: illustration • by sanae • 12 Comments

Good-bye Little Girl Room

July 25, 2016

Poor M pulled a muscle in his back on Friday, so we figured teepee camping was probably not the best idea. Since the camp site is so close and the rate was on the economical side, we didn't feel too guilty about canceling and had a quiet, at-home fête of three. But K had been looking forward to the teepee and was a bit bummed out (I suspect what she really wanted was the s'mores). Partly to assuage her and partly because we've been talking about it forever, K and I hit IKEA to finally update ... Read more

Filed in: life, sewing • by sanae • 16 Comments

Happy Friday + Randomness

July 22, 2016

Happy Friday! While we were in Michigan with M's family a couple of weeks ago, my mother-in-law quietly handed me a box while I was reading and nodding off on their cottage deck. It was from her mother, my grandmother-in-law as it were, who passed away last September. "Sanae," her elegant handwritten script had labeled the plain Kraft paper box. Inside was a meticulously folded origami box. And inside of that, beautiful shibori-dyed fabric. Ronia Marie is a textile artist based ... Read more

Filed in: life • by sanae • 14 Comments

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I just realized that this week marks 10 years sinc I just realized that this week marks 10 years since my first craft book Sewing Happiness was published. I’ve sewn literally thousands of garments and other textile projects in the last decade! I included a Sashiko primer in the book, and I’m delighted that this humble Japanese embroidery practice has stood the test of time - if anything, I’ve noticed that there’s an ever growing enthusiasm for hand stitching. Fun news: I’ll be teaching a virtual Sashiko workshop for @tatterbluelibrary on Thursday, April 30th at noon ET. Link in profile! Would love to see you there! 💙💙💙💙💙
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