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Sanae Ishida

A crafty little atelier in a grey city

Monday Outfit! The Spring Thea Dress

April 4, 2016

K must be reading this blog, because after I posted about the dearth of kid-sewing around here, she began to pepper me with requests for handmade clothes. As luck would have it, Mel commented on that post and introduced me to Blaverry (I'm salivating over Mel's denim Decklyn jacket, by the way). K and I browsed through the site and she chose the Thea Dress. "Make it tight, Mama," she instructed. She's really into tight clothes. I branched out and used a floral print knit. Isn't it ... Read more

Filed in: sewing, sewing for K • by sanae • 15 Comments

Happy Friday + Randomness

April 1, 2016

Happy Friday! The flowers. They're just everywhere, eye candy galore. The winds and general elements are starting to pluck away at the magnolia and the cherry blossom petals, but tulips are overtaking the landscape. Seattle is at its height of floral beauty around this time of year. Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. A quick watercolor sketch today (hmmmm, as I'm looking at it, they blooms resemble campfire, do they not?), as I have some preparations ahead of me. My mom is coming next Tuesday, a ... Read more

Filed in: illustration + art • by sanae • 4 Comments

McCall’s 7251 in Black + White Knit

March 30, 2016

As I tossed on my new top, set up the tripod to take these photos and wrestled my out-of-control hair into a braid, I had a major realization: I am at ease in my body. I don't say this lightly because...well, until now I've NEVER been at ease in my body. I won't belabor the point, but when I finally got over all the excuses I built up and sewed my first pair of Ginger Jeans earlier this year (I'm wearing them in these pix -- they're my favorite pair of jeans ever), something shifted. I'm ... Read more

Filed in: sewing, sewing for me • by sanae • 18 Comments

WIP + Lamenting the Lack of Tween Sewing

March 28, 2016

I remember this same feeling last year as I prepared for the book launch of Little K. Full of anticipation and bursting with ideas, terribly intent on creating elaborate behind-the-scenes blog posts and the whole shebang. But all I have for you today is a work-in-progress shot, making it look ever-so-slightly less mundane with some shallow depth of field photography of a cool print fabric and even cooler pair of Gingher shears. Easter was a big success, though we had to delay the egg ... Read more

Filed in: sewing • by sanae • 10 Comments

Happy Friday + Randomness

March 25, 2016

Happy Friday! On Wednesday, K went over a friend's house to paint some eggs. She made the one above for me -- isn't it perfectly neutral? What can I say, the girl knows her Mama. The pre-Easter party was hosted by K's friend's grandmother, and at pick-up time I was politely half-listening as I gathered stray socks and zipped up bags when she told me that she had prepared seven dozen eggs for the girls. Seven dozen eggs? It turns out that she saves the shells every time she makes an omelet or ... Read more

Filed in: life • by sanae • 6 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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