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Sanae Ishida

A crafty little atelier in a grey city

Cough Cough

November 2, 2015

As I'm typing this, I hear the muffled yet constant coughing from K's room. Still sick. She insisted that she was all better and braved the cold and wind and rain, parading around with friends on Halloween night. Came home with her voice hoarse and cheeks rouged, fingers icy. She gleefully counted her candy: 80 pieces (AND I ate sooo many while trick-or-treating, Mama!). Collapsed in a coughing fit. All that candy was probably not wise. So today (and maybe tomorrow and the day ... Read more

Filed in: life • by sanae • 10 Comments

Happy Friday + Randomness

October 30, 2015

  Happy Friday! K is down with yet another fever and general malaise, and she's missed a couple of days of school this week. The prospect of trick-or-treating is looking a little dubious, much to her chagrin. I'm feeling some wooziness myself, though I'm fighting it with all my might. When we picked up K's costume elements last week, I spotted a Crock Pot for a good price, and remembered several friends telling me how much it can save time and money. My mom never used a slow ... Read more

Filed in: illustration, watercolor • by sanae • 26 Comments

Ginger Skinny Jeans Revisited

October 28, 2015

When we last left off with my Ginger Skinny Jeans adventures oh, a mere seven months ago, I had gone down from a size 12 to a 10. And then something mysterious happened and although all my clothes are fitting just the way they always have, I recently attempted to shave the muslin down to a size 8, and they're still too big. Could this be the result of the denim somehow stretching out over the months of neglect? In my craziness of sewing up samples for the book and moving my supplies ... Read more

Filed in: sewing • by sanae • 8 Comments

Monday Outfit: Superhero K

October 26, 2015

Good morning! It was a weekend of highs and lows -- shall we start with the lows? I had been looking forward to large chunks of sewing time, but it was not to be. Much to my dismay, I discovered that our basement was flooded and spent my allotted sewing time moving a large number of plastic bins and wiping down the the floor. Not fun. On the bright side, however, our basement is now sparkling clean and I managed to finish K's costume in time for the school event. We even got our photo ... Read more

Filed in: sewing, sewing for K • by sanae • 13 Comments

Happy Friday + Randomness

October 23, 2015

Happy Friday! Do you like K's instructions for this year's Halloween costume? "Tight" seems to be the overriding theme...She's been into this show called Mighty Med, which is about a hospital for superheroes. As a result, there's been a significant uptick in the obsession level of all things superhero-related (Marvel comic books are permanently piled next to the kitchen table). I'm a little stumped when it comes to what she wants attached to the velcro strips on the utility belt, but it seems ... 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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