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Hi everyone! I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving.
I went on a little trip to Santa Cruz with Joe,
and had lots of fun walking by the beach, listening
to sea lions and sea gulls, and being in some place different.
Thank you so much for those of you
who helped me find out what those frames are called.
I updated the previous post with the links to the
online shops you guys had recommended for me, so if
you happen to be looking for shops that carry the frames,
scroll down a little to get to the previous post!
I've already ordered a set of 5 of 5" flex frames from
ArtFire. I can't wait to get those
now that I love making these pouches!!
This one is for my friend's friend's B-day gift.
I think it turned out pretty lovely.
I was thinking that it might make an interesting pattern
if the opening part does not involve any gathering
but the shell part of the pouch has some
fun fabric hiding, which kinda pops up when the pouch
is opened or is filled with lots of stuff inside.
And I am in LOVE with this pattern that I came up with!!
Now I have lots of ideas for those flex frames and
I am dying to try out a bunch of things with different fabrics!
On a separate note, I want to thank some folks who were
extremely nice to have given me *penguin* gifts!
This is a handmade stamp from ako of BeachField.
She was so nice to custom-make this cutest stamp for me.
You can't see this in this picture, but a piece of
hand-curved eraser is attached to this wooden block on the back.
Isn't it indescribably adorable?! I've been using this stamp
to create my original linen coasters. During the winter
break, I might make a whole bunch of PinkPenguin coasters
for future gift ideas. By the way, ako is a really popular
stamp maker in Japan. Her first book came out pretty recently
and I was so happy to see her book in Kinokuniya in San Francisco.
Thank you so much again, ako!
akoさん、本当にありがと～～♪♪
What's been much loved here is this knitted pink penguin
that was in a surprise mail from AJ in Scotland.
I can't believe how thoughtful of her to knit such a
cute pink penguin for me and how professionally this is made.
The hat and the scarf are removable. You have no idea
how many times I've taken off the hat and put it back on.
This fits so perfectly that it gives me some therapeutic
feel to do this. I am really in love with this plush.
It sleeps next to me every night.
Thank you so much, AJ!!
Here comes another lovely penguin gift,
a bundle of penguin fat quarters from Carolyn in Arizona!
Penguin print fabric is so hard to find, and
finding a bundle of matching penguin print fabric
is like almost impossible! Those penguins on fabric
are so cute! I think it will make a nice boyish baby
quilt, but I can hardly ever think about cutting
any of these fabric. Carolyn is just so sweet.
The letter from her was so warm and touching.
Thank you so much, Carolyn!!
The last one is this very rare penguin rayon
fabric from Leslie of 36OldsGal
This is like everything I love combined-
Penguin + Navy + Pink + Dots/Circles.
Leslie has the best fabric selection and
I can't believe how generous she was to share
her precious fabric with me. Again, I don't
want to use it for my crafts yet.
Let me adore it for a while before putting it into use..
Thank you so much, Leslie!!
I've been thinking a lot these days about what is
important in my life and what is not.
I've realized that trying everything at once
doesn't work at all. At some points in life, I need to
give up on things and focus on what I can do now
to specialize in what I really enjoy. And what I know for sure
that I truly enjoy, besides friends and families is
crafting and blogging. I especially enjoy meeting
people like you guys who have the same interests
and who can mutually inspire each other.
I'm so grateful I've met such nice people who
have spent some time reading my blog, trying
out my tutorials, and letting me know that
they enjoy coming here. I feel like if I know
there were nobody to share my projects online,
my desire to get crafty might have been a lot less..
so if you are one of those who've been wondering
about starting a craft blog, please go for it!
How much the simple first step can influence
your life is like... amazing! Trust me!
I am so appreciative of the opportunities this blog
has brought for me. Thank you again for all the
beautiful and thoughtful penguin gifts!
Thanks for coming and reading!!
Have a wonderful week!
I must admit that I have to catch up with my crafting life.
There are lots of projects I've been wanting to work on
but it has been just so busy that I couldn't really commit
to work on a big project. Christmas is just a month away, isn't it?
This makes me happy and sad at the same time. I'm happy
because I might visit Joe's family for Christmas which will
for sure be fun as it has always been. I am sad because
it looks like I won't be able to make handmade gifts for
as many people as I was hoping.. too little time left
for a super slow crafter like myself.. I've seen lots of
fabric baskets filled with Christmas gifts this year again.
Thank you so much for making those ;) I might have to make
some for my folks too since you guys' baskets look so inspiring!
Let's see how many baskets I can make...
I'm glad I finally made a pouch using this metal opening.
I bought a few of these in my last trip to Japan.
This is such an interesting material; the only thing you do
to open the pouch is to squeeze the ends. so quick and convenient!
I thought some of you may be interested in getting those, so I was
looking for some websites that sell these metal opening
thingies, but I really couldn't find one, since I have no idea
what these metal opening thingies may be called in English.
Googling with random attempts didn't help.
I'm very sure there are etsy shops that carry these though!
Does anyone know what these are called..?
:Updated:
Those are called Flex Frames/Hexagonal Purse Frames!
(Thank you so much for those of you who let me know this
and share with me some cool online shops!)
It seems that those flex frames are available
in many different sizes in the states, and here are
some of the online shops you can find those.
-Artfire (Thanks to Beth & Tessa Van).
-Tall Poppy Craft (Thanks to Natalie)
-Fabric Tales (Thanks to Cecili)
-Ghee's (Thanks to Dot & MaryEllen)
-Retrosaria-Portugal (Thanks to Anacrafts)
-PeacockPatterns (Thanks to SueAnn)
And check out these cool tutes on how to use them!
-Fuzzy Felty Flex Frame Purses by Nikki
-Flexi Stash Coin Purse by Lisa
(Thanks Sarriet for sharing these links ;) )
I really like how it turned out. I love all the fabric
I used for this project. Most of the fabric is from Japan,
but the plaid print is a feedsack I snatched at ebay.
A French theme + a vintage twist + little craziness +
Japanese influence = too cute!
By the way, the pouch has been listed in my shop ;)
As always, let me know if you come from here to snatch
an item in my shop - I'd love to include a little gift!
The linen I used for the right and left sides of the
pouch comes from this stash. I got this extremely quality
linen from this shop. (Sorry this is only in Japanese, but
it looks like they ship internationally.)
When I got this stash in my mail, I was so super excited
that I couldn't stop touching it, smelling it, and taking
photos of it. I even started dreaming about starting my own
business by building a linen factory or something. How crazy? I know!
I just sometimes wish I could get my hands on good linen
like this much easier in the states. haha.
Here is a set of fabric that I kinda want to do something with.
Maybe another pouch? ... with linen? Any ideas..?
Thanks for coming and reading!!
Oh my gooodness! You guys are just the sweetest people ever!!!
It's so super nice to know that I have people like you who
are as happy as I am (and Joe is) about the contribution to
the Stitch magazine. I still carries the mag with me everywhere
I go because looking at it not only does remind me of the happy
thing that happened to me but also makes me think of you guys,
how warm, supportive, and encouraging you guys have been..
and that just makes my day. So a BIG thank you for all of you!!!!
By the way, I am so bummed that I missed out the Scrap Buster Contest.
I thought the deadline is the end of this month, but I just found out
that the entry has been closed since the deadline was the 23rd of October.
Ouch! You may have had enough cool tutorials that use up scraps by now,
but I made a little quick tutorial anyway, so let me share it here today..
This is really one of the quickest things to make that I can think of
that is decorative and practical and can be a little last-minute gift.
I used this magnetic tape (1" width).
It doesn't have to have the adhesive tape;
as long as it's a magnet that can be
cut into your desired sizes that would be great ;)
I grabbed some scraps that match well together.
Sizes of scraps don't matter as long as the length of each scrap is
at least 1" longer than your finished project.
Here, each scrap of mine had to be at least 2" in length.
Here is another combination I came up with.
And this one.
After ironing the scraps, I sewed them up, making sure
seam allowances are about 1/4".
Then I opened and pressed the seam allowances.
Now I cut each patchwork panel into approximately 1 3/4" x 4".
For each panel, prepare a scrap that is cut
into about the same size. Here, I recommend using
light-weight cotton fabric.
With WRONG sides together, I sewed all around, making sure to leave
one short edge unsewn. I also made sure that the width between
the two long stitching lines are about 1 1/4" so that the
1" width magnet can be easily inserted.
Then I cut out magnet into 3.5" length.
I then inserted the magnetic tape in there.
Here if you use magnetic tape with adhesive,
I suggest that you make sure to insert it
in the way that the raw magnet part faces the back side.
Fun part! Fill it with polyfil. Lots and Lots of
polyfil gives it a nicely puffy and firm look, so don't
hesitate to use a lot of it! I use a chopstick
to press polyfil further. Make sure to put polyfil
to only FRONT side of the magnet. Between the magnet
and the back panel of the fabric,
there should not be any polyfil..
Time to sew up the opening now.
Now trim the edges. It might be fun to use a pinking scissor here!
This is how the back side looks like..
Now let it stick to your refrigerator and have fun!
Oops! time to go..!
I hope this tutorial was clear enough and
is something you want to try out ;)
I'd love to see yours in this flickr pool.
Thanks for coming and reading!!
Hi all! Hope you all had a great long weekend.
I went on a little trip down to Santa Cruz with
my friend last Saturday. Our main destination was
Hart's Fabric, a fabric store there
that I am truly in love with. I've explored lots of
fabric stores in America, but I think Hart's Fabric is
probably my favorite for its huge selection of modern fabrics.
It was my second time ever to stop by there, but
every time I go there, I spend at least 2 hours
looking through the great fabrics and notions they have.
This time, we spent roughly 3 hours which made one
of the clerks say "Are you still here?!" LOL.
To me, being at a nice fabric store is therapeutic.
(And I am sure some of you know what I mean!!!)
When I was living in Seattle, I was lucky enough to
live by a great fabric store called Pacific Fabrics.
It was like oasis where I escaped into when I got
overwhelmed with workloads from school. Being
surrounded by beautiful fabric and imagining
what I would create using the fabrics there
eased my stress level a big time and helped
me better focus on studying afterwords.
San Jose has got the best weather but there is
no fabric store in this city like 'dessert'..
I was overly excited at Hart's Fabric last weekend
and brought back a lot of fabric stashes ;)
On the way back, we stopped by BroadWalk in Santa Cruz,
and look what we found!! I had never seen a pelican
so up close like this before!!! There was a huge excited
crowd in front of him to take photos of him, making the
seagulls a little jealous.
"I am the king."
On that night, we had fun sewing up until 3am!
I was teaching my friend Victoria how to make this
lunch bag but I was so bad at giving instructions
that much of the time was spent with a seam ripper
rather than with the sewing machine.
(Sorry Victoria!!)
Victoria's unfinished lunch bag is still sitting
here, but I managed to finish up mine during the weekend.
I made this one for Joe and I think it turned
out very nice, very boyish.
I love this design because it makes this interesting
looking bottom and it comes out reversible.
I think Joe likes this side better because
it's more guy-friendly. Both fabrics are
from Hart's Fabric ;)
I used a ziplock plastic container to come up with
the pattern for the perfect fit. I was using only
the plastic container (the bottom part) to measure
but did not take the lid into consideration...
Oh my. That's right. I totally missed that part out!
This plastic container still does fit in the bag with
the lid, but it gets pretty tight. It's ok though,
because I think it is still good for sandwiches and
rice balls that I make for Joe's lunch every once a while.
Using scraps left over from the recent projects,
I made a set of 2 coasters which is in my shop now. I love
Kona Cotton of Charcoal color as much as natural linen.
Back sides are pretty cute too!
Thanks for coming and reading!!
