Category: giveaway

Happy Friday + Stylish Dress Book Giveaway! [CLOSED]

Happy Friday! We are in full-on countdown mode since we are boarding Delta airlines to head out to Tokyo tomorrow. I did, however, promise Tuttle Publishing that I would do a little review of their books before I left. Given my current state of being caught up in travel preparations, I’m cheating a little because I discovered that I had, in fact, already mentioned this Stylish Dress Book by Yoshiko Tsukiori. At any rate, I now have an extra copy to give away.

The top I made from this book a couple of years ago is so well-loved and worn, I’m definitely planning on making another. I’m actually taking it with me to Japan, despite its current slightly raggedy state. That’s how much I adore it.

Interested in owning your own Stylish Dress Book? To enter the giveaway, please leave any comment though I’m always curious to know people’s dream destinations. I’m so so so so so so excited to go to Japan — it’s been over 20 years since I was there and I’m chomping at the bits to see how it’s changed/stayed the same!

While I’m away, I won’t be making any blog   updates or checking online much (though I might pop up on Instagram from time to time) so this giveaway will be open for a few weeks until July 10th, when I return. International entries are always welcome, and good luck! See you in a while, crocodile!!

Off to grand Japan!
Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka
and so many more*… 

*We’re hitting up quite a few places within Tokyo while we’re in Japan with K’s school and then we will be squeezing in visits to relatives and sightseeing in other prefectures after the school program portion is done. FUN!

P.S. Furoku members: the next edition is being scheduled to reach you on July 1st, but do let me know if any technical issues arise or you don’t receive anything.

Happy Friday + Sewing Happiness Winter Tour (Giveaways!)

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Happy Friday, friends! I’m thrilled to announce a little blog/IG tour of sorts happening over the next couple of weeks. A few of my wonderful international sewing friends have agreed to do a feature of Sewing Happiness, and we’re doing a giveaway that includes a signed book + 45 euro gift certificate from the charming 1000 Stoff shop. I thought it might be a fun way to start off the year!

We’re keeping it loose and casual and I’m in the dark as much as you are in terms of what these amazing ladies will create and/or post. I’m so curious!!

Here’s the awesome line-up:
January 23 – Ute + Lara

January 24 – An of StraightGrain // Instagram

January 25 – Trine of Groovy Baby and Mama Trine of // Instagram

January 26 – Shelley of Bartacks and Singletrack // Instagram

January 30 – Annika of Näh Connection // Instagram

January 31 – Olu of Needle and Ted // Instagram

February 1 – Emi of Just Add Fabric // Instagram

February 2 – Eva of With Love – by Eva // Instagram

Until next week, have a fabulous weekend everyone!!

Sewing Happiness
brings crafty friends together
Now that’s happiness

Happy Friday + Drop Top!

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Happy Friday! Has it really been over four months since I posted something I made for myself?? Whoo-boy, it’s been a long time.

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Well, I’m bursting at the seams to tell you all about the Drop Top by Madeit Patterns today — I’ve already worn my Drop top multiple times and can’t wait to make more. In fact, I’ve made two versions already and they’ve been lifesavers for Thanksgiving dinner and a book event. It’s just the right blend of elevated casual with loads of comfort.

 

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The design evokes the patterns I’ve seen in the Japanese Drape Drape books. However, Olu and Anna have simplified the garment construction and I was able to make the top from about 1 1/2 yards of sweater knit fabric (60-inches wide). I cut the medium size, and made zero modifications.

droptop4Both sweater knits that I used (cannot for the life of me remember where I got them) are thin and super drapey, and this extremely technical term of “super drapey” is pretty important for this pattern, methinks.

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Due to my over-exposing in Photoshop, the lighter top looks like heather grey here, but in fact, it’s more of a taupe-y color with black specks. I love it.

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The darker charcoal version feels a little dressier — oops, sorry for that wrinkled hem. My ironing skillz have been underused these past few months. Whoa, I look tired. It’s been an intense year. Here I am, still exhausted in the lighter and slightly more preferred version (though I adore both):

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At first I was a little worried that the cascading folds would make me look lopsided or like an Asian dumpling, but I’m inclined to think that it’s quite flattering and it’s a fun detail that differentiates this top from all my other knit apparel. The best part is that this is a quick sew with very few pattern pieces. My kind of sewing. Verdict? Thumb’s up (K is making me laugh down there)!

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So! The ladies at Madeit Patterns are doing a special Friday giveaway and a 20% discount thru today (click on image to go to the shop). I have to confess I’m a little confused, but I think the second person who purchases the Drop pattern today receives the fabric?? I’m sure it’ll all work out…good luck!

 

 

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Happy Friday + Giveaway! [CLOSED]

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Happy Friday, my friends! I’m becoming comfortable with my new routines. I like posting just once a week, and maybe in a few months, the urge to post more will surface but for now, this feels just right. K’s school time has shifted significantly this year, which means that we have to wake up almost 2 hours earlier and that’s been a major adjustment. 5 weeks in, however, I’m starting to enjoy the early kick-off each weekday. I have books to work on for the foreseeable future and with each completed deadline, my body tells me I need major downtime. I’ve learned to respect that instead of powering through. Right now is my downtime, and I’m puttering around, taking it easy. It’s nice.

I’ve also been slowly plugging away at purging all our belongings. For example, we had this monstrously huge old microwave that we barely used and one day I thought, “what if we got rid of it?” Unfortunately, K seems to have an intrinsic hoarding instinct and vociferously argued against it. “How are we going to heat up the soup dumpling from Trader Joe’s that I love so much??” she keened.

We came up with a compromise. I proposed putting it in the basement and if we managed 30 days without using it, we would donate it.

40 days passed and we didn’t notice the lack of a microwave at all. I melt my butter in a cute, tiny saucepan. We steam those beloved TJ soup dumplings in a pot. I reheat leftovers on the stovetop or in the oven. They taste better that way anyway.

Once the behemoth microwave was gone (and yes, we donated it), our kitchen felt so much more spacious. It’s wonderful. I like my basement quarantine method.

The one thing I have a hard time letting go of is books. I haven’t officially counted all the books in my house, but I’m pretty certain that it would take me a minimum of 30 years to read them all.  It doesn’t help that amazing books keep luring me to buy more (I also check out way too many from libraries). But I’ve had to come to terms with the sheer ridiculousness of my book stash. Our house is simply too small to accommodate them all and I thought about applying my basement quarantine method, but clearly, that won’t work since I can’t possibly read hundreds of books in 30 days. I also tried the Marie Kondo method, but wouldn’t you know it, they all spark joy. So in a rather haphazard, there’s-a-method-to-my-madness way, I am attempting to tackle the issue.

Which leads me to my giveaway today. I have a copy of  The Curated Closet by Anuschka Rees, she of the wonderful blog Into Mind, that I would love to pass onto you. I actually have the digital version of The Curated Closet as well, because I definitely want to read it and it’s beautifully done. I haven’t gone completely nuts-o so I don’t have a digital version for every physical book I own, but I thought this would be a fun giveaway and I am reducing the analog possession. That works for me.

Since I haven’t actually read the book yet, I can’t in good conscience give a review, but it looks like there are tons of helpful reviews out there already. I’m drawn, of course, to the chapter about the closet detox though I have to admit that my clothing situation is shockingly sparse these days.

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More on my whole clothing situation later. To enter the giveaway, any comment will do as per usual. And perhaps you’d like to share what your favorite apparel item for fall is? I myself LOVE boots. And big, chunky scarves. Yep, very much my uniform for autumn. I’ll leave the giveaway open until next Friday, October 21st. Good luck!

Minimalistic
That’s what I’m striving to be
Need lots of practice

Have a fantastic weekend, all! There’s a storm brewing in Seattle, and I intend to stay cozy. M’s parents are in town right now, and we’ll need to find some good rainy day activities!

 

P.S. [UPDATE]: The winner of the giveaway is Tammy!

 

 

Happy Friday + Giveaway! [CLOSED]

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Great Scott! I’m not usually one to go around exclaiming “Great Scott!” but I feel like the occasion warrants it. I did it, my friends! I finished all the interior illustrations for my third book, and though I still have to wrap up the cover, for all intents and purposes, I’m done with the hardest part. I’m not supposed to talk much about it right now, but wow, it feels great to cross that off of my list. As you may have noticed, I put everything else on hold to get the illustrations done in time — yesterday was my deadline and at about 8:30pm, I did a little celebratory jig of completion.

So I am going to have a restorative weekend, and in the meantime, I wanted to do a little giveaway. The book you see above is not the one I just completed, but one that I translated from Japanese many months ago.

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It’s a beginner-friendly quilting book, focused on totes, bags, purses and pouches called Patchwork Quilted Bags by Reiko Washizawa, published by the lovely Tuttle folks.

I’m not much of a quilter myself, so this was a very educational project for me. I’m discovering how much I love learning through translating. It uses a very different part of my brain and in some ways, I seem to absorb information better by trying to figure out how to convert the words from Japanese to English.

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This book was text-heavier than the other ones I’ve worked on, and I really enjoyed learning more about the author and her career trajectory. Although she discovered quilting in her late twenties, she didn’t truly launch her career until her late thirties, and she’s still going strong in her seventies. Very, very inspiring. She even taught her husband how to quilt! These are her favorite quilts that she’s created to date:

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The book contains adorable, small-scale projects that are very accessible while incorporating traditional quilting methods in refreshing ways. These were the ones that immediately caught my attention, but there are about 20 projects total to tackle (I’m especially smitten with the strawberry pouches):

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I have an extra copy for one lucky reader, and to enter the giveaway, please leave any comment. If you’re stumped for what to write and are a quilter, perhaps you could recommend a blog or website or even a book with quilting resources, techniques or inspiration?

I’ll leave the giveaway open until next Friday, September 23rd, and will announce the winner the following Monday. International entries are always welcome, of course!

OK! Time to catch up on some housework, return some emails, pay attention to my family and friends…then it’s back to deadline mode because guess what? I’m translating another book. This one’s a good one too!