Huggable House

My daughter received a gift from her mom one day after Christmas. Unfortunately, she couldn't get it on Christmas but got new gloves her dad.

I finished this project around 11pm on the 25th, so my daughter found it in the next morning. Either it was too big and scared her or it was very new, she didn't try to touch it at first! Oh my... She still hasn't tried to touch it yet... but I bought this book to make this huggable house!

In More Last-minute Knitted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson, I found this cute knitted house. I compared the price between Amazon.com and Amazon Japan because Japanese yen has been stronger than USD. Eventually I ordered the book from Amazon.

It was supposed to take 4 to 6 hours to complete, instead it took 12 hours. Isn't it lovely? But doesn't it look chubby? I think I put too much stuffing in it... It doesn't matterrrrrrr.

New Blanket

Finally I finished the blanket last night. It is pretty simple but took a while... I almost got bored of it for the repeated work. At first it would be only in two colors but I realized I would need more yarns. Instead, I added two more colors and became a four-color blanket. It could be longer than this, but it is good enough if I want to use it for the baby-stroller.

I hope she likes it.

A Kimono tsumugi

I've finished this tsumugi, which is a type of kimonos and also a type of weaving, a few days ago. My mom's friend is quite old and doesn't wear kimonos anymore, so she had the kimono unsewn and cleaned. She gave me the fabric then. I'm thinking about wearing it when I get really old because the color of this kimono is a bit too dark for me to wear now. Women in the 30's should wear brighter colors than this, don't you think?

Anyway, this was cut and made for short women for the first time; therefore, when I wear it, there isn't enough length for ohashori, that is a folded part of a kimono when you wear and it appears right beneath the obi. My height is about 5.4, and probably I'm too tall for the kimono! I won't care but the length in the photo looks obviously short!!!

Speaking of sewing, sewing a collar is the longest part and taking so much time. I feel like it'll take forever or even I won't finish it... However, after you finish that part, you just need to put sleeves on each shoulder. This is the happy part because you are almost done at this moment. The pictures above is 95 percent done and I just need to do the ironing. Although this isn't completed, I feel like it is finished! Yay!!!

Gift from Thailand

One of my old coworkers likes to visit Thailand and he just sent me a pack of gift. This is the second time he sent me something nice! I love these cute candles!

His children are already in their 20th and he is kind of retired. He is like my second dad to my since he is almost 50yo. Anyway, I have to thank him and want to show the beautiful candles to everyone.

The Beautiful Sunday

We took a short trip to Kamakura on Sunday. It was warmer than Saturday and a very beautiful autumn day. So, I knew there would be lots of tourists!!!


I was right, there were many people on streets. Once we got off at Kitakamakura station, we visited Enkaku-ji Temple. I think it is one of the famous temples in Kamakura and quite big. First, you'll find the huge mon gate, and see small wooden Japanese buildings along the hills. Lots of people were taking pictures of autumn leaves because it was beautiful and very Japanese, and the buildings.

After we enjoyed the temple, we headed to Komachi Street near Kamakura station. It is located really closed to Kamakura station and there are many shops on the street such as Japanese food restaurants, traditional paper shop, kimono shop, and more.

Then, we stopped by a small kimono shop and bought a piece of obi fabric and tsumugi fabric for kimono. Tsumugi was not just a piece but (I guess it should be)　it was 13 meters. I thought the nice silk fabric was nice to make a kimono and wear it! For the obi fabric, which I picked, I haven't decided what to make because so many ideas came up with my mind...oh...what should I make with?

This is 1 tan (13 meters) of the tsumugi

This is the obi fabric

How to Fold Your Kimono

Ok, I'll show you how to fold your kimonos or yukatas. You can use this method for most of your kimono except furisode, children's or men's kimonos. This is good for regular types of kimonos for females.

I know many foreigners buy kimonos as their souvenirs or get some as some gifts. But do you know how to fold? If the material is polyester, it won't be a matter but you need to fold a kimono or a yukata properly if it is made of silk or cotton.

Here are the instructions. Please note my English isn't perfectly correct. I hope you can understand! Good Luck!

1. Lay your kimono on the clean floor.

2. Look at the kimono carefully. Do you see the line　that is sewn together? (interfacing between a migoro and a okumi) You need to fold it toward the side.

3. Look at the collar. Now hold up the right collar and put it on the left one.

This is how it looks like now.

4.  This step is very important because if you mess it up, your kimono will look messy.
     Open this part and remove all the wrinkles.  Make sure to fold evenly from the center.  I pointed the left corner in the photo.

I'm holding the right corner.

Now the both sides match. and this shot is from the shoulder.

5.  Next step is to hold up the center and bring it towards you.

6. Now the sleeves.

Hold the right sleeve.

And place it on the left.

7. It's almost done! Ok, we are going to fold it into half. Do you see where to fold? Place your hand on the kimono and fold it into half.

This is how it looks like now.

9.  You have sleeves left.  Just turn the sleeves onto the kimono.  Flip the kimono carefully and repeat it for the other side of the sleeves.

10.  This is the last step.  Keep your kimono in tato-shi paper!  Well done!  

I hope it is clear enough for everyone. Now it is your turn! Try it out! If you have any questions on this, please contact me!

Done!

I need to introduce my lovely children.  I've finished the last piece two weeks ago and didn't tell you about it.


Here are my children!

Looping

This is my daughter's favorite. We bought it for her birthday in August this year, but it was too difficult for her at first. Or maybe she didn't know what it was!

Three months has gone since and she now enjoys it. Sometimes she can't reach somewhere deep because she is only 1 year and (almost)3 months old.

By the way, is the toy popular? I see it at many places in a variety of size.

A Good Day to Take Out My Fabrics!

It's a nice sunny day today. The sun is out and it is not too cold, or more like warm. So, I took out some of my fabrics from my box and put them in a random order.  Somewhat I thought they look cuter if I take a picture like that. hmm...

My Etsy shop is open!

Hello, everyone!
I just opened up my Etsy shop. By now, I listed 4 different pouches for you to purchase. If you like any of those, please click "buy" button.

I'm making now is...

Legwarmers!

I am making ones for my daughter since it is getting chillier and chillier every day. Outside temperature these days is in the late 40's. Temperature suddenly dropped recently and I put a winter jacket to go outside.

Every time I feel cold, I try to remember the climate in Iowa. The first snow was usually in October or November when I was there. Oh... the chillness almost killed me every day in winter. I was like an Egyptian exploring in South Pole...haha. But seriously, it was suuuuuuper cold for me.

Anyway, I'll finish it soon and I hope she likes it.

Four Important Items for Sewing

These items above are super important for hand-sewing. Have you ever used any of those?

This big thing is that you pinch your fabric, and you can keep the tension on sewing so that it will be easier for you to sew.  It is called kakehari.  As you see it in the photo, I pinched the fabric and was going to sew from right to left.

My thimble...  by Clover

It is a bamboo ruler in shaku, which is an unit of  measurement that has  been used for a long time.  But this unit has become a minor unit now and we use centimeters.  Also bamboo as a material is good because it does not stretch out or shrink at all by heat.  Heat and any other circumstances can change the length of measures on other materials.  It's good to have one.  I recommend it.

This is called hera.   A tracing ruler is the most similar item I ever find.  Instead of using a pen, chalk or tracing paper, I use a hera.  And it is still used for kimono-sewing.  If you mark too much, you can tear the fabric if it's thin, so you have to be careful.