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Giveaway Time – Japanese Sewing Books turns 5!

December 3, 2016

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As I looked back on the posts I created over the past few years, I realized that the frequency and type of posts have been changing over the years. Since being a Mom is my full-time day (and night) job, it only goes to say that my blogging schedule has to suit my kids’ timetables!

This year has been a really challenging one. With one baby quickly growing into a self-assured teenager. And the teenager sometimes regressing into a baby with her mood swings. Oops I got them mixed up ;P, and one middle child with well, middle child issues. I had to battle both the beginnings of terrible twos as well as the terrible teens, not to mention the main event of the year which is my eldest primary school leaving examination which was pretty stressful for both of us. I’m glad most of that is over, and while waiting for the secondary school allocation results, we are going to take a break in where else but Japan! This time round we will be travelling with the extended family, so there will be less time for fabric shopping, and also posting on social media.

Nevertheless, I have to celebrate my blog’s 5th birthday, which is a pretty amazing thing. Every year I say this, but it gets more and more real every year. I never thought I could have come this far, and if not for all the emails, comments, messages you readers send to me in appreciation of the free patterns, or even just a simple book review, I don’t think I would have been able to continue especially for the past year when I was trying to deal with so many things at once. Next year I hope to focus more on sewing for boys! Since my two older ones have outgrown most of my pattern books and fabric stash, and well, simply because it is so much more fun to sew for the little ones. 🙂

Ok enough gushing about my emotions about reaching this milestone, I have to prepare a Blogiversary giveaway! But I can’t decide what to giveaway. So please help me decide! All you have to do is to vote for your favourite Japanese Designer Fabric by commenting on my Facebook post with the appropriate hashtag.

chooseyourprize

So for example, you favorite designer is #naniiro, so you comment #naniiro. Easy peasy? Head on over to my Facebook page now to vote! The poll starts now and ends on Tuesday 9am Japan time simply because I expect to be fabric shopping that very day! So this is a very short giveaway period and you have to vote now! Just click on the link below.

Facebook poll giveaway – Which is your favorite Japanese Designer Fabric?

The winner will be picked from the participants who voted for the Designer fabric with the most votes.

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Giveaways Japanese Fabrics

Fabric Giveaway – Christmas Fabrics from Kawaii Fabric

October 14, 2016

With so many holidays and coming up, the end of the year is a great time for giveaways! And once again from our very generous sponsor Modes4U. Yes you heard me right. I know the title says Kawaii Fabric, but do you know KawaiiFabric.com is a new store set up by the same team from Modes4U, dedicated solely to fabrics, with the site designed specially for fabric enthusiasts. I thought it was a great idea since the range of fabrics on Modes4U was so wide, it really deserved its own online store!

kawaiifabrics
What can you find on the new site? Lots of fabrics of course. My favourite Japanese fabrics such as Sanrio and Echino, as well as major brands like Michael Miller, Robert Kaufman, Birch, Riley Blake and more. Furthermore, there is now a search filter navigation which allows you to filter your search by categories, manufacturer, material, colors, patterns, features (like metallic/panel prints etc), seasons, animals, usage (quilting/raincoats etc)… It is really helpful since there are so many fabrics to browse through.

To celebrate the opening of their new store, KawaiiFabrics.com is giving away to one of our lucky readers, a Christmas Fabric Bundle! Time to get started on your Christmas Sewing!

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You will receive one quarter yard of each of these six prints. 

Blue Ski Cat Christmas Fabric from Elizabeth’s Studio
Green Reindeer Christmas Fabric by Henry Glass and Co.
Lost and Found Christmas by My Mind’s Eye for Riley Blake Fabrics
Christmas Elves Fabric by Timeless Treasures
White Reindeer Christmas Fabric – Home for the Holidays by Riley Blake
Red Snowflake Christmas Fabric

To enter, just head over to my Facebook page, Like Kawaii Fabrics on Facebook, and tell us what you kind of fabrics you want to receive for Christmas! 🙂

This Giveaway will run for a week, from today 14th October – 21st October. Winners will be announced on my Facebook page on the 22nd October. Good Luck!

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Finished Projects Giveaways Japanese Fabrics

Liberty Art Fabric – Shoulder and Clutch Bag

October 2, 2016

As promised here are more photos of the bag I made with Liberty fabric. I followed the dimensions of the bag as given in the book, but with some adaptations of my own. In the book, the bag didn’t look quilted, or at least you can’t see it because the fabric was a dark colored one, but in the instructions, all of the bags in the same series needed to be quilted, so then I decided to make some variations to make it look like THAT famous quilted bag? 😛

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The original pattern called for a silver chain and used magnetic clasps which can’t be seen from the front of the bag. I thought it made the bag look a little plain, so I decided to use sparkly gold hardware instead. These were the ones I used. 2 screw on grommets a twist lock (some call it a turn lock), and a chain for the bag strap. All in light gold, which went perfectly with the colors of the Liberty fabric.

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hardware

Here’s what the grommet looks like from inside the bag. You need to cut through the bag to make a circle that fits nicely within the hole, then the grommet encases the opening and you screw it on tight. Same goes for the frame of the twist lock (the rectangular frame that I propped the grommet on in the picture above). The twist part of the lock (shown in the background, is attached on like a magnetic clasp, with two prongs bent over a metal plate, so that was much easier to attach as I only needed to make two slits.

The light gold hardware took me hours to assemble, as it was quite hard to cut through all the layers of fabric and interfacing. I used one layer of fabric, over batting to give it the quilted appearance, followed by a layer of fusible foam to give the back structure. Then there was another of lining fabric. My fingers were in pain after I was done.But the results are so worth it!

goldhardware

The bag chain is attached to the bag with T-bars at the end. From the outside of the bag it looks like this (pic above), and from the inside of the bag (pic below) you can see the T-bars. You can also see the mint blue cotton sateen that I used for the lining.

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I made a strap of matching fabric to weave through the chain, inspired by THAT famous quilted bag.

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So now I have a Limited edition, one-of-a-kind quilted bag with sparkly gold hardware, perfect for both casual or even dress-up days! What do you think? Isn’t it gorgeous? 🙂

I still have quite a decent amount to make a couple of pouches and maybe even another bag. But I will keep it till inspiration strikes, and in the meantime, nothing ever goes to waste with Liberty fabrics. There was very little wastage when cutting out fabrics for bags since they are usually rectangular in shape, but around the odd corners or near the selvedge you always get little strips of fabric left over. Luckily, I have lots of Japanese sewing books that use small Liberty scraps for sewing projects. So I made the scraps into this hair tie + hair clip ensemble.

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This was the book that the pattern came from. I will post a book flip-through on my instagram feed soon so do follow me on instagram to see more of this and other books!

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Liberty Print Bags by Minakawa Akemi (affiliate link)

After sewing with Liberty fabric, I truly understand the hype now. One interesting observation – I had the finished bag sans chain, sitting on my machine for about 2 weeks as I was waiting for my bag chain to arrive in the mail. I noticed when I looked at the bag from afar, the print looks like a beautiful peach shade with light florals, but when I looked at it closed up, you can see all the colors and details that go into the print and it does not look like a peach colored fabric at all. It’s as if my eyes were playing tricks on me, but it’s a really interesting effect. And the best part is, the fabric feels really lightweight and cool to touch, but it is also really hardwearing. With the amount of manhandling that goes into making a bag, some other fabrics would have shown signs of wear and maybe even start pilling. But the Liberty fabric was so tightly  and finely woven, you can hardly see the weave and even the fraying was minimal.The fabric also came nicely folded in a tiny package and that’s how I’ve been storing it, but surprisingly there were no hard creases when you unfold it, the fabric is easy to iron and smooth as silk, but cool to touch. What is this sorcery??? I can understand why so many Japanese love to use it for their garments. It’s really luxurious to touch and yet it feels like it will last forever.

I know I was sponsored this 1m of fabric, but the opinions and raves are entirely my own. I’m already plotting to buy more, enough to make MYSELF a nice top. Sure it will be more expensive than your regular fabrics, but it will not cost more than a factory-made mass-produced store-bought garment. And I know it will really last me for a long time provided I don’t upsize in the future 😛 If you are intimidated by the price, you can start with a small amount. The fabrics are sold from a minimum size of fat quarter, enough for making a small tote or a few small accessories.  Or, you can try your luck, take part in this giveaway sponsored by Elizabeth Little , win 1m of this amazing fabric and fall in love with it!

wiltshire

 

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Giveaways Japanese Fabrics

Liberty Print Shoulder Bag and Fabric Giveaway

September 30, 2016

It’s been a while since I last posted. I’ve been busy helping my eldest prepare for a very important exam which is happening right now so I’ve not had much time to blog. But I have been sewing! In fact, I find it incredibly stress-relieving. Just paying attention to the lines and the sound of the machine humming along. Just a short session of sewing each night helps tremendously. One of the things I made this month, was this bag that I’ve been wanting to make for the longest time, ever since I saw the picture of it in the book.

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libertyprintbagcover

 This is the book where the pattern  came from, I will share a book flip-through of this book later this week.

I like the bag so much that I was already planning to buy some Liberty fabric on my year end trip to Japan, until I discovered ElizabethLittle.co.

ElizabethLittle.co is an online fabric shop based in Singapore, and they sell Liberty fabric! I first discovered them through a local sewing network group on Facebook, so I emailed them to find out more about them and to suggest a collaboration ;P which they agreed readily :).Here is what I found out about ElizabethLittle.co.

Who are the founders of Elizabethlittle.co?
We are a team of 3 busy mothers and working professionals, who share an interest creating memories with beautiful fabrics, particularly Liberty Art.

elizabethlittlequiltimage from Elizabethlittle.co

I can see that! I’ve been following you on instagram and I’ve been seeing your creations made with all your beautiful fabrics. But what pushed you to actually start up an online fabric store? 

What inspired the creation of Elizabethlittle.co?

Our delight for gorgeous and distinctive floral prints on silk-like cotton yarn began in 2010 when we chanced on Liberty’s iconic Tana Lawn for the very first time.  Unsure where this fascination would lead us, we embarked on an incredible journey of discovery, starting an independent studio as a group of artisans who believed in the maker movement.  We love sewing, quilting, transforming bolts of fabric into the fruit of our hands.ElizabethLittle.co is our avenue of showcasing our creations, to share and promote our love of craft and sewing, especially to residents living in Singapore and South East Asia. Being busy mothers and working professionals, we understand the challenges crafters face when trying to get to stores for fabrics. ElizabethLittle.co represents our keenest effort, delivering to clients our lean variety of carefully selected fabrics straight to your door step!

That was a great idea! I am always shopping online for fabrics because I can never find what I want in stores and it’s such a great feeling to get them delivered right to my doorstep! 🙂

What kind of fabrics do you carry in Elizabethlittle.co?

We carry Liberty Art Fabrics, the renowned British brand of quality Tana Lawn, and a curated range of Cotton + Steel fabrics. We envision stocking quality organic fabrics in the future.

I’m excited to hear that! I don’t remember seeing any Liberty in stores here, so I was waiting to buy some in Japan. Cotton + Steel fabrics are also well known for their design and quality as they are made in Japan. I also buy organic fabrics when sewing for my kids, but only online because, well you can’t get any decently priced ones in stores, but when buying online, fabric shipping is usually a killer.

Do you (or your co-founders) sew? If yes, what type of sewing do you do?

Yes, definitely! We do a mixture of quilting and apparel, with a special interest in cheongsams.

elizabethlittlecheongsamsimage from Elizabethlittle.co
Isn’t that gorgeous?
If you had to choose one favourite Liberty fabric, which one will it be!
Oooh, it has to be Betsy, which is part of Liberty’s Classic Collection. The gorgeous florals are amazing in so many colour ways! We also stock limited edition Betsy, which are exclusive and rare.
betsy-simage from Elizabethlittle.co

This is one question I’ve always wanted to ask, what is the difference between European Liberty and Japanese Liberty?

Liberty Europe is printed in either United Kingdom or Italy, with a width of 136 cm.
Liberty Japan is printed in Japan, with a width of 110 cm.
Tana Lawn from both countries are of the same quality – 100% Egyptian Cotton. Main difference is width.
Both Liberty Europe and Japan carries the same design, though the Japanese fabrics may have slightly different colourways as they are only sold for the domestic market.

Aaah now I finally know the difference. It’s good to know since the width does make a huge difference when it comes to deciding how much fabric I might need!

What are your future plans for ElizabethLittle.co

Going forth, we will be making a childrenswear collection, using Liberty fabrics! We will also be tying up with local crafters and the sewing community for sew-a-longs and perhaps form a local sewing society. We will maintain our online presence as this offers greater convenience for our clients – complimentary local shipping. In addition, we will be participating in consumer fairs and pop-ups to meet clients, and allow them to touch and feel our fabrics and goods. More fabric options and brands are in the pipeline, with an emphasis on quality and make.

Sounds exciting! Where can we sign up to keep track of these exciting developments, and admire your beautiful fabrics and creations?

You can follow us by either
Visiting us online at www.elizabethlittle.co
Following us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/elizabethlittleco & on Instagram at www.instagram.com/elizabethlittleco

I’m excited already about the promise of more quality organic fabrics and maybe even a local sewing society? We really need one here! Oh but that’s not all, ElizabethLittle.co even offered to sponsor 1m of fabric for my sewing project and 1m of fabric for a giveaway for my readers! I even got to choose the fabric for my project.

Like a kid in a candy store, I took a long time to decide. I was really keen on a Betsy as it was a very classic look, but this one kept catching my eye.

flowertopsbLiberty Art Fabric – Flower Tops B Tana Lawn

 So I decided to go for it and this is was the result. ♥

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More pictures of the bag will come in the next post, as there are too many photos and more things to say about Liberty fabric and this bag project.

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But right now, I know that all of you are curious about the GIVEAWAY : )  Here’s what you get to win. 1 winner will stand to win 1m of this beautiful fabric sponsored by Elizabeth Little Co

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Wiltshire J Tana Lawn

The contest will be running on both my Facebook and Instagram  pages. So hop on over to to win now! The giveaway will end one week from now (7th October) and I will announce the winner the following day (8th October) on both Facebook and Instagram. Good luck and remember to check back in a few days time to see more pictures of my bag!

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Giveaways Japanese Fabrics

Giveaway – Hummingmint and Japanese Fabrics Giveaway

September 1, 2016

Yes! As promised in yesterday’s post, here’s a great fabric giveaway, brought to you from our lovely sponsors Modes4U.

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I have been a great fan of Sanrio since I was a kid. Little Twin Stars, Hello Kitty, My Melody, Tuxedo Sam, Kerropi, Minna no Tabo…. the list goes on. I am too old to be carrying these around now, but I am still buying these kawaii stuff but under the pretext of buying them for my kids. 😛

Today I am showing you some super cute accessories I made with fabric sponsored from Modes4U. I have not followed news of Sanrio characters’ release closely, so I only discovered this new character this year. Hummingmint is a new character released sometime in 2015. And I fell in love at first glance. First of all, there is a retro feel about the illustration, and the color combination is my personal favourite! So when Modes4U asked me to choose a fabric for my sewing project, I shortlisted a few but this was on the top of my list and I was sooooo excited when they picked it too!

The fabric is so lovely that I could not bear to use it all on 1 bag, so I made a couple of small accessories. I find that it showcases the main character a lot more too when used on small accessories like these. You can see more pictures of the fabric on Modes4U’s website.

pencilcase

So the first thing I made was this pencil case, something I can leave out on my table so that I can see it everyday. I made it with a beautiful white lace zip that I bought from Japan a few years ago. It matches the lace in the print!

cardcase

The next item is a card case + key holder. I had an old one which was falling apart, so it was another item I could use everyday!

kisslockpurse

The last thing I made was this. I was going to make a small messenger bag for my #2 so I was shopping for the perfect shade of mint canvas fabric (which is impossible to find), then I saw this purse frame with the pink ball clasp. I knew it would be perfect for the fabric. I don’t actually use coin purses so this will just have to sit pretty on my desk for holding my wonder clips or maybe some sewing notions.

So here’s a group shot. Isn’t it pretty? 🙂

cardpencilandpurse

After making these, I still have leftover fabric enough for making a few pouches or even a small tote. That was all from 1 unit (0.5m) of fabric. Now if you are interested in making your own accessories using Hummingmint fabric, here’s a great giveaway for you. Modes4U is not just giving away 1 unit of Hummingmint fabric, but a whole bundle of Japanese fabrics! You will get 1 unit (0.5m) each of the following.

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For more details on the Japanese fabrics you stand to win, click on the links below. 

Top row (L-R)
Cherry Blossoms Dobby Fabric
Stripe Animals Fabric
Cinderella Glitter Fabric
Bottom (L-R)
Hummngmint Fabric
Transport Canvas Fabric

The giveaway will run for a week, from today 1st-8th September and will run on my Facebook page. So hop on over and take part now!

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