Sneak peek / Silk ribbon roses

Try them on!

Yesterday, I brought in my new products to Circa Arts Gallery in downtown. I made some hats and jewelry. This is how my table looks like in the gallery now.

The hats are reversible. One side it is wool and has beautiful Fall themed appliques. And the other side is quality linen/cotton fabric which I brought back from Japan. And jewelry, I crocheted some necklaces and bracelets with interesting elements.

 I designed Autumn berries and flowers with several Autumn colored wool felts.

This is the reverse side of the hat above. It is surprisingly different from the other side and I think that is really fun (to make and to wear).

It can be worn like this. A little peek of a chic polka dot lining.

This one below has appliqued flowers both on the crown and the brim. The flowers are imaginary but I thought of chrysanthemums because it is one of my favorite Autumn flowers.

And the other side has this colorful linen/cotton fabric. What a fun project! I wanna make more reversible hats in various fabric combinations.

These are all hand crocheted jewelry. I crochet sequins in balls and made necklaces and bracelets with them.

There are matching bracelets.

In many colors!

I want them to be worn casually with T shirts, sweaters, and either dresses.

I am going to list similar items in my Etsy shop soon. My goal is re-opening the shop within September. It seems I have to work harder to make it. But I will try!

And if you live in Michiana area, please come to Circa Arts Gallery and try them on! I think you will like it! ;-)

Stay warm (it is cold in SB today!) and you all have a good weekend!

No pattern stitches

Sometimes, I like to do embroidery without making pattern first.

Improvisation.

It is just like free-hand drawing on fabric.

I am working hard to make new items for re-opening my Etsy shop. And I need to make more for my consignment since a couple of bags and some other things have been sold! Yepppppy!

This time of year, I have a bad allergy from ragweed or mold or something. Do you have allergy? It doesn't feel good at all to work with my nose running. The last three days were the worst. It got a little better today. I guess it is because of rain. But I did work a lot, baked a lot. So I feel pretty much contented. I hope you don't have your nose running so bad, and have a good Thursday :-)

2011Trip to Japan #2 Purchase (Materials)

I can't believe it is already September! We still have some hot days like mid Summer, but I often feel a hint of fall in the morning and evening air. It seems my daughter Nina is so ready to go to farm for apple picking and corn maize. And of course she knows what kind of costume she wants for Halloween. I am not so ready for those yet. I will miss Summer days like every year I do.

Today I show you some fabrics and supplies I purchased in Japan. I didn't get many but I am pretty much satisfied about the result.

Starting with my new fabrics. These are all my favorite material Linen and Cotton blend. I collected some fun and cute prints.

I picked this vibrant animal print for my products for children. I have no idea how I am gonna use this yet. I fell in love with this fabric at first sight! This might be a little difficult to use because the pattern is very large in scale and it includes many vivid colors. But I had to have it! I guess this happens to many of my readers who love sewing and fabrics.

The elements of this folklore print are, of course Dala horses (my family of my husband side is half Swedish), and especially I love is the combination of red and grey. It makes this folk theme print look modern.

My favorite pattern, Polka dots in chic colors. This will be so great for smocking projects. Or can be very nice linings for bags.

I always want to get some Japanese traditional themed fabrics when I go to Japan. This time I couldn't find any great ones unfortunately (I didn't have time to explore!), so this one is not very special but I got this anyways. This is very traditional pattern called "Ya-gasuri" which means "Arrow-Ikat".

These are 3mm thick felt. I have been looking for these kinds of good thick felt in the US. But there is no luck so far. So I got some in Japan this time. If you know any good felt suppliers who sell something like this, please let me know. I will really appreciate that.

I got a lot of supplies for jewelry making and purse making. These are ring basses and I bought many of them.

Variety of purse frames. I got lots of them too! I am ready to make many bags for my shop to get ready for the Holiday season!

The football season is starting here in South Bend Indiana. Tomorrow is the first game day of the year for Notre Dame. The town seems lively and very excited. We had a nephew in the band last four years. He played a big drum. But he graduated this Summer. Then my niece became a freshman of ND and she got in the ND marching band. Hurray! I am not a big sports fan but always love to see and listen to the band. This afternoon we are going to see the band rehearsal at the campus. Every band rehearsal we go. That became tradition of my family. And going to see band tells to me the fall is just around the corner. We also are going to the First Friday in down town tonight. This little town is pretty much filled with fun things.

I hope you all have a great week end. Happy September!