Patchwork keyfobs



I made these patchwork keyfobs some time ago. Keyfobs are fairly easy to make, once you have all the supplies ready. I purchased most of my supplies (heavy cotton webbing and keyfobs) from this etsy store and followed a tutorial from here.  I think that these will make good gifts to my girlfriends for this holiday season.

Hope you all have a good week!

Crochet flower brooch


crochet flower brooch, originally uploaded by chick chick sewing.

I had been pretty busy lately and was not able to find time for crafting (help!) but I managed to make this crochet flower brooch.  I used the leftover yarns and placed a matching covered button in the middle.

This is how the backside looks like (I sewed the pin on to it):

On my bag, it looks like this:


No matter how busy I am, making something small as this crochet brooch helps keep my sanity... Crafting for me is definitely a stress reliever.   Happy crafting!

cinammoroll pencil case


cinammoroll pencil case, originally uploaded by chick chick sewing.

Another pencil case made with Japanese fabric for my daughter's friend. My 7 year old girl was supposed to give this handmade gift to her friend as a birthday gift over the weekend at the party, but she missed the party, because she got sick... fever and cough... and not surprisingly, now my 9 year old girl is sick, too, and so am I... !! But we should get back to normal by Thanksgiving... (hopefully).

Hope all of you are doing well!!

Granny squares made by granny


motif, originally uploaded by chick chick sewing.

This is a handmade bedspread hand crocheted by my mom. She made this for my younger daughter's seventh birthday earlier this year. I counted the number of granny squares in this project, and there were 322 of them!! OMG!! And more surprisingly, it only took her a week or two to complete this...With that kind of speed work, I guess I can call her the "granny square machine"... ;)

When I was growing up, I never knew that my mom knew how to crochet. She was always working hard with my dad to run the family business (they owned a small factory in Japan) and she was also very busy taking care of her children (myself being the oldest, we had five wild kids in our household).   I had never seen her doing any sort of crafting, including crocheting, back then.

But now that my mom is half retired, she has more time for herself and enjoys making crocheted gifts for her friends and family.  Here are more pics.






Our daughter really likes this handmade gift.  Thanks, granny, for the grannies!

Hand carved eraser stamps




I've always wanted to try stamp carving using erasers.   There are really good instructions out there on crafters' blogs on how to carve eraser stamps, like this one from mairuru  (in English) and this one from matatabi (in Japanese) and there are also many other good craft books in Japanese about making eraser stamps.

So, I gave it a try.   These are the eraser stamps that I carved over the past few days.  I found it especially difficult to carve small areas (like the eyes).  There are many many flaws, and I know that I need to continue practicing to improve my stamp carving skills, but I enjoyed making these.   I used these stamp pads that can be used on fabrics. (I'm trying to make my own "tags" to use for my handmade items).

Happy stamping!

Far Far Away fabric




I got these Heather Ross fabric called Far Far Away sometime ago. It is a beautiful fabric and it is double gauze. This was my first attempt to sew something with double gauze, and I'll tell you it's a major challenge! But, it's also the most comfortable fabric you can imagine.  It is very soft and comfy.

I made a pillow case and a small scarf using these double gauze.  The pillow case is made up of 1/2 yard length of fabric, 1/4 yd for the front, and another 1/4 yd for the back.  Different designs are used for the front and back of the pillow.  Here is how the back side looks like (the front side is shown above).




I also made a scarf with the blue fabric.  It's kind of short (I fully used up the 1/4 yd) but it wraps my neck area nicely.



Apple pouch


apple pouch, originally uploaded by chick chick sewing.

This pouch is made of apple print corduroy (from Joann's), solid cotton and a velvet ribbon. When I made this pouch, I had my daughter's teacher in mind... She likes apples, and things made of apple stuff, so I thought it would be a good holiday gift for her. A holiday gift? Am I the only one who is already getting ready for the holiday season? I mean, it's not even Thanksgiving yet...!! I know. But I tend to procrastinate every year, so I wanted to get an early start this year. We'll see how it goes for this holiday season... (Although I'm pretty sure that I will end up procrastinating again...)

Pinwheel pincushion



Another quick project for the day... a pinwheel pincushion made from this tutorial.  The back side look like this.



I made this while I watched our kids work on their homework.  Hope you have a good and relaxing weekend!

Mouse pad?


Mouse pad?, originally uploaded by chick chick sewing.

I made this fabric mouse pad for my computer, but our kids didn't like it (they complained that the "mouse" doesn't move swiftly enough with this pad). So, I transformed it into another fabric tray...



I got this cute fabric from this awesome fabric store  when we visited San Francisco earlier this year.  I couldn't believe my eyes when I first spotted this Richard Scarry fabric at the store...!!  His books are the all time favorite of our family, and I'm sure for many of your families, too.

Here is the closeup...



Aren't they adorable?

Cozies for everything


pocket tissue cozy, originally uploaded by chick chick sewing.

It seems like Japanese people like to put on cozies and covers for everything around the house. When I was growing up in Japan, it was quite common to find fabric cozies and covers (and sometimes knitted/crochet ones) in our households on door knobs, home phones, fax machines, toilet covers, tissue boxes, car keys, trash bins, toilet paper rolls... and yes, sometimes it goes way too far and crazy, putting cozies on everything imaginable!

I think pocket tissue cozies are one of the fairly common and practical "cozies" here in the states, too. (Don't you think so?)  I made this one using some of my scrap fabrics. I like the combination of navy/white polka dots and the "writing" fabric.  I like to make these small projects that I can complete in few hours, or even less, because of my short atttention span...

Patchwork logcabin apron


patchwork logcabin apron, originally uploaded by chick chick sewing.

I'm a messy person so when I cook, I must wear an apron. This is an apron I made sometime ago using my scrap fabrics. I tend to wipe my hands a lot with apron, so for me, apron not only protects my clothing but also acts as a "kitchen towel' when I'm in the kitchen. This one is made of waffle fabric from Japan and it absorbs water very well (good for wiping hands).  I like how cheerful this apron turned out with colorful fabrics.

This is how it looks like when I wear it.  The strap is long enough for me to tie them in the back, too.

Hope you have a good week!

Liberty of London key fob & card case

I made this card case and a matching key fob using my precious Liberty of London fabrics... I loooove Liberty fabrics, but as you know, they are very pricey so I could only afford to buy a small tiny bit of its fabric... I wanted to make something that I can carry around everyday using my favorite fabric, so I made these items.

This is how it looks like when opened.  (I don't usually carry passport around, but just to show you the size of this fabric case, I took a picture with a passport ;)


Fabric tray



Fabric tray, originally uploaded by chick chick sewing.

I made this fabric tray to store cards.  In our household, we don't own any of the computer games for our girls to play (DS, Wii, and other Nintendo games), so when the girls get bored (which they often are) they often play with... the good old card games together.  They especially enjoy playing card games as a family when their daddy is around.




At least one set of card deck is always sitting on the table of our family room, often falling off on to the carpet floor, and I always wanted a place to store them.  (The original cases are either gone or torn).  And I think this fabric tray will be a good place to store them.  It is made of cotton (inside) and linen (outside).

I guess I need to make at least four or  five more of these because we have so many card decks in our household, at least one for each room (and one in my car, too)!



I'd rather be sewing...


This is what I did over the last weekend.  Covered the IKEA drawer with favorite fabric using my children's Elmer's glue.  

When I look at this drawer closely, I see many, many flaws, but I think it looks better than just the plain "woody" look (I hope).   Through the process of putting this drawer together, I realized how I'm terrible in woodwork and carpentry... I mean, I can't even use the hammer properly!  And my hands got so gluey and messy... I guess I shall stick to the sewing machine and crochet hooks and I should probably stay away from these do-it-yourself IKEA projects for a while...


Crochet + fabric patchwork pouch


I love fabrics and I love to crochet... so for my first attempt, I combined them together into this patchwork pouch.  The yarn is 100% wool and the green fabric in the middle is corduroy from Joann's (it was on sale, of course).  First it was a bit scary to sew the crochet "round" and the corduroy together using my sewing machine (yes, I used my sewing machine), but basically I treated the entire top row of the crochet round as its "seam" and it worked just fine.   

The good part of this pouch is that without any interfacing, the crocheted bottom makes the pouch stand on its own. And I really like the "roundness" of this pouch.



It is a small pouch, but it's big enough to put my cell phone and car keys and some other small stuff inside. For the lining, I used cotton flower print.




Hope you have a good day :)

Linen Scarf



I love to wrap my neck area around with nice scarfs.  I wear them during the cold weather to keep myself warm, and I also wear them on warm sunny days for sun protection purposes.  This scarf is made of light weight linen.  The size is approximately 2 yards (1.82 m) long x 11" (28cm) wide. 

I only had about a yard of this linen fabric, so I cut it up into two pieces, each measuring about 1 yard (91 cm) x 1 foot (30 cm) and connected them together with french seams (so that the edges will not show).    I also added the ivory doily and lace I had in my craft drawer to the scarf at both edges.    I really like the "crinkled" look of the linen scarf. 

Have a happy November!

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