Crochet flower round seat cushion

How was your Thanksgiving holidays?

Ours was fun, with lots of good food and family time :)  And of course, I ended up eating too much!

Although I really couldn't find enough time to sew over the weekend,

I somehow managed to crochet a little...

I love making flowers with crochet, and this time, I crocheted a flower round seat cushion, using double strands of soft acrylic yarn.

I followed a pattern from this Japanese crochet book, with some changes here and there.

I'm not sure if this a finished project or not, because I may end up adding a cushion foam and a fabric cover on the back, or add several rows of crochet stitches to make it into a stool "cover" instead... I'll see.

Close up of the crocheted flower in the center.  
The petals are made of "popcorn" stitches, which adds a textured effect.

I really I love the puffiness of these petals!

But a bumpy seat cushion may be a little awkward for some people...?  lol.

 The back side of the seat cushion looks like this.



And by the way... it's hard to believe that we're in the final month of this year already.

 Despite all the craziness, I hope you all have a safe and happy December ;)

Thanks for reading and happy crocheting!

Handmade stickers made with handcarved erasers

This is something I've been trying to post here but been forgetting to do so...

These are handmade stickers made with my handcarved erasers.



I simply stamped my eraser stamps onto these blank sticker label sheets
(round) from Avery using different colored stamp inks.

It was a fun and quick project to make!

Well, from today (Wed, Nov 24th) our girls are off from school, and they will enjoy a long five day Thanksgiving holidays... 

Both my husband's and my side of the families all reside in Japan, so we usually celebrate Thanksgiving with our closest friends...

This year, we  plan to visit our friend's house for the Thanksgiving dinner, which we really look forward to :)   I will be bringing few dishes to the dinner, including Chinese chicken salad, Japanese style mixed rice with meat and veggies (o-ko-wa), and I may make one more dish to lighten the cooking load of the hostess (my friend).

Hope you all have a happy turkey day, too!

Pencil pouches (for the grown ups)

These are the latest additions to my shop.  Pencil pouches made with Japanese imported cotton and cotton/linen blend fabric.

I've made so many pencil pouches/carrying pouches for young kids in the past, so this time, I decided to make some for the young adults and the grown ups :)

This one is made from my favorite echino bird collection.

The lining is brown cotton with fusible fleece batting.

Both pencil pouches has flat bottom.

This fabric is my favorite also - growing leaves pattern in medium weight cotton.

I think these pencil pouches will make perfect gift for teachers, co-workers, friends and family members.

Thank you for viewing and hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving holidays,

especially if you are in the U.S. :)

Tiny *flower* pincushion

I made a tiny pincushion using a gray crocheted flower.

I like to crochet these double layered flowers with different yarns,

whenever I have spare time.

And in the past, I've made various items using these flowers

that I crocheted, including...

Crocheted pony tail holders with wood beads in the middle

 and

Crocheted flower bag charm with linen covered fabric button in the middle

and

Crocheted flower brooch with faux pearls in the center

And this time, I made a tiny pincushion.

I simply attached the crocheted flower on to the linen pincushion by hand, and then handstitched the entire surrounding of the pincushion with a red embroidery thread.

It is a very small pincushion, but I like the simplicity of this project.

Thanks for reading and happy crocheting!

More carrying pouches in my shop

Hi all :)  Hope all is well for you!

I've listed a couple of girly carrying pouches in my shop this week.

All of these carrying pouches are made of combination of 100% cotton prints and Japanese imported fabrics.

I used 9 inch (23 cm) zippers for the opening, which make these pouches roomy enough to be used as a generously sized pencil pouches or as everyday carrying pouch for the grown-ups.

The fun part of making these pouches is the fabric combinations!

I can spend hours just thinking about which fabrics to combine with what...  It is just normal for me to cover my entire sewing table AND the ironing table with lots of fabrics, and I often end up covering our dining table with more fabrics!  lol

But once my mind is set, the rest can be whipped up in a storm ;) 

All of these items are fully lined and padded with fleece batting, which make the pouches stand on its own. 

This one is just a little bit shorter in height than my other pouches. 

It measures approximately 4 inches (10 cm) in height, whereas my other pouches measure 4.5 inches (12 cm) in height.

A shorter (cuter?) version

Hope they can find new homes!!

Fabric rag wreath tutorial 布リース作りかた

Edited to Add: Youtube tutorial (5:19) is also available here.
この布リース作り方はユーチューブでも御覧になれます→☆（全編英語）

☆☆☆☆☆

Would you like to decorate your home with a beautiful handmade wreath for this holiday season?　And wouldn't it be nice if you can make good use of those ever growing fabric scraps in your sewing room?

If you answered yes to both of these questions, this tutorial is for you!  This is a quick and simple no sew project, yet it sure adds that special touch to your home.  I also think the handmade wreaths will make great holiday gifts for your friends, teachers, and family members.

Okay, let's begin.  Here are the required supplies:

みなさんこんにちは！今日はクリスマス・シーズンに向けて手作り布リースの作り方をご紹介させていただきます。ハギレを使って簡単にできるのでよかったら是非お試しください♪　

You will need:　使用する材料。

• One 12 inch (30 cm) Styrofoam wreath purchased from local Joann store　(30センチ大の発泡スチロール製のリース。私はアメリカの手芸量販店 Joann にて購入）
• 1 chopstick or screw driver (割り箸一本。または、スクリュードライバーでもOK。）
• Craft glue　（工作用のり）
• Various fabric scraps of your choice　（はぎれたくさん）
• Approximately 1 yard 10 inches, or 115 cm, of matching ribbon. I used red velvet ribbon of 5/8 inch or 1.5 cm in width. (1.5センチ幅のベルベットなどのリボンを約1.2メートル分）
• pinking shears　（ピンキングはさみ）

Directions:　作り方。

Are you ready to begin?　
では始めますね！

Using pinking shears, cut out fabric scraps of your choice into approximately 2 inch x 2 inch (or 5 cm x 5 cm) squares.  The squares does not need to be precisely in this size, it can be a bit bigger or smaller.

まずはピンキングはさみを使ってはぎれを5センチ四方に切ります。この際、四角を正確に切る必要はありません。おおまかにカットしてOKです。

Here, I mainly cut green, red, and white prints to lift up the holiday spirits.  But of course, you can use any fabric selection of your choice.   

Note: you don't need to cut out too many squares as shown here; you may want to begin with less number of squares and add as you go.

今回はクリスマス用のリースなので赤、白、緑色のはぎれを中心に用意してみましたが、色や柄はお好みで。はじめに大量のハギレをカットしても良いですが、作業をしながら少しずつ足していったほうが色の調整などができてよいかもしれません。

Pour a small amount of craft glue into a flat container.  Here, I used a recycled jar lid.

空き瓶の蓋などに工作用のりを少量用意する。

Then, take one 2" x 2" fabric square and place it on your palm RIGHT side up. 

ピンキングはさみで5センチ四方にカットしたハギレ一枚を表を上にして手のひらにのせる。

Place a tip of the pointy side of your chopstick or a screw driver in the mid point of the square fabric.

このように割り箸またはスクリュードライバーの先を四角布の中心に置く。

Wrap the square around the chopstick (or the screw driver) like this.

割り箸（またはスクリュードライバー）の先端を布でくるくると巻きつける。

Dab a small portion of craft glue on to the tip...

先端に少量の工作のりをつける。

Then stick the fabric-covered chopstick into the Styrofoam.   Be careful that you don't pierce the fabric with the chopstick, and also be careful not to go too deep inside the foam.   As long as the hole you made into the foam is not too deep and the square does not come off easily, you're on the right track.

先端に工作のりがついたままの状態で発泡スチロールのリース表面に刺しこむ。それほど深く刺す必要はなく、生地が外れてこなければOK。

Keep on sticking the fabric-covered chopstick on to the Styrofoam in a random manner.

適当に隙間をあけながら、発泡スチロールリースの表面を四角布で埋めていく。

Here, the fabric squares are randomly stabbed into the wreath foam.

赤いハギレを刺し終えたところです。

Continue the same process using other fabric squares until one side of the wreath foam is entirely covered with fabric squares.   Check and see if there are no empty spots.

この調子でリース表面全体が生地で埋まるまで刺し続けます。表面に空いている隙間がないかどうか最終チェックします。（リースの片面のみをハギレ生地で埋めればOK。リースの裏面は埋める必要はありません）。

Now that I've covered one side of the foam wreath, let's move on to make the ribbon hanging.     Cut the ribbon into 28 inches (70 cm) long to make the hanging.

リース表面全体を生地で覆うことができたら、今度は吊りリボンを作ります。用意したリボンを70センチ長さにカットします。

Sew both ends of the ribbon with a sewing machine or by hand stitches, to make a ribbon loop.

リボンの両端を中表で縫い合わせて、輪っかを作ります。

Place the ribbon loop on the fabric wreath...

リボンで作った輪っかをリースの上にのせます。

Then pull one end of the ribbon loop through the opposite loop end like this.

このように、一方の輪っかの端をもう一方の輪に通します。

Then, cut the remaining ribbon into 18 inches long to make the decorating ribbon.

残ったリボン（約７０センチ長さ）でリボン結びをします。

Tie a ribbon knot on to the hanging ribbon like this.

このように吊りリボンに直接リボン結びをします。

To prevent the ribbon ends from fraying, you may want to dab both ends of the tied ribbon into the craft glue.   Let dry.

ほつれ防止のために、今結んだばかりのリボンの両端に工作のりを少量つけておきます。よく乾かします。

Close up of the fabric rag wreath...

ハギレリースを近くで見るとこんな感じです。

The back side of the wreath will look like this.

リース裏側です。ご覧のとおり、裏側にははぎれ生地を刺していません。



Tada!  The fabric rag wreath is completed!
Simple yet beautiful, isn't it?

完成です！簡単布リースの出来上がりです。

Hope you enjoyed this tutorial, and I'd like to see your handmade wreath if you make one for yourself!

Wreath is not just for holidays... Here's an image of my flower bouquet wreath made in the same manner but using fresh and vibrant colors!

布リースはクリスマスの期間限定だけではありません。こんなふうにカラフルなハギレを利用して春色のリースを作ってもいいですね。→☆

Fabric Rag Wreath tutorial is on youtube! Click here to check it out :)

今回ご紹介した布リース作り方がユーチューブにも掲載されています。全編英語ですが、よろしかったらご覧になってみてくださいね。→☆

Thanks for reading and have a happy holidays! 

最後までご覧になっていただきありがとうございます。皆さんも楽しいクリスマスシーズンをお過ごしくださいね♪

***Love, Amy***