Recent handmade items (December 2011)

Hello everyone!  Hope you're all surviving enjoying this holiday season (lol). 

I had been pretty busy lately, balancing my day job, kids, family, online shop, writing Christmas cards, preparing for the holidays, and making handmade gifts for my family and friends, of course... that I'm trying my best everyday not to faint and collapse :D

Although I'd been making things, I just couldn't find time to post my recent handmade items here lately.  So today,  I decided to list some of the stuff that I made over the past few weeks.  Some are made for my shop, and some are made for myself, my family members, and for my friends.

Drawstring mini tote made with Japanese imported linen/cotton blend.  I just love this beautiful purple roses fabric.

Drawstring opening seen from the top.

Hello Kitty small carrying bag with handles.  For a pretty young girl.

Reversible market tote made with *lots of windows* fabric.  This bag is very roomy.

The reversible side of the above market tote.  Made of heavy denim with the pink closing ribbons.

Room slippers made of fleece and knit fabrics.  Keeps your feet so comfy and toasty!

Water bottle holder made for a young athlete.  He is a junior baseball player.

Wristlet pencil pouch made with Rilakkuma fabrics.  

My Melody carrying pouch with handles, all lined up! 

Just to let you know that I am NOT posting any of the handmade holiday gifts here (yet), as some things has to be kept secret, right? 

Happy handmade holidays and I wish you all the best during this holiday season!! 

Love, Amy***



Handmade baby hoodie with bear ears

Wow I can't believe it's December already... and hope all is well for you, my fellow crafty friends!  Well, it's been a while since I last posted here, and I'm so glad to be back :)   

Today, I'd like to show you what I had made for my baby nephew a couple of weeks ago.  Baby Joe is my younger sis's 10 month old baby who lives in Japan, and although I have never met him in person (yet),  my sis sends me weekly (sometimes daily!) photo images of him to my iPhone, so I feel like I know him so well just by looking at his pictures!

So, this is the latest project that I made for Joe ... It's a baby hoodie with bear ears.

I couldn't decide whether to make it a "polar bear" hoodie using white furry/plush fabric, or to use a brown plush fabric to make a "teddy bear" hoodie. But I finally decided to go with the "teddy bear" version so that the darker color can hide the daily wear and tear by the messy baby boy...

It has a snap closure.  I used a large snap here and securely sewed it on to the hoodie.

Seen from above, the hoodie has a round arch shape.

For the lining, I used soft fleece, to keep the baby warm during the chilly winter weather in Tokyo.  The hoodie can also be used as reversible.

I made some alterations here and there, but I basically followed directions from this Japanese book to make this teddy bear hoodie.

Book Title: Handmade Baby Items

Publisher: Seibido Shuppan

ISBN-10: 4415301932

ISBN-13: 978-4415301938

This is a well written book with cute baby items, but the only problem I had was the patterns printed in the last pages of the book, which had to be enlarged to specific sizes.  And for this hoodie jacket, the pattern had to be enlarged to 285%, which was something impossible for me to do with our home copier!  So I quite simply draw my own pattern, after many many trial and errors of copy taking and failures :(

Various baby bibs made of soft and comfy fabrics shown.

The baby shoes are so tiny and adorable...

Ideas of handmade fabric baby books.  So creative and fun!

According to the online forecast, the weather in Tokyo today is 46F or 8C, which sounds sooo cold for the auntie who lives in Southern California (me).   Hope this baby hoodie jacket will keep baby Joe warm and cuddly during this winter. 

Well, thanks for visiting my blog and I wish you the best during this last  month of the year!  Yes, it's going to be the craziest month of the year for me, but I'll try my best not to go insane by squeezing in more crafting time whenever possible, to survive the holiday madness around here!!   lol

Happy crafting and hope to see you soon :)

Love, Amy***