Recycled crocheted mat... finished!!

This week, I finally finished working on my recycled crocheted mat, which has been sitting underneath my craft table for a long time...

For how long this *unfinished project* was sitting around... I wasn't exactly sure.  But after going through a list of my previous blog posts, I realized that I began this making this item in June of 2010... which means it took me more than a year to complete this simple mat!!  I don't even know why it took me so long to finish this, but I'm so glad that I was finally able to finish it after all these months... :P

This recycled crocheted mat is made of old sheets, our kids' used clothing, and various fabric scraps I had in my hand.   To crochet this mat, first I simply made several of these fabric yarn balls by hand stripping recycled fabrics.  It's really an  eco-friendly way to recycle unused fabrics and clothing around our house (which we happen to have so much!)

Work in progress...

Here's a close up of the crocheted mat.  I tried to make this mat using pinks and blues, but I guess I ended up using some navy, greens, and even yellows...

It's really comfy to put your bare feet on this recycled crocheted mat, especially during the hot summer days.  I decided to use this one as our kitchen mat.

But I need more than one mat in our kitchen, so I shall start making another one like this soon... and

this time, I wish I can finish it sooner... We'll see :D

Ruffled wristlet pouch

I've been itching to make something with ruffles... and I finally did :)

This is a ruffled wristlet pouch made with natural linen and black embroidered cotton lace with scalloped edging.  The size of the wristlet pouch is approximately 9.25 inches x 5.5 inches, not including the handles.

Each row of embroidered ribbon are carefully sewn on to the face of the wristlet pouch.  To avoid fraying, I finished the top seam of the lace ribbon with rolled hem function using my serger.

  

The wristlet pouch is fully lined with fleece batting, and the interior fabric is black x white polka dots cotton.

The back side of the pouch is simple linen only...

Here is the side view. 

I just listed this ruffled wristlet pouch in my online shop. 

I think I really love the ruffles!!  Now, I'm in the "ruffles" mood and feel like making more of these :)

Thank you so much for reading!!  I'll be back soon :)



Linen cutlery (and chopsticks) organizer

Hello all :)  Hope you're enjoying your summer days.

 Well, for our family, it's been five weeks into our kids' summer break, and I'm having a challenging time of the year...  I mean, it's so hard to keep a schedule and do my work, keep kids busy and keep myself sane, all at the same time when kids are free in summer!!  

 Anyways... I haven't really had enough chance to sit in front of my sewing machine lately due to the above reasons, but I managed to make these linen cutlery organizers with handles recently :)

These fabric organizers are fully reversible.  As you can see, I used linen on one side, and home decor fabrics (pink and navy dots) on another.

I lined them with interfacing, and with a combination of home decor fabric, they are sturdy enough to stand on its own.

 Side view.  The approximate height is 2.75 inches (7 cm), not including the handles.

Bottom view.  Depth is approximately 3.25 inches (8.25 cm).

I made these linen organizers to store our cutlerys and chopsticks to place them on our kitchen table...

But it can also be used to store stationery around the desk, or to store sewing supplies at your sewing area.

We've been using these at our kitchen table lately, and these are very convenient to use.

I realy like the combination of polka dots and simple linen :)

Thanks so much for visiting my blog and I hope you're enjoying your crafty moments, no matter how busy your schedule may  be... ;)

***Love, Amy***



Drawstring mini tote bags

Hello!  How have you been?

It's been a while since my last post (three weeks?) but I'm so glad to be back with my latest creations to show you today...

I just added these mini drawstring tote bags in my shop.  





The bag exterior is made of a combination of Japanese imported cotton print and home decor fabrics.  Home decor fabrics are used for the bag handles and the bottom, for added sturdiness.

The bags are fully lined with 100% cotton and fleece batting.  It's perfect to be used as everyday tote, or as a lunch bag (or a "bento bag" as we call it in Japan) or snack bag.

As you can see, the tote has a drawstring opening, but you can easily fold the drawstring part inward to use the bag as ordinary mini tote (without the drawstring).

And BTW... do you remember from my last post how my kitchen looked like during the remodeling, after everything had been removed?  It was totally empty like this...

After few weeks, the remodeling is finally over (phew!), and here is a snap shot of a our kitchen now...

I am so happy (and relieved) that now I'm able to cook and eat in our kitchen.  Living without a kitchen (especially with kids) was tougher than I had imagined...!!

  I literally had to "cook" in our living room with my rice cooker, microwave, refrigerator, and a Japanese portable gas cartridge stove, and I washed those plastic dishes and utensils in our shower!! (Well, I could of disposed them, but I didn't want to throw away everything during our construction, which lasted over several weeks...)

Thanks so much for visiting my blog, and happy cooking and crafting to you all :-D

Kitchen mats for my sis

I had been really busy over this past week and I haven't really had a chance to do anything creative : ( 

All I could manage was to sew two of these kitchen mats for my younger sis #1 who lives in Japan.  (I have two younger sis and two younger bros, all living in Japan, and this sis#1 recently got married and moved into a new house).

I simply patchworked several matching cottons in blue/navy tone, and sandwiched two layers of fleece batting to add a little softness to the feet...

I don't even know if the blue color matches her new kitchen or not, but even if they don't, I guess I'll just make another mats for her... So just let me know if you want them in different colors, sis :P

 The back side of the mats are a simple navy/white floral prints.  I thought a print like these would hide all the messiness that can result from cooking and eating.

Speaking about the kitchen, we just began to remodel our old and worn out kitchen from this week.

Here's a sneak peek of how our kitchen looks like right now...  Yes, it's literally empty.   Our contractor took out all of our cabinets, tiles, refrigerator, dishwasher, and everything else in our kitchen!

Living without our kitchen is tougher than I had imagined.  Before the construction began, I had been cooking in my kitchen almost everyday for my family, so it's so inconvenient to live without a kitchen.

Anyways, when our kitchen work is done, I plan to make new kitchen mats for myself, too.  And I can't wait for that day to come...!!!

Flower shaped pincushions

Lately, I've been hooked in making these flower shaped pincushions.

 

I've listed a couple of these in my online shop, and I've also given a few of them to my crafty friends as gifts.

The pincushion comes in a compact size.  It can sit on my palm like this.   Fabric covered buttons are placed in the center of the pincushion, in both the front and back sides.

 The pincushion is filled with a mixture of poly fill (fluffy image in the above right), along with the 100% wool felt roving (image to the above left), to prevent needles from rusting...

 Pincushion featuring the Swedish *dala horse*  

This fabric is a Japanese imported cotton :)

Country apples pincushion with brown and white polka dots fabric covered buttons.



Each pincushion will be packaged like this when ordered from my shop.

What kind of pincushions do you use when you sew?

Personalized pillow cover

My nine year old girl is invited to her friend's birthday party this weekend, so I quickly whipped up this personalized pillow cover for the birthday girl, with her name appliqued on to the front side.

Here is the close up of the applique... My daughter and I selected the fabrics together.

I downloaded the alphabet template from here, and basically enlarged each letters to 200% using our home copier.  Then I used the paper backed iron on interfacing (or Heat'n Bond) to make my own fabric alphabet applique. 

There are many online resources out there such as this one with simple instructions, for making your own applique if you are interested.

I used blanket stitch function of my sewing machine to sew these alphabets on to the face of the pillow cover.

 Although this pillow will be given away as a gift, I think it matches pretty well with our living room sofa... don't you think?

BTW the crocheted granny square throw that is used as a sofa cover in the below image is handmade by my mom in Japan, a.k.a. the "crocheting machine"!

What amazes me the most is that my mom completes these large projects of granny square blankets/throws in about a week or two, and she often makes several of them in one winter for her friends and family.  Now you know why I call her the "crocheting  machine", because she's indeed a super human crocheting "machine"! (lol)



Well anyways, now that the pillow gift is completed, my daughter needs to create a handmade birthday card for her friend.   Hope the birthday girl likes her new pillow, and I hope that you all continue to enjoy your weekend.

  See you again soon :)

Thank you! I reached my Japan Relief fundraising goal of $1000!!!

A huge THANK YOU to you all for your support and encouragement toward my Japan Earthquake & Tsunami Relief fundraising efforts!!

I am delighted to announce that earlier this week, I was able to reach my fundraising goal of $1,000 through sales proceeds of my handmade creations, and I just sent my second donation check of $500 to the Japanese Red Cross Society, through Consulate General of Japan Los Angeles.    The first $500 donation was sent in early May.

My 2nd donation check of $500

When I began this fundraiser in March of this year, I could not have imagined that I was able to reach my goal within less than three months... Without all of your support, I could definitely not have done this... (*in tears of joy*)

After all, considering the scope of the major disaster that struck my home country on March 11, 2011, I know that my donation amount is just too tiny to help those people who are still in need.  But I still wanted to do my part by doing what I like to do the most, which is to make handmade items and by selling them, mainly through my etsy shop.

Thank you again to my etsy shop customers, my friends and family members, and to you all supportive blog readers for encouraging me at all times.   Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! 

Oh my eyes are getting *watery* again... Arigato!!　 ありがとう！！謝謝！　Merci!　Gracias!  Thank  you!!

2 way tote bag (red flowers)

Hello! 

Today, I wanted to show you something that I made a while ago, but haven't had a chance to post here on my blog.  It's a gift set that consists of a 2 way tote bag, a pouch, and a key fob, all made of matching red flower fabric.

You remember this 2 way elephant tote bag that I whipped up for my younger sis a while ago?  Well, this time, my sis asked me to make the same bag, using a different fabric, for her good friend as a birthday gift.

My sis selected this red flower fabrics (home decor weight) for her friend.  First I thought that this print may be a little too loud and flashy, but after looking at the finished items, I thought it turned out okay. Or I should say, it turned out very pretty!

Below, a green tree cotton tape is attached to the side of the outside bag pocket as a "tag".

 

In the past, I've made several projects for my family members as gifts to them (for free of charge, of course), but this time, my sis insisted that she was willing to pay me for this gift set.  So, without any hesitation, I gladly accepted money from my sis (which was actually nice :D).  

Well, after all, my sis knows about my Japan Relief fundraising efforts through my handmade creations, and I think she wanted to support me through her payments.  Thanks, sis, for your generous payment toward my fundraising efforts!

Just like many other bags that I create, this bag is also reversible.  This is the reversible side of the 2 way tote bag.  I actually like this reversible side more!

Although it may look like solid navy, I used navy x white polka dots cotton for this side.

 According to my sis, her friend seemed to like the gift set, which made me very happy and relieved, too!

Thank you very much for visiting my blog and I look forward to come back soon ;)  Your visits to my blog and comments, especially, are really encouraging and I am very thankful for every one of you crafty and kind folks out there!!  Arigato always to you all ;)



Zakka Style patchworked flex frame pouches

Hello my fellow crafter/blogger friends!

I just listed these patchworked flex frame pouches in my etsy shop :)  Yes, my Japan Relief fundraising effort is still going on, and 100% proceeds from the sales of these flex frame pouches will be donated to the Japanese Red Cross Society.

Let me show you some images of these convenient pouches on this post today...

10 cm (4 inches) flex frames are used at the opening.

Flex frame pouches squeeze open very easily... with just one hand.

These pouches are fully padded with fleece batting, which makes it safe to carry valuables/fragile items inside, such as eye glasses.

It measures approximately 4 inches (10 cm) wide and 7.5 inches (19 cm) tall, from top to bottom.  It's a good size to carry pens and pencils, crochet hooks, sanitary items, craft items and notions, or any other miscellaneous items inside.



On the side of the pouches, I placed a small "tag" to add that little cuteness...  Here, a Japanese ribbon tape with a flower print is attached as a "tag".



 For this "leaves and dots" pouch, I attached a handmade "tag" on to the side.

The handmade "tag" shown in the above image is made from my hand carved eraser stamp.  The hand stamped cotton tape is carefully pressed with high temperature iron, to set the flower print permanently on to the tape.



I love the zakka style look of these flex frame pouches :) 

Well, I've been working on several handmade projects nightly, but I just couldn't find enough time to post about them on my blog here :(   For me, whenever I can find any spare time for myself, I always end up sitting in my crafting area, and not in front of the computer... I wish I had enough time to both craft AND to blog, and not either or...  But after all, I guess I shouldn't be complaining too much, as long as I can find time to craft at least ;)

Thanks for visiting and I'll be back soon!