Introducing Japan Crafts

This month's sponsor of the Ho, Ho, Ho and on We Sew giveaway is Katie, who runs Japan Crafts, my online source for beautiful Japanese fabrics, kits and Sashiko supplies.

As some of you may not have come across Katie's lovely store before, I asked Katie to provide us with an introduction on how she found herself having to visit Japan several times a year to replenish her fabric supplies!

Here is how it all happened:

"I've been crafty from being a small child (I once asked for, and got, a roll of Sellotape for my birthday!), and passionate about Japan ever since reading Memoirs of a Geisha at the age of 18 and deciding that I HAD to go to Japan and become a geisha! Having my daughter a couple of years later put paid to that idea (luckily...?), and when she was at nursery, I took some silk painting lessons and started selling my silk paintings of Japanese ladies in kimono. The more I researched kimono, the more I loved them!"

Red Dragon, Tsumugi Cotton

I started Japan Crafts in 2006 with a few silk painting kits and some handmade Japanese 'washi' paper, and it snowballed over the next few years into a sustainable, full-time business, to the point where I now travel to Japan 3 times a year to buy fabric (I know, it's a hard life!).

Kanzashi Flower Brooch Kit

Over the years I have learnt and experienced so much and I hope to share this through my talks, workshops and kits. I love attending the major quilt shows and meeting customers, and being able to delight them with gorgeous, authentic fabrics.

Sashiko Sampler, Asanoha

In my personal life I study Japanese (speaking and reading), kimono dressing (I wear kimono regularly to shows and events, as it is a good excuse to have to buy more!) and iaido which is the martial art of Japanese swordsmanship. I also love knitting and traditional quilting and am currently working on a quilt for my daughter with 1930s style fabrics.

Vintage Advertising

Having attended one of Katie's workshops I can vouch for her enthusiasm and knowledge for all things Japanese!You can see the results of the Sashiko workshop here

2.5" Mini Charm Pack, Linens

Japan Crafts have just launched a new website so if you want to get your hands on some of these gorgeous fabrics or try your hand at Sashiko then now is the perfect time to stock up and benefit from the free shipping (UK only) on all orders over £25!

Don't forget to link up your Christmas and Holiday makes over at Practically Pippy too, to be in with a chance of winning this lovely Mini Rice Bag Kit, courtesy of Japan Crafts

So, there you have it, another great example of the entrepreneurial spirit of fabric lovers :) Isn't it lovely when you come across suppliers who are so passionate about their businesses?

Ho, Ho, Ho and on We Sew - the Snowflake edition

Welcome to another Ho, Ho, Ho and on We Sew Link Party!

As ever our mission is to have you all organised and calm by the time December 25th comes around, and to help us we have gathered together a great bunch of bloggers, who are posting tutorials for gift and home decoration projects throughout the year. This month, our guest host is Karen, who blogs at Practically Pippy. I first came across Karen when she lived in Germany, and was very grateful for her sage advice on the etiquette of mulled wine drinking on our first German Christmas Market trip. My daughters-in-law were thankful too :) A few months ago, Karen moved back to the US, so I am delighted that she has found the time to craft a Christmas Mouse tutorial to share with us for this month's Link Party.

Of course it wouldn't be a Ho, Ho, Ho and on We Sew Link Party without a giveaway for one lucky linker. The winner of last month's Alpine Skier cushion cover pattern from Bustle and Sew was Sandra, aka the Novelty Pouch Factory, who made the link up with her fabric baskets posts by the skin of her teeth :) This month, the giveaway prize is generously provided by the wonderful Katie of Japan Crafts, who I had the good fortune to meet when she ran a Sashiko workshop at my local Embroiderer's Guild meeting.

Katie has donated this lovely Mini Rice Bag Kit for one lucky winner, it is just perfect for gift wrapping a special present.

 Having made a similar bag from one of Katie's kits already, I can attest to the clarity of the instructions and the high quality of the materials!

So, if you want to be in with a chance of winning head on over to link up your Christmas and Holiday makes at Practically Pippy

My own Christmas make this month came about when I accidentally spilled a tube of beads all over my craft room floor! Whilst laboriously picking them up I remembered that I had originally purchased the beads along with wire blanks to make a beaded snowflake. So, once I was up off my hands and knees that is what I did, and here is the result!

I think that I might look out for some different coloured beads to make a few more before December.

I also spotted this book on a recent IG'ers destash, so needless to say had to snap it up straightaway :) Hopefully there will be lots of inspiration for future Ho, Ho, Ho and on We Sew projects in there.

Looking forward to seeing all your holiday makes and as always a big thankyou to all of our lovely giveaway sponsors.

http://www.patchworkelephant.com/

More Japanese gifts

A Japanese bag kit somehow found its way into my basket when I was browsing the gorgeous fabrics on offer from Katie at Japan Crafts at the Japanese textiles workshop recently.  I wonder how that happened??

So, when I was looking for a gift bag recently for a birthday present for my niece I thought that it might be the answer to my search.

And it was!

The kit is the Hana Japanese Bag Kit and it couldn't have been more straightforward to put together. Hana apparently means flower in Japanese and the bag is named for the petal like appearance of the top flaps when the drawstring is closed. It was so quick to make and took only two FQ's of fabric plus the cord and two beads that I am sure that I will be making this again. So much more useful than a paper wrapping too :)

With the completed Sashiko cushion for my son, I am surprised to find that I have used everything that I bought or tried at the workshop. I usually have an unfinished piece of something hanging about for ages after classes or workshops, so it definitely makes a pleasant change to actually have some finished objects to show for my time.

Sadly the same cannot be said yet for the recent class on couching, where this is all I have to show for my time so far!

 

Not even any couching in sight either, however, my order of fancy new threads has now arrived so, hopefully, that will change soon :)

 

Well, once I work out what to do with them that is!

Linking up to  Crazy Mom Quilts

Simply Sashiko

Recently, I was lucky enough to attend a Japanese Textiles talk and workshop conducted by the very charming Katie Chaplin of Japan Crafts. Katie gave us a fascinating talk on the origins of some Japanese textiles and introduced us all to a whole new world. Who knew that weavers of Japanese cloth had their own special saw tip fingernail manicures?

To illustrate her talk, Katie passed around examples of the different textile techniques mentioned, including the glorious kimono you can see above. Surprisingly, vintage textiles are not particularly sought after in modern-day Japan apparently, so can still be found at reasonable prices. The same cannot be said for modern kimonos, which can command eye-wateringly high prices. When you hear that a kimono made using the Shibori technique similar to tie-dying can take up to one year to make, the prices are not, perhaps, quite so surprising after all!

Katie brought along some kimono type jackets for sale as well as a whole range of bag kits, which proved to be very popular with her audience. I may just have succumbed to a bag kit :)

In the morning we had a chance to have a go at Sashiko embroidery and were given a range of patterns to pick from. I chose a wave pattern for my first attempt at traditional Sashiko embroidery. We used a tool that I hadn't come across before to transfer the pattern on to the plain blue fabric.

I have no idea what the tool is called, but with its blunt tip it was brilliant for transferring the pattern using Dressmaker's Carbon Paper. Naturally, I had to add one to my basket! I am guessing that it will be great for turning out corners too from the shape of it.

Katie had some gorgeous printed FQ's for sale too, so I treated myself to a couple as I had had an idea of what I might do with the Sashiko panel when I had finished it.

My youngest son is just about to move into his very first flat, so I thought that this was manly enough for a bachelor pad :) The central Sashiko panel is surrounded by 2.5" square borders of three Oriental-themed fabrics, and the borders are machine quilted with a half-circle pattern to echo the Sashiko embroidery.

I came across this manly-looking fabric in my stash and thought that it was ideal for the envelope back.

If you were at the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham last weekend you might have come across Katie's stall. Apparently it was strategically placed on the route between the cafe and the toilets, so bound to be passed by everyone at some stage in the day!

Our next session is on couching, another technique that I have never tried so I am wondering what I can do with the results from that.