Tag Archives: sashiko

Jan22

Weekend WIPs update

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I seem to be falling into a weekly blog habit. I don’t have a schedule but when a week has gone by without a post I get a niggling reminder in the back of my brain that it’s time to write something.

Do you like the heart? My sister’s stepson makes these, back in Blighty. She sent it to me for Christmas. They are sold to raise funds for Healing Waves in the island of Jersey, which is a charity that takes people with different challenges out into the chilly Atlantic Ocean to surf.

So what are the WIPs this week, I hear you ask!

Version 2 of the Fuck the Cold Beanie. I’m using Lion Brand Mandala for the background and cutting out some of the yarn to make the colours change a little quicker. The gold for the tree and moose is Stylecraft Special DK. Needles are 3.75mm/US5. The gauge is tighter, the stranded colourwork is neater and I’m much happier.

Granny is nearly four feet square. Still lots of yarn left in the bags!

A taster of the sashiko stitching on my denim vest. This has a long way to go but that’s OK.

A small side project inspired by the upcoming Valentine’s Day and gnomie love quilt cotton! Upcycled denim hearts which I am embellishing with fabric, ribbon, buttons etc. I spent a couple of hours faffing about in my sewing room this evening and I intend to complete all six of these before Tuesday.

We had a potluck lunch with friends today and as usual we ate enough that I didn’t need any dinner. So we just wound up our day with a turmeric tea.

I hope your weekend is going well and that you’re making time to be crafty and creative.

Jan5

Boro/sashiko

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Last summer I played around with sashiko stitching. I made a couple of tote bags out of upcycled denim and found the sashiko very relaxing to do.

At the time, I ordered some proper thread from Wawak (.com if you’re in the US, .ca if you’re in Canada) but then other projects came and went and I didn’t get around to using it.

Now the planets have aligned – I have the vest pattern, I have a piece of navy blue linen, I have the stash of old jeans, and even an old shirt.

I cut the back and two fronts out of the linen, making the pieces at least an inch bigger all around in case of shrinkage.

Then I went through my pile of jeans and jeans parts and cut usable chunks of denim.

Then I laid them on the linen pieces, overlapping them until I was happy. I pinned them and then added pieces of my old shirt.

Back
Fronts

After trimming a bit in places where the denim overlapped the linen, I started my stitching. I’m using proper sashiko thread and needles and so far I’ve done three lines of stitches on each piece. I thought it would be better to work on them concurrently, that way I can distribute the thread I have. I may well order some more as I only bought seven 20 metre hanks.

The thimble and the small piece of non-slip vinyl are crucial for pushing and pulling the needle through the layers.

I was amused by the view from my sewing room window. It’s in the basement and the snow has piled up and is obscuring almost half of my view.

So that’s three WIPs for the new year. That should keep me busy.

Aug17

August FOs

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I just realized I left you hanging, partway through my All That Jazz cowl and the sashiko project with the green fabric.

Well, both are finished. Here’s what I made from the pieces of denim and green cotton.

That was fun.

And just yesterday I bound off the knitted cowl made from Lion Brand Mandala.

It’s been washed and yanked about every which way to try and even up the stitches a bit. The maroon segued into the blue, so one strand traveled throughout, and then I added contrast with different parts of the same colourway.

I am very pleased with my corrugated ribbing – it’s only the second project I’ve made with that feature.

And today I spent a few hours in my sewing room, accompanied by various podcasts from Kate at The Last Homely House, sewing a bag for a yoga teacher.

Do you like the play on words? Namaste Llamaste! I couldn’t resist it when I saw the llama fabric and buttons at work.

And I can’t believe I used to be scared of sewing vinyl. It sews like a dream.

We’re having a cooler week, thankfully, but there’s still a lot of smoke in the air. A new fire started just south of us two days ago.

It’s a little worrying to see that view from your home. It quickly grew and spread and caused homes to be evacuated in the area. We’re ok here but I have friends who have had to relocate until the danger is past.

There’s an even bigger fire north of us as well that makes this one look like a campfire.

I feel like I have smoker’s lungs now and I’m pining for clean air.

I hope all is well for you guys reading this and that you’re able to enjoy your creativity.

Aug7

38 rounds in…

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My tension isn’t brilliant but I’m enjoying myself and hoping that a good wash at the end will even things out somewhat. (All That Jazz cowl as linked in my last post.)

My new sashiko needles and thread have shipped but in the meantime I’m playing with embroidery floss. These two panels will probably become a zippered pouch. I intend to add more embroidery first.

Jul25

Staycation – days 4 – 7

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Day 4 was a long day, mostly at home. There was library book reading, sewing and Ravellenics project planning.

I finally decided on a crochet project for the Ravellenic Games (on Ravelry, to coincide with the Olympics). I went for a bag pattern I’ve made before. It’s called the Feelin’ Groovy Drawstring Purse. It’s a paid pattern now but years ago I was one of the testers for the designer so I got it free.

I’m using Lion Brand Mandala in Chimera from the stash. I had to wait to actually start the project because the Games hadn’t started yet.

My exercise class on Thursday was Strength and Lengthen at the gym with Mr Fixit. That was a good class. The teacher was nice, which makes a huge difference.

Day 5, Friday, was an early spin class. I sweated a lot and had very sore quads afterwards. Once that was out of the way, I could get going on the crochet.

I decided I needed to make the base bigger and do six squares instead of five because the bag would have been too small. So I’ll be adapting this a bit as I go.

The sashiko on my tote bag pieces was done, so I made up the bag with a white linen lining and vinyl handles.

My muscles were glad to have a rest day on Day 6, Saturday. I cooked in the morning and we had lunch and games at our friend’s house. That took up the whole afternoon.

I finally finished Troubled Blood, the fifth Cormoran Strike novel, the one that weighs over 4lbs!

I also made more progress on the bag.

Six squares all joined up and the base circle complete.

My Little Drop of Wonderful wanted to be in my photos today, inspired by the fun photos of Ravellenic mascots in the Colourful CALs group on Ravelry.

She also came out with us today to our favourite tea shop and Costco.

I think I will name her Sparklii.

Day 7 isn’t over yet but the plan is to go to the gym for a weights workout later. And tomorrow I’ll be back at work.

Jul22

Staycation days 2/3

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Day 2 involved some housework, because I like to feel I’ve done something domestic before settling down to crafty pursuits.

Once the vacuuming was done and the bathrooms cleaned, I went back to the sashiko stitching. I spent so long on it while watching Netflix that my right hand ached later in the day.

Tuesday evening we had a yoga class so that was the exercise of the day.

Day 3 started out with a 9am Bosu Blast class. Eek, it was a challenge for this lazy girl. I sweated a lot! We did burpees, planks, dumbbell work and more on a timer and I couldn’t keep up with it all but I did my best.

After that, I went and bought food to stock up the fridge and popped into the dreaded Wal-mart for a nose around. The staff were restocking the yarn department and it actually looks better than it has in ages. I didn’t buy yarn but I did get a few T shirts for work/the gym.

After dinner, I met a friend at the beach. It was a cooler day, with a maximum of 29, and by 7pm it was 25. With the wind coming off the lake it actually felt cool (for the first time in a month) and I spent some time adding to my sashiko pieces.

There weren’t many people about but we did share the beach with about 50 Canada geese.

It was such a relief to have have a cool evening. I even pulled out a knitted wrap to keep comfortable while I continued to read my massive library book before bed.

Today the plan is to decide on a crochet or knitting project for the Ravellenic Games (Ravelry’s equivalent to the Olympics) because it starts tomorrow. And I should be able to finish the sashiko stitching so that I can move on to making something out of it. I also have a small additional sewing project in mind. I’ll update you again tomorrow.

Jul20

Staycation!

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Before inventory at work, I booked a week off. I knew it’d be something to look forward to, after the extra shifts and overtime, and now I’m appreciating my good planning.

Day 1: I looked at the week ahead and booked myself into some gym classes. Monday, I just did a regular self-directed workout, with some treadmill time and some weights machines.

I did laundry, cleaned up the kitchen and mopped the floor, and then treated myself to a few blissful hours in my sewing room.

This is another boro/sashiko project, probably a bag, but this time I’m covering the whole surface with stitching. I’m not rushing it, just stitching away while playing YouTube videos or Netflix, and it’s very relaxing.

The weather has been in the 30s every day, and even in the basement it’s been uncomfortably warm. Add to that the hot flashes that I’m getting every day now and sometimes I’m mopping my face as my glasses slide down my nose.

I’ve been reading a series of novels by Robert Galbraith (aka J K Rowling) which are detective novels. I read the fourth one in the series first, because I picked it up at the library not realising it was part of a series. And I only realised that J K Rowling was the author once I’d finished it. So I requested the rest of the books from the library and quickly devoured the first three.

The book above is the fifth one. Admittedly it’s a large print version, but still, it’s huge compared to the others. If you’re interested, the first book is called The Cuckoo’s Calling.

What do you think of this adorable pincushion? One of my co-workers left this week, and I gave her one of the bags I’ve made as a leaving gift. She gave me this with a lovely note.

I’ve been eating quite a few apricots this week. Our tree produced a fair few this year, and even though some fell on the ground before I could get to then and others were occupied by earwigs, I still got to enjoy those little packages of edible sunshine.

Our valley has been hit by smoke again this summer from the numerous wildfires around the province but I am grateful that we are only breathing smoke and not having to deal directly with fires in my neighbourhood.

Take care, everyone.

Jul5

Japanese rice bag: “Fox”

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My second foray into sashiko is a Japanese rice bag, which seems appropriate. I looked at the colours left in the pack of embroidery floss that I bought and they worked perfectly with this cotton fabric with foxes, hedgehogs and squirrels.

Each side of the bag is six inches square. I didn’t use a pattern this time. Having made a bag of this style once before I guessed I could do it again without a tutorial. It’s just five squares for the sides and bottom and the same in the lining fabric, plus four 2.5″ squares for the drawstring tabs.

The drawstring is a piece of craft rope from the dollar store and I added a little circle of denim around the knot to finish it off.

Even working downstairs in my sewing room has been challenging the last week because the house retains the heat from the day. Thankfully the temperatures have dropped into the 30s Celsius which, after 40+, feels so much more comfortable.

Jul4

Playing with sashiko

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Upcycled denim patches, tie dye cotton
Backed with light interfacing

The thread I used was basic embroidery floss. I can see how proper sashiko thread would give a superior result, though, as it’s not plied and wouldn’t split.

Once I had built up this fabric I trimmed it to neat rectangles and made a tote bag. I was inspired by this site. I used more denim from jeans for the handles.

The patches and lining are made from the fabric left over from the tunic top I made recently. There’s a magnetic snap and D ring tab inside.

The lining before assembly
The final result

I love it!