Fantastic New Craft Books!

Loads of lovely new and inspiring books are here! Falltime is the best time to get cozy with a new craft book and get started on something new. Here are some new favorite books on our shelf:

1) Mollie Makes Woodland Friends The folks at Mollie Makes are always inspiring with their darling style and simple crafts. The new Woodlands Friends book covers adorable projects in everything from felting, sewing, embroidery and crochet for sweet forest themed toys, accessories and home decor. It's pretty darned cute.

2) Kelbourne Woolens Baby Collection by Kate Gagnon Osborn & Courtney Kelley. The ladies of Kelbourne Woolens have created the most adorable baby knits collection of all time. Need we say more? These precious patterns are all knit in soft and dreamy Fibre Company yarns, sure to make babies smile and adults coo at their cuteness.

3) The New Crochet by Marion Madel. This beginner crochet book walks you though the basics of crochet, and also includes plenty of projects for simple, and fashionable projects with beautiful photographed illustrations throughout.

4) The Yarn Whisperer by Clara Parkes. Yarn connoisseur and author of The Knitters Book of Wool and The Knitters Book of Yarn, Clara shares her life stories alongside a healthy dose of wool musings. This is a book to get cozy with.

5) Patternmaking for Menswear by Gareth Kershaw. This is a thorough book for anyone looking to understand, sew, and draft men's patterns. Plackets, sleeve shapes, cuffs and colars - nothing is left un-touched in this epic tome. This resource book will be a welcome addition to any serious sewist's library.

6) The Knitster by Robbie Dulaney. All the patterns in this book are unisex for the fashion-forward man or woman. Sweaters, cardigans, hats, mittens and scarves as well as some cute and quick home accessories.

7) Clothing for Everyday Wear by Yoshiko Tsukiori. The trend of re-releasing Japanese sewing books in English is one we are on-board with. The newest addition to our English library is Clothing for Everyday Wear, a volume of  the Stylish Dress book. These books are chock-full of beautiful and simple patterns and inspiring photography and styling.

8) The Field Guide to Fleece by Deborah Robson & Carol Ekarius. A couple of years ago, Deborah Robson and Carol Ekarius released the beautiful tome, Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook, our go-to reference for all things wool, sheep and fiber. Now, they have condensed the most pertinent information into a handy volume perfect for keeping next to your desk or in your bag for easy access. This slim volume packs tons of info on the fiber of 100 sheep breeds - including full color photos of both sheep and fiber staples.

9) Sewing for all Seasons by Susan Beal. We love living seasonally and Susan Beal's newest book captures this ethos perfectly. Sewing for all Seasons includes projects and instructions for home goods and accessories. Sew up a fall wool patchwork throw, Christmas stocking ornaments, or a springtime gardening apron - there is something for everyone!

See you soon!

Swoon...new Nani Iro fabrics are here!

Naomi Ito is the woman behind some of our favorite designs - Nani Iro. She never fails to impress with her subtle, painterly style and interesting compositions. Pencil-drawn herringbone, splashes of metallic, watercolor-bleed dots, we love them all so much! Double-gauze and feather-light Wata-gauze form the perfect base cloth for these ethereal, stylish designs. Enough talking...we have a lot of sewing to do!

Check this out if you want to see some inspiring designs...

Jaime's Washi Blouse

The Washi Dress pattern by Made by Rae has been one of our most popular patterns, and I finally got around to stitching up my first one. It was everything I had hoped and dreamed it would be!

This Lecien Japanese lawn is lightweight and a great choice for summertime garments. I love the vintage feel of this tiny floral. The Washi Dress has several options - it can be a dress or a tunic, with or without tiny sleeves, and you can choose to make it with a cut-out neckline or straight scoop neckline. I chose to make a sleeved-tunic with the cut-out neckline.

This tunic sewed together nicely. The back has a shirred elastic waist which makes for a fitted top that is super flattering. The sleeves and armhole are finished with a bias binding, and the neck opening is faced for more structure and stability.

I am excited to try all the options - next up is a sleeveless top with regular scoop neck. There are still some warm months ahead to enjoy wearing some new Washis!

Amber's Yellowtastic Hazel Dress

Hooray for the Hazel dress!

I am so excited about my most recent sewing project--I just stitched up Colette's Hazel dress and I love it so much.

I have been obsessing on this bright yellow fabric by Anyan for months now, and dreamed it would be an eye-catching summery dress. Hazel caught my eye and I knew it was meant to be!

This fabric is a little heavier than Sarai from Colette recommends, but I think it worked out nicely. It makes the Hazel a bit more crisp and tailored. A lighter lawn or double-gauze would make a cool breezy dress, which would be quite lovely in this midsummer weather.

I give the Hazel two thimbles up!

New Yuwa Fabrics are Here!

Two fabric collections just arrived from Yuwa and they are blowing our minds!

The first is from quilter extraordinaire, Yoshiko Jinzenji. A textile artist with a truly unique aesthetic, Yoshiko's fabrics are minimal and celebrate hand-made. The fabric is sparsely decorated with drawn lines and brushstrokes. Some of the fabrics reproduce her amazing quilts, down to the stitch marks. See her book Quilting Line + Color for more inspiration.

Japanese illustrator, Anyan's first collection with Yuwa has just arrived! Her Cotorienne line, with drawings of animal friends touring together, are too cute! Wonky geometrics, botanical prints and birds--every print in this collection is fantastic.

See you soon!

New Yarns from Habu Textiles + A Knitted Nest for Your Airplants!

Adorable yarns from Habu Textiles have arrived! Habu is known for their irresistible brown paper wrapped bundles and cones of yarn. These yarns knit up to create fashion forward textures using intriguing fibers--papery yarns from linen and cotton, raw silk, super fine brushed mohair...

These little guys are raw silk wrapped linen ribbon, crisp and light and like nothing else! We imagine light flowing tanks for spring.

The new Knitted Nests pattern from Coco Knits is a sublime way to use some of these lovely yarns. We picked up several super-cute air plants from Ironwood just down the street and knit up a little nest for each one.

The Cotton Linen Paper Moire yarn we used for this little nest has a confetti texture--little wisps of linen paper are caught between a fine cotton core.

Habu's lace kid mohair is super fine, for delicate knitting that seems lighter than air. It has 311 yards in this cute bundle, so this tiny package goes much further than you would guess!

This Printed Cotton "Gima" (Japanese translation: fake linen) is crisp like linen but made from 100% cotton. It is a fine ribbon yarn and with an organic printed pattern which adds to the fun texture.

Another cotton linen paper moire yarn, this all-natural yarn is a wilder version of the yarn we used for our knitted nest sample!

We hope you love these amazing yarns as much as we do!

New Kokka Fabrics Galore!

Jaime and I were inspired to drop everything and stitch up some new outfits, thanks to a tempting box of  Kokka fabrics that just arrived! Japanese style must be all about photographic prints of woodland creatures and a love of eastern European folk style right now, and we are digging it.

 Jaime

I chose this friendly animal print to make an adorable Barcelona skirt from. I love the photographic quality of the animals and mushrooms and was super excited to have new fall skirt!

The Barcelona Skirt pattern by Amy Butler is our number one selling pattern of all time - it is a classic design that flatters many body types and an easy-to-make pattern. Our A-Line Skirt Class is also a favorite and is a great choice if you would like some help making this skirt. I have made it so many times, I can whip one of these up in about a hour and a half, lined and all. I love it!

Amber

Colette's Macaron dress is a sewing pattern that I've been wanting to make for a while--when I saw this European folk inspired fabric form Kokka I knew I had to make an adorable little dress.

This was my first time making the Macaron, but I knew I would enjoy sewing it. Every Colette pattern I've made has worked out wonderfully. I paired the print with an Echino solid in teal, added a navy piping to the sleeve and placed the fancy red heart of this cute print right in the center of the bodice.

That's not all that was in this box of fabrics either, there are plenty more Kokka fabrics that are just waiting for someone to turn them into the cutest sewing projects of all time. What will you make...

...an owl oven mitt, a partridge pocketbook?

A babushka bookbag?

A rabbit romper? Perhaps a mushroom miniskirt?

Happy sewing!
♥ Amber & Jaime

Heather Ross Far Far Away III Fabrics are Here!

New Heather Ross fabrics are here and they are cute as can be!

We have been eagerly anticipating Far Far Away III and can't wait to get sewing with it. Our favorite new print, and we think our friendly Breyer horse agrees, is the little girls playing with toy ponies fabric! And how about a ukulele dress for fall?

New Nani Iro Fabrics are Here!

Naomi Ito, we've got a craft crush on you! Naomi's newest Nani Iro fabrics are pretty pretty pretty! The prints in this line evoke soft watercolor and bold oil brushstrokes.

These dreamy fabrics just got here and I couldn't help myself--I've already whipped up a Ginger skirt from this classy olive stripe. I love the hand-sketched lines and the crisp cotton/linen fabric.

Come by the shop to see them in person!

Dan's Fabric Basket with Sashiko

Hi, it's Dan here. I just finished a springtime project that I wanted to share.

Sometimes it is necessary to take a break from busy schedules and large projects to make a quick and rewarding end product. This simple lunch bag pattern is the perfect thing! This project would be an adorable handmade "basket" for a child to use during an Easter egg hunt. It is great as a reusable alternative to throw away lunch bags. Might I suggest one made with natural linen on the outside, and undyed cotton muslin for the lining? Children will appreciate a lunch bag made out of their favorite fabrics and colors.

This pattern is from the book, Linen, Wool, Cotton, originally written in Japanese, but now available in English. The book focuses on using natural fabrics in modern applications and is beautifully photographed. The projects are mostly simple and extremely inspiring.

The finished bag is completely reversible, with all of its seams hidden, and is a perfect introduction to making reversible or lined bags. It lends itself nicely to most fabrics and prints. For the lining fabric, I decided to use a double gauze print by Nani Iro, one of my favorites. For my main fabric, I used a complementary Kona cotton solid.

It just so happens that I also love Sashiko, a Japanese embroidery technique. It is a simple running stitch that can take any handmade item to the next level of uniqueness with little preparation. I used a simple little Sashiko motif to personalize my bag.

After assembling and adorning a few of these lunch bags I am now ready to experiment with the pattern and techniques I learned to create larger reversible bags.