Giveaways – Page 3 – Japanese Sewing, Pattern, Craft Books and Fabrics

Giveaway – Hummingmint and Japanese Fabrics Giveaway

September 1, 2016

Yes! As promised in yesterday’s post, here’s a great fabric giveaway, brought to you from our lovely sponsors Modes4U.

I have been a great fan of Sanrio since I was a kid. Little Twin Stars, Hello Kitty, My Melody, Tuxedo Sam, Kerropi, Minna no Tabo…. the list goes on. I am too old to be carrying these around now, but I am still buying these kawaii stuff but under the pretext of buying them for my kids. 😛

Today I am showing you some super cute accessories I made with fabric sponsored from Modes4U. I have not followed news of Sanrio characters’ release closely, so I only discovered this new character this year. Hummingmint is a new character released sometime in 2015. And I fell in love at first glance. First of all, there is a retro feel about the illustration, and the color combination is my personal favourite! So when Modes4U asked me to choose a fabric for my sewing project, I shortlisted a few but this was on the top of my list and I was sooooo excited when they picked it too!

The fabric is so lovely that I could not bear to use it all on 1 bag, so I made a couple of small accessories. I find that it showcases the main character a lot more too when used on small accessories like these. You can see more pictures of the fabric on Modes4U’s website.

So the first thing I made was this pencil case, something I can leave out on my table so that I can see it everyday. I made it with a beautiful white lace zip that I bought from Japan a few years ago. It matches the lace in the print!

The next item is a card case + key holder. I had an old one which was falling apart, so it was another item I could use everyday!

The last thing I made was this. I was going to make a small messenger bag for my #2 so I was shopping for the perfect shade of mint canvas fabric (which is impossible to find), then I saw this purse frame with the pink ball clasp. I knew it would be perfect for the fabric. I don’t actually use coin purses so this will just have to sit pretty on my desk for holding my wonder clips or maybe some sewing notions.

So here’s a group shot. Isn’t it pretty? 🙂

After making these, I still have leftover fabric enough for making a few pouches or even a small tote. That was all from 1 unit (0.5m) of fabric. Now if you are interested in making your own accessories using Hummingmint fabric, here’s a great giveaway for you. Modes4U is not just giving away 1 unit of Hummingmint fabric, but a whole bundle of Japanese fabrics! You will get 1 unit (0.5m) each of the following.

For more details on the Japanese fabrics you stand to win, click on the links below.

Top row (L-R)
Cherry Blossoms Dobby Fabric
Stripe Animals Fabric
Cinderella Glitter Fabric
Bottom (L-R)
Hummngmint Fabric
Transport Canvas Fabric

The giveaway will run for a week, from today 1st-8th September and will run on my Facebook page. So hop on over and take part now!

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Giveaways

Winner of Giveaway – Patchwork Quilted Bags

August 15, 2016

Sorry for the late post, this was supposed to be announced on Saturday morning but as we were all caught up with Olympic fever (Hooray for Schooling! :P) and exams preparation, I only had time to sit down today and write this post.

and the winner is….

Susan Goh!

Congratulations! You have won yourself a copy of Patchwork Quilted Bags. I will be emailing you soon to get your details in order for Tuttle Publishing to send you the book. Thank you once again for all your particpation. There are more giveaways coming up the next few months so keep following me on the blog/facebook/instagram. Also, a big Thank You to Tuttle Publishing for generously sponsoring the prize.

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Bags or Zakka Sewing Patterns Book Reviews Giveaways Japanese Sewing Books in English

Book Review and Giveaway – Patchwork Quilted Bags

August 6, 2016

Today’s book review is a yet to be released title named Patchwork Quilted Bags, and this is your favourite part – it’s in English! The author/designer is Reiko Washizawa, 鷲沢玲子, a famous and well-published Quilt designer in Japan. She has been quilting for 40 years and has published many Japanese quilting books. This book is not about making patchwork quilts though, it is a book dedicated to incorporating your patchwork creations into everyday bags. This will be a great way to bring your creative showpieces around with you since it is quite impossible to bring your quilts wherever you go.

Honestly I have never made a proper full size quilt, but I have been hoarding a whole box of handmade dresses that my girls have outgrown and planning to make a keepsake quilt out of the dresses, so I have been reading up on hand piecing and it seems kind of daunting, especially when it comes to creating a full size quilt. This book came just in time and gave me some new ideas on smaller projects I can start with, and furthermore, it combines the patchwork quilting with my love for making bags!

Let’s have a look at this book shall we? Before we jump to the details of the giveaway 🙂

There are 19 projects to be made in this book and they are divided into 5 chapters. There are also additional sections in between the chapters that teach you all the basics you need to know about patchwork making. From materials, to drafting of basic quilt patterns, and even a little showcase of the author’s quilt-making story.

Before the first chapter begins, there is an introduction tutorial on how to draft the different shapes you will need in the book. This is the basis of the book, you will need to know how to draw the different shapes and how they are pieced together before you can apply them to your bags.

Now, we are ready to make some bags!

The first Chapter : Basic Bags

The first project is the beautiful pieced Little Bird Bag that you see on the front cover. I was surprised that this bag was called a basic bag because it certainly looked complicated to me! Upon closer scrutiny, it turned out that the birds were actually part of the fabric print and were quilted on to the batting. The patchwork portion is only the strip in the middle, which is made up of hexagonal pieces.

There are detailed instructions for every step, not just the making of the patchwork, but also to show you how to assemble the bag.

The second Chapter is about Out & About Bags

There are beautifully embellished bags for a night out,

Casual basic square patchwork bags for running a quick errand,

cute bowl shaped bags, perfect for carrying knitting supplies I say!

Chapter 3 : Shopping bags

Roomy bags with lots of space for shopping and marketing. Note the beautiful pattern which is called a Lemon Star Patchwork. Looks challenging to me!

Chapter 4 : for Moms and Little Ones

Mother’s bag and Baby Bottle Case

Lesson Bags for kids

The last chapter : Cute Little Pouches
Creative patchwork designs and small scale projects that are suitable for beginners like me!

Sewing Case and Scissors Case

Strawberry Pouches

Mini Yo-yo Pouch. These pouches are made out of lots of tiny yo-yos. Amazingly cute and I love the color explosion!

Union Jack pouches. Fashioned after the Union Jack using Liberty fabrics for the stripes. How apt!

Sample of detailed instructions for each project.

There are also two large pattern sheets attached for all the appliqués and templates you will need to make the projects in this book.

Thanks to Tuttle Publishing, I was provided a free PDF book preview for this book review, and they are also, giving away one copy of this book to one of you lucky readers! Win a copy of it before it is even released! Contest is open worldwide and will run for a week. Enter now!

To enter the giveaway, please fill in the form below. Contest ends 12th August 2016. Extra chances for those who share this giveaway on Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest. Good Luck!

Win a copy of Patchwork Quilted Bags

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The winner has been picked… click here to find out who it is!

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Finished Projects Giveaways

Winners of the Fourth Birthday Giveaway + Holiday Sewing

November 18, 2015

Less than a day to my trip and I really should be packing, but I do need to announce the winners of the Fourth Birthday Giveaway. And also to share with you what I’ve been sewing over the past two weeks!

So first things first. The winners for the Fourth Birthday Giveaway are

Lyn Lee and Tara!

and these were their comments.

Lyn said,
“Thank you for ur generosity in giving out presents. I would love cute batik prints to make a dress for my 2 yr old girl. Also love charming florals n beginning to appreciate Nano Iro designs”

Tara said
“Happy blog birthday!!! \\(^o^)// I’ve been reading your blog since you started and I love getting a first look at Japanese pattern books with your commentary. My favorite designer is definitely nani iro – oh how I covet those simple, yet artful pieces. Especially neutrals with pops of color or anything with a gradient or ombre effect. Have a great time in Japan! I will definitely follow along via Instagram.”

I will try my best to fulfill those wishes. 🙂 I will be emailing you ladies shortly to get your mailing address, but do note that I will only be mailing them out when I get back which will probably be the first week of December.

Now ready to see my holiday sewing? We are going somewhere with snow so it’s likely to be cold. The older kids already have their snow gear from previous years but not Baby. So I bought this really cute fleece lined knit (apparently it’s called sweatshirt fleece?) on clearance for $10/m as well as some regular navy blue fleece. And I made these…

A cute little pair of booties

Used non-slip mats from Daiso for the bottom soles.

It is quite hard to get a wriggly baby into a pair of boots. So I modified the pattern to form a side enclosure. The horizontal placement of the velcro is deliberate as it allows me to adjust the tightness of the opening.

Then I made a double fleece jacket. This was super quick to sew and made using a long sleeve t-shirt pattern, coupled with a hood pattern from a Cucito magazine.

Snuggly fleece on the inside.

I also made two pairs of monkey pants! One with the cute animal print as the main fabric, and the other with the navy fleece as the main fabric.

There was enough for a pair of mittens as well but they were not finished before I took these photos. Rest assured that I will NOT be using all the pieces on the same outfit 🙂 They are for co-ordinating with other tops/bottoms.

I also made a backpack for my 7 year old, to make it easier for her to carry her stuff around handsfree. I made it using a Kayo Horaguchi x Little Twin Stars fabric that I’ve hoarded for ages, and it was so hard to make the first cut! 🙂 Unfortunately, I did not manage to take any pictures of it as well, so hopefully I can snap some shots of it in action. I’ve still got lots to do so I shall sign off here. There will be no posts next week as I will be on holiday, but do follow me on Instagram where I will be posting about my trip.

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Giveaways

The Japanese Sewing Books 4th Birthday Giveaway

November 12, 2015

It’s the time of the year again to start celebrating, for the holiday season is here! The end of the year also means that my blog is turning another year older!

When I first started sewing, 8 or 9 years ago, I had no idea that I would last so long with 1 hobby. One thing led to another and… wow a sewing blog on top of that? Sometimes I can’t quite believe I’ve stuck to one thing for so many years. It’s all thanks to your support, likes and comments. I may not have time to reply every single comment and email but I must tell you that every word of encouragement, either through email, facebook messages, or post comments, means a lot to me. It has been a challenging year for me, with a newborn to care for on top of two older kids, housework, trying to sew and blog as well. Because of that, my blogging schedule has been rather erratic, so I really thank all of you who are still following the blog despite my irregular posts. Some of the defining moments this year for me – seeing my quote on the back covers of 2 Japanese sewing books. 🙂 My daughter said that I must be famous. I’m glad she was impressed ;P

OK so you know what this is leading up to. For I never celebrate a birthday without presents. Presents for you. And the reason why this blog post is posted ahead of the actual birthday (13th Dec ) is because I will be heading up to Japan next week and I will be buying the giveaway prizes from Japan! This year it will be a fabric giveaway as I will be headed to Nippori Fabric Town. Can you believe it will be my first time there?

HOW TO ENTER

To spice things up abit (making it more challenging for me), I would like YOU to give me some ideas, or rather, choose your own fabric! So what I want you to do, is to leave a comment below, ONE comment per person please, listing your favorite colors/ motifs/ designer and I will try to buy something based on your wish list. Do try to list a few possible options for each criteria so that it will be easier for me to shop.

An example of a good entry will be

My favorite colors : Red / Purple
My favorite motifs : Cats / Rabbits / Polka Dots
My favorite Designer : Echino / nani IRO

Using the above as an example, I might be able to find a fabric that is Red with Cat prints on it. Or Echino fabric in Purple. Either ways it will be fulfilling 2 out of 3 of your favorite criteria for fabric. If you are lucky there just might be a Purple fabric by Echino with cats on them!

I will be picking TWO WINNERS from the list of entries. Each winner will receive 1 meter of fabric. The contest will run till next Wednesday 18th November, 9am Singapore Time (GMT +8). I will announce the winners on Wednesday itself, but do note that I will only be able to send the prizes out first week of December, after I get back from my trip.

Excited? Go ahead and start leaving your comments now. Have fun and Good Luck!

Oh, and do remember to follow me on Instagram or Facebook as I will be posting photos of my trip. Especially the fabric shopping 🙂

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