a little over a week left

sorry for not updating the blog much lately....

little miss and I have been having a great time here in Japan,

reconnecting with people and visiting lots of places.

here is a little sneak peak of our trip so far.

 @SF airport right before the looooong plane ride.
she did really well on the planes, except when landing...
her ears were hurting.  I tried to feed her something, but she didn't want to eat/drink...
does anyone have a useful tip for little kids on releasing the ear pressure?

 my folks' place

 family tangerine orchard

 her great grand parents come to visit every morning & evening

 visited the kindergarten I went to.

this whale slide has been here for ages!! 

it looked so big to me back in the day, but now I know it isn't!

glad I got a chance to take my daughter there.  precious memories...

 also went to an aquarium and zoo.

she had FUN!

only a little over a week left...

we also have a few hours in Tokyo...
not enough time to go out and about outside the airport...
hm what to do...?

 

P.S. thank you all for the comments on the last post!

my mother's computer/Internet is really SLOW,

so, I will get the how-to's together as soon as I get back home...

thnak you for your patience :)

ready for the trip!

here is a digest of what I've been making for the trip.

start with a passport/ticket holder

I had one from a travel company, but it was cheaply made not-so-good-looking one.

so decided to make up one!

the pattern is based on the 'original' one I had.

it has two big pockets, a pouch to put your passports, a slit for your tickets, and two more small pockets.

made with Echino fabric that had been hibernating in my fabric bin for a quite sometime. 

this blight purple will make it easier to see when you have tons of stuff in your traveling bag :)

(especially you have a toddler to travel with!)

next!

knitting needle case

because I can't really take my sewing machines with me on this trip,

I am planning to knit when I have free time in Japan.

I've been knitting a quite bit more than the last year,

and started accumulating knitting needles.

they deserve a proper home anyway.

this way, they are very organised and easier to travel with!

I used this tutorial, but you also can find a lot more here. 

next!

zipper pouches

 

originally made one for my ergo,

then realized they were very handy and made some more for other things!

one of them became a diaper bag, which keeps the bigger diaper bag organized 

and you can just take this smaller diaper bag out when you take the little one to a washroom.

the very big black one is used for my knitting stuff, just big enough for a few rolls of yarn and the needle case.

two more, and I think I am going to use them for socks/underwear, etc...

and the last!

traveler's jewelry case

ever since I saw this creation on Burdastyle,

I had been wanting to make myself one!

it is so handy when you travel and it keeps earrings and necklaces from getting tangled!

I often have a problem(even at home) with that and end up spending 15-20min to unravel the mess.

ha! finally!!

this will make my life so much easier!!

phew!
what a week of sewing!!
I got so much stuff done and am ready to travel!!!!!
well, I guess it's time to pack up then :)



*********************************************************************************
P.S. is anyone interested in a how-to on any of the projects above?
maybe I can put it together when I have time?? ;)
*********************************************************************************

little world traveler's backpack

i've been making things for the upcoming Japan trip.

very first thing I wanted make was a backpack for my little one

so that I didn't have to carry her books and toys while we travel.

so here it is, it is all done and ready to be packed up with all the goodies!

 this one is pretty close to this one,

I made my own pattern, but the sewing steps/instructions are pretty much the same,
and used the leftover fabric from this hat. 

 I added a pocket on backside and outside of the backpack and embroidered around the butterfly print.

also made a bottle holder by simply adding a band with elastic inside of the backpack so the bottle stays upright.

it has an extra cushion of thicker interface on the back and bottom of the backpack for comfort and durability.

it was my first time using piping, and it was great.

I think that is what give the backpack the finished look.

I also did a research on free toddler backpack patterns/tutorials as I was making up my own pattern,

and here is a list of useful links if you'd like to make your little guy one of these!

******************************************************************************************

that crafty mrs. V: free pattern/instruction 

think liz: a long list of free sewing patterns(clothes, accessories, baby items, etc)

indietutes: free toddler backpack tutorial

made by rae: purchase a toddler backpack pattern/instruction 

sew, mama, sew!: free back to school backpack pattern/instruction

******************************************************************************************

I have a few more sewing creations to share,,,

please come back to check them out later :)!

have a great weekend!

xo

clothes carts

Food Carts are very popular in Portland.

you see them pretty much everywhere you go, and they are cheaper than dining in, yet still so delicious!

you can find a wide range of food, like Mexican, Thai, Korean, crapes,,, you name it!

my husband and I really want to make a ritual of going to one food cart a week,

and check all of them out.(we haven't made a point yet : I)

yesterday, I was reading The Oregonian, a local news paper,

and found an interesting article.

it was about this double-decker vintage dress shop, called Lodekka.

Erin Sutherland, the owner, got laid off from her job,

 and she decided to pursuit her all time dream, owning a vintage clothes store.

she researched for affordable retail space for rent,

but even tiny space wasn't below $1200/month.

so she decided to go with the cart idea

"if you can sell food from a cart, why not put a dress shop in something that moves?"

so here it is!

a vintage dress shop on a double-decker!!

read more of Erin's story on Lodekka, please visit here,

and her blog and Facebook page.

surprisingly enough, Lodekka isn't only one vintage clothes store on wheels in Portland!

I remembered reading a blog post over at Modish.

Wonderlust!

it might seem smaller compared to Lodekka, but they travel well!

they drive over to street/craft fairs!

pretty awesome, uhn?!

I wonder what kind of new type of carts start appearing in Portland in the near future...

..................................................

Lodekka pics are from here and here.

Wonderlust pics are from here

..................................................

happy Friday!
and have a lovely weekend :)
xo

this season's first knitting project

do you remember this post where I wrote about Happy Knit's anniversary party?

I started working on the slippers on that weekend, and it didn't take me too long to finish knitting all the parts.

 upon assembly, I came across the designer's blog for Bickford seam video tutorials.

then I did some research on 'felting' because I've never done it before, but it didn't look that hard.  however, our washing machine is an old front-loader, and it seemed having a hard time felting.  in addition to it is a front-loader having some trouble felting, compare with the top-loader, maybe the hottest set water wasn't hot enough?  hm :I                           well, that's done anyway and took them a few days to dry(I'm sure it would have been quicker outside!)

 made couple fabric covered buttons, and sewed all the parts together.                 taddaaaa :) 

actually they are technically NOT DONE yet,,,

the pattern called to put something, like puffy paint, on the bottom sole to give them more friction.

yet my housemate gave me a better piece of advised to sew leather on the sole to make them more durable and warmer.

I think it's a great idea and I'd love to try that.

that will be my first project with leather as well.

a simple, no stress project for a first timer!

I will tell you all about it once I get them done :)

stay tuned!

little Miss's second halloween

Halloween is here!

every store front and many houses are decorated with scary things and spider webs.

wow, it's that time of the year again!!

this year, I couldn't get much creative on little Miss's costume...

I was debating between a little lamb or Little My.

I grew up in Japan, and there was a kids TV series called, The Moomins.

I remember watching it as a kid.

it is a comic/illustrated story from Sweden/Finland,

and it's about these hippo-like trolls, called Moomins.   

 

(pic)

Little My is one of the characters in the Moomins.

(pic)

she has a bad temper, but is determined and quite loyal.

I thought it would be cute if my little one and myself got dress up as her together,

but wondered if anyone over here knew who she was...

so, this year I whipped up a little lamb costume!

the patterns were based on a bonnet and playsuit in this book I got from Powell's Books(a must-go-store when you come to PDX!)

I even made her a pair of leggings as well!

(sorry, no photo of them :I)

she looks cute in it and I even manage to get some picture with our goats!

but I still can let the Little My idea...

hmmm,,, maybe next year!