Monthly Archives: May 2014

Inspiration file 47
A clutch bag with laminated fabric

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Unstable weather may more often occur during early spring by alternating summer-like warm days and stormy chilly days. Spring makes you feel like going out even if you preferred not to do it during cold winter. With the coming of spring, items for outing such as bags and pouches have been more popular to create among sewing lovers.

Do you remember a clutch bag, which was recently featured in our Craft & Sewing column? Since the sewing tutorial was by Yuki Inomata who is a popular craft blogger in Japan, that article has logged many hits. For each front and back of the bag, Inomata chose two prints from “Alice in Wonderland” fabric collection that was also covered in our Textile Story column; a grown-up taste print titled “Alice”, which the novel’s tale’s supporting characters are depicted in silhouette, was used for one side. The other side was with “Rabbit” print of the white rabbit on dots. You might think, “Having such an elaborate clutch bag with two different prints must be so cool. Sewing the zipper is not easy though…. I still want the bag. All right, I’d better go for it!”

Besides the double-sided clutch bag, Inomata made another bag in B5*) size with “Trump” print from the collection. In the above picture is the one. Look closely and you will find it is shiny! Inomata picked the one from laminate-processed “Alice in Wonderland” fabric collection. Laminate fabric is regular woven cotton on the wrong side and is coated with a plastic finish on the right side.
Since laminate coating keeps the fabric from fraying, there is no need to trim the edge and no need to prewash.

Inomata gives specific suggestions on how to sew with laminated fabric, “Use a longer stitch length (3mm or larger). Size 14 sharp sawing machine needle may work better. Binder clips can be used to hold the edge of your fabric pieces together in lieu of using pins.” Regular pins leave permanent holes in the material.

She adds, “Using a Teflon coated presser foot on your sewing machine is very helpful. If you don’t have it, apply a masking tape or painter’s tape to the wrong side of the fabric to slide through your machine easily. This also helps you for top stitch on right side of the fabric to finish zipper installation.”

It makes some sense that the presser foot on your sewing machine should be changed, depending on the fabric type or sewing task required. Laminated fabric is deemed challenging so far. But it is still worth the challenge, considering how convenient the items made from laminated fabrics are. Inomata continues, “The great advantages of laminated fabric are durable and waterproof. While raining, the bag with laminated fabric will keep your items from water damage.”

Water-resistant fabric! It sounds so fantastic! The fabric is perfect for a variety of projects such as bags, tablecloths and placemats. If you have never used the laminated fabric for your sewing projects, it’s time to do it!

*) B5 is one of International ISO standard paper sizes, which is a 250×176 mm or 9.84×6.93 inch.

2014 echino Collection Part 3

A wide 150cm-width fabric that you can enjoy making home décor items

A very popular echino series is here again. echino collection’s 2014 theme is “echino x kika.” It is a collection with a mixture of motifs and graphical geometric designs that are inspired by things found in nature such as animals and plants. Following the collection featured in this column back in February, three new designs are introduced. The material is cotton (85%) and linen (15%) broadcloth, which is different from echino’s standard cotton canvas fabric. This fabric is easy to handle with a wide width at 150cm. Utilizing its bold design, it is perfect for home décor items as well as for making garments like a shirt or a dress.

seed JG95210-10 Cotton/Linen Broadcloth
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Large plant seeds and small seeds that are about to pop are expressed in a rhythmic manner. The design is bold yet suitable for different types of projects.

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Girl’s maxi dress by Snoopy fabric

This is a maxi dress for a young girl, made by soft and absorbent “Yoryu” fabric. The smooth- textured fabric is perfect for the coming season. It turned out so lovely with the shirred top and the knots tied at the shoulder. To allow for shrinkage, we recommend you to wash the fabric before cutting.

材料
□ 生地:110cm(W) x 120cm(L)
□ Shirring elastic thread


Fabric shown for this sample:PEANUTS Yoryu fabric G3621-1 (B)

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This fabric is subject to copyright, and it is strictly forbidden to sell any products made from this fabric.

Click here for Sewing Instructions (PDF format / A4 size)
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JUBILEE

Geometric motifs in refreshing color tones

JUBILEE is a brand by designer Yasunobu Shimizudani. The brand concept is “Creating an item that is derived from a print design.” Shimizudani comments, “This collection uses a #60 cotton lawn, a fabric that is commonly used for shirts. It is also suited for making garments such as dresses. Refreshing color tones are perfect for the upcoming season and you can enjoy making bags, small items and pillow cases as interior design accents. It is a very versatile textile.”

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angelfish JG-44000-1 #60 Cotton Lawn
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“The design motif is a tropical fish, specifically an angel fish. The orderly aligned geometric motifs make a sharp impression.” (by Shimizudani)

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Irome Social Tote : Noodlehead for Kokka

Hi Kokka fans! I’m Anna from Noodlehead. I’m happy to be here today with the beautiful new collection Irome.  It’s a great mix of colors and happiness!

I’ve been wanting to make a Social Tote again for a while.  I was able to design this pattern last year for Carolyn Friedlander.  It was such a treat working with her!

It was so hard to narrow down which fabrics to use for this project, they’re all so pretty!  I fell in love with the yellow lining print.  I love it’s geometric and cheerful colors.

A little leather scrap was perfect to substitute for the front pocket.  I love how the leather combines with the other colors.

Thanks for having me today!  I’m already planning which fabrics I need to buy more of!

This post was written by Anna Graham for the Irome collection series, coordinated by Frances Arikawa for Kokka.
Irome is a quilting cotton collection that will be officially released at Quilt Market in Pittsburgh on May 16th 2014. If you would like to be able to purchase prints from the Irome collection locally, please be sure to let your favourite fabric store know. If you are a store owner planning to visit Quilt Market do come and say hi at booth no. 2045, 2145.