Inspiration file11
A summer staple ~ linen or cotton bags

The hot and humid summer is coming to Japan. Such a season may encourage you to select fabric bags to go out with more than usual.

The fabric “zakka” creator Kimie Shimizu makes bags with various materials all the time. She often uses cool, lightweight fabrics for her summer projects.

“In summer, I use more linen or cotton for my projects. While thinking about fabric colors to combine, I weave cotton rags to make a bag pocket, so it will bring the well-used appearance.” Shimizu says.

The crispy linen with tatty rag weaving….
Shimizu is always thinking how a flat fabric can have a steric-look when designing products. One day she found out that her product would be more voluminous with a unique texture by adding a rag-woven piece. Since then, the bag with a rag-woven piece has been her favorite, and she’s made a number of them.

Shimizu continues, “I would actually love to make a more frayed one enough to be torn easily, but reality is that such a creation cannot work as a bag. The rag-woven pieces are reflective of what I really want.”

It is practical and has its own character. This is what you can create with fabrics.
The drawstring bag will be more accentuated after closing the top, and its shape will depend on what you put in.

There is no end of fascination by fabrics.

You can see the website of Kimie Shimizu at http://www.ilestyle.com/

Inspiration file 10:
Real & cute! Chimp’s “amigurumi” (*) doll

While the sky is blue after the rain, we are about to say hello to midsummer in Japan.

The trees, which have been lush until recently, are now showing the bright green color as they compete with the glare of the sun.

On such a sunny summer day, we found a chimpanzee in the woods. It is an “amigurumi” (*) doll made by the amigurumi artist Nami Yonezawa.

Her dolls are funny and cute, but looking closely, you will find that each animal’s characteristics are precisely expressed. Yonezawa always tries to create dolls which never get boring to look at. She also takes pictures of her work so they look as cute as possible.

The chimp in the picture above can hang on a tree branch or grab a banana because a wire strengthens the edge of each limb. In Yonezawa’s blog, another chimp shows up with such a story: “Since I made only one banana, perhaps the two chimps will get into a fight…? ” How will the story turn out?

You will see various unique animals like a lizard and a seal in her blog. Yonezawa’s real and cute “amigurumi” animals are really popular among children. This summer, how about playing zoo with your kids and your own “amigurumi” dolls?

You can see the website of Nami Yonezawa at http://kamemama.blog49.fc2.com/

(*) What is “amigurumi”? The word is derived from a combination of Japanese words “ami” and “nuigurumi”. “nuigurumi” means stuffed doll but it refers to sewn fabric items. “ami” means crocheted or knitted. That is, an “amigurumi” is a crocheted or knitted doll.

Ruby Star Polka Dot

the retro and stylish prints are perfect for clothes or bags!

Melody Miller, who was the first guest for our “visit artist” column, recently released her new collection named “Ruby Star Polka Dot”.

“In this collection, I included gold dots on each print, hence the name, Ruby Star Polka Dot. One of the things I began to do last year was included items in my booth at the International Quilt Market that were inspirations for future fabric collections. So, last fall, I had a vase full of arrows in my booth. I then drew the arrows and included them in Ruby Star Polka Dot for spring. Some people had asked me if I would design something that would work nicely for garments, so my arrow print was designed to be an apparel fabric.” Miller says.

Miller herself has made skirts, bags, pillows, kitchen items like hand towels and pot holders from these new prints. She continues, “My friend Alexia of Green Bee Patterns made a number of samples for Kokka’s spring display at Market. She made children’s clothes, women’s tunics, sewing kits, and handbags.”

flower　JG56500-500　　cotton/linen canvas

This is a border print of vivid pink flowers. The kid’s dress with this fabric, which her friend Alexia Abegg of Green Bee Patterns made as a sample for the Quilt Market, was well-received there.

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tiny dancer

dancers loved around the world

The fabric line we are introducing to you this time is by melimba. The textile brand is run by Melissa Wood and her sister Rebecca who both live in Texas. They are excited to release their latest line ‘tiny dancer’, which is the first project for KOKKA.

“My mom taught me how to cut out paper dolls when I was younger, and I loved to make them. One of my best friends was a dancer growing up, so I cut up special ballerina paper dolls to wish her luck for her performance. It was a lot of fun and I still love to cut them out. One day I wanted to save time and skip the cutting, so I decided to make them digitally on my computer and easily change their outfits for different occasions, and that’s when the idea came to do dancing ballerinas. My younger sister and daughter love to dance, so it was often on my mind, and they were a big inspiration for this line. Hence, tiny dancer was born!” Woods says.

Woods continues that Rebecca has been a really big help for her to design and clean up the patterns. “It was really important to us to make sure that we represented girls all over the WORLD, because dancing is a universal language. I just love the concept of people coming together because of a common denominator. Isn’t it a neat idea? Becca and I worked for HOURS to make sure we had several different ethnicities represented in both the skin color and hair colors. It was hard work, but it was really important to us. I hope, as people see this fabric, and have dancers that they know and love, they’ll be able to pick out one of the girls that resembles them.”

The line is themed on dancers, but actually they have also prepared versatile small-patterned prints such as a fun floral, a great dotted stripe, and a classic damask.
“We’re using the fabric for all sorts of projects! My mom created this amazing quilt, a dress, and a skirt for my 5 year old daughter. Becca created a darling tote bag and cute bow-ties for my two sons. And, I created a few little dolls with the fabrics for them and for me. I plan to make more clothing like tunics, skirts, and dresses too.”

“I kept picturing parents making bags for their daughter to take to her dance class, a grandmother creating a little quilt for her grand-daughter who loves to dance, and I pictured people like me, who aren’t dancers, but like the simple and sweet design. Cute is cute, and people who like cute things might be a fan.” The small floral, dotted stripe or damask print is great for any project. They will be the accent fabrics as well.

tiny dancer main print　JG-42000-1 cotton broadcloth

“I love when you squint your eyes almost closed tight, you can see all the different skin colors create an almost polka dotted pattern. This print could work for all sorts of projects, from small bags from using a huge piece to do a quilt.”

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Little Pink & Brokiga

lovely characters from Sweden

We will introduce you to the lovely fabrics from the book series “Little Pink & Brokiga” which was created by Stina Wirsen a Swedish artist and illustrator. The story of the wonderland with the independent girl in pink dress “Little Pink” and her friends “Brokiga” fascinates fans in Sweden and around the world.

The Swedish word “brokiga” means multi-color and multi-appearance. Looking carefully at each character of “Brokiga” has its own face, color and clothes. It is with Wirsen’s wish that “Every person is different. Why not respect each other’s individuality to get along with everyone?”

A product planner from KOKKA says, “Initially I thought it would be perfect for children’s apparel with its watercolor-style and gentle atmosphere in the illustration of Brokiga.” The prints of tint-colored small patterns are used for the soft double gauze, while the others with sharp and middle-sized patterns are used for fleecy fabric which is great for outer clothing. Since there is a variety of colors, you may feel tempted to create many items with this cute fabric collection.

Little Pink　JG 40110-100 　double gauze

The Little Pink of various postures and expressions is printed all over the fabric. There are 3 colorways but keeping the pink color of the character.

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