Thursday, December 11, 2014

Dainty and Sophisticated. Jewelry for her.

My daughter's ballet "the Nutcracker" production has opened last Saturday and it goes on until Sunday. It is the busiest time of the year for us. Especially this year is the craziest because I am volunteering much more as a seamstress than I was in any past years. Plus, I needed to finish numbers of items for consignment and also my writing deadline was yesterday. Oh my goodness, I barely accomplished the last two missions by yesterday. Though sewing hooks onto tutus, altering soldier dolls' uniforms and Arabian dancers beaded belts, etc....are still going on until tonight (hopefully!).

After all, fortunately this morning I am able to take breath and have time to finish sharing my recent work with you. I made lots of new bracelets.  This time I focused on Macrame technique using delicate strings and beads. The finished bracelets look dainty and sophisticated. I am happy with the result. I hope these will be given to precious women this Holiday season. I would love to see these on their wrists.





These tiny crocheted necklaces are not my newest line for this season. But they are still shining and perfect for wearing on the white Christmas day.


The felt flower brooches are already gone!! This year it seems my stuff are going fast. (^^)



We had lots of snow in November but there is none right now. This morning my daughter just said she wants some snow for her Nutcracker production week. I think, I can survive without having  White Christmas once in years. ;p

I hope you have a good weekend. Please stay warm. Thank you for reading.

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Kimono textile totes

Hello folks! Like I wrote in the last post, today I am going to share the photos of two Tote bags made with Japanese antique and vintage Kimono textiles. I patched several Kimono remnants together and embellished them with Sashiko and beads. I hope that gave some interesting elements to these bags.


The tote #1, I used three different Kimono silks. I picked red and green Japanese medium weight cottons to combine with those beautiful Kimono silks. Because there are red and green in the design of the silks. But just now, I found that's a Christmas color combination!! Which I have never meant it.

One side. I love this beautiful flower pattern. Chrysanthemums and Japanese apricot flowers are symbols of happiness and longevity. The leather handles are firmly attached with hand stitches.



The other side. I added simple Sashiko stripes on the cotton. This side looks very different from the other side. It is like you have two different bags in this one tote.


The Tote #2 (below). This is made with cottons and linens. It is not as fancy as silk fabrics but I like the natural, artless feeling of the woven (Kasuri) patterns.


This is the other side (below). I stitched tiny beads along the stripes. The cotton for the lining is not an antique or vintage. But it has a Japanese traditional arrow motif called "Ya-gashuri". I also added two strings on the sides. By tying the strings you can make the bag compact. The shape of the bag transforms into a cube(ish). Both totes have magnetic closures.

I love to play with patchwork. Especially when I pick out fabrics to put together. When I only have limited amount of materials, sometimes I find very interesting fabric combinations that I have never thought of . Since my collection of antique/vintage Kimono textile is not so big. But I like it. It is like solving a subtle puzzle.

I will write about some jewelries I made recently next time. It is shocking to me that Thanksgiving comes in only two days. It seems my time flies faster than others'!! I hope you all in the US have a safe, happy Thanksgiving. Folks in other places in the world, please have a beautiful week.

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Many items are ready for local Holiday gift shoppers!!

Hello there!! How have you been?


I cannot believe it is still before Thanks Giving. Because we have this much of snow(!!) since last Thursday. It is unusual. We all feel like it's already Christmas time. Many schools in Michigan close to the state border were closed yesterday. (Our schools in South Bend IN weren't.)


It has been super cold BUT I am not hibernating yet!! (Sorry for being so quiet for long time.) I have been working so so hard to produce many items for consignment. They are now all on sale at our fabulous local vintage boutique JUNK EVOLUTION. I am the artist of the month and they prepared this beautiful large table for me. I set up all the stuff I brought in yesterday and it looks fantastic!




I will introduce you my new bags and jewelries in consecutive three posts. Today I am going to share the photos of my embroidered mini totes. Those embroideries may look familiar to you from my posts in the past. I hope you'll enjoy it!








Next I will share other bags which are featuring Japanese Kimono textile. Stay tuned.

Monday, October 13, 2014

The lucky winner of HAPPY500!! GIVEAWAY

Thank you all who participated to the HAPPY500!! GIVEAWAY. The lucky winner is Michiko Okada!! Michiko, please send email to {harujiondesign at gmail dot com} with your mailing address so I can send out the Sashiko pouch to you.

We have a rainy day here but a good thing is it is not so cold. I hope you all have a good start of the week!!

Thursday, October 9, 2014

Recent work

I am working on some embroidery pieces. These two projects look very different. But there is a hidden theme common to them. Can you tell?

You remember this polka dots!! Yes I really love this Japanese half linen dots. I always look for them when I go back to Japan. I shaped flowers by stitching around polka dots. Similar technique to chicken scratch.






This project below is a combination of applique and beads embroidery. I love doing applique. It is so much fun! To me, it is just like drawing or painting. The back ground fabric is a quality wool from a long winter coat. I enjoy Beads embroidery as well though it takes much more time than applique.





I think you already got an idea about the hidden theme. Yes, it is "Dots!!". Well, to be honest I haven't thought of it at all until I started thinking about the title of this post! (;p)

My recent work is mostly making items for sale. I am hoping that I will be able to reopen my Etsy shop soon. Also I try to make pretty things for Holiday gift shoppers in the town. It's hard to find time to do this but I will try as hard as I can!! What are you working on now?

Thank you for reading. And don't forget to enter "HAPPY500" giveaway!!

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Happy 500 Giveaway!!

I am not sure how many of you "Like" my facebook Harujion Design page. If you have visited there you might already know that the page achieved the 500 Likes mile stone in the middle of September!! It sounds like a dream to me. When I started my facebook page I haven't even dreamed that I could have 500 likes. This is really a big mile stone for me and you can't tell how much this encourages me as a nameless designer. Thank you very much all the readers and fans. I really appreciate your support!



As I mentioned there in my facebook page, I am going to have "Happy 500" Giveaway today!! The item I am going to give away is this Sashiko embroidered pouch! Hope many of you are interested in to win it.





To enter, please go to the giveaway post in my facebook page and leave any of your thoughts in your comment about my creation, blog, or anything about handmade. You don't need to like my page to enter this giveaway, and if you are not a facebook user just leave a comment here in this blog post.   There is one rule. Please enter only one time per person. The entry will be closed on Saturday, October 11th at 6:00pm/EST. I will pick one lucky winner and announce that in both this blog and my facebook page sometime this weekend. Then I will ask the winner to give me some information which I will need to send the item out. If I do not get any response from the winner for a week she/he will loose her/his eligibility for receiving the giveaway item. In that case I will be picking out a new winner. So please check the blog or facebook page often so you won't miss your luck!!

I hope many of you will participate and enjoy this giveaway. I am so looking forward to hearing from you!! Again thank you so much!

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

The time of harvest



We went apple picking to Garwood Orchard in La Porte. Apple picking is the best activity for us in early September. We tried this orchard for the first time and it was one of the greatest orchards in the region. It was a huge, beautiful, and very family friendly fun farm. They also have many kinds of vegetables and berries for U-pick. We got tons of apples in a several varieties.





Of course, I baked two apple pies that week.

And also my favorite Irish apple cake.
We've given away lots of apples to friends and we still have about a dozen left. I think I will make another apple dessert.

The leaves started coloring here in Northern Indiana. It is sad to know the Summer is surely over. But Fall is filled with the beauty of the nature. It is the time of harvest. What are you going to harvest this Fall?
I hope you are having a wonderful week.

Love,
Hiromi

Thursday, September 18, 2014

Work in Progress

Just a quick WIP post with photos for now.

These puffy flowers eat yarns pretty much. The texture of soft baby yarns makes me smile (^^).

Working on several different fabric manipulation. This is Canadian / North American smocking.

I am knitting this cardigan pattern (Olinda by Georgie Hallam) for Nina. Also an adult cardigan for myself is on my needles. For mine I have lace weight. The pattern is more complicated than Nina's. So I think I am going to finish this first. Lace pattern is really fun to knit. Though I sometimes miss just simple stocking stitches, or garter stitches which I can knit watching my favorite dramas or movies.





Thank you for reading. Hope you all have a good weekend. Happy handmade!!