monkey bag, originally uploaded by SnowFoxCreations.
w00t he’s finally done! x3 This guy took a long time. 0_0

His tail was the hardest part- cutting and sewing spirals is hard. >_< It took, like, 3 or 4 tries to get it looking okay. And now I have a bunch of deformed extra monkey tails laying on my sewing desk… Any ideas on what to do with them? (Featured by SnowFoxCreations)

When it was almost done, she mentioned that it wouldn’t be possible to add a zipper to it- but since I’m kind of annoying that way, her comment cemented my desire to add a zipper to it, just because someone said it was impossible. It was possible- to add a zipper to an already-made bag, you sew one side of the zipper on and the unzip the zipper, then sew on the other side by sticking your hand inside the bag through the open zipper. It’s a useful thing to know, since a lot of tote bags don’t have zippers, so things tend to fall out of them.

The handle/sling is made of ribbon, since Mom prefers this type of handle- it’s more comfortable that canvas handles. The inside is fully lined with a pocket for holding smaller items, and the layer between the outside and the lining is made of craft foam to insulate and protect the contents.

Raccoons are like, one of the cutest animals ever. They’re really smart, too- almost like furry little people. We have some in our neighborhood who started coming on the deck at night to steal Tenchi’s cat food, and it’s really fun to watch their antics. ^^ They’re fluffy, cute little clowns. Raccoons, otters and foxes are my favorite wild animals. (^_^”)

More photos of Mister Raccoon (click to view):

Project Gallery: Deconstructing an Iromuji

I recently took apart an awase iromuji with the intent of removing the (truly nasty) old lining and also resizing it, since it was apparently made for someone much shorter (iromuji tend to run shorter than other kimono for some reason.) I also wanted to see how the kimono was sewn and learn the intricacies of its design via the deconstruction.

I was a bit surprised by what I found when deconstructing it- there was some lovely fabric hidden in the eri (collar) and there were some very strange inconsistencies in its makeup- at least, when compared to the “proper” types of kimono consruction listed in my book. However, I have grown attached to “peachy” and I plan on resewing her when I have time.

I thought that some of you might be interested in peachy’s interior and the stitches used, so I mapped my progress with photos of almost every step and uploaded them to my gallery. Hopefully, this will be as useful to you as it was to me.

x-posted KimonoSuki SnowFoxCreations The Happy Fish

Someone made a junihitoe out of denim… 0_0 I’m not sure what to think about this, beyond admiring the creativity of whomever came up with the idea and the determination of whomever carried it out…

HANFU! =D