We will be closed this week, July 14th through July 18th, as I am going on vacation. All orders placed will instead be shipped on Mon. July 21st. I'm sorry for the delay and thank you all for your patience.
Happy July!
Laura
Visit the Shop
July 15, 2008
January 18, 2008
Happy New Year!
The new year is upon us, and with it comes a shop update ~ yeah!
Here is a peek at some of our new titles, and I hope you will take a look at the rest in the shop.
Cheers!
September 08, 2007
August 31, 2007
Labor Day Fabric Sale
Modern Craft will be having its first ever sale this weekend in celebration of the Labor Day holiday; all fabric by the yard will be 20% off, and select books will be discounted.
The sale will run from 9:00 AM PST on Saturday through 6:00 PM PST on Monday.
Happy Shopping!
Nani Iro!
Its very exciting to be able to share this beautiful collection! Nani Iro is a really popular line in Japan, designed by Naomi Ito for both linen and cotton gauze.
The patterns are spontaneous and playful, drawing inspiration from natural life - ie. flowers, rain, snow - and drawings by Ms. Ito herself.
The cotton fabrics are unbelievably soft and
fluid, but have quite a bit of body from the two layers of gauze. its very versitile, and would be wonderful as a fashion fabric and for
lightweight home decor use.
Nani Iro linen is beautiful. Starting with crisp midweight linen, it is then screenprinted with sketches and watercolors by the designer for a fabric that is asthetically very modern, yet feels organic. it would be best used in simple pieces that would showcase the beauty of the fabric itself.
We are offering Nani Iro both by the yard and by fat quarter (a squarish 1/4 yard), so that its easier to get the right size for your project. Also because we understand that it is impossible to transmit the unique texture of these fabrics over the internet, if you email me I will send you a small sample via snail mail.
visit the shop to view the rest of the collection, and here for more information about Nani Iro and Naomi Ito's works (in Japanese).
July 06, 2007
June 30, 2007
Book Review: Girl's Clothes, Handmade Clothes
Hello Everyone!
Today I'm posting the first in a series of in depth book reviews on the books in the shop. I hope that you enjoy it, and if you have any questions or comments on the patterns or the book, feel free to leave them in the comments so that others can address them. It would be wonderful to get a dialog going on some of these, and help everyone along.
Cheers,
Laura
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女の子の服、てづくりの服。
By: Yoshiko Tsukiori + H.H (2005)
This was the first craft book I ever purchased, so its only fitting that I choose it first to review. Long, long before I knew that anyone but me found them beautiful; and long before my own little girl came to me, I came upon this book and was amazed to find nice modern patterns for kid's clothes, without being over the top. It is still one of my favorites craftbooks, and I am very glad to have the opportunity to put it to use.
"I thought to myself; 'Someday, if a little girl comes into my life, I want to make her simple but high quality clothing' "(pg 1).*
Yoshiko Tsukiori wanted to design clothes that would let the natural sweetness of little girls shine, by using fine fabrics and simple lines. She wanted mothers to be able to give the gift of handmade clothes to their children. The result of that effort is this book, a collaboration with Hobby-ra Hobby-re. Based upon the success of this book, they later went on to do Baby's Clothes, Handmade Clothes for younger children.
The clothes are sweet, simple and varied. Dresses, pants, smocks, shirts and hats, each made from gorgeous fabrics (Liberty prints!) and beautifully photographed in that quintessential craft book style, with 31 patterns in all. You could definitely construct an entire little girl's wardrobe from this book.
The patterns are suitable for an adventerous beginning or intermediate sewer, and the sizes
run from 90-110 cm (35.5-43 inches), fitting ages 2-5 years old.
As with many Japanese craft books, the patterns are all stacked upon one another on
one large sheet of paper, and so need to be recopied before use. But this is great
if you plan to reuse a pattern for different sizes.
Both of the patterns that I 'tested' were as simple as promised. The first was a little summer halter top, and the second was a child's tote for adventuring. Both were very easy, I followed the diagrammed instructions without any difficulty and finished each in about 2 hours.
A couple of notes based on my experience: Pay close attention to the pattern layouts. As is often the case with Japanese craft books, seam allowances are not included into the patterns themselves, but the layout diagrams clearly show where and how much to add. Also for projects like hats, the layout may show details about the placing of interfacing, and repeating pieces not shown in the rest of the pattern. The patterns also assume that you know how to do basic techniques like make bias tape and finish hems, but they do show more complex ones such as smocking.
With its beautiful layout, and its variety of simple elegant designs, "Girl's Clothes, Handmade Clothes", is a fantastic resource for girl's clothing. If you have a little girl, or know someone who does, I encourage you to add this book to your collection; you won't regret it. The efforts are minimal and the results are simply gorgeous.
"Someday, if a little girl comes to me, I will surely give her this gift.…this is my dream".*
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*These are my translations, and are probably not perfect :-)
June 14, 2007
design spotlight: Junko Onishi
"Bloom" - available in the shop
Junko Onishi's designs are bold and contemporary with strong vivid colors and large patterns, but the details - pinwheel like blooms, plump colorful polka dots , hints of metallic among brick - give her fabrics a subtle playfulness.
"Koyuki" - available in the shop
Ms. Onishi first began designing handicrafts while working at antique furniture shop, and then decided to sell them when they became popular. In addition to her original line of fabrics, the 'en plus de' collection, Ms. Onishi, also designs accessories and gives classes on handbag construction.
She often utilizes
antique elements, such as lace or beads, side by side with contemporary
patterns in her own pieces, and encourages people to discover how a flat pattern can take
on new life when used in an unusual construction, such as in a handbag or
patchwork piece.
Her own blog has several nice pictures of her fabrics in use; such as this sewing machine cover: link, and little girls dress: link.
This year is the 5th anniversary of Junko Onishi's en plus de collection, and this year she has released a series full of rich beautiful tones in several different weights of cloth appropriate for a variety of projects, from home decor to apparel. 3 of these designs, 'bloom', 'koyuki' and 'peony' are in the shop now. Discover them for yourself.
Junko Onishi's website (in Japanese): link