on Saturday, i very successfully found myself in the japanese bookstore downtown..."how did you so cleverly manage that one, Tif?". ah ha, you may well ask...i told my man it was very important that i go and purchase a book for my very besty friend Debbie, who has bought her first sewing machine on ebay recently and is determined to learn to sew!
the last time Debbie used a sewing machine, i believe was at the age of eleven when we took home economic lessons at school. the little denim pencil case with a zipper was such a horrendous ordeal that it put both of us off sewing for years, i only ever ventured near a machine in my teens, to 'take in' jeans to fit my boney little legs...and it is true to say i have never attempted to place a zipper in an item since...
however, i know that a japanese craft book is just the job to encourage anyone hesitating to start the machine off. now admittedly there is the small detail of not actually being able to read any of the instructions, but i decided to ignore this little problem as the pictures alone are so inspiring...i have actually decided to teach myself japanese so i can go here and have a clue as to what i am placing in my cart and the exact yardage...which is quite an important thing i feel.
when i decided to do this with crochet, it took me two years before i actually started to teach myself, i am hoping to be a bit fastest with this, but sadly, i am thinking it will take me longer than the crocheting...
of course, i could not leave the bookstore without a few beauties of my own..i found three ("only three", i know i showed a great deal of restraint)...two were magazines and one a book..
as my man sat up in bed this morning having his 'father's day' cup of tea, he asked me what my blog would contain this week..to which i replied "eye candy" and then he said "are you talking about me"...i luckily did not spill any of my tea and merely told him sweetly (you have to keep them believing it) "sorry, i am talking about crafting 'eye candy', lots of pretty pictures of inspiring things"..
and so we shall delve into the pretty books and take a little poke around
magazine one: front and back (i tend to like the backs more than the fronts on the magazines, they are printed back to front to us, but obviously not to anyone who is japanese, confused? me too!)
here are some lovely pages in between
looking forward to lots of 'eye candy' this week ~ Tif (who seems to be permanently dressing like a japanese craft book these days...)
6 comments:
hmm learn japanese??!! That magazine looks gorgeous...maybe I should take a look at some Japanese craft books too!
Tif, I am so excited that I have one of those gorgeous books coming my way. You are my very own angel. I knew there was something that had made me hate sewing - I had obliterated those classes from my memory they were so painful! Anyway, I wound the bobbin and threaded the needle at the weekend - yeehah! I will post my progress when the computer is back in the land of the living.
such pretty inspiring ideas, I really need to get my sewing machine out of the cellar & get it fixed. Thanks so much for including me on your blog, I'm going to add you to mine, if that's OK?
oh my!! eye candy indeed!! :) I just love the softness of the photographs in Japanese craft books, and the projects are always so elegant and simple (in the sense that they aren't over-done or over-cluttered). quite a different take from the western (u.s.) craft project scene... i just wish they weren't so hard to find or so expensive... :) can't wait to see what other "eye candy" you show us through the week!!!
Oooh I LOVE the quilt squares! I want to go sew right now, but I'm going to the zoo with a class of pre-schoolers. Have I mentioned I mostly only like my own children? But enough about me... I also adore the picture of you and your dresses. You dress the way I always wanted to, so can you please continue so those of us who can't dress the way we'd like can live vicariously through you? I mean is that too much to ask, too much pressure? I somehow feel you can do it. Yeay Tif!
What a lovely doggie.
Japanese craft books – I can see the attraction, I even own a couple and often want more….I have tried to decide what it is about them that is the draw and in my case it’s the beautiful fabric and notions – oh and the photography, that is inspirational.
You can go to a shop locally to buy them? Now that is dangerous!
Incidentally I have to complain – I finally bought some Cadbury’s Chocolate spread – YUK!!
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