I had to take a quick break to share these adorable Matryoshka cards I found while browsing Japanese blogs. It’s available for purchase at Rakuten in different varieties including snow, silver, and gold.

Rakuten does ship internationally, so a person who doesn’t live in Japan could purchase them. But, I was thinking it would be fun to use this idea and try to make some in my own style. Isn’t the little “window” in the envelope the icing on the cake!? So cute!

BTW, this brand (Analo), has lots of other cool things at Rakuten such as printed tape and adorable cookware! Love printed tape. Their specialty is interior decor and zakka.

I worked with my window open this evening—the cool spring air lightly scented with barbecue grills makes my heart ache with happiness and nostalgia. I am in love with spring! I have a love-hate relationship with winter. Hate it because… it SUCKS! Love it because the suckiness (it’s a word I tells ya!) of it makes Spring all that much more pleasant when it graces us with its presence. *sigh*

So anyway, what I was working on was a miniature book! I found this great photo tutorial on Flickr detailing the making of miniature books, and decided I must make one immediately. The author of this tutorial seems to be quite proficient in miniature book binding as well as drawing and painting. You can see her works at her Etsy shop, and also at her Flickr Photostream.

I made my book nearly exactly as detailed in the tutorial; however I did not sew on headbands, and used frustratingly tiny bits of folded ribbon for faux headbands. Just glued ‘em on with the PVA glue.

I used Japanese washi paper, just like in the tutorial. This seems to be an excellent choice due to its durability. It is more fabric-like than plain paper, but easier to handle in this small scale.

I just bought a sheet of sweet Japanese chiyogami stickers, and couldn’t resist adding one to the cover. This one says “LUCKY”. Maybe it’s a little book for wishes or gratitude. A person would have to practice her handwriting skills to write as small as possible; the book measures just a smidge over 3cm x 3.5cm (1in x 1.5in).

Not too long ago, I acquired a Family Circle from April 1956. The cover price was only seven cents! (I paid $1) How could I pass it up with great ads like these!? When you flip open the cover, the first thing you see is this poor outcast. If only she knew the answer to all her problems was mouthwash. (Click each ad for a readable size!)

Readers of this issue are also treated to this appetizing ad for green pea soup. Can anyone say Exorcist?

I am also led to believe that people in this period in time are incredibly obsessed with their digestion. There are five ads in this one magazine about various laxatives and indigestion relief products.

Even children are not exempt from the worries of *gasp* constipation. Children of all ages even!

The kid in this laxative ad looks like he just crapped up a storm and he couldn’t be prouder! Don’t you love how dramatic the facial expressions are? The headlines and body copy have a tendency towards uber-dramatic too.

Look at the brow furrowing on this chica! I cannot imagine a more dramatic look of discomfort.

Finally, here’s another dramatic ad for the ladies! Why be old-fashioned!? Make sure you’re not sadly behind the times! haha

My thrifted Singer 600 Touch & Sew works! It did need a little help though. When I first tried it, thread was balling up on the underside of the fabric. I adjusted the bobbin tension and removed a huge wad of fuzz that was jamming up the thread. I also disassembled and reassembled the upper tension knob which was not working properly due to having been taken apart and put back together incorrectly. At least all the parts were still there. After I got it together right, it works swell. Inside, the machine looks like it has been oiled regularly, and it wasn’t too dirty in there.

Now I just have to read the manual and figure out how to use all the cute stitches the machine can make. There are two sliders affecting stitch type, and the width and length sliders, all of which have to be properly set for the stitch pattern to look right. Getting all these in sync seems to take a little practice! The sewing machine also came with several discs/cams that pop in the top of the machine to make additional cool stitches. Tons of different sewing feet were also included—half of which I have no clue how to use! There was a box labeled “Buttonhole Attachment”, but it was just filled with even more feet. I am so lucky though, because I have a buttonholer I picked up a long time ago, hoping that it would work on my first sewing machine, and it didn’t fit. It seems to be made for this machine! Now I have to come up with some great new sewing projects! yay!

The Japanese dance group in which I’m a member sells vintage kimono, obi, and various items at our events to make money to support the group. Someone who visited one of our practices wanted to buy this kurotomesode kimono, but when she tried it on, we were dismayed to see that some of the embroidery had come apart. She still wanted it, but asked me if I could fix it up.

Here is how it looked before:

Before starting this, I referred to a fabulous book I own called The Techniques of Japanese Embroidery. I had a good idea of how I’d go about fixing the loose threads, and what the proper stitch was, but I just wanted to be absolutely certain. I didn’t want to mess it up.

In the book, the closest I could find was this couching stitch which uses two pairs of gold strands; however, on my subject there are actually two sets of three strands. It appeared to be stitched the same way though. I found matching thread and got to work. A challenge was not stitching through the lining. I didn’t want to disassemble the kimono, so I just had to take care to keep the stitches on the top layer.

Here’s what it looked like after it was all fixed up. It’s not perfect, but at least it’s safe to wear without worrying about catching loose threads on something and destroying it completely.

Here’s the entire pattern. So pretty and traditional.

Unfortunately, it seems that this great embroidery book is out of print! However, you can still preview some inside pages and buy used copies at Amazon if you want to learn more about this beautiful art. This is the best book I have ever seen on Japanese embroidery. It covers many basic and advanced stitches, and has beautiful examples for each. There are simple to follow diagrams, and full color photos. Wonderful book. I can’t believe it’s out of print!