Mailbox surprise series : Japanse sewing books

Intro

When Marta and I invited Yi Farn to our mailbox surprise series, we were so happy to have a Japanese sewing addict involved! Japanese patterns and fabrics are so sweet! I just could not image this series without Yi Farn. At the end, her participation turned out to be very exciting! Read all about her Mailbox Surprise adventure below!

Yi Farn / Japanese Sewing books

Hello everyone, my name is Yi Farn and I blog for JapaneseSewingBooks.com. I was so excited and flattered when Marta and Marte invited me to blog for the mailbox series, because firstly it involved fabric shopping (for Trine of Groovybaby… and Mama ) and I also get a Mailbox surprise from a mystery blogger as well. Sort of like Secret Santa for crafters! It sounds wonderful doesn’t it?

Except that I had a little scare for a while, because I was due to blog about this end of February, but by mid January I still hadn’t received the Surprise. Fearing that it has been lost in the mail, and not knowing who my sender was, I emailed Marta and Marte for help and they both sent me something instead to make up for the lost parcel. They also contacted the sender (the very generous Heidi from Elegance and Elephants) who then ordered some (MORE!) fabrics from a local Etsy store, just to replace the missing parcel. I was sad though, because once I found out that I was suppose to receive a surprise from Heidi, I knew the original package must have contained something special, because she hinted about its contents in her blog post here. So the replacement surprises came, one after another. First I received fabric from Marte (green with dandelions print), bias tape and buttons from Marta, A card with ribbons and buttons from Heidi, and then the replacement fabrics from the Etsy seller (the pink polka dotted fabrics). I wanted to use them all! But then the most surprising thing happened. On the 11th of February, the original Mailbox Surprise arrived! I checked the mailing date on the postal label and it left on the 13th of December so that took 2 whole months! It was then I noticed the label also said Small Packet – Surface. I remember Surface mail (sent via land/sea) being slower, but I always thought it was in a matter of weeks and never months. Curious, I googled it and apparently there were people who said they had experienced waiting times up to 3.5 months with surface mail!

So mystery solved! Through no fault of dear Heidi of course, because even I had the misconception that Surface mail meant just a couple weeks more than airmail and not months. It was probably also complicated by the fact that December was Christmas period and peak season for the Post Office! So now I feel bad that I received so many Surprises at once. After much thinking, I decided to use the original package that Heidi prepared. But I will definitely use the rest of the lovely fabrics and notions as well and will blog about them later on.

Just a peek of all the goodies I received. I am so lucky! Loving the stamps (which my girls have already claimed for their collection)

So here, in it’s full glory, the original package from Heidi. The fabric was really lovely and soft, in the most beautiful mix of turquoise, blues and green. The touch reminded me of liberty fabric. The best part is, the fabric was wider than the normal cottons, so I could really max it out and made not one, but two pieces.

The fabric was so light and comfy, and the flowers reminded me of Spring. The first piece I made is this Frill Cami Blouse from the book – きちんと可愛い女の子服 or Neat and Lovely Girls’ Clothes. The lightweight fabric was perfect for the frilled sleeves and the buttons and ribbon were a perfect match for this blouse!

The second piece I made is a double layer Circle skirt with ribbon trimmed pockets. The pattern is from Cucito 2014 Winter/Early Spring edition. The fabric was light enough to overlay a plain cotton fabric, and also perfect for twirling.

Thank you Heidi, Marte and Marta for all the lovely fabrics and notions, and Marte and Marta for hosting such a fun sewing series. I will be putting the rest of the fabrics and notions to good use and will blog about them as soon as I do! Have a good weekend everyone!