DIY Clutch Frenzy!

I've been able to operate a sewing machine probably since I was in elementary school.  There's no greater feeling than sporting something that YOU made, especially when you're out in public and compliments are flying at you left and right!

My most favorite thing to make are bags.  Bags in all shapes and sizes.  You can never have too many! Especially here on Maui, they've banned plastic bags in all stores (which is pretty awesome for the earth), so it's always nice to have some extra ones handy for grocery shopping or the farmers markets!

I've made simple purses and totebags before, but lately, I've been on a clutch kick thanks to the ever-so-addicting Pinterest.  Why clutches?  Because they're tiny, and in my mind tiny = quick project.  Yeah, I love to sew, but the most grueling part is cutting out patterns, measuring, pinning, pressing seams open..the whole nine-yards.

Sometimes, I just want to have a quickie sewing project to get it out of my system.  Is that too much to ask?!

So, I scoured Pinterest for the cutest and simplest patterns...and came across this one.  I bought all my supplies from Fabric.com (if you are from Hawaii, free shipping does not apply...boo!)....some microsuede fabric, awesome triangle print for the outside, a nice mint-green cotton for the lining, and a sick brass zipper for some detail.  Here is my first attempt:

Super cute right?  Of course!

However, the thing turned out HUGE.  I followed the dimensions that she had written out and thought, and when it was done I was pretty pleased with the looks of it...but when I started using it as a daily purse, I immediately came to the conclusion that it was too big, bulky, and awkward/impractical to use as an every day purse.  Plus, since it's bigger, you tend to put more stuff in it, and when you want to get stuff out, having no strap means you need to find a place to set it down so you can dig through and find what you need.  By all means, I love the clutch and think it's super cute, but it was a tad to big.

I had a bunch of fabric left over, so I decided to make a smaller one, this time using some fabric I had found at a garage sale a while back (I totally forgot I had it LOL).  I bought a 9" zipper from walmart. In the instructions from the tutorial, the whole adding a zipper thing was really difficult to follow, especially WITHOUT using a zipper foot like how she recommends, so I looked up other tutorials on sewing zippers/bags and came across this site that had a great explanation on how to install one.  I used her technique on adding the zipper and lining and it was SO MUCH EASIER!

I am SOO happy with the results!  It turned out better than my first one, and it was quicker to assemble since it was my second go.  It's the perfect size for a night out, and the colors came together really well!  I took it with me to Fred's for some Taco Tuesday action with my hubby and friends and got lots of compliments!

The flap actually stays down pretty well on it's own, but I want to add a magnetic purse snap closure next time.  Overall I'd say that this was a success!  What do you think?

Aloha! はじめまして、どうぞよろしく！

I'm finally doing it! A blog! Something I've always wanted to do but just never got around to it. I was always the type of person who would start a journal or diary, write in it for the first 4 days, forget about it for months, and repeat the cycle again...hopefully it wont happen here! I've been posting my creations on my Facebook like crazy, but you're so limited with just a picture and a caption...then there are the notes...but to me it's a humbug and unorganized...I just want a place where I can dedicate and document all the creative and culinary creations that I come up with. Hell, maybe I'll even post some makeup blogs too. I've really gotten into tutorials on Youtube, and have been getting better at my makeup application, so it would be fun to post that stuff here as well!

So, for those of you who don't know.....Who am I? I'm Miss Aiko. Born and raised in Hawaii, currently residing in California. I'm Japanese, Hawaiian, & Korean fun. I love food..eating, cooking, trying new recipes. Growing up, we never really went out to eat unless it was a special occasion, like a birthday, etc...therefore, or family was ALWAYS in the kitchen. My family was always big on food. We never skimped and would always go ALL OUT when it came to family gatherings. Hawaiian food is what I grew up with. I use that term loosely...there IS real deal Hawaiian food: lau lau, poi, lomi salmon, kulolo, etc....but also a huge impact from other cultures as well going back to the Plantation days...mainly Japanese, then Korean, Portuguese, Filipino, etc. I am so fortunate to have grown up in such an environment, as it taught me to be open-minded about different cultures and their foods.

I love art. My mom was an art teacher and so, ever since I could remember, I was always drawing or doing arts and crafts. You name it, I've done it...beading/jewelery, sewing, crocheting, kniting, polymer clay, ceramics, origami..the whole shebang! It's a passion of mines. I love creating something different and unique..seeing something in the store, or something that someone is wearing and thinking to myself "I could make that!". Up until my days at the community college, I was really crafty...after that, you know, life happens, I got busy (or maybe just lazy LOL), and kind of lost touch with my creative side...hopefully by starting this blog, it will kind of force me to keep up with it and showing the world what I have to offer...one day, I would love to sell my creations on Etsy! My problem is that, I always come up with a whole bunch of ideas, get excited about it, start, and not finish. I really need to just take it one project at a time..this might be a good place to start and enforce that!

Well, that's good for now...lets see how this works out..I'm excited!!!