Chie's Craft Room

We head all the way to Tokyo, Japan to tour Chie's stylish sewing and craft room.

"My favorite thing about that space was that it had a high ceiling and a lot of sun light. It faced South and had big windows, so it was nice to craft in a naturally well-lit place."

Tell us about your space?

I live in Japan. The pictures of my craft room were taken when I lived in outside of Tokyo. I recently moved to central Tokyo, but since my craft room is still in need of a lot of organization, I am showing you my old space.

My craft space was located in our master bedroom. The bedroom had a loft, where my husband and I slept. The other part was divided with my husband, so although these pictures don’t show it, the other half of the space was full of free weights, squat rack and all the other smelly sweaty stuff! So we slept, worked out and crafted in one room.The most crafts I do is sewing clothes for my clothing brand, Vivat Veritas. I draft patterns, hang pre-washed fabrics in the balcony of this room, iron and press, cut fabric and sew here. I even take pictures of the products in this room using the dress form and drapes.

What have you done to make your space cosy, beautiful or inspiring?

The newest addition to the room is my Juki industrial sewing machine, which I bought this January. It came with a solid table and although it is second-hand, it is beautiful and inspiring to me.

How do you keep organized?

It is hard for me to stay organized. I usually go unorganized for a month, and during sewing something, I get disgusted since I can’t find what I am looking for and start organizing. And I repeat the same in a month. With growing numbers of patterns, fabrics and notions, it is very hard to be on top of organizations! I bought the wall pockets from Ikea and organize some of my notions – all zippers in one pocket, buttons in the other. Since my craft space is small, I try to have my organizational space on my wall by using wall pockets and racks for threads.

Any tips & tricks for organising supplies?

I really am not good at this, but I’ve found deciding on a place for every tool or notions helped. After using the tools, they need to go back to the places that they belong to avoid clutter.

Which are your favourite possessions and are there any of your own creations on display?

I like to dress up my dress form with my latest creations.

How do you organise your inspiration and ideas?

I carry around a sketch book where I jot down some ideas and sketches of new designs. For some reasons, I find the physical sketch book much more inspiring than the iPhone notepad feature. I am also addicted to Pinterest.

Where do you look for inspiration?

I gather inspirations everywhere, but especially from people watching here in Tokyo. It is so interesting to see how different people dress depending on location. For instance, if you go to Shibuya, you see young people’s trendy fashion. Or go to Ginza or Roppongi for higher-end and delicate fashion.

I also love traveling and stopping at fabric shops or garment districts whenever I travel. Fabric motivates me. I love to feel and touch the fabric and come up with the best design that is suited for the fabric.

Since I moved to a new place, I browse a lot of interior design blogs and sites now. They are influencing the way I design too. I love eclectic interior designs, where you mix and match different textures, thrifted pieces and expensive art etc. I think the same can be incorporated into fashion design.

If you had three wishes, what would you do to make it the dream space?

1. Get rid of my husband’s workout goodies
2. Add more art and books

3. Make me live in a fabric shop

Make sure to check out Chie's website, Vivat Veritas »