Author: sewinwithjuki

JUKI Posts, JUKI Spotlight

JUKI Designer Ambassador: Kentaro Kameyama

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Today we’re introducing a new member to the JUKI family, Kentaro Kameyama, a fashion designer. Japanese-born, Kentaro is based in Los Angeles, California, whose fashion focuses on minimalism and style. His concept is “keep your life simple and stylish.”

We are so excited to bring him on board as a JUKI Designer Ambassador and wanted to share more about him so our JUKI Lovers can get to know him!

NYFW – 2018

Kentaro’s inspiration can be found anywhere and everywhere. He enjoys finding those special moments in life and creating his art from within. With a background in classical music, Kentaro’s style brings elegance to a manner that is still minimalist but stylish. His motivation is simple, “I don’t feel right when I’m not creating things.”

His favorite projects to work on are runway collections. No stranger to the runway, Kantaro has been featured in New York Fashion Week for his winning collection in “Project Runway” in 2018, NYFW Spring 2020, and NYFW Winter 2020. However, Kentaro states his most tremendous success in his career has been winning “Project Runway” season 16, as this was his entrance into the “in” crowd of the fashion world.

His Project Runway collection was true to himself. Embodying his style of minimalism, he created 10 looks that were presented to the judges. Every day, he saw a new way to find inspiration and built the project with his plans in mind. He would go on to win the season with his winning looks and would go on to present his collection at his first NYFW.

NYFW -2019

Kentaro moved on from NYFW to a new project, composing and designing an opera show on Alexander McQueen. Recounting the final hour of the designers’ life, the opera was hosted in Boston in 2019. Kentaro, besides composing and designing, also joined in as the piano player for the show. Stating this as his favorite project to have worked on, he showcased outfits from the show in NYFW later on.

As Kentaro continues his journey, we ask him what his favorite part about sewing is, and we bet you JUKI Lovers would agree; it’s the sound of the machines. Kentaro has loved everything about his sewing experience and is excited for the future of his work. He also has a few words of advice for those new to sewing, “make lots of mistakes.”

We hope you enjoyed getting to know Kentaro, our new JUKI Designer Ambassador, and we can’t wait to share more of his work in the future! Follow along here for more news on our ambassadors!

Which outfit was your favorite? Let us know below!

JUKI Posts, JUKI Spotlight

JUKI Designer Ambassador: Kenya Freeman

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Meet our new JUKI Designer Ambassador, Kenya Freeman, CEO and Senior Lead Designer of Sylvia Mollie Collections – an American lifestyle brand that embodies bold femininity. Her garments are meant to instill power and confidence to fearless woman! And its’ because of this that Kenya’s motivation to create is simple: this is her purpose.

“It is my calling and my assignment beyond the passion. Knowing what I do is going to change the lives of many after me.”

We are very excited to have Kenya join the JUKI family as a JUKI Designer Ambassador and want to share a tidbit of her story with our JUKI Lovers! So follow along as we share a part of Kenya’s sewing journey.

Inspired by life, Kenya stumbles upon inspiration in her day-to-day activities. From dreams to the seasons, she’s always observing life outside of her home and the people she passes. Situations in life have continued to bring her inspiration, leading to her beautiful bold fashion pieces.

Kenya’s favorite pieces to work on are dresses. From the challenging cuts to the techniques she’s picked up, she looks forward to the pieces that will shine. Using Frixon pens, her favorite sewing trend, she drapes and uses her tool to mark those seams and lines. Her favorite part is heating it and seeing all the marks disappear from her work.

Kenya acclaims her season on Project Runway to be her most significant achievement in her sewing journey. Setting the tone for her future in fashion, Kenya’s life changed. As one of the top 5 finalists, Kenya’s work is loved by viewers. Her popularity quickly rose, and she inspired so many others to work on their skills.

Her love for sewing comes in full form when she sees the final product. It amazes her to see the process from concept to creation. As she continues to grow her brand Kenya’s primary goal is to relaunch her fashion line to sizes 10-20, creating an inclusive atmosphere for all fashion lovers.

Currently, in the process of the product development stage, Kenya is nothing but excited! With a roller coaster of an adventure since she joined the fashion industry, she’s experienced crazy, insane, exciting, devastating, and unforgettable moments. Her advice to sewers is simple, “Keep practicing. Keep practicing.  Keep practicing.  Never give up. It only gets better with time.”

We hope you enjoyed getting to learn about Kenya as much as we did, JUKI lovers! So join us on our socials and visit us here to keep up with our new friend Kenya and her journey in fashion.

Which of Kenya’s pieces did you love the most? Let us know below!

JUKI Posts, JUKI Projects

Create with JUKI: Candy Corn Treat Bag!

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Get ready for the holidays with JUKI!

Today we’re going to be showing you how to create a treat bag! Perfect for Halloween and special occasions, dress up your party table with these adorable accessories. With the ability to change fabric colors, use this for Halloween, Christmas, Hanukah and more!

Click here to download our Treat Bag instructions.

JUKI Posts, JUKI Projects

Get Ready for Halloween with JUKI!

by sewinwithjukiLeave a Comment on Get Ready for Halloween with JUKI!

Halloween season is upon us, JUKI lovers, and we’re so excited to let the creativity flow! Join us today, as we talk about ideas for your spooky costumes and what machines and accessories will help you get there.

One of the crucial things to keep in mind when planning your costume is not everything has to be from scratch. Costumes are created from pieces put together, which means parts of them can be homemade, and other parts can be store-bought or even found in your home!

Before You Start:

The best way to start is to pick a theme! Build an inspiration board with color schemes, materials, and other costumes people have done. Consider your budget as you go through ideas on how you want your finished project to look. Add your special flair and creative touches to make your costume unique to you!

Helpful Tools to Creating Your Project:

We recommend having two sewing machines on hand when creating your costume, a computerized sewing machine and a serger. Our Kokochi DX-4000QVP is an essential tool when creating Halloween costumes or even cosplay. This computerized sewing has a large sewing area for your capes or larger pieces, includes 368 sewing patterns to personify your garments and 20 professional buttonhole options. No matter what you’re creating, this machine creates beautiful pieces that you envision!

If you’re creating pieces that involve fabric that may fray or need gathering, like fairy costumes or princess gowns, it is a great idea to keep an overlock on hand like the MO-654DE. This popular serger has a built-in rolling hem that covers the fabric and prevents it from fraying as well as all the popular overlock and flatlock variations. It is perfect for adding those touches like a bunched-up sleeve, neckline, or skirt.

Here are some key things to think of when planning your costume:

Focus on what fabrics you’re going to need. Keep in mind what colors you’ll need, what kind of character you’re going to be, and what you need the costume to do for you! Cotton is a common one for costumes, but keep in mind location and weather. Tulle is perfect for petticoats, bows, and tutus. Felt is helpful for decorations, or if you need accessories like a hat. Some costumes will require stretch, so keep that in mind when shopping for a costume like superheroes made from latex and lycra. Satin can be used for costumes like princesses or creating a decade pieces from the ’20s.

Are you adding embellishments to your costume? Add a touch of glam and glitz like buttons on a clown costume, or gemstone, and flashy sequins on a decade’s piece for the ’70s! We recommend making sure; you have the right foot on hand for your sewing machine as well. Our Creative Set, for example, will have all our popular design attachment pieces like our applique presser foot, cording and embroidery presser foot, pearl attaching presser foot, and more!

As Halloween dawns upon us be ready to celebrate! Did you create a Halloween costume with your JUKI? Be sure to tag us!

JUKI Posts, JUKI Projects

Create with JUKI: Trick or Treat Bag!

by sewinwithjukiLeave a Comment on Create with JUKI: Trick or Treat Bag!

It is almost Halloween time, JUKI Lovers!

Join us today as we share a JUKI Halloween projects for your family! Learn how to create our Trick or Treat Bag, a see-through bag perfect for seeing everything your children bring home. With a finished size of 14” x 16”, this bag will carry all those treats home!

Click here to download our Trick or Treat Bag instructions.