Hawaiian Tissue Covers

In Hokkaido, people are never without their tissues. Everyone carries these little packages of tissues. They are free! They appear in the mailbox and are handed out on the street or in the post office, train station, and other busy place.  They aren’t handed out just for no reason – they are advertising.  But no one cares, they are free, so everyone has them.

I’m making some little Hawaiian print tissue covers as gifts for my hula class. They are easy to make and only take a small amount of fabric.  You could use fabric scraps you already have, or if you want to make a bunch of matching covers, you can buy some fabric.  I bought a small amount of two prints. Here you can buy fabric in increments of 10 centimeters or if you need a lot you can buy meters worth.  I don’t know what the exact exchange is for meters to yards or quarter yards or fat quarters or any other kind of fabric measurement.

For each cover, you need two pieces of fabric: one that is 6 inches by 6.5 inches and one that is 6 inches by 7.5 inches.  The smaller piece will be the outside; the larger the inside and a little edge on the outside. I cut the fabric with the rotary cutter, but scissors will work too.

 

Stitch the two six inch sides together.  There will be a bubble with the larger fabric.

Turn the tube inside out and press with about the same amount of the larger fabric on each side.

Fold the outside to the inside, with the open area for the tissues as even as you can make it without getting out the ruler.  Pin, then stitch the ends.

 

Turn it inside out and it’s done.  Put the tissues inside.

I’m making half with one fabric out and half with the other fabric out so that I use the same amount of each fabric for the project.

 

Hula class is fun, but I’m sure everyone thinks I am such a klutz. I try to give myself enough space that when I go the wrong direction, I don’t run into anyone else or poke anyone in the eye or anything like that. I also try to stay in the back of three rows, but I’m always being told “dozo” and led to the front. I’d really rather not be right in front of the mirror, blocking the view of the two lines behind me. This week one of the women told me she was the group’s newest member before me and she’s been dancing with them for three years. I have a long way to go.

There is some kind of costume code that I haven’t figured out yet and I think they haven’t told me about this on purpose.  I have two skirts, both given to me, a bright yellow with flowers and a plain taupe.  Every week, they all wear matching skirts and t-shirts – different every week.  This week they were all wearing white skirts and blue shirts with white flowers.  I had on the taupe skirt and an orange shirt. It has probably taken them years to acquire all these different hula costumes, but I do not want to have 12 skirts! We’ll see what happens with that. The other part of the costume is the flower behind the ear.  I can never remember which side so I wait until I see what everyone else does and I do the same.  One side means the dancer is married, the other side not married.

I have some written homework this week.  The teacher handed out a paper with the dance written out in katakana (I think because it is Hawaiian).  I’ll have to try to figure out what it says. At least it’s not in Kanji!