Love Letter to my future
Love Letter to my future
Love Letter to myself
Inspired by the Senbazuru legend and Sadako Sasaki's legacy, where instead of making a wish after folding 1000 origami cranes, I wrote a love letter to my future self. A truly awe-inspiring piece that conveys themes of dream, hope, unity, freedom and clarity.
Inspired by the Senbazuru legend and Sadako Sasaki's legacy, where instead of making a wish after folding 1000 origami cranes, I wrote a love letter to my future self. A truly awe-inspiring piece that conveys themes of dream, hope, unity, freedom and clarity.
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months in the making
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months in the making
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months in the making
10
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total hours from start to finish
10
10
total hours from start to finish
10
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total hours from start to finish
June 2026
Love letter to my future, 2026 1000 origami cranes and glass beads handsewn using sashiko thread Carrying on Sadako Sasaki's legacy of the 1000 origami cranes in her own style, Annie spent over 150 hours constructing a magnificent jacket that embodies her hopes and dreams for the future. With each origami crane painstakingly handsewn together and neatly arranged in a gradient, every minute spent on this artwork is a testament to her craft and her vision to see things through to the end. This piece is Annie's ultimate promise to herself, that if she can complete this, then she will be able to accomplish anything as long as she sets her mind to it.
Origami
June 2026
Origami
Love letter to my future, 2026 1000 origami cranes and glass beads handsewn using sashiko thread Carrying on Sadako Sasaki's legacy of the 1000 origami cranes in her own style, Annie spent over 150 hours constructing a magnificent jacket that embodies her hopes and dreams for the future. With each origami crane painstakingly handsewn together and neatly arranged in a gradient, every minute spent on this artwork is a testament to her craft and her vision to see things through to the end. This piece is Annie's ultimate promise to herself, that if she can complete this, then she will be able to accomplish anything as long as she sets her mind to it.
Daring to dream in colour
This project started off completely different to what it is now. Initially it was supposed to be another paper-mache piece with modular pieces and a mailbox that continues the motif of 'paper' with the rest of the love letter series. That was until one night I had an epiphany, 'what if I fold 1000 paper cranes and made something cool with it?'. After all it is the perfect symbol of hope and would make for a truly breathtaking love letter that I can write to my future. Folding the origami cranes was the easy part. On average each crane took 3-4 mins and I spent a total of 55 hours to finish making all 1000 of them. As for the style of the jacket, I made a very scuffed paper pattern by tracing and adapting an existing jacket that I owned. Arranging the cranes into a seamless gradient and sewing them together cranes was what gave me the most headache… I don't even want to talk about because it was genuinely the hardest thing that I have ever done in my life thus far. Paper cranes are difficult to work with because some sections has multiple layers of paper that made it incredibly hard to hand sew using a needle, on top of being extremely fragile and easy to rip. More often than not, I had to use a mallet to poke holes before sewing the cranes together. I figured out how to do all this by experimenting since this has never been done before. Things probably would've been easier if I chose to make a dress, but dresses doesn't represent me very well since I wear jackets ALL the time.
Daring to dream in colour
This project started off completely different to what it is now. Initially it was supposed to be another paper-mache piece with modular pieces and a mailbox that continues the motif of 'paper' with the rest of the love letter series. That was until one night I had an epiphany, 'what if I fold 1000 paper cranes and made something cool with it?'. After all it is the perfect symbol of hope and would make for a truly breathtaking love letter that I can write to my future. Folding the origami cranes was the easy part. On average each crane took 3-4 mins and I spent a total of 55 hours to finish making all 1000 of them. As for the style of the jacket, I made a very scuffed paper pattern by tracing and adapting an existing jacket that I owned. Arranging the cranes into a seamless gradient and sewing them together cranes was what gave me the most headache… I don't even want to talk about because it was genuinely the hardest thing that I have ever done in my life thus far. Paper cranes are difficult to work with because some sections has multiple layers of paper that made it incredibly hard to hand sew using a needle, on top of being extremely fragile and easy to rip. More often than not, I had to use a mallet to poke holes before sewing the cranes together. I figured out how to do all this by experimenting since this has never been done before. Things probably would've been easier if I chose to make a dress, but dresses doesn't represent me very well since I wear jackets ALL the time.
Dreaming a dream that has never been dreamt before
I have many crazy ideas that exists within the realms of my imagination. Making a jacket out of 1000 origami cranes is one of them, but to pull it off successfully, there were multiple artistic choices that I had to carefully consider. There were countless ways that I could have arranged the colours. It would be a lie if I said that I planned everything meticulously because I winged most of it. I knew that the jacket needs to look the best when viewed from the front and I had the most colour variations of blues and reds amongst the 1000 cranes that I folded. So, I started off there and gradually figured out the rest of the gradient as I sewed each section by section. The sleeves were designed to flare out past the elbow because a) long sleeves will make the jacket practically unwearable because the cranes will inevitably restrict movement and b) I can add a bit of taper to make them look like wings. These wings are symbolic of freedom which also forms a core part of the message to my future. Upon closer inspection, you can find clear and translucent glass beads around the top and bottom trim of the jacket. This is a nod to beads being commonly used to assemble Senbazuru (1000 cranes) and the clear/translucent colour choice represent the clarity that I have for the life ahead of me. Sashiko thread were specifically chosen a) to honour the Japanese culture especially since this piece pays homage to Sadako Sasaki's legacy and b) these threads are stronger and more resistant to wear than other threads since it is traditionally used for mending clothes. SPECIAL THANKS to Caitlyn @013cn (Instagram, YT) for being the loveliest model that I had the pleasure of working with on this project! Go do yourself a favour and check out her socials because she posts THE most aesthetic photos and videos!
Dreaming a dream that has never been dreamt before
I have many crazy ideas that exists within the realms of my imagination. Making a jacket out of 1000 origami cranes is one of them, but to pull it off successfully, there were multiple artistic choices that I had to carefully consider. There were countless ways that I could have arranged the colours. It would be a lie if I said that I planned everything meticulously because I winged most of it. I knew that the jacket needs to look the best when viewed from the front and I had the most colour variations of blues and reds amongst the 1000 cranes that I folded. So, I started off there and gradually figured out the rest of the gradient as I sewed each section by section. The sleeves were designed to flare out past the elbow because a) long sleeves will make the jacket practically unwearable because the cranes will inevitably restrict movement and b) I can add a bit of taper to make them look like wings. These wings are symbolic of freedom which also forms a core part of the message to my future. Upon closer inspection, you can find clear and translucent glass beads around the top and bottom trim of the jacket. This is a nod to beads being commonly used to assemble Senbazuru (1000 cranes) and the clear/translucent colour choice represent the clarity that I have for the life ahead of me. Sashiko thread were specifically chosen a) to honour the Japanese culture especially since this piece pays homage to Sadako Sasaki's legacy and b) these threads are stronger and more resistant to wear than other threads since it is traditionally used for mending clothes. SPECIAL THANKS to Caitlyn @013cn (Instagram, YT) for being the loveliest model that I had the pleasure of working with on this project! Go do yourself a favour and check out her socials because she posts THE most aesthetic photos and videos!
Snippet of the love letter that I wrote to my future
"What happens in the future, it is what you make of it. You are the captain of your own boat. A boat that travels through the calm tranquil waters, or murky mysterious swamp riddled with crocodiles waiting to snap at your tail, dodging branches and obstacles, and yet your boat stays afloat because of your will. Your will to love, your will to keep holding on, your will to make a difference in your life, and perhaps also change the life of someone else. "
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