Four peas in a pod, well, almost

Still in the reversible tote kind of mood and venturing into pricier cotton linen blends from Japan and Korea. I'm becoming a big fan of Nesshome. Wonder if they have stuff on sale this Black Friday or Cyber Monday?

I'm wondering too, whether to keep the second from the left for myself. This is a very interesting piece of fabric, almost like a painting. I only have a half yard of this and am not able to get anymore. There'll be two reversible totes and both have different prints. How cool is that!

Have a blessed day!

ps: I'll be going to VivoCity for the fireworks tonight. I hope it won't rain. 

Sneak : quilted journals

Yup, another Pixlr-ed picture. It's fun :-)

These are 3 quilted journals in various stages of completion.

Top: just need to attach the two metal snaps

Middle: quilting done, waiting other side of cover, paper, stitching and snaps

Bottom: everything except for cutting the fabric, LOL!

Have a blessed day!

I think I have a giraffe's neck

Hong Kong is so near, yet so far. I say this because my orders of antique brass double cap rivets have yet to arrive though I placed the order early this month. Korea's farther yet it takes less than a week. Even US shipments from the Borderlinx warehouse takes less than a week. I've been checking and checking the mailbox but *sigh* no rivets.

These are tissue zipper pouches. Japanese and Korean linen exterior machine quilted for added interest. The tea-coloured ones look like linen too, but are made from cotton. I used YKK 12cm metal zips for these and I think I'll use in future vs the 5" zips 'cos these are a better fit. Not only that, these zips have interchangeable zipper pulls so I can attach zipper pulls that look like charms. Can you tell the 4 different types that I have?

The thing is, these are all lacking the rivets on the straps. I can sew but the rivet makes it a more polished look, no? Let's see how long the rivets will take to come. I hope they come this week before I get a sore neck from looking out for them for so long.

Have a blessed day!

Just because

Made these 2 on a whim. No particular reason other than wanting to try machine-quilting diagonals instead of along the printed lines of each printed patch. I think diagonals look better, add more interest than plain 'ditch' sewing. What do you think? I also wanted to add labels and I found my old metal zips. These zips have detachable zipper pulls. I like the bronze / antique look of the zipper pulls. I added a heart to this one 'cos Valentine's day's coming. Maybe I'll attach a 3-dimensional bear for the next pouch?

Listed in Tiffany's Shoppe.

Have a blessed evening!

ps: look out for coming leap year sale at Tobias' Shoppe and Tiffany's Shoppe.

Something different, for a change

I took a break from making bags and purses and made these instead. Lots of fun too :-)

This is an organiser, for lack of a better word to describe it. Hung on a normal wire hanger with lots of pockets in many sizes. For keeping those smaller items within reach when drawers are too deep. I made all the pockets flat but I think if I make another one I'll have pockets with a gusset.

Scrunchies. Made the first one from 2 pieces of fabric that were too cool to put in the recycling bag. Made the second one 'cos my fingers were itching with nothing to do while watching TV. No particular pattern there, just 1dc and 1ch throughout to cover the elastic so there'll be ruffles.

Have a blessed day!

Doggy dreams

Meet Hoppy who's modeling Toby's new pet bed made just in time for the coming Chinese New Year. Reversible with the same oxford cotton print on both sides just with a blue / grey background. Interfaced with 9oz batting to cushion the tiled floor and side walls are stuffed with resilient fibre filling.
Sweet dreams and have a blessed day!

Announcing…

DS and DD are setting up their own blogshop.

I think it’s a good learning opportunity for them since they’re doing most of the work, ie. setting up the shop, pricing, policies, shipping, packing, descriptions, marketing, photos (though I helped this round) etc. My part is just to supply the products to sell and give advice, if they ask.

As an encouragement, they’re splitting the revenue. They’ll have to tithe and pay for shipping and other incidentals but they’re welcome to use what’s available at home.

Would you encourage and show them your support, too, by signing up for the newsletter, helping to share this or buying something… LOL?

Thanks in advance!

Have a blessed day :-)

Last Christmas

Top requested item last Christmas was the triangular pencil case. The toblerone-shaped one that I had so much fun making :-).

This year, it’s zippered pouches.

These are 5” zippered pouches that are fully lined and interfaced. Cotton and linen fabrics for this batch are from Korea. The ‘stray’ thread you see is just my paper tag, not unfinished work, LOL!

Have a blessed sunny afternoon!

Rainy day at the pool

Today’s DD’s 2nd last swimming lesson this year. Though each lesson is only an hour, I’m there early and leave later ‘cos DD goes to play with her cousin and friends.

While I wait, sometimes I read. Today I packed some zipper pouches that needed hand-sewing to close up the seams. Brought along some pretty cardstock and paper too, to make into notebooks for the coming Christmas sale :-).

Have a blessed evening!

ps: when I first started making these 5” zipper pouches, I thought it would be useful for money and cards. However, since there’s 4oz interfacing, it’s also good as a pouch for digital cameras :-). Just need to add a mini pocket for that extra battery or SD card….LOL!

All covered up

Three quilted book covers for this Friday’s bookbinding class.

Princess print is from Timeless Treasures, doggy one from Makower. I can’t find the selvedge for the kitty in the cinema print :-(.

Thing is, the first thing I do when I get a piece of fabric is to cut off the selvedge. Be it a fat quarter or few yards long. I salvage selvedges to make one-of-a-kind items. :-)

Anyway, this is a quick post ‘cos I have other covers to rush out for this Friday’s class.

Have a blessed evening!

 

Update: another 4 covers almost done. Will do the metal snaps tomorrow….off to play Spiral Knights with DS and DD now.

Good evening!

It’s a cover-up!

Made these 2 covers for a bookbinding class for a mother-daughter duo tomorrow.

The blue cover is a OOAK (one of a kind) ‘cos there’s absolutely no way I can make another just like this, or even similar to this. Am running out of blue selvedges :-(.

I hope she likes it though :-).

The black and white one has a floral exterior and polka dot lining. Both fabrics from Korea. I can’t remember if this is 6oz or 7oz batting though.

Class was originally for coptic stitch bound books but changed to criss-cross longstitch. IMHO, The criss-cross longstitch is an easier stitch to pick up. Easiest is the saddle stitch. I have a tutorial in an earlier entry…go find :-).

Have a blessed day!

Fundraising on facebook for Red Cross–SEA Floods

Made some more tissue cases to keep the unsold ones company. Selling these on facebook till 4 Nov to raise more funds.
Some patterns have multiple pieces, some with same lining, some with different.
Each is going at S$4 with 100% proceeds to Red Cross – SEA Flodos. You’ll have to pay for shipping if you’re not picking them up from me.
If you would like a tissue case but not in any of these fabrics, please place an order before 4Nov for 100% funds to go to Red Cross. This is subject to confirmation.
Have a blessed day and thanks in advance for your support!

Update: Still available - 1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 13.

Super sub

I know some of you realised that I’ve been sewing stuff using fabrics that are not available on the Fabrics page. I’ve grown weary of updating that page ‘cos my stash just keeps growing and growing and it’s rather tiresome to update what’s available and how much there is. SO, if you like some themes, eg. polka dots, dogs, bunnies, contemporary prints, black/white etc, do let me know and I’ll go hunt.

The thing is, I took in an order recently without checking how much fabric I had left and took the liberty to substitute with what I thought looks prettier. [MT, I’ll be contacting you soon!]

I can’t remember the last time I substituted, yet I don’t think this is the first time. Oh well, I hope she likes it anyway :-).

Have a blessed day!

Taking stock

In a month’s time, I’ll be celebrating this blog’s 1st birthday. Any suggestions on how I can share this joy with you? Yup, November’s birthday giveaway should be something special. I hope…LOL!

I had a look at the orders list and these are the top 3 most requested items from the 20+ different ones that I’ve made previously.

1. Reversible tote – 16%
2. Triangle pencil case – 14%
3. Wristlet – 14%

I expected the tote to be near the top since it was requested many times. The triangle pencil case too. I didn’t expect the wristlet to be there though…LOL!

This list doesn’t correspond to what I’ve sewn though. There are many items that I sew on a whim that are not an order. No complaints there since I like to sew :-).

Anyway, these are the latest reversible totes made from medium weight Japanese and Korean fabrics.

Have a blessed day!

Square dance

DD asked me the other day why I didn’t make any A5 notebooks or journals. I’ve been making a series of A6 ones in preparation for the KKH bazaar in October and got carried away. I’ve made A5 ones before but they were hardcover ones and I wasn’t in the hardcover kind of mood. Folding paper can be therapeutic but there’s a limit to that monotonous cut, fold, slot cycle. So I wondered about what DD said till I chanced upon a stack of used exercise books :-).

After ripping off the covers and collecting empty pages, I ended up with a sizeable stack of paper. Along with these, I kept some pages that had kiddy scibblings by both DS and DD. My memories!

The cover was pieced together using 8 5” charms from the Whirlwind Romance Blush collection and quilted. Another 4 were used for the pockets inside.

I pierced additional holes into the 8 signatures and sewed them unto the spine using the criss-cross longstitch with silver thread that matches the 2 silver ribbon page markers.

The salvaged square paper was arranged from largest to smallest, just like how DS and DD bought smaller and smaller sized square exercise books as they grew older.

 

BTW, It took me an hour just to sew these signatures. I knew ‘cos that was how long DD’s swiming lesson was. LOL! Final touch were the 2 deliberately mis-matched metal snaps placed just so, for effect.

This is definitely not for sale. Just thought I’d like to share with you. Do you have any memories you want to hold on to? *grin*

Have a blessed day!

ps:

charm = 5” square

layer cake = 10” square

fat quarter = quarter of a yard, about 18” x 25”

jelly roll = 2.5” strips, length is width of fabric

honeybun = 1” strips

In a flurry

I'm still here.
Listening to the Chipmunks and Chipettes on youtube while I type this out. Lots of distractions so I've not been consistent recently in blog updates. These are some behind the scenes pics.

Bought this brown suede-like fabric from Arab Street because I like the texture. Used this as the prototype for DS' mouse pouch. Wonder if he'll prefer this instead. Fits my digital camera as well. DS wanted one for his mouse so that the tail won't be tangled up when he dumps it in his bag. Maybe I should make a larger one with 3 compartments, for the mouse, charger and earphones. Lots of wires running all over the place.

 Made these about a fortnight ago but didn't post pics. These are the WIPs. There are some more that have been completed and given away. Yup, it's fun to give away stuff...sometimes :-)
Can't decide whether to sell these at the KKH Bazaar in Oct. I should be working on clearing orders.

Found my Cascade yarn (50% superfine alpaca, 50% wool). The colour looks so washed out 'cos it's actually a rich grape colour. This will be another garter-stitched throw that will hopefully be completed by the time it gets colder towards the end of the year. I only have 10 skeins of this so it won't be as big as the orange one.
Have a blessed weekend!

Phew...finally!

DD's half-done tote has been on my sewing table for months. She started out enthusiastically, planning and picking the fabrics, cutting them to size and sewing them together. She made the interior as well, with a fully lined pocket with 2 pen slips and a larger (huge!) one for things unknown.

DD has a green Daiso pouch that she puts her books and stuff in but I decided that I might as well take what she started and make it into something she would use. After all, it's been lying there for months.
This is an A4 size zipper pouch with pockets inside. I used 7oz interfacing so that there's lots of padding since she's gonna hug it. Used the last heart zip from Daiso. (Aside: wonder why Daiso doesn't sell these anymore :-( )
Have a blessed day!

In a rush!

This is the final teacher's day pressie and I just completed it. What a last minute thing :-(

This teacher likes black and white so both the exterior and interior are these colours. Coordinating oxford prints imported from Korea. I machine-quilted the exterior for a change and it sure reminds me of an evening clutch. :-)
Have a blessed day!

Get a word in edgewise

I've been having lots of fun with selvedges these past weeks. First with handbound notebooks, now with mini coin purses. It's a sentimental experience sewing with selvedges as I identify each fabric and recall the stuff I've made before. Each fabric has selvedge on 2 sides and I think I've a couple of hundred of strips that I tried to sort by colour. Some have Japanese or Korean words. Most are in English. The prettiest has colour windows that are shaped like macaroons :-).

Selvedges are really precious commodities, and to think that I once discarded them ignorantly. They're like the root of the parsley, the comb in the honey, the choicest part of any fabric. Before I gush on further, have a look at this:

Found these tiny zips at one of my favourite haberdashery shops. If you look at the bottom left pic, from left to right, Korean, Australian, Japanese, US, Korean fabrics. The one from US happens to be DS' favourite. Blue Lifesavers from Connecting Threads.
Each strip is sewn onto calico before sewing on the zip. It's fully lined with more Korean import fabric but not interfaced since it's quite sturdy with 3 layers of fabric. Added a D-ring so that I can attach it to my key chain :-)
Have a blessed day!

Three here and more along the way

Usually I cut, sew, photograph then pack. I was happily making these and packed them before I realized I didn't take a pic. At least I remembered and took a pic with the plastic covers. There are some that I didn't take a pic at all and mailed out...LOL!  

Three more tissue zipper pouches. This time made from quilting and oxford cotton from Japan and Korea. Fully lined and intefaced.

I think I'll won't take pics in the harsh sunlight or when the items have been packed. Doesn't seem as nice, don't you think?

Have a blessed day!