Dual purpose buttons

These are fabric-covered buttons with elastic attached and voila.... elastic hair ties :-)

I've had these buttons lying around for a while. I had elastic too but I saw these black ones when I went out for breakfast this morning and thought it'd be fun to attach to my buttons.

Yup, indeed, a simple, quick and fun project.

Make your own fabric-covered buttons with a kit from Daiso. You'll just need some fabric scraps and elastic. I think I'll make more of these soon. Especially with DD keeping her hair long :-)

Have a blessed day!

In a bind

There are times when I'm in a lull and don't know what to sew. Not from lack of ideas but actually from being overwhelmed by so many of them. I look at a piece of fabric and decide, yup, I want to make something but when I cut it, I remember something else and wonder if the piece will fit. So, in these times of indecision, I switch to safer stuff.

Today, I made bias strips from oatmeal linen. This is a go-with-anything bias so it's OK that I made about 5m of it. Maybe I'll go fold paper now. I have so much paper that have yet to be made into books, LOL!

Have a blessed day!

Seeing dots

I didn't realise I have so much linen. I also didn't realise that these dots are not regularly spaced. Oh well :-)

I first tried to reverse engineer and make a similar pouch last year. I could complete it but it looked terrible :-( Didn't make it to the blog, LOL! This was based on a purchased pattern and I realised that I was just a bit off...if I had persisted, I'd figured it out. Oh well :-)

This is a prelude to what I wanted to make actually, which is a clutch that has a zip in the middle. I think I can make it in the same way but let's see.

Have a blessed day!

Playing with colours

Orange isn't a colour I use often but it's pretty too. Not as commonly requested as green or purple or even blue. I'm not sure how to match it but it looks pretty cool with the greens and blues. 

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!

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!

How green can you go?

I have this fondness for notebooks. Not that I journal a lot or doodle a lot but somehow the feel of the paper or a cute cover catch my eye and make me stop and have a look.

I buy less notebooks now. Just bought some recently, but not for myself…phew! Now we have fun creating our own, using materials we can find at home or those in the mail. Waiting for mail is different now…LOL!

These 2 are A5 notebooks. Five signatures of 7 white and 1 green cover sheets bound using the coptic stitch. This is for someone who likes green :-). Green fabric cover, green thread, green cover sheets, sustainable forest paper. Circus print is made from linen and floral one from oxford cotton. 220gsm endpapers are green too :-)

Have a blessed day!

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!

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!

Going green

I like this linen fabric from Korea. Cheery detailed prints of circus animals in a row interlaced with pseudo-patchwork pieces in shades of green. I've not made a boxy pencil case for a while 'cos I'm picky about having concealed sewn edges and the method I'm using is tricky....but still, it was ok since I liked the print so much :-)

Even the interior is green, with polka dots :-) Super roomy to fit lots of stationery. What's with kids and large pencil cases these days? Aren't the books already so heavy?

Have a blessed evening!

Should I?

Was contemplating taking pre-orders for certain ocassions like Teacher's Day and Christmas. That way I can pace myself out and not rush for orders as the dates draw near. I'm wondering whether this one is for Teacher's Day. I didn't ask. She must know that I take sooooo long to fulfil orders that she requested them earlier. Well, even if it's not and it's for jiemei, I understand that too :-)

These reversible totes must be made from medium or heavier weight fabrics to be able to hold it's structure and not flop here and there. Some can stand on their own if you prop it in a certain way. However, it gets really tough flipping right side out when the fabrics are thicker :-( Tiring.

Made these from Japanese and Korean imported cotton, linen and cotton/linen blends.

Which one do you like?

Have a blessed day!

Cucumber sandwiches and tea?

There's this craze for Cath Kidston products that imitations are sprouting up everywhere. I saw a Gath Kidton which made me cringe. Why I brought this up 'cos I bought this fabric that reminds me so much of this designer's fabric. Can you guess which one is it?

Eight flat pencil cases made from variety of Japanese and Korean imported cotton and linen. Some of the prints are uber-cute :-) Insides are fully-lined with matching polka dots or gingham checks. Lightly interfaced too and I added a cotton tab at the side, just because I can... LOL!

Which one do you like?

Have a blessed day!

Baby Pom colours

Do you know this Fimble? It's a pink and green striped Fimble. DD had a toy way back and I thought the colour combination was a bit odd but then I started seeing Baby Pom colours in... bread! Have you seen those rectangular ones with the brown skin top but pink and green below with cream in the middle? We call these Baby Pom bread.

< having some problems updating the pic here, brb, anyway, you can see it on Facebook >
Anyway, this month's giveaway is 1 green or 1 pink 5" zipper pouch made from linen (source I bought from claimed this is premium linen, you decide) and trimmed with lace, ribbon and embroidery. It's fully lined with matching quilting cotton and lightly interfaced.
Just leave a comment here or 'Like' the pic on my Facebook page. Draw is on Friday 24June at noon!

Sneak: Frills

Went shopping yesterday and got a haul! Ribbons and laces :-)
Had a hard time deciding which ribbons to buy 'cos they were so pretty!

Bitten by the sewing bug

DD's largest sole project to date. We collaborated on smaller items before but this is the first time she's going solo. Since she likes greens, she picked these out from a cut fabric pile that I had (meant for sewing 5" zipper pouches). After a few false starts and re-sewing, this is the result ;-)
Made from oxfords, quilting cottons and linen from all over the world - JP, KR, US, AU.
More when she completes it.
Have a blessed day!

Here doggy, doggy

What sort of pencil case do you use?
I've made flat zippered ones (ranging from 8" to 11" long), toblerone-type ones, lunchbag types, snap button types and the rollover/foldover types, even boxy ones and a cylinder. Some have a few compartments, some have many zips. Some are plain while others have lace or embroidery. There are so many variables.

This is a flat zippered one made from doggy print oxford paired with linen. Fully lined with calico and interfaced with thin batting. Heart zip for closure. Added a patch pocket.

High heels

DS says high heels look nice but are not practical. He was referring to this pencil case when he said that. While it's huge with a large opening to be able to see your stuff clearly and retrieve them, he considers the snaps too troublesome to manipulate. DD calls this the lunchbag pencil case.

Flap's made from Wilmington's Bunny's Day Out border with linen body. Interior is fully lined with Korean import white polka dots on lime green. Two resin snaps at the corners for closure. What do you think?
Have a blessed day!

United nations

Before I go fabric shopping again, I decided to do a quick stock take of what fabrics I have on hand. I buy in bulk to get the deep discounts but this has led to a huge mess inventory of odd-shaped pieces of fabric. I didn't know how much fabric I had but I decided to make a flat patchwork tote out of unique squares (4.5cm x 4.5cm).

112 squares later I decided to stop even though I have more fabric still that I didn't cut squares from. LOL! Fabrics were from Japan, Korea, US, Australia and I don't know where. Used the final gifted cotton webbing for this tote. Plain for the patchwork and printed cherries for the linen / cherry side. Included a patch pocket from cherry fabric as well as a cut-out zip compartment which has a pocket inside as well as a pen slip. DD chose the bear zipper pull. It's cute and double-sided so you get the bear front on both sides. And it's solid metal so it's heavier than usual.
Have a blessed day!

ps: I wonder how much fabric I really have...hmmmm.....
pps: sorry for the washed out look. Don't know why the pics are like that, maybe 'cos of the hazy overcast sky? The colours are much richer than they look :-)
ppps: I just realised that I put the same patchwork side in the pic though I took both sides. LOL! Maybe I'll retake and give you richer colours, ah?

Wristlet vs wallet

I started carrying wrislets few years back, seeing that they're so convenient as they can hold lots of stuff. I have one that has 3 card slots and a divider that could take in 20+ cards and receipts and cash and even a pen and a stirer. If you're a mum, you'll be carrying lots of stuff that your kids pick up / make, ya? However, if you're the type that still prefers a wallet....

Made this bi-fold wallet totally out of linen, printed and plain. The printed one is much smoother than the plain one which has more texture. There are 6 card slots on one side which can take 2-3 cards per slot. These are a snug fit so your cards won't fall out. On the other side, there is a zippered compartment for coins or other small items like stamps, as well as 2 larger slots for notes or vouchers or receipts. I attached a metal house zipper pull to the metal zip. Fully lined and interfaced.

Have a blessed day!