Shopping for Craft Materials

So I limited myself to 45 minutes and S$50 on 14 Dec at the famed Yongle Fabric Market. If I didn't, I would have spent hours wandering not just through the market but also along the streets around the market. It was probably a good thing that I didn't find the Bear Mama shop.

Getting there was easy: take a train to Beimen station. Look for the Tacheng Street exit and walk against the traffic for a few minutes and you'll start seeing fabric shops on both sides of the street. I'm not into tailoring type of fabrics but crafting, so I was looking out for cotton / cotton-linen prints.

If you make your way past the shophouses, you'll then reach the market proper. There are 4 levels. I don't remember the first. I just went in and there was a colourful flight of steps up to the level 2. The 3rd level is under renovation so the tenants moved to the 4th level which is only accessible by the lift.

The first shop we saw was 布哥哥的店. They have many cotton / cotton-linen precuts that I was stuck there for a while trying to limit myself to only a few pieces. A fat quarter cotton-linen cost NT50 (about S$2.50) which is really cheap considering the quality and print. Incidentally, I opened up the folded fat quarter when I got back and saw on the selvedge that they printed it themselves. I checked out their website from the sticker on the fat quarter and saw that they also ship to Singapore. Maybe I'll check them out when I'm done with sewing these.

We walked around a bit more looking for other pre-cuts and snagged a couple of laminated cotton-linen prints, canvas and liberty-type cotton prints. The largest piece was a yard of giraffes peeking out from triangle prints. Too cute :)

If you're also doing the tourist-stamping thing, stop by the visitor information centre at the junction. That's where I got the largest stamp for the whole trip. A shop further down the road also had stamps outside.

If I would go again, I'd probably limit myself to an hour and higher budget. I'd skip level 4 because I'm not into tulle or pinstripes.

Octuplets

This is the first one. Seven more in various stages of completion. Made from fabrics that I just bought from Chinatown yesterday. First Sevenberry fabric (the navy gingham) that I bought and I like it!

Fully lined drawstring pouch that can be used for gift-wrapping this Christmas or for any other use.

Have a blessed day!

ps: all 8 of these have slight differences...

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!

Sewing books

First I made the books.

These are saddle-stitched books with cardstock and unlined paper. I have so many shades of green, blue and pink left and even more cardstock.

Then I made the drawstring bag to put the books in. 

Then I made a larger book with a fabric over the cardboard and decided that it'll have it's own drawstring bag. 

What a lot of fun :-)

Have a blessed day!

What happened to your magnets?

LOL! This was what a friend asked when I told her I'm making scrunchies now.

DD and I were at West Mall when we saw kiddie scrunchies going at S$3.90/pair and I commented that I could match that price and use better fabrics.

My first try was a failure. It didn't make it to the blog.

My subsequent ones were a struggle. This is because I want to have nice clean seams and so wriggling a piece of narrow fabric around and twisting it to the right position wasn't easy. :-(

Till I found an easy way out. Sigh, it's so simple. Well, I could have used the bodkin.

Anway, these became easy to make. I made them while watching X-men Last Stand. It's the nth time I'm watching so I could miss some parts to go sew and return to flip the scrunchies etc.

DD likes the mini ones. Which type do you prefer?

Have a blessed day!

ps: To answer the initial question, well, magnets are still around. I just don't take pics of everything I make. I'm also waiting for organza bags to arrive so I can pack them.

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!

Ring, ring!

I forgot to blog about this.

Sometimes I blog first, sometimes I post on Facebook first. For this cellphone pouch, I posted it on Facebook and clean forgot to blog about it here, LOL!

I received a pack of cotton linen recently and this piece was large enough for a cellphone pouch so I decided to make one. It's Hansel and Gretel's candy house. I machine-quilted it and added a leather mounted snap. You can't see from this pic but the inside is white polka dots on green.

Have a blessed day!

What's your favourite colour?

I like yellow, DS likes red and DD likes green.

I paired this yellow canvas with a brown one so that the dirt doesn't show up so easily when placed on the floor. There are two big pockets in front and two at the back. One panel of pockets inside means lots of compartments to put all your stuff :-)

I was a bit hesitant to use silver rivets and snaps 'cos I thought brass ones would be nicer but I only had silver hardware for the strap so that determined the colour. Turned out rather well, IMHO. :-)

Have a blessed day!

Flurry....

Made two pairs of baby shoes from patterns available on the internet. I've lost the links but I'll add them to this post when I find them again. I like the Mary Janes above and I think I'll add ribbons next time so that they can be reversible too, like the ones below.

This is another of the twin body but the middle pocket has a zip this time. Bright red cover flap was quilted and attached with metal spring snaps.

Of the 4 items in this post, this took the longest time. I think I've made something like this before but I can't remember. It took a longer time 'cos of the quilting and the hand-sewing. I made the bias strip for binding myself so that took up some time too. I think this is the last Teacher's Day pressie but I'm not sure.

Have a blessed evening!

Sewing on a rainy day

T'was raining for about an hour this morning. I thought the dark clouds was due to the haze till it got darker and windier and it poured!

Made this quilted clutch/sling bag using two of the fat quarters I bought at Spotlight a couple of months ago. Didn't have this in mind when I bought the fabrics (few more that I've yet to get started on) but I think it turned out OK. Now I'll just have to wait for feedback from its owner.

Quilted body and flap with the new closure that I like so much. Panel of pockets inside with 2 pockets and 2 pen slips. Zippered pocket inside against the back with a heart zipper pull.

Have a blessed day!

Afternote: If you're wondering why there's no strap, that's 'cos it's sharing a strap with the earlier clutch/sling bag.

Bears vs bunnies

The bears don't come with the pouch. They're not needed to prop it up either 'cos I've put stabilizer on the cotton-linen exterior so that the boxy pouch can stand on its own. There're actually 3 bears, small, medium and large. I've yet to name them. I can't remember where they came from, only that one of them was redeemed from West Mall during some festive season with a coupon without a purchase. Cool! Well, we do shop there often though I don't think we bought anything that day. LOL!

But I digress. This boxy zipper pouch has cotton-linen blend fabric on the outside and green/white polka dot fabric as lining.

Just a thought, maybe I should use bunnies rather than bears...this being BunnyBags.blogspot.com. *grin*

OK, bears for now, till I find cute bunnies willing to pose for me.

Have a blessed day!

Green stuff

DD chose this in addition to her clutch/sling bag.

I once saw this pattern but it was made using a juice carton. Here it's interfaced on both sides of the exterior and lining so it's stiff and can hold the shape when it's folded.

DD wanted two green snaps but I thought the red would provide a better contrast so there's one red and one green. I think I'll use spring snaps for future ones.

Have a blessed day!

Last of its kind

I can't remember when I bought this yarn. I have 2 colours, this one is denim and the other is a milky white. Both came on cones with 4-5 inches of yarn off the cone. I've since made several bags (with or without handles) and now I'm down to the last one for the denim yarn.

I like cone yarns. I like it that it's easy to handle (no snags) with no ends to handle / weave in. I like the denim blue one a tad more than the milky white. Maybe 'cos white gets dirty more easily? Both have multiple plies twisted loosely so that there's still a softness even with half-double crochets like what I used here. My more recent bags have a single crochet top followed by a chain stitch all round the brim for added security.

I'm gonna miss this yarn but there're still lots more to distract me :-)

Have a blessed day!

Maybe It's Alright

Once in a while, I take a break. Sometimes not by choice 'cos I was ill. Sometimes by choice 'cos I can stare at my pile of materials and get a mental block. I'm a mood crafter, prefering to craft when the mood arises. I can still craft sans mood but I can tell in the little details even if you can't.

While I was away, I worked on these 2 patchwork blankets. DD's done so you can see the minky-like backing. DS' still missing that part. 

Made from jelly rolls that I bought from Spotlight (DD's, 6 different patterns) and from a US fabric shop (DS', 24 different patterns). I don't know what type of block this is. I do know that DS' has 3 log cabins 'cos I didn't have enough material for the squares. Each blanket has 7 by 5 blocks.

Have a blessed day!

Itsy bitsy

I once found an itsy bitsy pencil case in a shop at the basement of Jurong Point. It was really cute. Zakka-like in its simplicity. It caught my attention 'cos it could fit only 2 pens. Snugly. I wondered why would anyone want such a small pencil case. Wouldn't a 'normal' pencil case have a few pens, a pencil, eraser, ruler etc? 

Anyway, I made this pencil case which was meant to house 2 uniball 0.38 gel pens, one with blue ink, one with blue-black. It could've been smaller but I wanted to follow the pattern on the fabric and have it 2 squares by 6. It'll fit 3 uniball pens now.

Have a blessed day!

Sneak

Can you guess what these are?

I used to just leave the quilt batting alone and not quilt but it seems like so much fun, especially for the orange polka dots. Yup, I use up much more thread than usual and it takes more effort to quilt it but I like the effects. There are only 2 quilt patterns at the moment, diamonds or squares, well, almost squares. These were all quilted freehand without any marking. That's the fun in sewing, no?

Have a blessed evening!

Tutorial : Flexframe pouch

Have you been to Daiso? I'm not a regular but I'm a fan. Since everything's $2, it's easy to get carried away and buy stuff that I don't need. Like the printed ribbon below and the flexframe. Again, I don't remember when I bought these so I can't tell you if they are still available at Daiso. You could always try :-)

So, with these 2, I decided to make this into a tutorial, as a giveback for those times when I've learnt how to sew from others'  blogs, LOL! Do email me if the instructions are not clear.

 I used 3 different fabrics - plain green for the exterior, checks for the top and florals for the lining. Cotton Ribbon and Spring Frame from Daiso.

 And made this.

 Which opens like this.

 Cut 1 piece for exterior, 1 for lining and 2 smaller for the top. I didn't measure 'cos I'm not using a pattern. Estimate using the spring frame, as in, the width of the top (checked fabric) is about a third longer than the length of the spring frame.

 I quilted the exterior fabric and sewed on the cotton ribbon. You can omit this if you wish.

 Fold in the sides of the top pieces twice and sew the edges.

 Fold the sewn top pieces in half and sew with the edges facing top of the exterior piece.

 Place the lining on top and sew together. Open up and top-stitch it down like this.

 Fold the whole piece in half (exterior to exterior, interior to interior) and sew all 3 sides. One side would be the folded side. Remember to leave a gap for flipping the pouch right side out.

 Square the corners and sew. Think tetra pack drinks.

Flip the pouch right side out, sew the gap close and attach the spring frame. Instructions would be with the spring frame packaging.

Have fun!

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!

Brights vs florals vs neutrals

I can't decide which type I like best, brights, florals or neutrals. There are also polka dots and cartoon/character designs and such. So many varieties out there, so tempting :-) Ditto that for purse hardware too. I'm using shiny silver and antique brass.

All of these are zipper pouches for hand-sewing to close the gap where I turn it proper way out after sewing. Won't say more....lots to sew today :-)

Have a blessed weekend!

WIPs

These are the WIPs that I'm packing for tomorrow afternoon to sew at the pool while I wait for DD as she goes for her swimming lesson. I might include some yoyos but these are reversible drawstring bags and wristlets. I'll have many brightly coloured wristlets coming up. I'm happy that I managed to find matching zips :-)  I also put my potpourri sachet in so the FOs will smell nicer.

Have a blessed weekend!