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.

Becoming a bookworm

Usually, I bind books in stages, preparing a few books rather than complete one then start making another. Maybe I might do that some day but not now, not when I'm rushing to complete as many before Term 2 starts. 

Stage 1: cut up the board into smaller sizes, usually slightly larger than A5 or A6. I used to use 900gsm greyboards but now I've started using 1000gsm whiteboards. These white boards are easier when the fabric is light coloured and the background of the backing board matters.

Stage 2: prepare the parts of the book - the covers for the covers (LOL!), the pages, signature covers, charms etc. The covers (fabric or paper) also needs to be cut and glued onto the boards.

Stage 3: While the glue dries, I fold and cut paper into the right size, print lines if I need to. This part is quite monotonous and sometimes I do this while watching Criminal Minds or some other show to distract me.

Stage 4: The outside of the cover done, I'll need to do the insides of the cover. This is either a fly page or patterned paper covering the board on the other side. Glue goes on and I wait again.

Stage 5: Sometimes I press the boards after they're dry.

Stage 6: Decide on stitching pattern, draft if necessary.

Stage 7: Find thread and wax it. I've used polyester, cotton and linen. I like linen for it's strength, cotton for the colours. I don't think I'll use polyester anymore, now that I've found linen and cotton threads.

Stage 8: Poke holes in the cover (and flypage, if there is) and pages.

Stage 9: Sew. Attach charm, perhaps?

Stage 10: Press. Sometimes I press for a few days.

Well, there you have it. Bookbinding in a nutshell.

I'm toying with a series of bookbinding classes for the June holidays but let's see how things go in term 2 first. 

Covers: Wilmington's Bunny's Day Out fabric (front), faux suede (back), 1000gsm whiteboard
Pages: 80gsm, 2 shades of green, acid-free, 8 signatures of 10 folios, 320 sides. Unlined
Stitch: 7-hole coptic
Thread: waxed cotton, variegated green
Size: A5

Covers: Lecien's Happy Chihuahua fabric, 900gsm greyboard, 120gsm endpapers
Pages: 80gsm, 2 shades of blue, acid-free, 7 signatures of 10 folios, 280 sides. Unlined
Stitch: woven longstitch, kettle
Thread: waxed cotton, variegated blue
Size: A5

Covers: Wilmington's Bunny's Day Out fabric (front), faux suede (back), 1000gsm whiteboard
Pages: 80gsm, 2 shades of green, acid-free, 7 signatures of 10 folios, 280 sides. Unlined
Stitch: 7-hole coptic
Thread: waxed cotton, variegated green
Size: A5

Covers: Pattern paper, 900gsm greyboard, 120gsm fly pages
Pages: 80gsm, white, acid-free, 7 signatures of 10 folios with signature covers, 280 sides. Unlined
Stitch: 7-hole single needle coptic
Thread: waxed linen, 4-ply, Robin's egg blue
Size: A5

Covers: Korean quilting cotton, 1000gsm whiteboard, 160gsm flypages
Pages: 80gsm, 2 shades of green, acid-free, 8 signatures of 10 folios, 320 sides. Unlined
Stitch: criss-cross kettle/Coptic
Thread: waxed cotton, variegated green
Size: A5

Covers: Laminated pattern print, 900gsm greyeboard
Pages: 80gsm, white (one book) / rose (other book), acid-free, 8 signatures of 10 folios with signature covers, 320 sides. Unlined
Stitch: Coptic, Roman links
Thread: waxed linen, dark chocolate
Size: A6

Covers: Laminated pattern print, 900gsm greyeboard
Pages: 80gsm, white, acid-free, 8 signatures of 10 folios with signature covers, 320 sides. Unlined
Stitch: Coptic, Roman links
Thread: waxed cotton, variegated brown
Size: A5

Have a blessed evening!

Canvas laminates

These are the Cath Kidston lookalike material that I have on hand. All are 20cm x 20cm. The larger sized ones will arrive next month and I'm already dreaming of clutches made out of those. DD has also requested for a wallet but I'm out of some items to make the wallet and they'll only arrive next month. October's going to be a fun month of receiving parcels :-)

Anway, I have some of these in duplicates, if you want something larger or two of the same. 

Also, I can't make any straps using these but I might be making some out of PU leather (not sure if it'll be strong enough) else out of cow leather (this should be ok) that I think will go well with these.... next month too. 

Oh, I won't be updating this so please just let me know your top 3 preferences and I'll check availability.

Have a blessed day!

Just a bit more before the long weekend

DD and I made these adjustable rings.

Mine's the bee and hers are the heart and flower.

We'll be making more of these after some orders and long weekend.

Or more likely, after PSLE.

*grin*

Happy National Day!

New goal

I've given myself a new goal / challenge, to sew as many items as I can without buying anything new, unless there are specific requests. It was supposed to be a smaller challenge which was to see how many items I can make out of 1 yard of fabric, but it's OK, I have lots of fabric. I have lots of really pretty fabric like these too! It'll be lots of fun and I'll list them in Tiffany's Shoppe when I'm done.

I'll be sewing this weekend, what will you be doing?

Have a blessed day!
ps: I realised after I took this picture that there are 7 colours. Not quite the rainbow colours but still as pretty. I like candy brights!

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!

Randomness

I'm wondering, if I Like my pic in this giveaway, do I get a chance to win this even if it's mine? Odd, right? The thing is, the randomness in the giveaway draws is done by http://www.random.org/. It's a really useful website that can randomnize (is there such a word?) lists or numbers and such.
What I do for each draw is build the list hours before the draw, taking from emails or facebook or from this blog, and build that list. I usually remove myself, DS and DD unless they specifically request to be in. With the list in the random.org site, I then click it a few times to see if it works. The nearest click to the agreed time will be the final one :-)
Anyway, on with the draw....this is a handbound A6 notebook. Fabric covered, hardcover, coptic-bound. Single needle over 7 holes. Some day I'll try the 4 needle method. Four signatures of paper from sustainable forests with coordinating fly leaves.
As usual, leave a comment here or Like the pic on facebook and wait till 30 July for the noon draw.
Have a blessed day!

And it all comes together

I like sewing and I like bookbinding so what does that lead to? A fabric covered handbound notebook :-)

Korean import oxford cotton on the 900g cover and 80gsm paper inside. White unlined pages are from sustainable forests. Five signatures with seven folios sewn with single needle coptic stitch over 7 holes with coloured thread that matches the fly leaves.
Have a blessed day!

His sheep am I

This looks so much like a previous one I made last year. Only difference is in the interior where there's a water bottle pocket.

Oxford cotton exterior of families of sheep. Panel of pockets of different sizes across one side and the water bottle pocket at one side. I've included a bottle, file and textbooks for a feel of the size. Bag doesn't come with these... LOL!
Have a blessed day!

You've got mail!

These came yesterday and today and I'm drooling over them already. So many choices, so little time. Which do you like? Where shall I start? What shall I make?

Not for sale

Played around with photovsi to create this collage of 3 bags:

• reversible corduroy tote (US$10) - no pockets and not interfaced. Fully reversible with dark brown background and flowers on one side and beige with flowers on the other. I'm thinking of making a matching pouch to go with this. Dimensions are
• olive tote - exterior is Japanese import fabric (Yuwa - I like their fabric, so nice!). Fully lined interior and pockets. Dimensions are
• beige tote - this is slightly larger than the olive one also using the same line from Yuwa. Ditto interior and pockets. Dimensions are