Getting off the hook

It's with a heavy heart that I've to shut down this blogshop in compliance to the policies laid down by the organisation I work for. I tried emailing and calling but being put on hold for 15 minutes only to be cut off twice just isn't my cup of tea. So, until all the i's have been dotted and all the t's crossed, the 'shop' part remains closed.

I'll still keep in touch, maybe on Instagram, so you'll know what I'm working on. I'm currently overloaded with yarn, yarn and more yarn,,,
There are

• vermillon / grey throw that I'm knitting on the bias. Garter stitch as usual because this yarn is so fine and I'm using 4 balls at a go. More than half done.
• DS' raglan jacket that I've yet to start
• DD's cotton blanket that's going to use almost 2kg of yarn. That's 2 balls of 10 colours in the pattern that she chose. Incidentally, she now prefers the wrong side of the pattern, LOL!
• semi-circle shawl using beautifully dyed tonal yarn that was on sale because it's discontinued 
• semi-circle shawl using deep grey yarn from a cone. Not so portable project that I tried to bring around. I'll just work on this at home.
• knit/purl throw in mustard and navy
• green shrug - I think I'll frog this
• variegated orange shrug - I think I'll frog this too
• rainbow coloured cowl - I think I'll frog this again
• knitting loom shawl - I'll need to figure out how to get it off the loom and I'll have another FO
• book covers wrapped with Uniqlo and Yacht 21 paper bags waiting for the inside covers and paper. I've yet to decide whether to stitch the book together or just O-wire the pages
• multi-coloured pages waiting to be sewn together, now that I've found the string and the wax. What stitch shall I use? Perhaps Coptic in a single colour so it won't fight with the colours and patterns.
• and there are simply too many UFOs to list. Yes, insta is good. Snap and post so you can see progress. My current phone has 13MP which is so much better than the previous 8.

Until next time, stay happy, healthy and continue crafting. 

Thank you for staying with me these years and hope to see you soon!

Pink, Pinker or ?

I like selvedges.

Some are so pretty, like this one from Nesshome. Can't remember which print this was but it surely wasn't the colourful strips. The colour circles don't match.

This is going to be a pouch / pencil case. Problem now is, I can't decide which pink to use. I'm thinking leftmost. What do you think?

Have a blessed morning!

I like these zips. I like them for the flexibility in length since I bought them by the yard. Bought 18 colours! Lol! Only two things I'm not happy with are that there aren't matching zipper pulls for each of the colours (I only bought silver and antique bronze pulls) and that it takes a fair bit of effort to put the pull on.

Been rather busy recently....

Yup, I'm still here though things have been rather quiet at the crafting front recently. Made 3 pencil cases out of really pretty cotton-linen fabric that I sourced from a new supplier.

This is a digital print. Cute one at that. Printed on cotton-linen. Paired it with turquoise and white polka dot fabric behind and lined with even more cotton-linen inside. This is a large pencil case. Gigantic.

 

I like this print. Finnish design printed on cotton-linen. I have only a small piece and this is half of it. The other half I made into a similar pencil case (not shown here). The back is also the turquoise and white polka dots and the lining similar to the Fun swimming pool one.  

Made this planner for myself.

I covered the 900gsm greyboard with kraft paper from a paper bag from this gelato outlet that DS and DD like. They like hazelnut and mango, I like rocher. I have monthly views and quarterly views, plain white and colour pages for notes.

Have a blessed day!

Spring is almost here!

Blessed Chinese New Year!

The first flower has bloomed after a long break. After clearing the weeds and loosening up 

the soil and watering more regularly, the plant's responding :-) There are a few more buds on the way too. The first time it bloomed was a few years ago and it bloomed 40+ flowers at one go. The living room was filled with natural air freshener. Intoxicatingly sweet if you went nearer the plant. Very nice!

Otherwise, I've made some items. Didn't get around to taking pics but this is one of them. I started out with a cotton/linen patch with this pink as the back but it became another pouch altogether, different from what I had in mind earlier. Managed to find some rather wide lace (about 2 inches) so I can use that as the divider and the cards won't drop out. I'll need to practise sewing faster though 'cos I plan to make more pouches with the bound sides :-)

Have a blessed day!

Suede straps

Made these suede straps on a whim. The suede was meant for braided cuffs but I took some and trimmed it and made into these straps. In the past, the detachable straps I've made were always from the same fabric as the main body. This suede strap is therefore a stark contrast. I like it anyway :-)

All have a swivel hook to attach to any pouch that has a D-ring.

Have a blessed day!

Giveaway!

Christmas 2012 giveaway!

Remember this drawstring bag from the tutorial? This can be yours along with other handmade items in your choice of colour. I'm thinking books, magnets, hair ties, pouch, bookmark, scrunchy...etc. It'll be the most I've given away to date :-)

What you'll have to do by 24Nov 8pm is to SHARE this pic on Facebook and leave a COMMENT as to what colour items you'd like if you win this. I'll try to best match :-)

Have a blessed day!

ps: If you don't have a Facebook account, you're welcome to leave a comment here instead.

Plasticky

Bought a stack of plasticky canvas recently. Sure reminds me of Cath Kidston material, in terms of print and feel. It's the thickest material I've sewn. Not the toughest though. That would be faux leather 'cos it wouldn't cooperate with my sewing machine's presser foot and feeder dogs.

I've not quite thought of what I want to make with these yet but made this to try out sewing it. It's so stiff that it's tough to flip proper side out. On the upside, it holds its shape very well. :-)

Simplest item to make was an unlined pencil case. Added a label to the front and a charm to the zipper pull.

Have a blessed day!

Zippity doo dah

I didn't realise that YKK has so many shades of green. There's at least one more in neon but I didn't want to add that. There're also at least 10 shades of blue. I might just post the pic if I get around to making a similar pouch to this but in blue.

This is DD's. She requested for the zips to be vertical rather than horizontal, or rather perpendicular to the usual way I've been using a zip. She also requested for all the zipper pulls to be on one side and this is actually much easier to sew than having the zips alternating head to tail. Her other request was to have them sewn together in a zigzag manner so that there won't be the puffiness for each zip.

Strangely, she hasn't decided what to put inside this yet. It's the right size for a pencil case but she's still holding on to her bee so I don't know what this will be for.

Sadly, I don't know how to take a proper pic so it represents the actual colour. Some of these zips look blue but they're really all green. Warm and cool shades of green.

What's your favourite colour?

Have a blessed evening!

Bee very happy :-)

DD's newest pouch and it's not green, LOL!

She asked for a pouch that's the size of the dinner plate. We just had dinner then so DS glady obliged and washed and dried one plate for me so I could use it as a template. 

Bee-themed jelly roll strips and fully lined and bound with linen.

These pouches are a fair bit of work but I like the results. :-)

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!

Prototype: laminated newspaper pouch

Iron-on vinyl is very expensive here in Singapore. It's $39.95 for a 2-yard roll. It's much cheaper overseas but if you do the math for the shipping, it's not cheap either. I found a cheap alternative. The effects are not as great  but methinks it's quite ok for a first try :-)

Are you a fan of Baby Blues?

Explorations

Sometimes I experiment and end up with stuff that I didn't think of making in the first place. Some turn out just great while some have been ripped apart or have long been discarded in the recycling bag.

I was playing with some jelly roll strips and decided to half them lengthwise and piece them together. Smaller pieces would be more fun, no? First was 6 thinner strips that were pieced together and then the whole thing was cut in half, flipped and sewn together. I did this twice more and ended up with the exterior of this. I decided to try out my new linen bias and thus needed a back so I used the other half of the thinner strips. I thought of finding a zip that would go round 3 sides but found this one instead. Two sides would be OK too, I guess. About this time, I realised that it was too narrow for a coin pouch. So I went to find a key ring with a chain and voila, a key pouch.

Have a blessed weekend!

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!

My treat

Made this for myself last night. On a whim again :-) I wanted something small with a wrist strap, for keeping the cash at the KKH bazaar. I'm not a waistpouch person though I might consider a cross-body sling bag the next round. This one has a pocket for Daffy and cards and a zippered compartment for the cash. A flap keeps everything from falling out. I didn't use batting, only light interfacing but it's quite sturdy and can stand on its own. I riveted the strap again. I'm thinking of riveting straps from now. I like that it's a simple design, functional and easy to apply.

Thank you all who dropped by the Little Statement stall at the KKH bazaar today. We had a wonderful time :-)

Have a blessed day!

Experimenting

I've been experimenting different ways of sewing the same thing recently and came up with these two. They're fun to make and I think I might just make a whole series of green pouches of this design. I like the rivet on the wrist strap too, looks much neater than a line sewn across, and to think that I kept these rivets for more than a year without using them. Good quality, since they're still shiny and didn't rust. :-)

Want to hazard a guess how many predominantly green fabric I have? LOL!

Have a blessed day!

Happy Chinese New Year!

Happy Chinese New Year!

This is a simple pouch with a squared off corner base. I've made such in the past but decided to try a new method of sewing to see if the finish can be improved, and I'm happy to say, this looks better than the past ones. I like it that it's less cumbersome to sew, even for the top-stitching which you can't quite see but it's there on the lining. Estimation of size is easier though I made this on the fly with no intention of putting anything inside.  One side is also less bulky. DD has claimed this after putting resin snaps on. Fabrics were chosen for the Chinese New Year mood :-)

May you be blessed with new insights and opportunities to try something new. May you also be blessed with an abundance of quality family time, happening fellowship and amazing discoveries. Good health and lots of laughter always.

Have a blessed day!

ps: I seek your patience 'cos I'll be taking a break for a few days. Your orders will be coming along very soon. I'll also be at KKH next Thursday. See you there!

Combinations

Listed these 2 multi-purpose pouch and tissue case combos in Tiffany's Shoppe.

I tried a new way of interfacing for the zippered pouch and I'm liking the results. Not puffy like batting yet not floppy like with only a single layer of lining. 

Meant this as a pencil case 'cos I'm in the pencil-case-making mood but you can put anything you like in there. Angpows? *grin*

Have a blessed windy 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!

Hey baby!

I must be getting old. It seems that the people I know are having grandchildren. LOL!
I used to be sewing gifts for friends' kids and have recently progressed to sewing for grandkids.

Made these 2 pouches, whether for diapers or clothes or any of the barang barang that is needed when baby travels. Resin snaps on the flap closure and zip for the wet bag behind.
Have a blessed day!