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!

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!

Not exactly the first one

It's kind of strange, actually, when I just realised that this is probably only the second wallet I've made. Odd. You'd have thought after more than two years of this blog and making all sorts of stuff that I'd have made some wallets? I can only recall one other at the moment, the red leaf linen one.

Oh well.

I think I'll make more of these. Rather challenging and lots of room for improvement though I like this one lots. It has 6 card slots on one side and a zippered compartment in the middle. One large slot on each side of the zipper and everything kept neat and tidy with this metal clasp. I don't know what sort of clasp this is. Pretty and functional.

Have a blessed evening!

ps: don't mind the shine. I can't seem to take nice pics at night but after struggling with this for so long and finally completing it, in between Spiral Knights sessions, LOL!

Jelly roll series

I decided to concentrate on this range of cottons. After making these, I still have 1 more jelly roll that I forgot about, LOL! These were made with half the width of a jelly roll strip, actually. Narrower than a honey bun strip. Fun to sew, nevertheless. I still have a list of some other items to make but I thought I'd just post this update first.

More details on Facebook!

ps: A jelly roll is made up of strips of fabric 2.5" wide x width of fabric.

pps: I like the drawstring bag the most. It's not interfaced (padded) yet it's not too floppy since the strip of fabric basically doubled up behind so effectively, there are 3 layers of fabric.

Have a blessed day!

I only quilt in straight lines

I seem to be quilting more these days. These are thinner than honey bun strips. I cut the jelly roll ones that I had and just started sewing them together. DD asked me what I was going to make and I didn't think of anything in particular and therein lies the problem. How long should these strips be? If I were making a book cover, it'd be one of the standards sizes ... A5, A6 etc. Or a pouch would be limited by the zip length, or perhaps not. Card cases would depend on the size of cards. You get the idea.

I just pieced them and quilted.

Then I found the key organizer. The metal thingy with the 6 loops for attaching keys?

Key pouch it was then. I wanted to add a bit of colour so that's why there's a coin pouch. It's too slim for cards but good enough to stuff folded up notes. 

Finally DD has a bag to replace her usual for church. It's the middle one. The one on the right was supposed to be it but it was too small for her bible and other stuff. She brought it today and her friend asked her if I made it. Turns out, of all the times that someone asked her about the stuff that DD has, there's only one item that they asked her where she bought it. Most of the time they asked if I made it. I was joking with DD whether I should have a label 'My Mother Made This' or M3T.

I'm glad she used it today :-)

Have a blessed day!

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!

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.

Cheering up DD

DD's ill. Fever of 38.6, taken at the clinic this morning. It's 2 days to the PSLE oral and I decided to cheer her up by making this sling bag. I gave her a choice, sling bag or pouch. She chose sling bag. I decided that since she's into clutches, I'd make a clutch with a detachable strap so she can use it either as a sling bag or a clutch. She chose the strap too. I didn't have the antique bronze parts for a matching sling but I had 2 readymade straps. The other one that she didn't choose has a brown webbing. Well, her preference.

She hasn't attached the bear zipper pull yet 'cos of the drowsy meds. That's for the zippered pocket inside (back). The other side inside has a panel of 5 pockets. There's another huge one just under the flap.

Oh, and I like this flap :-)

2 reasons - it's the first time I'm using this lock closure and also 'cos it's quilted and shaped like an envelope flap. Maybe I'll make more of these :-)

Materials : denim (exterior), oxford cotton (interior)

Have a blessed day!

Afternote: DD's fever broke after her long nap in the afternoon. Thanks for your prayers :-)

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!

Finally they're here...

I've been waiting for these 6mm antique brass double cap rivets for about a month. Finally, they arrived yesterday. While it's just as effective to sew across like the bottom right pic, I prefer the top right one with the rivet. For a change, no? :-)

I'll be adding more rivets and then list more pouches on Tiffany's Shoppe. Check them out later!

Have a blessed day!

Afternote:

I went to put rivets and didn't realize that I have so many pouches, LOL! Some were sewn for the NUS Bazaar but I got carried away and have so many more at home and more along the way. Hmmm...

Triangle of Life

I once read an article on the triangle of life applied during an earthquake. The theory is to look for these triangles or voids and take shelter there instead. For example, if there's a sturdy cupboard against a wall, there would be a triangle of life right in front of the cupboard should the ceiling collapse as a single piece. Then, the ceiling would be propped up at one end and on the floor at the other, leaving that void. One of the examples they gave, other than sturdy large furniture, was to look for stacks of paper. Paper cannot be crushed and can withstand a lot of weight. So, it seems, a stack of newspaper would do at such times.

Thank God we don't have earthquakes here.

One other thing I know about paper is that it's heavy. Very. Especially when I have to lug it around.

I brought these to the NUS bazaar. There were a few queries but no one bought them so I'm listing them in Tiffany's Shoppe. Other than these 4, there were many other books so it was really heavy yesterday. Today, I'll just bring a fraction.

Just a bit of update about yesterday. I couldn't decide whether it was a non-event or eventful day, LOL! While there were very few customers, quite a number of people walked over and did a double-take at my stall then proceeded to walk past till I realized that the toilet was behind me. On my left was clothes. In front of me was clothes and on my right was, clothes. I had a quick glance around and it seemed like out of about 15 stalls, about half sold clothes. There was a stall that intrigued me 'cos it sold something that sure looked like bubble gum. I like bubble gum though the constant chewing would result in aching jaws.

But I get ahead of myself so let me do this chronologically. I arrived too early 'cos I went out with DS and DD. I tarried at the bus-stop doing my crochet till it was about 30mins before the official start at 9am. My first impression when I arrived was, is it over? LOL!

There were quite a number of tables/stalls all over the Central Forum. Some had tarpaulin-covered items, some were bare tables. Bare as in bare wood top with collapsible frame. Some had chairs next to these tables, some had none. Also, other than me and a group of undergrads, there were no other vendors. Anyway, I stuck around till on of the students pointed out my stall to me. OK, so with my punctuality, I ended up with the dubious honour of being the kiasu one who set up shop so early. However, less than 30mins after I completed, the rain came. With the gusty winds sweeping through the void of the Central Forum, rain was flying in, stuff also took to the wind. I kept evertyhing but set up shop again about an hour later only to sit there and crochet and crochet and crochet. On the upside, I had an enjoyable time getting to know the other vendors. Perhaps this was my triangle of life yesterday, my breathing space. Well, one more day today. Hopefully it'll be better, yup? *grin*

Have a blessed day!

I've been busy, how about you?

Yup, the camera's back in action. I wasn't lazing around either. Been working on these....

brightly-coloured wristlets. More in the pipeline!

Three clutches / laptop bags for the fun of it. I enjoyed the freehand quilted. Almost everything I do is freehand anyway, LOL, but it was fun trying to sew uniform lines. These have extra thick batting that I was quilting on. DD used a similar for school and her friends thought she brought a laptop to school. That was what gave me the idea. Well, whether you use it for books / files / laptop / tablet or even a pillow, I hope you like it.

Listed all of these in Tiffany's Shoppe.

Get them at 25% off only on 29Feb2012!

Cuteness

Made these tissue zipper pouches. Tissue case on one side and zippered compartment at the top. These are slightly smaller than those I've made in the past and just the right size for a single pack of tissue. Added these cute zipper pulls too. Antique brass hardware all round. What's left is just the straps and I'm just waiting for the rivets to arrive. You can't see from this pic but I've quilted the other side and put a 'handmade' label. Maybe I'll take another pic of these with the straps when they're done but I just like the zipper pulls. Kawaii, desune?

Have a blessed weekend!

Green velcro

Sometimes I think too much before sewing. I'm walking along the road and suddenly someone's bag catches my eye or I recall something I saw on the web and I start trying to figure out how I would construct it. I would think of the fabrics I have, how to cut/sew it, what sort of hardware, how would I differentiate it etc. I think a lot about closures too. There are magnets, velcro, snaps, drawstrings etc.

We boarded the lift last Friday with my friend's neighbour who was carrying a clutch. I liked his clutch immediately for it's simplicity. It had a black body and black/white striped flap. How difficult would that be, I thought, and embarked on this version.

This is DD's new clutch for school. I realised only today that I forgot (or she didn't request for) a D-ring at the side to hang cutesy stuff. I can't remember what fabrics these are but I've used them for what DS calls the T-shirt with no arms wardrobe organiser. Anyway, while I cut the fabric in preparation, DD suggested I use the green velcro salvaged from previous year's NDP bag. I quilted the front and back and added a pocket.

Another green item. DD requested for the keying on a chain for this pouch. It's the usual pouch that I've made so far just with the chain sewn to the lining. To use the keys, just unzip the pouch and tip the keys out.

Have a blessed afternoon!

Double duty

Sometimes when I make these quilted book covers, they seem like mousepads to me. I have a plain black mousepad that came with the PC. These would look much better than that, no? Plus, with the different colours and shapes, wouldn't sensitivity of the mouse improve? I can't remember how optical mice work.

Have a blessed day!