New friend

Say hello to Alesya. I have been wanting a dress form since I started seriously sewing. I bought her from my cousin who had a mini wedding cum makeup cum clothes outlet. She's a beauty, this dress form. It's just that she doesn't have my shoulder and tight, mine's smaller and she has bigger assets. So....

New life to the sofa and cushions

One of my big project now is to change my cushion cover for the sofa. The original cover is the light brown cover which we've been using since 6 years ago. I've only washed it a few times and now it needs some change. I just can't get rid of the old milk and baby food stains (it's easier to blame the kids, i know) and dark dust stains. We live in an apartment in KL town. So dust really rest and stain the fabric, thankfully after a few years.

I've got 5 rectangle cushion covers. I've done 2 of the same maroon fabric. I'm thinking of making the other 3 in different fabric designs. I can't wait. Honestly, I 'm really hopeless in house decorating. I'm used to make do with what I have. So to do things like this excites me.

We went to Ikea last weekend for a walk around and saw this quite cheap white and grey flannel covers for the sofa. Perfect! A quick fix for the stained sofa.

Next big project is to sew the sofa covers.

Peplum Raya

I've been good this year. I started my baju raya project in the midst of Ramadhan. Unlike last year and the year before last, I would have just started the kid's and my baju raya 2 days before Aidilfitri. The night before raya I would still be struggling to finish the clothes until wee morning. This year I am a bit relaxed as I am  more determined and I would say more organised. True what people say, it comes with being wiser (older!). 

I planned a simple traditional Malay kurung for myself and both girls. After watching videos on YouTube to get inspired, I bumped into an interesting and simple peplum video. Watdayaknow! It's actually very simple to sew peplum and to excite me more, I just had to use a stretchy material to omit the zippers. Simple!

I already had a jersey interlock I bought last year. First trial, I was in love. First thought, it would look lovely on the kids. And because I was determined and organised, I managed to sew for 2 nieces and a cousin. Whoa!

I also managed to amend old projects. It just takes a little effort to make things nicer. I wished I knew this earlier. Hah!

My first peplum, old long skirt project, all 7 skirts done and a trip to LSN for some advise and consolation. (It comes with purchase of accessories too!) 

The printed Italian cotton (just coincidentally designed by Emanuel Ungaro) and jersey interlock for the peplum top.

A matching purple fabric and design on the first day of Raya for my 2 lovelies. 

Long sleeve  and 'longer' peplum and a mermaid skirt.

A matching design - pinkish fabric on the 2nd day of Raya.

Capped sleeve and 'shorter' peplum with a double-tiered-gathered-hem skirt.

My niece Dina with my 2 year old Tia.

The finished skirts and peplum top.

My cousin Farah Ayna all the way in Penang.

Looking really sweet.

I like to smile

I have an attitude that I have to knock off when it comes to sewing. I get discouraged easily. There will be a point where I get all excited about sewing, start to sew and cut and sew and finally couldn't wait for the pieces to finish, I rush it out and make mistakes and get discouraged. Never mind getting discouraged, it had to come with a total halt and hibernation phase. The worst since started sewing, I don't really buy cloths. It just don't seem worth buying something I can sew. It makes me more thrifty, at the same time shirtless. Hah! The first is OK. The 2nd is quite depressing. No sewing and no more cloths. My husband don't believe me when I say I have no more cloths to wear. Men just don't get it I guess. Hehe. I've got to rant more. It does good to the soul.

Have a good day and puasa dear readers!

Rollypop's Chef uniform

My sister started her baking passion-turn-business a few years ago. She had gone from home business to a bakery store based just recently.  Quite an achievement. Sharing below her very creative creation.

 The Despicable Me minions

 Banana split - it's a real cake. No real banana involved

 Princess

Upin & Ipin 

So every baker needs a chef uniform right? Hmm..here's me doing a muslin so that it would fit. The actual uniform will be black BUT to this date it has not fit in perfectly yet. I have sewn with the actual fabric but because also this is my first time sewing a plus size top, its a bit of a challenge. By the way, the plus size button top kurung I sewn for mom which I destroyed does not count. Ngeehh.. Everything on the body fits perfectly fine. I just have to amend the armhole now. The remnants is not big enough for me to cut a new arm so was disappointed when the fabric store had all the colors under the sun of this material except black. How can that be?  This means this project will have to be put aside until I have the arm sorted out.

Every sister needs an Apron

 My sister shared this in her cake making page in FB.

This is what she said.

"This apron was designed by my sister , Nana Ghazali..quite creative she is ... She bought a pair of culottes (had to google how to spell that), cut it into 4 ..the upper front part, which was really nice, became a part of an apron for Aspara Rusli and I got the backside bit .... Cool eh? The kembang part at the bottom became part of dresses for her two daughters ..... She does all sorts of cool things like baby blankets, reusable cloth diapers etc .... baby slings, too!"

Lovely!

Bright Aidifiltri

This happened in September 2012. The whole Saad Clan planned to wear orange. So as always I was still busy sewing the night before our trip to Penang. I was happy with the fit and outcome....but the inside workmanship really need to be improved.

 My 4 year old looking pretty in this color. Never bought anything orange for the girls before. Peachy orange  is just nice.

My 1 year old posing diligently. That's me behind her in my masterpiece. A batik kembang payung sarong and a mid length kaftan just because it is the easiest to make. It's already becoming my uniform for Raya, just in different colours. I love the batik. The texture and finishing is actually really nice. Closer look you will see a 2 mm lines sewn diagonally. My sister bought this for me from Medan. She has a friend who makes a living selling these. Lovely!

Flower girl dresses

I sew this dresses for my friend in January. It was for her sister's wedding. After I had Tia, sewing projects were almost non existence. So I'm kinda thankful I had this excuse to sew. The material was provided by my friend, lovely embroidered cotton and the band is a 'baju melayu' limp fabric. The skirt is double layer box pleated with zippers at the back. I loved how it came out.

Below are the girls walking (berarak) with the bride and bridegroom (not in picture). One of the dress looks just a bit too tight. Well, measurement is very important. If given the right measurement it would have turned out better than good. :P But it's all right I guess. Most importantly my friend loved them all. Thank you, Jasmin and Ju.

OK ...in between my last post in July until today, I have successfully sewn a few things. So many things going on in between like having a baby on the 26th June, taking care of a toddler at the sametime, being in confinement for 30 days (hmm 30 days was all I could bear), Hari Raya Aidilfitri, back to work yadda yadda...

Just some pictures which I have...I didn't take any photos of the cushion cover which I sew for hubby's aunt. It was a joint effort with MIL. It turned out really well. Hmm now regret not taking it.

I also altered a kurung modern for my SIL and sew the kain silang for her. Definitely worth a whole post on it. Let's see if I can manage that in between a whole lot of other things.

I also made 2 curtains for the house. At the moment sadly it is still in the hugh plastic bag waiting for Mr Hubby to buy the railing, 3 months ago!! Homaigod, can someone just buy the railing for me to get this over and done with??

Owh did I mentioned I want to join the marathon, go swimming with the kids more often and cook more often.

This was intented to be a normal traditional baju kurung. But due to the smart mama here, the neck hole was too big hence the conversion to a modern top kurung. Added ruffles around the neck and a 1/4" string to tie a ribbon. I added the elastic around the wrist too so that it 'fits' the whole modern top concept. Mind you it was a day before Raya! When panic strikes, people do wonders...

This little 2 month old last August cutie pie on the other hand wears the cutest smile wearing moi handmade tiered dress.

My 3 y.o daughter and her 4 y.o cousin had a joint ballerina and princess (cake) birthday party last September. The last minute no sew (knotted) tutu was done an hour before the party starts. Their faces on that day wearing it was priceless.....happy little ballerinas....

Sewing make people happy...I love it!

Blue Diaper Stacker

I managed to finish this diaper stacker for a friend a few days before the birth of my darling DD. Not bad eh?



I decided that I wanted one for myself. Dah potong kain tapi tak sempat nak jahit sebelum the birth of DD. Hmm wonder if I will be able to finish it before I start working. Well see...

Baby Carrier : Pink Ring sling

GOOD NEWS!

I have delivered a healthy 3.34kg baby girl on the 26th of June 2011

via HOMEBIRTH

(if you are interested to read my natural, pain free, drug free homebirth birth story

you can read it here. Not yet updated though....I will soon!)

ANOTHER GOOD NEWS!

I managed to sew a ring sling baby carrier for myself a few days before the birth of my darling daughter. I love how it turns out.

Front : Added the floral print for decorative look and pocket.

The side. My 1st DD dah rasmikan dulu :)

The back


I did a pleated ring sling which turns out quite nice.
Followed a tutorial I got from the net but don't remember which one.

Strap dress

Whoaa...remember I was supposed to make the dress for the little one?

It's finally done. The material used are of the remnants of 3 projects.

Hah! Nice......

And the material used are identical to the one for I made for my DD. So can't wait to see them wear it together....:-)

Front. The size is 0-3 months. Instead of sleeves it turned out to be a strappy one.

Clear pink buttons and shortened the strap length using an elastic with zigzag stitches.

The two dresses waiting to be worn together.

Pink rabbits

Two little pink rabbits are waiting for the arrival of its owner...

Rabbits are my mother in laws specialty, she make pairs of these cuties for little newborns ...

Owner's Mummy can't wait to meet her too....anytime where you are ready Baby...:)

Baby carrier : Ring sling

Another fun project. The new addition Andy is growing well and getting heavier. This time his parents seriously needed help to carry him around. At 1 1/2 months he has grown more than 1 kg, not kind to the arm and back hehe So the solution was baby carrier and for ease and adjustability with the ever so fast growing Andy, a ring sling. I used the free pattern for Maya Ring Sling got from the net. And wallah a beautiful one indeed. Happy happy! I am going to make one for myself soon.

Front. The extra length is wrap under the ring to make it tidy. Nice! The extra length can also be used as breastfeeding cover if let go. 2 in 1. Love this!

Side

Back

Cloth Diaper Trial 1

I have been reseaching about cloth diaper since I had my first baby but never got around it. I only managed to buy one pocket diaper without any soakers and snappi but never used it. The ones sold outside was quite expensive. Especially the imported ones but pretty and cute non the less. It is very tempting but my reason for cloth diapering is to save $$$. Ermm honestly environment is secondary. I guess once I get the hang of it my stance might change but for now it is what it is (err sounding guilty here? hehe). Now that baby no 2 is coming just around the corner, I thought why not? And being able to sew this time around helps with the decision too.

With all the different kinds (prefold, contour, fitted, pocket, AIO, AI2 etc) I was confused and that didn't make it any easier with different materials to choose from. Where do I get these material as they are so specialised and not easily attained in Malaysia? After much research and advice from CD users, I got to know websites in Malaysia like Tiny Tapir, Facebook groups (preloved and CD making groups) and LampinKain to name a few.

I have come to easiest and most economical conclusion which is to make fitted, prefold and cover diapers for now. And to use flannel as my pilot project.

A friend recommended to use the online RRP free patern. Love it! Just for fun I also printed the Wee Weka free pattern, picked randomly.

The fitted diaper made from el cheapo flannel

Also made my version of extended prefold

I also purchased the snap press and resin snaps. I haven't install it on any of the CD because I don't know how it is going to fit or work with DD later. I didn't get the industrial heavy duty one since its just for my own use.

Wanted to add the snaps yesterday but just couldn't do it. Need more courage and thinking I guess. Afraid that it will be less adjustable. How how? Hehe

An addition to the LC clan with love

What can be more beautiful and satisfying than a month old boy having a sweet dream and smiling on the comfy blanket sewn by his aunt! Gorgeous baby!

Some update

Just add a bit here...I already finished an apron for my sister...
Will update soon once i get the picture..how can I forget to take the picture myself?? oh well..I guess I am caught up with stuff and just too distracted...

And also I am in the midst of sewing a dress for the little one....
And some new project - cloth diaper for the little one...yeay!

So much to do....will update soon!

Rag blanket

So, this is what I have been up to lately. Other than work and going away on an outstation trip for work at 7 months preggy, yes yes...I was busy with this. Constructing my very first quilting project and a rag blanket for my soon to arrive nephew. Anytime soon.....I used flannel on both sides. I used 4 long quarters that makes up to about 1 metre of 4 different flannel design and for the back I only had white plain flannel. So I added the different thread colour straight stitch around which makes up 6 squares.

The helpful tutorial.

This project is great for a first timer as it does not require a perfect seam and a bit messy is acceptable because it won't show after the clipping and washing is done to fray the sides.

I cut the front and back 10" square and laid them out to make sure all the squares are in place and pin each one together.

This is how it looks close up after stitching, clipping and fraying is done.

An even closer look above.

Since the back was plain I added the straight stitch in different thread colour. Total of 6 squares of different sizes.

I had to stitch each 10" squares separately and when I sew them together, the lines didn't really match. La la la la la....I wish I can say it was meant to be. :P

Lastly a bit on work, I dragged hubby and daughter with me to Terengganu for work. Thanks to both my lovely dearies for the support, understanding and love to accompany a 7 months preggy mommy 500km away from home. You notice Nia wearing the Pinafore dress peeping at me at the back through the mirror. How can I not adore this little person.

And can't help asking her to pose at the hotel balcony wearing the flowery yellow blouse.