Monthly Archives: July 2010

In polka dot fashion

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It is finally finished!!! Actually, Mum helped me out during most of the sewing. And she agreed that for a simple dress like this, we had so many obstacles along the way. *shakes head* There were many times when I just wanted to give up but a small part of me knew that I couldn’t just leave a piece of garment unfinished like that. I don’t really like creating UFOs. :P

Anyway, I sewed this dress to compliment Arianna’s birthday dress. Arianna has a full flaired dress while KR’s is only half flaired. We didn’t think it would matter that KR had only a lesser flaired dress coz she isn’t really walking and it really wouldn’t make a difference, hence the half flair.

KR's polka dot dress
This is the first time I sewed a square neckline and I think it turned out quite alright. :)

Now I can safely say that the girls dresses are COMPLETELY done and ready for Arianna’s birthday party next Sunday. There will be a couple of children here to liven up the party. But because we have one of those electric grills that Mum bought recently, we’ll have to make sure we keep a close eye on the kids. We all know how excited they can get with other kids around! :P

These vintage babies are coming home with me!

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The main reason I first got my sewing machine was because I wanted to sew linen ie. sheets, pillowcases, blankets, doona covers, etc. But somehow along the way, I’ve suddenly realised that those are the things which I have yet to sew for ourselves! :P I’ve sewn a few cushion covers for Sis for her birthday but that was it. Nothing for us just yet….weird eh?

So when I came across these precious vintage linen because they remind me of my childhood, I knew that I had to have a few for the girls. After all, these are all older than me!!! It’s more like antique now. LOL These are the ones that I blogged about not too long ago. Some were not yet sewn up while others were ready to go but still in their covers. :P Anyway, I’ve sewn 5 today and I’m mighty proud to say that FINALLY, I’ve sewn some pillowcases for US. ^.^ There are 3 Mickey/Pluto ones (different on both sides) and 2 Snoppy ones. I’ll be leaving a few for Sis of course – she can’t sew for nuts but can cook up a mean meal!! We’re special like that….now, on to the outcome :

Vintage pillow case - Pluto & Snoopy
The Pluto pillowcase is on one side…..

CIMG0063
And this on the other side. :)

I reckon Arianna will be loving the pillowcases so much she won’t let me change it!! *lol*

Stuffed it up again! :(

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Aaahhh…what’s new eh? Once again, I’ve stuffed up the (simple) dress I was sewing for KR. :( I was so close to finishing it when Mum realised that I made a MAJOR mistake…..and now I’ve got to unpick the whole bodice out, re-do the gathers and then sew the bodice back!! Mum doesn’t really trust me to fix it and has volunteered to repair the damages for me. :P I never say no to help. *lol*

But the thing is….she doesn’t know the mess that I’ve actually done underneath it all! Hehehehe…..as I’ve mentioned before, other than the fact that the back of any garment I sew looks like a warzone, they also tend to give you the worst migraine ever if you tried to correct it. I’ve got pins and thread in every angle possible, Mum will need her bifocal safety glasses to rectify this one. :P

Arianna’s dress is done and I’ll be putting up some modeled shots of it soon coz I can’t wait for her birthday party to take some pix of it. :P And then, after that I’ll have to help Mum clear the ‘mess’ I made…….*sigh*

Be gone, you daggy maternity wear!

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Easy for me to say but it’s true. Ever noticed how fashionable maternity wear is these days? I’m truly amazed at some of the outfits you can get in the stores. You’re so spoilt for choice coz you have online stores to check out as well! Life must be really hard for shopperholics in this day and age! *lol*

For me, this is baby #3 and I’ve got loads of maternity wear at the moment from previous pregnancies. Mostly are RTW ones but Mum sewed me many maternity tops as well as a gorgeous dress. I was meant to take pix of them while taking a break from my green study BUT during that break, I got distracted and went onto FB instead! :P

A recently conversation with another pregnant galpal confirmed my thoughts – no more daggy* maternity wear please!! I reckon that since I’ve been sewing so much for the kids, I might indulge myself and sew me a nice and simple maternity top which I can still wear after bub comes along. I think these kind of tops are excellent for nursing and *fingers crossed* we will past the 8 months mark this time.

*Australian slang for unfashionable, especially from a young person’s point of view

Up the twirl factor please, Mum!

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I can’t believe how long it takes me these days to complete ONE garment! :P But I reckon this dress took just a fraction of the time I took to complete the smocking dresses. :)

Anyway, I’ve finally completed Arianna’s birthday dress. We (Mum & I) decided that girls this age love twirly dresses and hence, we came up with this pattern. Bear in mind that I am utterly useles without my pattern book and because of that, it took me ages to complete this dress because I was depending on Mum to help me out. :P Yes, I’m utterly useless like that! That’s why she told me straight up to go get patterns for making work shirts for Ted…..despite the fact that she already has a pattern all cut up and ready with his measurements. She knows me far too well! lol :P

Well, enough talk…this is the finished product :

Arianna's 3rd birthday dress
Note that the skirt is really flaired so she is so going to love it. Actually, I had her try it on a few days ago and she refused to take it off. :P But I knew better and tricked her into taking it off while she was watching TV. *lol*

The other thing which I found hard to sew was the fabric itself. It was such a PITA!!!!! It’s sort of silky and smooth, just like your baju kurung material – just to give you an idea what I have to work with. Mum says that if I can pull this off…I’m more than half way ‘there’. What’s ‘there’? I don’t know but I’ll find out! :P

TFL….

Walk down memory lane : Vintage sheets

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I recently subscribed to a website which talks mainly about (whaddaya know) fabric called True Up and recently, they did a post on vintage sheets and I was so pleasantly surprised to see something familiar… :) Although I’m not REALLY into vintage fabric and the sort, it was nice to see that something familiar.

Noticed that they featured Snoopy sheets? Well, Mum actually still has them and I couldn’t resist the temptation to take a couple of shots of it! :)

The following are Snoopy pillow cases :

Vintage pillow cases - Snoopy

Vintage pillow cases - Snoopy
This one was fresh out of it’s plastic cover. ;)

Vintage pillow cases - Snoopy
Note : The edges are frayed because it hasnt been sewn up yet – yes, it’s still NEW!

Snoopy sheets :

Vintage sheets - Snoopy

Donald & Daisy Duck sheets :

Vintage Sheets - Donald & Daisy Duck

I reckon Mum has some Mickey Mouse sheets and pillow cases lying around but I haven’t got to digging them out or knowing if she does have them. Will have to corner her one day and ask her….these sheets really do bring back loads of childhood memories because I used to love Snoopy and to have sheets and pillowcases of them was like a dream come true! :)

I’ll be taking some pillow cases back (sewn hopefully) for the girls so that they too can enjoy it albeit it being vintagey. :) I reckon they might have to wrestle Ted for it coz he’s just hopelessly in love with Snoopy till today!! *lol*

And this next pillowcase is a special one :

Homemade printing when I was six & sis was 1
Mum printed this pillow cases herself for us when I was 6 and sis was 1….yes, it’s been a long time since it got some light but I’m glad that Mum is still keeping this. :)

So, do you still have any of the sheets you used to have as a kid? If you do, drop me a link. :) I’d love to check it out!

O dear…..

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Hhhmmm….Looks like I might be in a bit of trouble with the man. :/ I think he very nearly had a stroke to find out that I had my giveaway win arrive in the mail in the MORNING and then after spending a long day at work, and coming home after 9pm, he found another haul of fabric on our doorstep! *lol*

He is not a very happy camper…I reckon he thinks that I’ve gone on a shopping spree. Heh….will have to tell him tomorrow that these are more destashing sales which are normally very cheap. I think it’s the size of the parcels that are scaring him more than anything. Poor thing….

Can’t wait for him to fly over in a few weeks time. Not only do the girls and I miss him so much, he really does deserve a break after all that extra shifts and work he’s been putting in since we left for Malaysia.

Update on ze flair dress

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A couple of posts ago I mentioned that I’ve decided to take on another challenge which is to sew Arianna a flair dress for her birthday. Mum reckons she’ll get a kick out of it as the twirl factor is very high, say 9.5/10! *lol* I actually abandoned it for awhile because I lost my sewjo and got distracted with all the recons I was doing and then followed by all those Show & Tell posts as well.

But tonight, Mum gave me a kick in the butt to get me moving along again and I tell you, all you need is to get the machine started and you’re off! I got so hooked on sewing that I forgot time. *lol* This is pretty much what happens to me back home. I get so engrossed that I forget the time only to look up and it’s like 2am in the morning! >.<

Anyway, the reason as to why it takes me ages to complete and losing my interest so quickly is because I'm unlike Mum in more ways than one. The most apparent reason is that she sews base on her own pattern and drafts. Sometimes it's all up in the head that she doesn't really need a pattern at all! Me? I sew by pattern and without it, I feel lost and not knowing the end result of it really puts me off sewing here coz sadly, I don't really have a very imaginative mind. :(

My initial pattern for the dress had sleeves but I've gone past that and it will be sleeveless now. And what was suppose to have ric-rac will now be bias-binding. *lol* The pattern changes as we go along...how terrible are we???

Anyhoo, tonight I'm glad that I've completed all the pieces with the OL and just now I've just finished attaching the bias-binding. Tomorrow, with any luck, the dress SHOULD be completed. :P ANd then I can move on to KR's dress...after that, I think I'll be taking a temp hiatus till we get home. I miss my sewing machine!!!!

Ps. Did I mention that this fabric is such a PITA*????

*Pain In The A$$

I’m the fabric sale stalker

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I’ve come to the conclusion that YES, I am a fabriholic. *sigh* Isn’t that the first step to recovery and rehabilitation? The admission that one is addicted to something? But sadly, this is the kind of addiction that just gets worst by the day! *lol* I remember seeing this article about identifying a fabriholic…it’s so true, it’s FREAKY! When I forst posted that, I scored a 4/11…now I think I’m at a 5/11! >.< Not good.....

Anyway, recently a couple of my mama friends have had destash sales and I've been literally stalking their sales blog. I don't ever remember stalking a blog like this before, even when I was in search for the best acne treatment in town! I’ve always had acne problems since I was a kid so I was always on the lookout for something that would help treat it and mind you, searching and stalking sites for free samples became a daily routine for me.

Anyhoo, I’ve bought a few patterns and a fair bit of fabric. Ted is so going to get a stroke when the parcels coming a-piling! *lol* I actually have a few coming by coz I’ve also been shopping at my forum. :P So I have approximately 2 parcels on the way. Heh.

For this part, I can’t wait to go home and check all the stuff out. So exciting but at the same time, I don’t wanna go home yet!!!! O, hey…did I mention that I’m expecting a fabric haul of Japanese cotton in the mail anytime soon???? I can’t wait! :P