Piggies galore!

Posted on July 26, 2010 by Mabel

Sewing is much more gratifying than knitting – at least that’s the case for someone like me who is struggling with knitting projects more than her sewing and spinning WIPs. I lack stamina when it comes to these things plus it’s always so hot that there never seems to be a good enough reason to knit.

I had initially planned to work on these soft plushies over the weekend but a bout of food poisoning left me too tired out; in fact, I’m still battling the aftermath but it’s getting better despite going on medical leave today.

One thing I discovered about sewing up toys is that it uses up a good amount of leftover fabric that I have in my stash, which is good news for Nil as he often remarks on how my stash of fabric never seems to go down. Oddly enough, he never says anything about how it never goes UP. Gah.

Anyway, after a nice afternoon nap to recover, some Prevera reviews and a trip to the babysitter’s to pick Eva up at the usual time, I spent the night relaxing in front of the sewing machine and churned out two rather cute little piggies in under two hours. Only thing left to go around the eyes, nose and mouth – no buttons here as they are meant for kiddies – plus to cut out more fabric combinations to make more piggies.

Heck, I won’t be surprised if we get a piggie invasion over the next few days! LOL!

More additions to the fabric stash!

Posted on July 24, 2010 by Mabel

In the form of fat quarters and half meters, that is.

In an effort to cut back on my fabric stash, I have inadvertently added to it. I’m planning on sewing up some plushies and had to hunt down some chenille, fleece as well as some fat quarters in green. So before my food poisoning episode came, I made some time from all the usual stuff I do online (hcg diet reviews, etc) and offline to hop on over to Spotlight with Eva in tow.

Not a great idea because an hour after lunch, my stomach aches got worse and Eva got fussier. By the time I was done with the shopping, I was pretty much dying and even Nil remarked that I looked awfully pale. Instead of going with him to meet his friend, I took my shopping and myself home (he got to spend some time with Eva instead). Heck, even the cab driver noted that I was tired because I fell asleep in the cab!!!

Anyway, that aside, I managed to score some ivory and brown chenille – no black unfortunately – together with some skin colour felt and other fabrics that I think will look great as part of a toy. They didn’t have fleece in the colours that I wanted and no plain flannel so I ended up with wool felt instead. I figure it should be just fine.

I think I shall start prepping for my sewing projects once my tummy gets better. Hopefully it’ll be by tomorrow. *sigh*

Eva’s first DIY dress

Posted on July 9, 2010 by Mabel

The Reversible Pinafore
Fabric | 100% cotton (Spotlight and Etsy)
Pattern | The Reversible Pinafore from MakeMePrettyDesigns

For a while, I’m been tempted to make something other than blankets, bibs and small items but I always held myself back because I wasn’t too sure how the quality would turn out. But after a while, I decided to try anyway; after all, you’ll never know until you try. So think of this more as a prototype (did you know that even wrinkle creams have them, eg prototype 37c?).

After hunting around the Internet for a few patterns, I settled for one by the above Etsy seller since they looked pretty lovely and simple. She had a bundle set option so I got that and after shopping around for some fabric combinations, I started work on it. It was a pretty fast pattern to work on – I was done in under three hours from cut to finish.

I opted for a snap finish instead of buttons because I haven’t quite mastered sewing buttonholes using my sewing machine; the last time I tried it, it was a disaster so I wasn’t really up to the task again. I used the KAM snaps I bought last year for the shop and it turned out awesome! I let Eva try it on the next day and while it was a little roomy, as expected since it’s size 12 months, it looks nice on her, especially when she has pants on. (I should take an “action” shot soon!)

Now that this is done, I’m quite tempted to sew up more designs in the other fabrics that I’ve purchased. In a way, I’m glad that I did this – my mum made a few dresses for me when I was growing up and it’s something that I would like to do for my own daughter now that I think about it. So yes, do look forward to more outfit-related goodies!

My first DIY mei tai!

Posted on April 16, 2010 by Mabel

DIY Mei Tai
Fabric | Cotton drill (Spotlight), regular cotton fabric (IKEA), fleece (for padding)
Pattern | Mei Tai tutorial

I was supposed to blog about this earlier but got caught up with a lot of other things, namely housechores, groceries, picking Eva up from the babysitter, house-hunting and so forth. Still, I surprised myself by finishing this quite quickly once I sat down to it. I had been slowly working on it on an on-off basis and often blamed it on my lack of sewing mojo (sometimes I think my sewing mojo needs some form of insurance like an NC health insurance). Well, no more!

When I first started off this project, my sewing machine was already a little clunky. Then halfway through when I was putting the fleece together with the drill, it died on me. I went through a few breaks in the thread before it finally came to a halt. So off it went to the doc’s – well, he’s just a guy with a stall at the market near my place – and the prognosis was quite grim. The machine needs to be serviced, it’s been a while and well, it’ll take a couple of days and I’ll let you know the cost. For a moment there, I thought he was going to tell me that it would cost an arm and leg, but no, it turned out to be an affordable $60. Well-worth it consider that the machine hasn’t gone for servicing since the 80s!

After I got it back, I could tell that there was a lot of difference to how it ran – smoother and definitely quieter! But I didn’t really get to work on it often as Eva was going through some teething-related sticky bouts and my nights were more for relaxing instead of sewing (*shifty eyes*). So it sat in one corner and finally saw the light again when Eva started going to the babysitter. Before I knew it, I was very close to the end of it all.

Then it happened.

I broke THREE needles try to put the hood strap loops onto the straps! All that padding and folded killed three needles before finally submitting to a leather needle. Of course I had to go ultra slow as well. But yes, three needles! *shakes head* But when it was done, I realized another mistake I made. I sewed the hood straps on the wrong end of the hood!!!! ARGH! After more ripping, or rather snipping, I did some simple zigzag sewing and voila, it looked right and proper again!

Eva and I tested it out once she got back and I tried front as well as back carry. Found back carry to be a little strange and I suspect I still need time to adjust to the weight on my back instead of in the front like how I’ve been carrying Eva all this while. But hey, I wore her with this when my parents were around and found it surprisingly airy despite the hot and humid conditions here. It’d be perfect for European weather though as drill cotton is quite thick. I would sew it better the next time and am even tempted to make the Japanese version called the Onbuhimo which has two rings at the waist instead of a waist strap. One annoying thing about mei tais though – storing them with those long straps! Still, at least now, we’ve got a back-front carry carrier that works for Nil and myself! w00t!

Picking up the pieces again…

Posted on December 7, 2009 by Mabel

…well, almost.

Just earlier this morning, I decided that it was time to dust off those WIPs in hibernation and put my knitting needles to good use. Nil had remarked that I switch hobbies far too often and bemoaned the status of my non-moving yarn which we paid to move here together with all our stuff. Heh. Okay okay, I get the drift. I need to kick myself in knitting again.

So I took a look at my Rav project page and decided on what WIPs to bring out of hibernation and such. One the list was my Ivy wrap which has been on hibernation for a longgggg time. I managed to make some headway with it towards the end of my pregnancy but alas, fell short of the finish line. So this time, I was determined to finish it by hook or crook.

Now, I was about to start working on my Ivy wrap when a rather large-ish order for crochet booties came in. So once again, it’s KIV…for now. I’m hoping to be able to work in a few rows in the evenings. The plan is to work on the shop items (booties and sewing) while Eva takes her afternoon naps and reserve my evenings for time with Nil and doing my other hobbies like knitting, spinning and sewing up non-shop items like my quilts. Hopefully this plan works out…

*keeps fingers crossed*

This time, it’s blue.

Posted on June 12, 2009 by Mabel

Before I get to the real subject at hand, I need to ask – are external (and/or portable) hard disk better than flash memory stores? My external hard disk is nearly full and my flash memory drives are, well, full as well. So which is preferable?

While my current project is in the works – I’m awaiting for some dye-setting solution to come since one of the fabrics bleeds a little and I don’t fancy my ivory borders turning lilac or lavender (light purple) – this came in the mailbox. YAY for the postman! I ordered these a while back since someone on Facebook remarked that I don’t seem to have any fabrics in cold colours. Now I just need to complete my stash with some green! LOL.

The fabrics are one yard each and of course, 100% cotton from a variety of producers/designers. I actually love the Japanese/Asian print even though Nil finds it a bit tad too much – it goes perfectly with the blue and violet co-ordinates. I’m planning to do a strip pattern with these colours but the fabric set isn’t complete – am in the middle of expecting another two to three yards in purple co-ordinates to come in the mail.

Anyway, I won’t get started on these fabrics until I reach Singapore so chances are it’ll just be sitting in my stash till then. Won’t even think about the quilt top pattern in detail and such.

WIP: Sample Log Cabin square

Posted on June 6, 2009 by Mabel

It’s past Week 33 now and I’m almost ready for Eva’s arrival with the purchase of baby items (disposable diapers, baby wipes, stroller, car seat, etc) and nursing items (nursing bra, nursing top, nursing pads, etc) plus hospital stay stuff (nightie, going-home outfit for Eva, etc) completed – well, as complete as you’ll ever get considering that we’ll be moving to Singapore soon after her birth.

Packing-wise, I’ve started packing up my stash or at least organizing them neatly in vacuum-packed ziplock bags to save on the space. I reckon a couple of boxes every few days would suffice. As mentioned earlier, the knitting, crochet and spinning has stopped for now so soon the wheel and loom will be dismantled and packed up for storage.

The only hobby left which doesn’t put a strain on my big belly of 110 cm (and growing) is sewing. I’m awaiting the final addition to my current stash (once it arrives, I’ll grab a pic of it) but just so you know, I’ve already started piecing the blocks for Quilt #4 while watching some good ole’ Murder She Wrote episodes topped off with Mind Your Language – oldies are always goodies! It’s a super fun block really – didn’t know Log Cabin blocks could be such fun.

I’ve taken to putting the reds on one side of the blocks and the tans on another side before surrounding it with a white border. At the moment, I’m stopping at the end of the colour strips because I have yet to cut 160 strips of white cloth. Talk about lack of patience and such. But I’ll surely get to that in time…or when I do finish up these 40 log cabin blocks! *beams*

Quilt #3: Blocks & Squares

Posted on June 5, 2009 by Mabel

Quilt #3: Blocks & Squares
Width | Approx 127 cm
Length | Approx 183 cm
Pattern details | Cotton squares & strips from fabric from Mondial Tissue & other sources, alternate colour schematics
Batting | None
Backing | 100% wide width cotton fabric from Textile Ambience
Binding | Single fold tape from leftover fabric used in blocks

Yes, my blankets are getting bigger and bigger…

I love how this turned out – we picked a dark blue border material for the backing as well as the border. For a moment I was apprehensive because of how the red tone seemed more prominent than blue, but after putting on the border strips, everything just fell into place. Add that with the binding – I chose the red multi-coloured fabric my mother-in-law gave me and made the binding with the aid of a binding tape maker – and it turned out just right.

Instead of folding this and using it only as a lap or sofa blanket (I tried napping with this as a blanket and it’s warm enough…so luckily I didn’t put in any batting otherwise I would be steaming underneath it!), Nil thought that we would cover our sofa bed with this, and as you can see, it added plenty of colour and interest to a dull computer room. His inspiration? My mother-in-law. She does this with ALL the patchwork blankets and quilts that she has – covers sofas and chairs with them.

Anyway, now that this is done, I’ll back to cutting up strips for my next quilt. Hopefully I’ll be able to complete the squares before the birth. I plan to finish the whole blanket in Singapore but who knows? If I work fast, I might just be finished with it earlier!