Applique Project - Progress II

I'm happy to say that I'm done with sewing the applique...phew! The daisies seems intimidating to sew so I started sewing what I thought was the hardest, little cute daisies. I drew the lines first before stitching, just so I can get the exact looking daisies. Everything went well minus this one daisy that I had to unpicked twice! 

The stems supposed to be the easiest to sew but somehow I ended up unpicking the stitches several times. You can see the unraveled stems and my uh.......'shivering' stitches :P. 

Never thought that I could sew those small circles. When I saw the tutorial I thought it was impossible to sew something that small. But I just do it & did it! Yea :D

The whole flower bouquet.

Next thing to do is to add batting to the back and maybe sew piping along the corners. I'll update on that when it's fully done soon.

Have a nice day :)

Tree Plushie Tutorial

Here's another repurpose project that was made on Earth day last week. If you're still scratching your head thinking what to craft on weekend, well go ahead and try out this easy tree plushie tutorial. If you have some unwanted old shirts and too stingy to use your precious felts :D, then this project is perfect for you. T-shirt is a stretchable material that won't fray, so it is suitable for making plush toys. No measurement is needed so you can make your tree to the size that you wish.

What you need:
- old t-shirt (green & brown colour)
- poly-fill
- embroidery floss (any colour of your choice)
- black felt
- needle & thread 

Here's how to make one:

1. Draw the foliage using a washable marker on green t-shirt. Pin the shirt layers together and cut along the drawn lines. Place the 'foliage' on top of brown shirt. Draw the shape of a trunk. Pin and cut the brown trunk.

2.  Mark the curvy line of the foliage that overlaps the bark. Cut off the extra material above the curvy line. Add 'texture' to the bark by drawing some lines or semicircles as shown. Embroider the lines with your favourite colour thread & stitches of your choice.

3. Mark the points where the top edge of the bark meets the foliage. Mark both layers of foliage. Put aside one layer of foliage & bark. Draw the eyes & mouth on the other foliage with a pencil. Cut black felt into two small circle for the eyes and stitch in place. Embroider the 'smile' with a black embroidery floss.

4. On the wrong side of the materials, hold together the center point where the foliage meets the bark. Pin together both materials. Hand stitch the layers together. (1/4" - 1/2" seam allowance). The right side will look as the above picture. Repeat the step for the other layers of foliage & bark.

5. Sandwich the two layers together with right sides facing. Pin the layers together. Sew along the tree perimeter, leaving a few inches opening at the bottom of the bark for turning. Turn the tree right side out and stuff it with poly-fill. Sew shut the opening with a slip stitch and you're done!

Enjoy your weekend :)

Robot Plushie

What happens when a robot that is hard as steel turned into a softie?

I made this lumpy robot more than a week ago using stretch polyester pants. The owner is my little nephew. I just randomly cut the material to make the body parts - two simple squares and limbs which to me is the robot's special feature. The hands was inspired from crab's claw & legs. The mouth has a small pocket to hide things ;). Even though I was eyeballing the measurements and pattern, I'm glad that robot turned out looking cute.

Finished size: 23.5" (height: from head to toe) X 9" (body width) X 3.5" (depth)

If you're wondering how I made robot give a 'peek a boo' pose, for sure nothing mechanical involved.....it's purely head pins pinned in between the hands and face. I made the animated gif  at Makeagif.

Here are more robot's cute poses:

 

"Say aaaaaaaa.........."

My lumpy back.

I've crafted something on earth day & I'll be posting a 'earth day inspired' tutorial soon. So keep on checking my blog.

Enjoy your weekend!

Applique Project - Progress I

Tadaaaa.......a quicky update:

I just cut those applique fabric pieces a few hours ago. Cutting was a breeze but it took me some time to choose the colours. I use interfacing for my appliques as I don't have any fusible web. So each pieces will be glued to the background using fabric glue. Now I just need to find the glue.....it's hiding somewhere :P Can't wait to sew them together.

It's Earth Day today, so Happy Earth Day!

This year's theme is  'A Billion Acts of Green'. Read more at Earth Day Network.

Lets Go Green!

MyBotang Sew Along - Applique Project

Beautiful eh? This applique project is by Kajsa from Syko. I thought it would look nice hanging somewhere near my sewing nook, so I'm joining Mybotang's 2nd sew along. Yipeeee! (an enthusiastic one of course:D)

Now I need to print the PDF pattern and read through the step by step instructions from Sew Mama Sew.

Project time-line (copy paste from Mybotang as a reminder for me :)

1. Print pattern, instruction and choose fabrics - 11 - 17 April (1 week)

2. Trace, iron on fabric and cut - (Instruction 1-2 on instruction page) - 18 - 24 April (1 week)

3. Arrange on background fabric and iron -  (Instruction 3-4 on instruction page) - 25 April - 1 May (1 week)

4. Appliqué the pieces -  (Instruction 6 -7 on instruction page) - 2 - 8 May (1 week) 

Hop on the bandwagon.....the more the merrier :)

Vintage 70's Malay Recipe Book

Here's something old and interesting to share. This coverless book was part of my moms recipe collections. Titled 'Masakan Lauk2 Dan Kue' it was published in 1970 and  well, it's not that old but what I like about it is the retro style drawings. Written by Che' Amah Tain, there is a variety of traditional Malay recipes ranging from main dishes to cakes and desserts. 

The text were written in old Malay (Bahasa Melayu) spelling, just two years before the 'spelling reform'. During that period of spelling reform, publishers were allowed to dispose of their old book stocks and to publish revised editions in the new spelling. This book looks like it was independently published so maybe a revised version of it does not exist. But if you happened to own one, do let me know.

While I was flipping through the pages, I noticed that the recipes are pretty much similar to the modern version of what we now call classic Malay recipes. Some even have funny recipe names :)

Pulut Dansing = Dancing Sticky Rice :)

If you're from the state of Kedah, you might find this recipe similar to Pulut Dakap. I guess that's what they call it back then. For this particular recipe, banana is encased in sticky rice and then wrapped in banana leaves. Two parcels are tied together & then steamed till cooked. You can find a version of this recipe at My Resepi.

Lepat is a Malay dessert wrapped in banana leaves. This recipe has little ingredients, but not that simple to make as there are some steps involved in making it.

Take a peek at a version of this recipe at My Resipi.

This is a Malay version of bread pudding recipe. Using coconut milk instead of regular cow's milk adds a creamy tropical flavour. Pandan leaves are used as flavouring. I'm not sure about 2 cups of sugar stated in the recipe. I bet it gonna taste darn sweet! 

My favourite bread pudding recipe is from Allrecipes.com

'Kueh Ma'mor' or biskut Makmur is similar to the western version of  Mexican Wedding Cakes & Snowball cookies. The most important ingredient is the 'butter ghee' & you cannot substitute it with other fat. This is my all time favourite cookie.

Images & retro drawings from the book:

This drawing is my favourite.....so retro.

I bet some of you Malaysian might have a copy of this book or maybe some other older cook books hiding in your store room. You'll never know unless you do some spring cleaning & you'd be surprised with all the treasures that you can find.

Have a beautiful Friday :)

Briefcase Clutch

I was in the midst of sewing a patchwork bag when this idea of making a briefcase-like-clutch came to my mind. Instantly, I started sketching and figuring out the size for this clutch. Then off I went rummaging through a pile of garbage......well, actually a bag of old clothing. Finally, I found an old jumper with newspaper & comic design. Based on the sketch and material in hand, the look changes slightly as I used the existing jumper's straps for clutch's closure.

I only used the pants part and the straps to make this briefcase clutch. There are pockets on both sides of the clutch which was formerly the jumper's side slant pockets.

For the lining, I used navy gingham. In between the fabrics I added batting for some structure and hand quilted the lining's flap closure.

Free buttons from the old jumper. Yea!

Here's the handle. The most important feature that gives it a briefcase look.....minus the fabric design of course:D. Now the clutch looks playful & childish. Maybe next time I'll work on fabric with solid or geometric patterns. I hope I can finish sewing the other bag. Still can't decide on the shape yet.

Finished size: 9 1/2" (l) X 7 1/4" (h) X 2" (d)

Happy sewing & see you soon.

Tea Time Coaster Tutorial

I have this little fabric scraps leftover from making the reversible bucket bag and I thought of making something useful out of it. Something easy and simple to whip. A coaster would be perfect indeed!

Materials needed:
- small amount of fabric scraps for making two 4 1/2" square
- one 4 1/2" square batting
- some scraps for making cup & saucer quilt.
- embroidery floss & needle

Here's how to make one:

1. The finished size is 4" X 4". Draw a square measuring 4 1/2". Sketch a cup and saucer & write 'tea time' on top of it. Hooray...you've just made your template. 

2. Place the scrapes on top of the template until it covers the whole square. When you're satisfied with the layout, sew each pieces together. Now you have a wonky square. * Make sure the size is bigger than 4 1/2" square.

3. Trace a 4 1/2" square using your template. If you own those fancy measuring & cutting tools, use that instead.:) Cut along the drawn lines.

4. Now that you have a neat square, make another one. I'm liking the look of this crazy patchwork.

5. Since this is a scrap busting project, I used leftover batting from previous project. Lay batting to the back of the fabric. Sew the pieces together along the perimeter of the square. Trim off the excess batting.

6. Now we're going to work on the cup & saucer applique. Draw a cup on your fabric of choice about the same size as the one on the template. A rough sketch would do & imperfection is accepted. :) You will have to make separate cut out of the cup, handle, saucer & an oval shape( for the tea inside the cup). Arrange the cut outs on your template.

 

7. Once you're satisfied with the layout, lay them on the patchwork square.Take out the cup and the oval shape. Pin or baste the saucer & handle in place. Sew along the perimeter of the cup & handle using a simple straight stitch. Then put back the cup & oval shape and sew along the perimeter of each pieces.
Write 'tea time' on top of the cup & saucer using pencil or washable marker. Embroider the word as neat as you can. Mine was a quicky, not perfectly sewn 'tea time'.

8. Place the 2nd patchwork square on top of the quilted one with right sides facing. Stitch a 1/4" seam around the edge. Leave a small opening for turning.

9. Trim the corners & turn right side out. Whip stitch the opening close. If you fancy a neat looking coaster, press it with an iron & top stitch around the edges. That's it! Now your cup can sit on a cool coaster.

Enjoy your cuppa tea :)
Lipton is my all time favourite.