Friday, January 28, 2011

Been busy

Lunar new year is round the corner and I've been busy making a skirt and top for myself, and a shirt for hubby.

This is my skirt! More pictures will be flashed later~ :)




Saturday, January 22, 2011

New fabrics in the house

Made a trip down town (15mins drive) today to get fabric for my Lunar New Year top, and I came home with fabricS instead.

Here's what I bought:


Left - off white knit
Center - japanese kawaii fortune cat prints cotton
Right - off white linen cotton

6 metres of fabrics for under SGD50. :)

Monday, January 17, 2011

Bunny Banner (with simplified tutorial)

2 weeks to Chinese New Year! I made a bunny banner to welcome the year of the Rabbit! (read more about chinese zodiac here.)


Here's what I did. 

1. Draw the rabbit - I used a compass to draw 1 circle for the body, another smaller circle for the head, folded the paper into half, then freehand for the ears to get even ears. Next, still folded, round up the rabbit's neck (you can see m pencil mark on the right next), cut out the rabbit.

2. Cut the fabric - Pin the rabbit cut out onto your fabric (I used white felt), cut 2 pieces. 

3. Optional step - Applique or hand sew your design onto one fabric. 
4. Pin 2 fabrics together (wrong sides), sew along the perimeter. You can decide on the seam allowance. I used about 1/4 inch.

5. Trim the edges a little to make it look nicer and you are almost done. 


6. Find something circular, with a flat base, of suitable thickness. I used the back of my pen. :) Dip it into some fabric paint, dot the eyes and nose/mouth. So sorry, I got too excited and forgot to take a picture! =D

7. Repeat steps 2-6 until you have enough rabbits! I made 5 hearts to accompany my rabbits. You can make it too. Draw a heart shape, then follow steps 2-6.

8. Last step, I used a thick thread to connect the bunnies and hearts. In and out and in and out and in and out... note where the thread goes to get the right balance because the rabbit will keep looking at the floor if it is threaded too low.

There! My bunny banner!  ♥♥♥♥


Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Spoonflower


Have you heard of Spoonflower? If you are in for something customised/unique, Spoonflower will probably make you happy. It's a place for you to design and print your own fabrics! Depending on the type of fabric, a yard will cost between $18 and $32.  What's more? You can also shop for fabrics designed by others.

I'm sooooo excited!

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Sewing Resolution 2011

There is this nagging thought to blog whenever dusts start settling down here.

Thank you for staying with me!

Year 2010 got me sewing again. I made a few dresses, bags/pouches, baby gifts...

Year 2011, I want to...
- Create dresses/skirts with my own pattern
- Make dresses/tops with store bought pattern
- Make some shorts
- Clock 200 sewing hours (that's about 4hrs weekly)

With plans to get a new job, these should be enough for 2011. :)

Do you have a sewing resolution too?


Sunday, January 2, 2011

Brother 3034D

Remember the post on my new addition? I found time to explore it a little on Christmas eve in the midst of packing my terribly messed up sewing nook (so that my guests that evening wouldn't drop their jaws at that ugly sighting). Well, I unloaded 2 boxes of fabrics and loaded it into the wardrobe. Then I decided I needed something prevent dust from settling on my fabrics. And the patchwork blocks made 5 years ago called out to me immediately. 

I jumped at the chance to serge the blocks together! :)) Let the pictures do the talking! 

4 thread overlocking stitch, meant for jerseys, but I was too lazy to remove 1 thread. 
Another view.

What a therapeutic experience! Gosh, I got addicted after serging 6 blocks, I had to try the hem stitch to prevent the seams from fraying or just for decoration. 

Close up.

Another view.

This machine is good enough for a novice. It's easy to thread following the colour coding. I'm loving it. =D