Ruffed Xmas Decor in Hair

Last December,  the AhMah Mafias decided to have our Xmas dinner at The Dyak.  I decided to make everyone something as a Xmas present.  So instead of a party hat, I made us hairbands with felt flowers.

I Finally Spat It Out

I spent today's public holiday at home tidying up my crafting stash and found more stuff I need to decide what to to with them.  I stumble on some of my unfinished steampunk ensemble; i.e. the one sided spats (as mentioned in this blog entry).  So I decided to push myself to complete these spats...

... just to realised that I lost the pattern (pfft!), so I decided to start from scratch. 

Felt Collar with Ruffle Bouquet

Over these couple of days, I been experimenting a lot with felt, seeing that I'm piling up so much of felt in my stash.  After browsing online for ideas, I decided to try my own version of a felt collar in deep cyan, lined with champagne colored tulle.  I made a matching felt flower brooch to hold the felt collar in place.

I cut 2 pieces of about 1m length of felt, in tapered width of 15cm at the widest, to 11cm at the narrowest.

Ruffled Pink in Hair

I never really did ruffles before, but remember that Gette and I tried out some felt bouquets 3 years ago, so I decided to try it out again with some pink felt I had from my stash.

Decided that adding some champagne colored tulle to the felt will soften the bright hot pink.

Spring Frame Pouch

Digging through my pile of crafting stock, I found that leftover microfiber fabric from my Couch Makeover project, some felt and spring frames I bought from Daiso.  So, I decided to put it all together for a pouch.  I was supposed to make pouches/containers for all the small loose items on my desk anyways.

Heart You Long Time

Audrey & Fred had been dating for 10 years! Finally, they tied the knot last Tuesday ... Congratulations to the two greatest people I know ;)

Previously, I blogged about the pink veil I made for her hen's night here. Now, here's the gorgeous bride wearing it with a pink tutu which I made later. (photo by Jessie Wong Yii Ling)

Travel Wallet by BOOKED!

Finished another BOOKED! Travel Wallet from my stock of second-hand books, Eclectic Third Reader

Size (gross): 14.6cm(w) x 22.3cm(h) x 2.6cm(t)

This one is for sale, refer to item on my Etsy shop here. (Contents are for display only)

Update : SOLD!

Don't Be A Chicken! It's Just Hen's Nite!

Yes, it's another pink-colored project! This were the ingredients Belinda and I put together from the craft store this morning at Kenyalang Park. The hairband was from the jewellery and accessories store.

This went back 4 years ago (2006), when I made a veil for my sister's hen's night. She married the guy with the bib which I made too. Sarah's her best friend/bridesmaid.
And now, it's Belinda's sister's turn to get hitched. So we are throwing her a hen's night. I started working on the veil, when I got home with the materials. Cut 2 pieces of 30"x30" pink tulle and lay them parallel with 2" distance from the edges. This will define the layers of the veil from the back

.

Then from the middle, I pleated the tulle in by strips of 1" and used pins to hold them in place when I sewed them down. I did 2lines of backstitching at the distance of double the headband thickness (you'll see why later).
And I repeated the same on the other half. When you refer to the picture below, you'll see that the tulle are folded over the headband where the 2 lines of backstitching will meet up. I'll use this as a guide to secure the tulle onto the headband.
Garnish. Belinda selected wonderful colored (fake) gemstones. I lined them out first before deciding on the best composition, and then sewing them onto the tulle. After that, I returned the tulle, with the gemstones all sewn on, to the headband. Folded it over and hand-stitched the tulle to the headband following the backstitching.
And ... voila! Everything secured in place without glue! So that parts can be recycled for other purposes/projects, if need to, eventually.
Are you ready, Audrey? ;)

Something Pink

There will be a reunion dinner for my school in July, and the theme is Something Pink. Although I am just gonna go in a Breast Cancer Awareness Pink Ribbon pin, I've decided to experiment with something pink, anyways...

Found these wonderful lace trimmings and thought I would test something out on it. I wanted to do a headpiece with some tulle and attached it to a headband. But at the moment, I got something that looks like a doily. I loved it anyways. I loved that it looked vintage.

Here's what I did, I stringed some beads together with the lace, intending for it to cluster together at the end and form a 'centre'.

And I continued for another 10 pearl beads...

At this point, I cut off the extra lace trimming and looped it back to join with 1st bead, and tied it together. And I also stitched the ends of the lace trimming together.

There we go, after the ends had been joined.

Since I thought it looked too constricted, I cut the lace up at the nooks to further define the 'petals'.

I tried to enhance it sideways, so it doesn't look so rounded, by adding extra petals to 2 sides, on opposite ends.

And stitched it on...

Guess that's progress until now, until I decide to work on it some more ... ;)

Covered & Heading Somewhere

After the previous jeans bag project, I was already packing up my sewing corner, until I stumble upon a sewing magazine and got distracted. Browsing through the magazine, I was fascinated with the idea of having my own hand-made hat to travel with, plus it had quite easy and straight-forward instructions. So I unraveled my sewing gears and was on my way to a new hat.
I ransacked around for fabric and decided on the leftover from my 'obi-belt' project and also loose scraps of denims that I had saved. There was only 1 pattern cut-out, to be reproduced in 6 panels for the insides and 6 again for the outside. Since this was supposed to be a reversible hat, both sides had to be neatly constructed. Well, I tried my best. It was so easy, I completed it in less than 1 hour.
Tried another photo of the hat with uplighting from my bedside table lamp, for a better illustration of the fabric on the inside.
There, the collapsible (easy for packing) and reversible hat. I tried it outdoors.
The pattern came from the Spring Edition 2009 vol.30 of Cotton Friend (Japanese sewing/craft magazine)

Travelling with my craft

I've always found it rather difficult to fit everything in my travelling slingbag. Being rather disorganised, I am always digging for things in my bag like it was a lucky draw. What I really need is a bag with lotsa pockets inside; different sized pockets for different items, and better still, if they all had zippers, for when I need to seal them up. Gette even suggested bear traps, I guess the zippers comes close.

Started out planning the inside layout of the pockets, which was the primary driving reason for this bag, anyways.
Not quite the genius with sewing pockets, so I slapped 2 layers of fabric together and divided up the spaces by sewing it through according to the length of the zippers, like so ...I was going to use fabrics I had saved up from previous projects but I finally decided on using a really old pair of jeans I dug out from de-cluttering my wardrobe. I was on the roll, and forgot about documenting the process, so no how-to pictures. But, it's just lining up the interior of a jeans bag, just like that project I did 2 years back, with an inside full of pockets with zippers.

Recycling that old pair of jeans, proved ideal, because of those pockets it already has on the outside. With full intentions of filling up my travel with lotsa sketches, I stuck in my new red Moleskine sketchbook, into one of the pockets on the outside.
Here's a peek into the inside ... space for books, and water bottle (and umbrella)!!! Now, I'm 99% ready to go away, next month! ;)If you noticed the belt ... yes, those are recycled from the de-cluttering project too. They were supposed to be an alternative strap for one of my sling bags, which now ended up as a decorative trim, while holding up the shape/brim of the bag.

CrafteRafter

CrafteRafter is made up of three friends who want to do something that's different from their day jobs. Everyone bring different skills to the table - creativity, business sense, and sewing-fu. And everyone agrees that there are too many things in the world going to waste when it can be given a new lease of life. CrafteRafter combines saving the world with saving time and space in your life. And the cheerleader too, if we really have to. Each item is handcrafted and unique. This is how people typically describe things that are not spat off the end of a factory production line looking exactly like the last item and the next. Call it "character" or "wabi-sabi". Call it "handmade".
My task was simple ... make labels ... handmade labels.

The first batch of labels, were printed on polka dot ribbons. They were funky and I loved them 97%. That 3% was because, the transfer didn't quite stay on the 'dots'.

And since there had been a lot of questions about how these labels were made and requests for how-tos from friends, I am going to share this simple skill on this post. I have been doing this kind of transfers since college days, but I can't recall where I learnt it from.

Note that the mirrored photocopy for the transfer must be from a carbon photocopier (not laser copier). This will be stating the obvious, but in case you didn't know, it is mirrored so that when transfered, it will be 'correct'.

For this purpose, I cut them up in strips for transferring onto the ribbons.
The medium for activating the transfer can be either turpentine, thinner or even nail polish remover. (btw, I clumsily slammed the car door on my right thumbnail last October) Facing the transfer downwards, I pressed the cotton pad previously soaked with thinner on the reverse side.

Tip: Do not drenched the cotton pad in thinner. Somehow, it works better when the cotton pad is lightly soaked. Test it out on spare fabric first.
Hold the transfer paper firmly in place so that the transfered image/text is as sharp as it should be. Slowly remove the transfer paper after.
When I completed printing onto the whole strip of ribbon, I cut them up into label sizes.
Glue was applied at the end of the label strips to prevent fraying and left to dry.
So, this was how our CrafteRafter labels were made. At this moment, there is only the 'Bagget'. Check it out!

By the way, this method works for other material surfaces too. Have fun testing it out!

Pouch for iPhone

After salivating over the thought of getting a new phone, I finally got myself an iPhone. With all the extra fabric I have, I have made a new phone pouch. Use fabric from part of old t-shirt, some leftover jeans fabric, ribbon and a bit of pvc leather. Most of them were odds & ends that I saved from previous projects.

So, I started out with cutting out the outer fabric (jeans) with the template I prepared. (write me if u want the template with dimensions) Then I lightly glued it on the t-shirt material on the inside as lining, leaving about 1" at each end unlined, because I was going to fold it over and I don't need such a thick edge to hem.
Before I head over to the sewing machine, I marked in opening I will need for the buttonhole, where I will slide the ribbon through. Now, this ribbon will help me pull/push the phone out of the pouch eventually. I offset the opening from the end of the fabric slightly over 2", in the middle and to the width of the ribbon.Now the sewing. I folded over one of the 1" ends, not lined with the t-shirt fabric, and sewed 2 straight stitch. And proceeded to making the buttonhole. Stringing the ribbon through the buttonhole, I pulled it to the other end, which was not hemmed yet. Folded over the 1" end and sewed 2 straight stitches across with the ribbon inserted in the middle.
You may also noticed the pin that held the ribbon in place. I stretched the ribbon along the length of the fabric and pinned it down, all the way from the fixed end to the button hole. Then I halfed it with the insides (t-shirt lining) facing outwards, and sewed straight stitch down both sides.And flipped it inside out, revealing the jeans fabric. I usually use chopsticks to push out the corners.
At this point, I sewed straight stitches along both sides, to secure it. I sometimes backstitch at the end of a straight stitch but I prefer sewing over one point using the function that stitches the ends of the buttonhole, because it's much neater. See the detail at below.Since I didn't want the ribbon to stick out too much, I put the phone in all the way which pushed the ribbon all the way to the bottom, just to make sure. And cut off the access just at the rim of the opening. Then, I attached a halfed pvc leather at the end of the ribbon. This will be the finger pull part.I trimmed off the access pvc leather after the adhesive had dried.Finally, completed. Picture of phone pulled out of the pouch; and picture of ribbon when phone is tucked in.
I think this is a very simple pouch to make and can be applied to any phone, pda, etc. Simple satisfaction from own handmade goodness!

Going Away

Major development in my life. A lot moving-ons and going-aways. Finally, I will be able to do some travelling. All those blank pages will finally get to see some ink! And, I'm getting it dressed for success!!

I took out my passport and sketched out some basic patterns for a passport holder, which includes some card pockets and a slot for the back cover of the passport. (will share the pattern upon request) Traced it onto some jeans fabric, and cut.
Hemmed the top edges for the pockets.
At this point, I knotted the loose threads at the back, for all the pockets.I laid out the card pockets to be equally spaced and after I pinned it in place, I zig-zag stitched the bottom of the pockets, starting with the top pocket. Then, turning it over and knotted the loose thread at the back also. And, repeated the same for the remaining card pockets, top down.With the card pockets all sewn in place, I moved on to the slot for the back cover of the passport. I also added a shallower pocket for smaller items, like boarding passes (maybe). I pinned all the pieces in place, and laid it over the jeans fabric to mark out the holder's cover. I roughly cut it out with about 1 inch seam allowance on all sides.
Before attaching the cover, I zig-zag stitched the sides of the card pockets, which will kinda form the spine of the holder.
Ok, I cheated abit. I used glue. At least it held the edges of inner bit and the cover together ... for me to hem it all around, in zig-zag stitch. And, cut off the excess fabric. I usually add a bit of glue along the edges so it will not fray. (just be careful, it can get messy)The back cover slot was a snug fit!!! Perfect!!! (I take it as a good omen)
Ok, with all the cards & props.Now, who's ready for a over-due getaway? ME!!!