Rhinestic's Knick Knacks

My 2nd Vintage Sewing Pattern!

2012-01-28T01:02:00.004+08:00

Woo! My parcel came in my mailbox today!

What caught my eyes were the interesting (princess?) seams that start from the yoke, the slight puffy sleeves, square neckline and cute bow. This was just too cute for me to pass!

I think I'm going to get addicted to buying vintage sewing patterns... =P

Happy Chinese New Year!

2012-01-23T00:16:00.001+08:00

一元复始、万象更新;
年年如意、岁岁平安;
财源广进、富贵吉祥;
幸福安康、庆有余;
竹抱平安，福满门。

Alice in Wonderland Apron Action Shot

2012-01-17T01:11:00.001+08:00

Lovely birthday girl in the Alice in Wonderland apron and my white rabbit hoodie!

Alice in Wonderland Apron

2012-01-16T01:56:00.003+08:00

My company's going to have a Mad Hatter's Tea Party to celebrate a colleague's birthday later today. My boss had only reminded her to wear a blue dress without mentioning anything about our theme and that she's going to be the female lead. I'm in charge of getting her apron and decided to make one instead.

My initial idea was to follow Evange's Alice in Wonderland Apron youtube tutorial . However, after looking at the classic Disney version (which we are sticking to), I realised that Alice's apron is actually very clean-cut without ruffles and without a pair of cross-back straps.

Evange's version is cute but after some pondering, I eventually drafted my own pattern and decided to add a little bit of ruffles to the "sleeves" area so that it doesn't look too plain.

Here's the initial prototype from my drafted pattern:

As you can see, the base apron is quite similar to the classic Alice's apron. The addition of the ruffles makes the apron look a little bit more finished. The top bodice is lined while the bottom skirt is not.

This is my final apron:

Instead of making my own ruffles (I was running out of time), I just got some ruffle lace that I have in my stash. This time round, I lined the bottom skirt. I also added some subtle decorative stitching at the bottom of the skirt:

As this white fabric is slightly thinner than the floral fabric that I used on the prototype test piece, I should have added interfacing to the belt band. But oh well, the party is only for a day and I doubt my colleague will wear this apron again (but I do hope she'll keep it for memory's sake), so I skipped the interfacing step.

All in all, the apron looks pretty decent but I wonder how Alice managed to keep her apron straight all times with such a strange design... The cross-back straps would have fared better..

DIY Curtains #3

2012-01-13T16:49:00.000+08:00

Hey Say Jump to hold concert in Bangkok.. (だけ？？シンガポールに来ない？？なんで？）

2012-01-12T23:59:00.003+08:00

HSJ will be holding 2 performances in Bangkok Thunderdome on 26th May(Sat) and 27th May(Sun). News from Avalon Thailand.

Can they stopover Singapore too?? Pleeeasssseeeeee.... =\

Sunday Youtube Treasure #4 - runnyrunny999's cooking channel

2012-01-09T01:45:00.002+08:00

Click here to go to Runnyrunny999's channel

I actually knew about this channel a while ago and I thought I should include it here. This is not your conventional cooking show where all dishes are cooked by a proper chef and look picture-perfect. The owner of this channel is an average Japanese guy, whom I guess, loves to cook. He's quite quirky, fringing on being weird sometimes. His concept of this whole channel is to let anyone on youtube order any kind of Japanese food to let him cook. The catch is that, ultimately, the dishes will be eaten up by him (but of course).

Frankly speaking, it's the eating part that seems to make his dishes look delicious. I did have my doubts before but after trying one of his hamburg recipe, I'm very confident to say that his dishes are up to standard. (Need to find a day to try his curry flavored chicken wings!)

He includes little blunders in his videos occasionally but that's what makes the cooking show different, humorous and honest. If you are craving for some Japanese food, why not try his recipes?

Practise practise

2012-01-03T00:17:00.002+08:00

Practising my buttonhole sewing....

Simple Retro Wrap Top (the one from LIFE Archive)

2011-12-31T01:00:00.003+08:00

And so, I really did try this. Something to bust out my 1m fabric stash. Haha.

Happy New Year!!

Front and side

Some info bites
Fabric: Thin cotton?? (Forgot the material...)
Notions: Black ribbon, black bias tape
Notes: I used a rolled hem foot to create tiny rolled hems for the side sleeves portion. The black ribbon is attached to the front panel as I do not have enough fabric. I used the black bias tape to finish the raw edge of the neck-hole (mine is different from the original).

As I already mentioned in an earlier post, I first saw this on Kathleen's blog (Grosgrainfabulous). In her post, she also showcased Freshlygiven's version (repurposed from a grandma's skirt) which looks amazing and very kimono-ish. Love!! Freshlygiven's also generous enough to provide a tutorial on how she converted the grandma's skirt to the groovy-lookin' blouse. Do check it out!

DIY Curtains #2

2011-12-29T21:08:00.003+08:00

This was a Monster! The blackout fabric was too much a hassle to handle as it kept slipping off my sewing machine due to its weight. In the process of this arduous task of sewing, the fabric kept knocking off things from my sewing table and I suffered multiple pin pricks. Meh. The patterned panel is an external piece of linen which I sewed onto the blackout fabric... And that ain't fun either. Double meh.

Beaded 1 lens camera..

2011-12-29T21:00:00.002+08:00

Well, that's what it said on the Japanese packaging..

Bought the kit at Tokyu Hands during my short Tokyo trip 2 years back... Oh yes, I definitely heard Miss Procrastination's cries somewhere.

Anyhow, this was quite a simple project and it took a few hours to complete, even though I was feeling quite sick yesterday.

DIY Curtains #1

2011-12-28T22:34:00.002+08:00

New curtains for the new year! 1 done, 3 more to go.

Christmas Decor 2011 Part 2

2011-12-25T21:12:00.003+08:00

Hope all of you have a very blessed Christmas today!

Other than the silver acorns, all the ornaments are DIY-ed! The ornaments are kinda small so the tree looks kinda sparse... Will make them bigger for next year's Christmas!

From left:
1) I cut out circles from scrapbooking papers, punched holes in them and coated them with layers of UTEE (I don't have the melting pot, so I embossed several layers).

2) Love shrink plastic! I traced out circles on pre-shrunk shrink plasic, filled in some color gradation, punched out holes and shrink them with a heat gun. I then embossed the colored side with UTEE.

3) Origami snowflake

4) Fabric covered button

=)

Vintage convert

2011-12-23T11:47:00.003+08:00

Perhaps I'm easily influenced but after some major Christmas gifts shopping for friends and colleagues (frankly speaking, the influence was mainly from my colleagues), I've a whole new appreciation for vintage stuffs.

As I was digging my way through pages of vintage finds on Etsy, I found myself drawn to vintage suitcases, vintage letter press stamps, vintage sewing machines, vintage beads, vintage apparels and ESPECIALLY, vintage sewing patterns!

I've seen my dear colleague sporting vintage clothing pretty frequently and though I'm not really a dress person, I've taken an almost obsessive liking to vintage fabric prints and the cutting of vintage dress patterns. I like it how vintage dresses seem to bring out the best of the fabric used.

After days of pondering and scouring over Etsy for a vintage sewing pattern suitable for my size, I finally laid my eyes on this pattern:

Vintage Sewing Pattern 1970s McCall's 4093 Cowl Neck Maxi or Mini Dress with Tie Sash Size 8

I love the cowl neckline (it looks more flattering on me than a high neckline) and the smart use of the tie sash as a belt for the dress. And I'm so happy to receive the pattern a couple of days back! Woo!

I also found this in a recent Grosgrainfabulous post. Very very simple top and looks like it's really easy to customize! Might try one day.

Christmas Cards 2011

2011-12-22T00:31:00.003+08:00

Nothing fancy but some simple mini cards:

I got myself 2 pieces of 12in x 12in scrapbooking paper (their thickness should be almost similar or slightly thinner than the thickness of a cardstock), one is in Kraft paper color and the other is in textured black. I then cut them down to 3in x 6in rectangles which when folded will be a 3in x 3in card.

The image in the center of each card was embossed with white embossing powder, using the stamp set, SM42 Lacey Patterns from Crafty Secrets. Really love the squarish lace designs!

Very simple, very quick.

Here's a birthday card using the same technique:

Christmas Decor 2011 Part 1

2011-12-21T23:25:00.002+08:00

Okay, first:

Christmas Wreath

I used this thin round wood panel which I got from Arts Friend as the base. I first painted the middle of the panel with white acrylic paint and let dry. (After hanging it up on the door, I felt that staining the wood panel with a shade similar to my wooden door would have looked better...)

Then, I got some blue tulle and following this youtube tutorial on Threadbanger, created some swirly/floral effects on a portion of the circumference of the wood panel. I made a bunch of white pom poms and filled up the rest of the circumference. After which, I glued on some silver and gold baubles over the blue tulle and in between the white pom poms. To cover any unsightly empty areas, I gathered and glued lace around the edge of the wood panel.

I then free-handed the Christmas Greeting and glued a piece of lace ribbon to fill up the center white area (which would have looked better with just stained wood paint)

And next:

Fun doorway decor

White poms poms again and blue tissue flower balls. I got this pre-cut and pre-folded tissue flower balls kit from our 2-dollar store (Daiso). The kit comes with 10 balls but I made only 6. If you can't find pre-cut/pre-folded ones, you can make them yourself by following this youtube tutorial. The ones I have are smaller than the ones shown in the tutorial but you can easily make the size you want by altering the size of the paper and the size of the folds. A very simple project that you can make with the young ones!

Okaeri~

2011-12-19T08:43:00.002+08:00

Hi guys, I'm back at my Home sweet home. Yup, I just disembarked maybe about 4 hours ago, and I can still feel as though I'm floating on water.

Something that's kinda related to crafting:

A monkey head with a veil... Lol, we just had some fun attending the towel folding session.

Sunday (Almost) Youtube Treasure #3 - Corinne's Craftovision

2011-12-16T10:48:00.003+08:00

I'm so sorry for delaying my X'mas decor post as I've been busy, and I'm going on a short cruise trip this weekend, so I can't organize my stuff and post them up for the next few days. However, I'd like to share this Youtube channel with you (just an early youtube treasure post).

If you have been an avid fan of the old Threadbanger, I think you should be familiar with Corinne Leigh. She has her own Youtube channel called Craftovision. Do check it out!

A bit of catching up.

2011-12-13T01:23:00.003+08:00

Sorry for the non-post yesterday but I've been busy with my Christmas home decor as well as making Christmas cards that will go together the the gifts I'll be giving.

I'll be posting what I did for my Christmas home decor and show you some general idea how I made them. I'll also post the Christmas cards that I made and a brief tutorial to go with it. Stay tuned!

Sunday Youtube Treasure #2 - Mr Kate!

2011-12-11T15:50:00.003+08:00

I gotta know about Mr Kate via the Threadbanger channel and I just love her! She's so bubbly and funny in her videos.

Charms aside, her videos showcase a number of easy but fashionable accessories that you can make without breaking your wallet. And most of her crafts are child-friendly as no sewing is involved.

Her latest series of tutorials are for this upcoming Christmas season in which she'll come up with 12 DIY projects (for each day in the 12 days of Christmas...?). She has 4 tutorials up so far, and here's her first tutorial:

Love her yet? Do hop over to her channel now to see more of her tutorials!

Lunar Eclipse 10 Dec 2011

2011-12-10T23:24:00.001+08:00

A blur shot taken by the hb. =P

Baking tins - Fully lined.

2011-12-08T20:39:00.006+08:00

Hope the title doesn't sound too "tongue-in-cheek" to the anonymous poster who asked a question regarding one of my O' Crafty Day tutorials on how to cut baking paper for a round baking tin.

In that tutorial, I showed my way of lining the bottom of the baking tin without the need to trace the round shape out. However, I did not touch on how to line the sides of the baking tin. And that's exactly what the anonymous poster wanted to know about.

As I usually just oil the sides of the baking tin and that's pretty much enough to help me get the cake out once it's baked and cooled down, there's not really a need for me to line the sides at all.

However, if you really prefer to line the whole tin, do not fret! Follow the instructions in my previous tutorial until you reach step 10. Instead of cutting on the folded line, cut about 1cm away from the line so you get a slightly larger round lining. When you put in this bottom lining, you'll have this extra 1cm perimeter which you can press flat against the side of the tin:

Next, cut a strip of baking paper that is about the same height as the baking tin and long enough to go round the sides of the tin once with a slight overlap. Place this strip along the insides of the tin, overlapping the 1cm perimeter of the bottom round lining and with the ends of the strip overlapping each other a little like so:

The side lining might tend to maneuver around, so try to keep it in place by holding the overlapped ends with your fingers while pouring your cake mixture or dab a little bit of vegetable oil or melted butter/margarine on some areas of the side of the tin so that the baking paper can sort of "adhere" and stay more in place.

And that's it, a fully lined baking tin!

Gemenids 2011

2011-12-06T03:06:00.002+08:00

Oh, and before I forget, this is also the month for the ever popular meteor shower, Gemenids. It's already started on the 4th, peaking on 13th and 14th, and ending just around the Christmas week. Unfortunately, the moon will interfere with the display this year. =( Nonetheless, do still check it out, as you will still get to see a few streaks if the sky is clear.

Yummy Turquoise Yarn

2011-12-06T02:51:00.002+08:00

One last post to share before I call it a day and go to zzz. I've ordered a hank of sock yarn and it came yesterday!

Isn't the color lovely! All I need now is a yarn swift and a yarn winder to prep the center-pull yarn balls...

I'll be experimenting over the next few weeks in DIY-ing my own yarn swift and yarn winder and I'll be recording my progress here. Stay tuned!

Polka dot nails

2011-12-06T02:33:00.003+08:00

Not very sure if you've noticed, but in my Faux Leather Stenciled Bookmark tutorial, I showed a few glimpses of my painted nails.

I actually used this Dot Artist Set to create this effect and a Gel Volume polish as the top coat.

I used the baby blue color for the base color and the white for the polka dots. The set came with what looks remarkably like a paper embossing tool. Basically, all the dots are drawn using this tool. The set also comes with some nail art ideas which I thought was very cool.

Think for my next nail art, I'll draw some blue polka dots on a transparent base coat. =)

Last Minute Gifts #6 - Faux Leather Stenciled Bookmark

2011-12-05T23:33:00.007+08:00

Here's the long awaited last tutorial!

Materials needed:

1. Cutting mat
2. Ruler (I'm using a quilting ruler)
3. Faux Leather
4. Sharp penknife/craft knife

5. Punch (I'm using a border punch from Martha Stewart's line of punches)
6. Sticky tape/paper tape/painter's tape
7. A4 size printer paper (I'm recycling a used one)
8. Freezer paper
9. Paint brush
10. Acrylic paint(s)

11. Needle (for leather sewing if possible)
12. Thread (for leather sewing if possible)
13. Elastic tape (I'm using a 10mm wide tape)
14. Heavy duty glue (eg. UHU, Bostik, E6000 etc)
15. Clamps or clothes pins (or anything heavy to put atop 2 glued leather pieces)
16. Sharp scissors

The materials used in this project might be slightly more than my other Last Minute Gifts tutorials, but I can ensure you that this project is an easy one. Okay, let's start!

First of all, cut out 2 pieces of faux leather (each 1 in wide by 7 in long) using the penknife or craft knife. Faux leather does stretch a little, and the 2 strips might warp a little. It's okay as we can trim them down in the last few steps using a pair of sharp scissors.

Next, we need to create our stencil for our bookmark. There are many ways to do this, but since I've freezer paper and a pretty cute border punch on hand, I decided to use those. (For those who do scrap-booking, I believe there's a type of adhesive that can be used to adhere stuff temporarily. It would be a very good idea to use that with your paper stencil.)

Martha Stewart's punches do not punch well into just freezer paper alone, and it needs some sort of a stabilizer. What I did was to tape a strip of freezer paper (deep enough for my punch) to a piece of normal printer paper.

When punching, both pieces of paper will be within the punch with the printer paper acting as a stabilizer.

Start punching until it is slightly longer than 7 inches.

As this particular punch creates a positive cut-out of the birds and wire (instead of holes), I snipped the tail area of the birds and the ends of the wire to create a stand-alone stencil.

Then, place this stencil on top of one of the faux leather strips.

After positioning where you want the stencil to be, place a piece of cotton fabric over the stencil and faux leather, making sure not to shift anything.

Iron with a low-heat setting to adhere the freezer paper stencil onto the faux leather.

Once the freezer paper stencil is properly adhered to the faux leather strip, set it aside to cool a bit on your work area. I wanted to leave the top and bottom edges of the faux leather strip unpainted, so I blocked away those edges with sticky tape.

Next, prepare the color(s) you are going to use to paint on the faux leather. I mixed dark purple with white to create this beautiful shade of light lilac color (please do not thin your acrylic paint with water).

Next, using your paint brush, apply paint onto the faux leather.

Once you have finished painting, let the acrylic paint dry for at least 30 minutes (or you can use a hairdryer to speed up the drying process) before removing the stencil.

The next step is to glue the 2 buttons onto the stenciled faux leather piece, one on each end.

Next, sew through the button holes to further secure the buttons to the faux leather piece. After tying a knot to secure the thread ends, snip the ends about 1/2 inch away from the knot. Apply some glue over the knot and the ends to further secure the thread (especially if you are using waxed thread meant for leather sewing).

Once the glue is dried, apply a layer of glue generously all over the back of the stenciled piece, and position the elastic tape like so:

Then place the other faux leather piece over the stenciled piece, sandwiching the elastic tape:

As the glue I used required some external pressure for the faux leather pieces to adhere to each other properly, I used my clamps to do the job. (Boy, was I surprised to find them at our SGD$2 store called Daiso)

I let them sit for about an hour or so before removing the clamps. After removing the clamps/the glue is dried, you can trim and neaten any excess warped edges. For me, I also rounded the corners.

The bookmark's now almost done. However, to prevent the elastic tape from having the possibility of coming undone (it happened for my test bookmark), secure the ends of the bookmark with some running stitches.

After finishing the running stitches in one direction, sew again in the other direction so that the gaps within the previous running stitches are covered by this set of running stitches. Once you've reached the end, ensure that the ends are at the back of the piece.

Tie a square knot and dab a little bit of glue on the knot. After the glue is dried, trim the ends off. And voila, the bookmark is done!

Sunday Youtube Treasure #1 - kwernerdesign (starofmay)'s paper-crafting channel

2011-12-04T22:45:00.005+08:00

Yep, I'm starting a new installment starting today every Sunday where I'll showcase one interesting craft-related Youtube video channel each week.

For today, I'd love to introduce kwernerdesign's paper-crafting tutorials channel.

After digging a bit, I believe the girl in the video tutorials is called Kristina (here's her blog).

The reason why I choose her channel over so many other scrap-booking & card-making channels and videos could be our similarity in tastes. Most of her cards have a strong focal point with a color palette that does not go overboard.

Kristina is also very clear with her instructions and techniques and she does tell you the products she uses. If you have a die-cut machine (especially a Silhouette), you are in luck. For some tutorials, Kristina makes use of the Silhouette in interesting ways to create one of a kind cards.

I really enjoyed watching her video tutorials and I'm looking forward to more of her tutorials in future!

Oh, just a side note, do stay tune for the last chapter of Last Minute Gifts which will be up tomorrow!

Last Minute Gifts #5 - Embroidered Pendant

2011-11-30T22:03:00.003+08:00

Yay, tutorial for the embroidered pendant! I know, in the preview, I've put the faux leather bookmark before the embroidered pendant. But I ended up taking photos for the pendant tutorial first (yes, did that yesterday night) because I wanted to do that in the living room (catching my Hawaii 5 O and Bones) and the pendant project was easier to handle in a small area than the faux leather bookmark project.

But anyhows, I believe I posted this photo in the preview.

This was a test pendant, and I had not attached a bail to it yet when I took that photo. Below is a completed version of both the test pendant (blurry in the background) and the 2nd pendant that I've made yesterday just for the tutorial.

This idea is not new as I first saw this idea in a Taiwanese embroidery book that I own. However, my embroidery design concept is quite different from the original design as I wanted a more lacy look that has been so trendy. (The design in the book is portraying a more "seashell" look although the pendants look more like pretty cookies with cream to me..)

I chose bullion roses as the base and built the design up with french knots, randomly placed backstitch trails and daisy-chain leaves.

If you are not familiar with bullion roses and daisy-chain stitches, do check out the following 2 videos!

Bullion rose + french knot tutorial

Daisy Chain stitch tutorial

Alright, to start off, we need the following materials:

1) Thick cardboard (I recycled the cardboard that came with my elastic tape)
2) Quilt batting or felt
3) Fabric - I used linen in a pale brown color
4) Thin crochet thread - I used white
5) A sharp needle for the crochet thread - preferably embroidery needle
6) All purpose "super" glue (eg. UHU, Bostik)
7) Ruler
8) Scissors (both normal and fabric)
9) Pencil/pen to draw out template on cardboard and quilt batting/felt
10) Air erasable pen (optional but good to have)
11) Double-sided fusible tape (optional but good to have)
12) Jewelry findings: Bail, chain, some kind of closure (I used a toggle clasp), jump rings/split rings, any other findings, charms etc that you need for your necklace design

First, draw out a template for your pendant on the piece of cardboard. You can use an oval shape, rounded rectangle or even a tear shape (or whatever shape you like). For my test piece, I drew a rectangle that measured 1 inch wide by 2 inches high. As for my 2nd pendant, I drew a rounded rectangle that measured 1 inch wide by 1.5 inches high. In my opinion, a rounded-off (like my rounded rectangle) shape works better than shapes with sharp corners.

We need 2 of this cardboard template. So draw out another one, and cut out both templates.

We also need to cut out 2 pieces of the quilt batting/felt using the same template.

Next cut out a piece of your fabric (I'm using linen) with a dimension that is about few inches wider and a few inches longer than your template. Using either the air-erasable pen or a pencil, trace out the template onto the center of your cut fabric.

Next, you need to plan where you want to embroider the bullion roses within the template of your fabric. These bullion roses will set up the base of your design. Do vary the sizes of the roses by using different number of wraps. You can also embroider the rose buds (french knots) at this stage.

Then, start building up your design by filling the empty spaces with daisy-chain leaves, backstitch trails and more rose buds.

Continue until you have the whole template is filled. It's also a good idea to fill up a little more beyond the perimeter of the template so that the design will look flushed to the edges. (It's looks much better this way)

Trim the edges down, leaving about 1cm around the embroidery.

Next, we need to create the core/base of the pendant. Glue the 2 pieces of cardboard and the 2 pieces of batting/felt together, making sure the cardboard pieces are at the bottom, and the batting/felt pieces are at the top.

Dab a tiny dot of glue to the reverse side of the embroidered fabric. Wrap the fabric round the cardboard+batting core like so...

..ensuring that the embroidery looks straight from the front.

Add glue to the sides of the cardboard+batting core, and flatten the edge allowances of the fabric against the sides of the core and to the back of the core like so:

If you have double-sided fusible tape, cut out a piece of fabric that's a bit larger than the pendant, and cut out enough strips of the fusible tape to cover the piece of fabric. Then lay your pendant down on the fabric and fusible tape like so:

Carefully, flip them over, and iron the fabric, fusible tape and the pendant together.

Try to iron just over the area with the pendant as we only need the back fabric to adhere to the pendant (and not to the ironing board =P )

Next, trim away the excess fabric and fusible tape.

If you don't have any double-sided fusible tape, use the template to trace and cut out a piece of your fabric for the backing. Fold a few millimeters of the edges in and press flat with an iron. Apply glue on the folded edges and the center of the backing fabric, and adhere the backing fabric to the back of the pendant.

Next you need to attach the bail to the pendant. As the bail I have isn't the flat back kind which you can apply glue to, I needed to create a hole for the bail by piercing a sharp darning needle through.

This is my pendant after attaching the bail.

You can hang the pendant directly onto a chain or you can go fanciful and jazz up your necklace like what I have done!

Preview of last 2 tutorials for Last Minute Gifts

2011-11-28T23:55:00.005+08:00

As November is coming to an end, so are the Last Minute Gifts tutorials. Here's a preview of what the last 2 tutorials are:

Stenciled faux leather bookmark

Embroidered pendant

Woo! LIberty of London fabric!

2011-11-27T01:47:00.003+08:00

Ordered a couple of metres of Liberty Tana Lawn from Shaukat & Company slightly more than a week back and it's here on Thursday! Unfortunately, I wasn't at home to collect it so I had to go to the post office yesterday morning to collect the parcel.

Totally in love with Fairford (the cream-brown floral fabric) and Strawberry Thief (the lilac floral + birds fabric). Will be gifting Strawberry Thief while I myself am keeping Fairford. Envisioning the fabric to be a sleeveless top!

Rhinestic's recipes - Tom Yum Gai

2011-11-26T21:18:00.006+08:00

A pretty easy dish to prepare and make. I basically followed the recipe here but with some alteration as I was using chicken (thus the Tom Yum Gai), got my herbs for the Tom Yum soup as a packaged set and the chilli paste I have isn't the Thai chilli paste...

Herbs and tomatoes

Ingredients (serves 2-3):

Part A:
1 litre Campbell's chicken stock
0.5 litre water
1 or 2 stalks of Lemon grass - Bruised and chopped into chunks
A few pieces of Kaffir lime leaves - Chopped into about 0.5 inches pieces
Galangal ginger - sliced into about 10 to 15 wedges
4 Chilli padi - chopped into small pieces (the number of chilli depends on how spicy you like. I'd suggest 1 or 2 if you can't take spicy stuff.. I was crazy... I went with 8..)
About 4 small cloves of Shallot - sliced thinly

Part B:
Juice of 1 or 2 big limes
1 tablespoon of sugar
1 tablespoon of fish sauce (if the chicken stock is unsalted, you may increase the amount of fish sauce)

1 to 2 tablespoons sambal chilli (yep, I don't have the Thai chilli paste)

Part C:
2 medium sized Tomatoes - chopped into chunks
1 big chicken breast - cut into bite size

Directions:

Put Part A into a big saucepan, and cook the mixture until it boils. I let it boil for a few minutes before putting in the chicken pieces.

Once the chicken pieces are about half-cooked, put in the tomatoes and the sauce mixed in Part B. Once the chicken pieces are fully cooked, give the soup a taste. If it is not salty enough, add more fish sauce.

Lower the heat and simmer the soup for one or 2 minutes before turning off the heat. Serve the soup with white rice or pour it over cooked rice/glass noodles and enjoy!

Last Minute Gifts #4 - Cards holder with Pocket

2011-11-21T22:22:00.004+08:00

Really useful for anyone who needs to hold all their credit cards, name cards and whatever cards in one place!

Materials needed:

1. Main fabric
2. Lining fabric
3. Medium weight iron-on interfacing
4. Thread and needle and/or sewing machine
5. Pins
6. Scissors (Normal and sewing)
7. Your choice of closure (eg. velcro, buttons etc)
8. Pattern (Download here)

First, print out the pdf pattern with Page Scaling set to none, and cut all the pieces out.

Place each pattern piece on the main fabric and trace the pattern pieces onto the fabric, marking all the dashed and dotted lines. Next, draw out a 1 cm seam allowance around all the pieces.

Cut out all the pieces with the 1cm seam allowance. Do the same for the lining fabric.

Then, trace out pattern piece A and pattern piece B on the interfacing and cut them out WITHOUT any seam allowances.

Iron the interfacing onto the wrong side of the main fabric pieces, making sure the dashed line and dotted line match up for piece A.

Next, we need to sew the lining pieces to the main fabric pieces for B and C. Place the right sides of lining piece B and main fabric piece B together and pin along the traced top. Do the same for lining piece C and main fabric piece C.

Hand-sew (with backstitch) or machine sew along the pinned line for B and C respectively. Fold each seam allowance down to the sides and press flat.

Then, fold each sewn piece in half, wrong sides together and press, making sure the seam is at the fold.

If you are using a sewing machine, I suggest top-stitching near the fold.

If you want to sew any label to the lining piece A, now is the time to do so:

Next, we are going to stack all the pieces together like so:

in this order from bottom up:
a) Lining piece A, RIGHT side facing up
b) Sewn piece B, main fabric facing up
c) Sewn piece C, main fabric facing up
d) Main fabric piece A, WRONG side facing up,
making sure the top of B is align with the top (dashed) line markings on A; and top of C is align with the bottom (dotted) line markings on A. Pin all of them together.

Sew along the traced edge marking on A leaving about 1.5 inch opening at the top. Trim down the seam allowance to about 0.5 cm, but keep the seam allowance at the opening as 1cm.
Tip: Use the edge of the interfacing for A as a guide when sewing.

Turn the piece right side out through the top opening carefully.

You'll get something like this (you can see the holder taking shape):

Iron both sides of the top flap to remove any creases and recreate the seam fold at the opening. Using blind stitches, sew the opening closed. I'd suggest pressing the holder to give it a more polished and professional look.

The holder's almost done and all that needs to be done is to add a closure. For me, I've sewn on 13mm plastic press studs.

I've also glued on a piece of lace to the top of the flap to finish the look. =)

Song of the Bluebirds

2011-11-21T13:52:00.003+08:00

Yup, here's the action shot as promised. Pattern is from view 118B of the 10/2010 issue of Burdastyle magazine. I made the ties shorter and narrower to tone down the giant ribbon ties.

Material: Cotton voile
Notions: Cream-white square button + white string for closure

A new finished sewing project!

2011-11-15T23:16:00.005+08:00

Call me lame or slow but I only got to know about this Burdastyle mag pattern after reading Nette's post... even though I have that issue since it was published... Which was slightly over a year ago.... *roll eyeballs* Well, I came to the conclusion that the original version didn't attract me as much as Nette's... Here's the original (the other plaid version with shorter ties looks good though):

What prompted me to really make this (other than it looks really cute on Nette) is that it's totally wearable to work! I'm more of a simple top + jeans girl when it comes to my work clothes, so this fits the bill.

Love the fabric too as it's comfortable and well, the bird prints are just too cute~! I will find some time to take some action shots and post them up in the "official" entry for this top maybe next Monday. A closer look at the prints:

Come to think about it, I think it's the over-sized bow on the original blouse that puts me off a little... I toned it down on my version.. =P (The fact that I have limited yardage for this fabric played a part too)

Rhinestic's recipes - Japanese-style mushroom scrambled egg

2011-11-15T02:49:00.006+08:00

A very simple but delicious dish that you can whip up in minutes! Literally.

Ingredient (serves 2-3)
- 2 large eggs
- About 1/2 cup of mushrooms
- 2 teaspoons shoyu
- 2 teaspoons mirin

Directions:
1) Crack the eggs into a bowl and beat with a fork until the egg white and egg yolks are mixed.
2) Add the mushrooms to the beaten eggs, and mix well.
3) Add in the shoyu and mirin to the mushroom-egg mixture and mix well.
4) Prepare a hot pan, and add a bit of olive oil. Pour In the egg mixture and let it sit for a little while before scrambling it.
5) Once cooked, serve it on a plate or with anything you like.

Last Minute Gifts #3 - Vintage Geometric Print Fabric

2011-11-15T00:43:00.006+08:00

Oops, I didn't really mean to gift the fabric, but to customize your own fabric with geometric print and use it to create gifts. What I love about these geometric prints is that they are suitable for both genders. For eg. brown prints of a pink linen is really pretty for ladies while grey on blue is cool for guys.

To get these geometric prints, you need to get a kit like this:

I'm sure some of you have played with this when you're young! Not sure what it's called in English, but it's called Kuru Kuru Jyougi (くるくる定規) in Japanese..

Materials you'll need:

1. Main fabric and medium weight interfacing of the same size. They should be big enough for the project you're making (I suggest going with 2 times the amount you need). I'm going to make a pencil case based on Mairuru's pencil case pattern.

2. Kuru Kuru Jyougi set (or any equivalent in your country)

3. Fabric pen(s) with fine nib. I'm using Zig fabric pens with 2.0mm nib:

4. Double-sided tape

5. Other materials needed for the project you'll be making

First of all, you need to try out your kuru kuru jyougi kit on a piece of paper and make notes of the the pattern variation. You might want to select only a few particular patterns that work well with your design.

If this is your first time trying, here's a video I've made to show you how it works:

Next, iron the interfacing onto the wrong side of your main fabric. This step is very important, and it should not be skipped. The interfacing ensures that the fabric does not shift and stretch when you draw the geometric shapes on it.

The next step is to prep the "ruler" guide. As fabric surface tends to be more slippery than paper, we need to make the back side of the "ruler" guide tacky so that it can adhere temporarily to the fabric. My way of doing it is to stick double-sided tape.

Press the "ruler" guide down on one corner of your main fabric, and start drawing your first geometric shape.

Here's my first geometric shape:

Continue drawing more shapes according to how you have planned your design. If you are going for a perfect design, do go slow and ensure that the moving circle is not skipping any groove on the "ruler" guide. As for mine, I like the raw feel of the imperfectness. =)

Once you have completed your design, iron-fix the fabric according to the manufacturer's directions. Once done, you can proceed with your project. Here are my pieces for the pencil case!

And here are the finished products!

Have fun!

Snail attack!

2011-11-15T00:17:00.002+08:00

Had a little bit of fun on my boss's birthday with a surprise snail attack!

Last Minute Gifts #2 - Matryoshka Plates

2011-11-07T21:15:00.006+08:00

A really simple project and you can go wild on the Russian Doll design. But allow up to a day or 2 to complete the whole project and you do need to get some craft pens meant for porcelain/glass/ceramics. What I have are the Marabu Porcelain Painter pens:

The materials that you need are the following:

1. Blank Russian doll template. Download
2. Porcelain plates. (Clean them first with some methylated spirit)
3. Soft 2B pencil
4. Tracing paper cut to size
5. Porcelain painter pens

First, download and print out the blank Russian Doll template. Fill in the empty parts with designs that you like. If you are doing this for the first time, I suggest going with a relatively simple design.

I should have tone down my design a little as my pen nib is too thick! Next trace out the design onto the tracing paper. After tracing, flip the tracing paper, and go over the design again:

Place the traced paper on your porcelain plate and secure it to the plate with sticky tape.

Pressing your pencil down firmly on the tracing paper, go over the design once more to transfer the pencil mark to the plate.

The fun part now. Following the transferred markings on the plate, go over your design with the porcelain painter pens. A little tip: If you have messed up, quickly clean the messed up area with a Q-tip. If the paint is already drying, dip a clean Q-tip into a little methylated spirit/nail varnish remover, and carefully clean up the messed up area.

As you can see, the pen nib for my reddish-brown painter pen is too thick for the design. Once you have completed your drawing, follow the manufacturer's instructions in fixing the paint onto the plate. Once fixed, voila, you have a customized Matryoshka porcelain plate ready to giveaway!

If you are confident enough, you can transferred just the empty Russian Doll template to the plate and fill your design in directly, just like I did for the blue Matryoshka doll. My blue painter pen has a thinner nib, so the doll turned out much better. =)

I also did another design for this porcelain tart plate.

The doily lace design and lacy letter "R" were all done free-handed.

Have fun and be creative!

Last Minute Gifts #1 - Basic Chou Chou

2011-11-01T04:40:00.001+08:00

In my opinion, chou chou (scrunchie) is a good way to show off fabric with interesting prints like Nani Iro fabrics or expensive high-end fabric like Liberty Tana Lawn cottons. Chou chous have made quite a comeback in Japan and one can easily find the use of chou chous in hair arrangement magazines and books like this, this and this. Unexpectedly cute, isn't it? I think custom-made chou chous make great gifts for girls of all ages with long hair. =)

For this tutorial, I'm going to use hand-sewing. Feel free to use a sewing machine if you have one. The materials and tools we need are the following:

1. Fabric - 40cm(width) by 10cm(height). For a puffier chou chou, increase the width. For a taller chou chou, increase the height.

2. 1cm wide elastic tape - 20cm long

3. Bodkin elastic tape needle (you can also use safety pin)

4. Thread and needle

Note: Do adjust the size of fabric and length of elastic for the size of chou chou that you want to make. The figures I gave for this tutorial are for a normal sized chou chou.

First, on the wrong side of the fabric, draw a 1cm seam allowance along one of the width-wise edges and along one of the height-wise edges:

Next, with the right sides of the fabric facing each other, fold the fabric in half:

Sew the height-wise seam with running stitches (make each stitch about 3mm wide):

Open up the seam and iron it flat:

The next step is the trickiest part of the whole tutorial. As chou chou has a donut shape, using the normal way of folding the now cylindrical-shaped fabric in half with right sides facing and leaving an opening to turn everything inside out after sewing length-wise is not going to work. You will realize at a point that the fabric will not turn inside out fully and one portion will still be stuck within the donut. ><

There are 2 ways to overcome this:
A) Fold the cylindrical-shaped fabric in half length-wise with the wrong sides facing (you will only see the right side. Then, iron a 1cm wide fold (hem) on both edges, and top stitch around, leaving a 1.5 inch wide opening to insert the elastic tape. Secure the ends of the elastic tape together, and top stitch the opening closed.

B) A special way of folding the cylindrical-shaped fabric while still having the right-sides facing, then sewing around the edge with running stitches leaving a 1.5 inch opening. Turn the fabric inside out through the opening, then insert the elastic tape and secure the ends of the elastic tape together. Close the opening by sewing blind stitches.

I chose option B for this tutorial as I think option A does not look as professional with top-stitching by hand. I also think it's a good skill to learn when sewing donut-shaped pieces. But as I've said, this part is quite tricky and it's kinda difficult to explain just in words, so I've recorded this step and the rest of the steps down as a video clip.. Hope that this video is comprehensible enough.....

I seem to have truncated the end part a bit. After sewing the opening with blind stitches, remember to secure the thread with a (french) knot before cutting the thread off. Voila! You have just finished a chou chou~~

Knitting WIP status

2011-11-01T04:10:00.001+08:00

A little bit more for the bodice.. Still have the sleeves and the yoke to go..

Last Minute Gifts

2011-11-01T00:24:00.004+08:00

I'll be starting another series of tutorials for the upcoming holiday season! I'll be basically focusing on simple projects which do not require a sewing machine and they can be done within a day. Do stay tuned!

Reviving a sleeping project..

2011-10-25T00:26:00.003+08:00

Revived a knitting project that has been sleeping for more than a year.... This will eventually be a lace tunic based on this knitting pattern: DROPS Long top with lace pattern knitted in Safran

A.N.Jell Futari (Full Romaji Lyrics)

2011-10-24T23:56:00.004+08:00

Second song in the A.N.Jell single. =)

Lyrics:
Sore wa koi ja nai Sou gomakashitemo
Boku no mune wa mata Zawameki hajimeteiru

Shisen sorashitemo Sei wo muketemitemo
kienaiyo Sono egao ukande

Honto wa kizuiteta Konna ni aishiteta
Nemurenai yoru wa Zenbu kimi no sei dayo
Ima made mayotteta Sore demo omotteta
Kawaranai kimochi Ima nara iidasesou de

Kimi no manazashi ga Toozakaru hodo ni
Kurushii yo Sunao ni narenakute

Honto wa kizuiteta Konna ni aishiteta
Afuredasu kimochi Umaku ienai no wa naze
Ima made mayotteta Sore demo omotteta
Kawaranai negai kanaetai So, it's only you
Aishiteru...

Itsuka futari kizutsuite naita to shitemo
Ai wa (Ai wa) Hitotsu (Hitotsu)
Futari de ireba ii

Honto wa kizuiteta Konna ni aishiteta
Nemurenai yoru wa Zenbu kimi no sei dayo
Ima made mayotteta Sore demo omotteta
Kawaranai chikai tsutaetai So, it's only you
Aishiteru...

A.N.Jell Promise (Japanese) Full Romaji Lyrics

2011-10-23T00:40:00.007+08:00

Woo! Got the A.N.Jell single/Ikemen desu ne OST! Thought I'll be nice and provide the romanji version of the full lyrics to Promise. =P

Lyrics:

I will promise you zutto kimi dake mitsumete
I will promise you zutto kimi wo dakishimeru
Todokeruyo irotoridori no ai wo kimi e
Towani yakusoku wo I love you forever

Ame no hi ni wa hora yorisotte
Hikari no sasu toki wo matte
Sono kokoro wo aozora de mitasou

Hohoemi ya nakigao wo kasanenagara
shiawase ga subete wo terasu youni

I will promise you zutto kimi dake mitsumete
I will promise you zutto kimi wo dakishimeru
Todokeruyo irotoridori no ai wo kimi e
Towani yakusoku wo I love you forever

*rap*
Otagaini Wait and see fumikomenai Day by day
Chikazuite motto So genkai nante koechatte Feel
Hajikeruyo Energy tarinakerya Emergency tatakatte
Here we go chanto aisou kakegaenai Dear
*end of rap*

Hajimetesa konnani takanaru omoi
futari dake no mirai e to afuredasu

I will promise you itsumade mo kawaranai yo
I will promise you dokomade mo soba ni iru yo
azayaka na yume wo hakobu niji ni takushita
tada hitotsu no negai I love you forever

*rap*
(Yes A.N.Jell are here)
I promise you and do it now
sou nanda seikai nara mada hitsuyou nai
shinzou kara kyuuten chokka tsutawatta kotae
One and two and three and more
Di-pu de jyo-ku na nichijyou Wow!
Tanoshimitai? nara te wo toriatte
I'll take you to my world

I will promise you zutto kimi dake mitsumete
I will promise you zutto kimi wo dakishimeru
Todokeruyo irotoridori no ai wo kimi e
Towani yakusoku wo I love you forever.. <3

Random decor project... Memory board

2011-10-17T18:48:00.002+08:00

Something simple to hold our memories from our overseas trips.

Lined Floral Culottes + Peasant Blouse

2011-10-17T17:46:00.002+08:00

Yes, I did finish the belt band of the floral culottes in case u think that I procrastinated again after the October 5th post.. >< Even though I wasn't really in the right frame of mind and was feeling kinda down over the weekends, I did get off my bum (and off my laptop/work... I know.. I should be resting.. ><) and made a peasant blouse to match the culottes.

I got the pattern from this Japanese sewing book called I L<3ve Liberty Print (Don't you love the dress on the cover?).

And it's pattern number 7, if you want to know...

... and if you look closely, you'll realise that my blouse seems to look a little different from the model's. I decided to go for shorter sleeves and a shorter bodice. Instead of gathers, I chose to do pleats, which in my opinion, looks neater.. And um.. my ribbon closure isn't permanent. I figured I'll probably attach different ribbons or even types of closures when paired with different bottoms... So I just tacked the ribbons to the collar instead of permanently fixing them between the bias tape folds.

Remember the tiny crochet scarf that I posted about a couple of weeks back? That's the same scarf I was wearing in the above photo... =)

Threadbanger Reborn!

2011-10-12T23:47:00.001+08:00

DIY-ers! I know most of us had been very disappointed with Threadbanger after the absence of Corrinne, Rob, Meg and gang. What used to be filled with DIY treasures were replaced with mundane videos (except for the wonderful sewing projects by Secret life of a bio nerd).

After not visiting Threadbanger for quite a long period of time, I decided to take a peek at it again to see if there's anything new. Surprise! Threadbanger is now no longer a standalone site, but a channel in Youtube. And good news for us, the old Threadbanger team fans. Corrine and Meg are back with their own channels, being part of the Threadbanger channel.

SO, do visit Threadbanger again!

From T-shirt to Tanktop

2011-10-09T20:20:00.004+08:00

Important lesson learnt: When tracing a pattern from an existing tank-top, select a reference tank-top that has a similar stretch to the T-shirt you'll be altering. The final tank-top ended up too small on the wearer because the reference tank-top was way stretchier than the T-shirt. Sigh.

New technique learnt: Twin needle sewing. Yep, I realised my machine has an extra spool holder. And so, I got myself a pair of stretch twin needles and picked up the courage to try twin needle sewing. It's actually really easy! And boy am I glad with the professional looking results. =) But it did a grand exit when I was sewing the last bit of the collar...

Some notes on altering this: I drew the tank-top pattern onto a piece of tracing paper first instead of doing that directly on the T-shirt.. I also serged all the raw edges. =)

Okay, getting close.. (Tip to solving sewing machine tension problem..)

2011-10-05T00:30:00.007+08:00

...but not perfect. I managed to fiddle with the upper thread tension to get okay stitches... Not perfectly even, but still acceptable.

Redid the leg hem.. The stitches look much better on both sides now.

I've also unpicked the stitches on the belt band.. Going to re-cut and re-sew it..

Belt band removed.

As to how I eventually managed to kinda solve the ridiculously tight tension problem.. VERY IMPORTANTLY, LIFT the presser foot UP BEFORE threading. This actually disengages the tension discs for the upper thread, allowing you to slide the thread in between the 2 discs properly.

Next, we need to adjust the tension for the upper thread. Remember, the smaller the number, the lower the tension. All the while I had my tension within 3 - 5 range, and I had no problems with it (it's also the recommended setting from the Brother's support page) but apparently, this tension is too tight for the thread I'd chosen for the culottes project. After some trial and error on a test fabric piece, the best tension setting that I finally settled on was 1.

Well, at least this kinda solved my problem. I believe it works the same on other machines and thread selection. Good luck!

Tiny crochet scarf

2011-10-04T02:39:00.003+08:00

Pattern: Tiny Scarf by Okmin Park (Be warned that everything's in Korean... I had to google translate the page, and find the download link before downloading the pdf from the untranslated site... for some reasons, I couldn't download from the translated site)

Yarn: Mercenized cotton (light brown)

Hook size: 1.75mm

Meant to use this as a learning source for my friend who's just started out crocheting. Tested the pattern first to estimate the difficulty and time needed.

I need to get a new sewing machine.... =(

2011-10-04T02:21:00.005+08:00

Everything was fine until my sewing machine decided to stop working properly after I changed the spool of thread.. My upper thread tension knob now seems to be spoilt and I can't adjust the tension again..!! Arrghhh...

It might seem okay on the outside, but the inside of the belt band is totally messy! >< Looks like this pair of culottes needs to be thrown into my home-clothes bin. =(

Anyone knows how to repair the upper thread tension knob??

Kis-My-Ft2 going to have southeast Asian tour?

2011-10-03T01:29:00.002+08:00

A non-craft related post....

It seems to be so according to the latest Myojo magazine...and I gathered from some sites, including the Singapore JE fan club, that the countries include Singapore... Fingers crossed.
P.S. Can they bring H.S.J with them too? =P

Top on my wishlist...

2011-09-25T23:12:00.002+08:00

1. Silhouette Cameo/ Craft robo
2. Overlocker with cover stitch
3. Sewing machine with automatic buttonholes maker + twin-needle capability

Sigh. Big items.

WIP mishap....

2011-09-25T04:04:00.005+08:00

I was so devastated when I realised that I was transferring yellow dye from the cotton cloth that I used to protect the painted fabric dye while iron-fixing it (as pointed out by my finger)... =( Mental note to self: Always use pure white cloth when iron-fixing a light-colored fabric... =(

And so, home-clothes it shall be. =( At least the T-shirt is comfortable... (Altered a sewing pattern from Japanese sewing magazine "Female")

I think I'll make another T-shirt again (maybe a T-shirt dress?) and try screen-printing....? I tried to stencil using freezer paper and it's so sad that I could only use it once (after tediously cutting out the design... ><''' ).

2nd peek..

2011-09-24T18:08:00.001+08:00

at my current WIP!

WIP: A little peek...

2011-09-23T03:21:00.000+08:00

IQ Ball - Modular/Tessellation lamp on a shoestring budget...

2011-09-18T19:17:00.009+08:00

In recent years, there has been quite a trend with tessellation lamps like the Ikea Knappa Klöver and these tessellation lamps from an Etsy shop. It's no surprise that these lamps are quite a hit as they look minimalist without losing the awe appeal. (Ahh, the wonders of Mathematics!)

A couple of weeks back, I met up with some friends at Clarke Quay for dinner. It was the Mid-Autumn festival and there was some celebration, lantern displays and make-shift stalls by the river. We were walking past some stalls and something caught one of my friends' and my attention. The stall was displaying what look like tessellation lamps of all sorts of colors, sizes and shapes.

My friend and I decided to check the stall out and were surprised that they were selling the DIY IQ Ball kit (that's how they name the balls) without the lighting at 2 for SGD$8! That, in our opinion, was very cheap! I know there are some people who dislike the hassle of making things from scratch, but we're the sort to gladly welcome any projects which require some assembling skills. So without much hesitation, we got a kit each. (That's only SGD$4 each!)

There are 30 card pieces (they seem to be made out of a certain kind of plastic..?) and they need to be assembled based on the instructions (in Chinese though.. that may explain the pricing..) provided in the kit. I had this mini-bunch of orange LED Christmas lights from Daiso (that's SGD$2) and I used that as the lighting within the ball.

Not too shabby for a lamp that costs just SGD$6, isn't it? I would have loved the lights to be brighter though..

Marine Tote Bag

2011-09-18T04:28:00.002+08:00

This is a sewing kit that I found at Golden Dragon more than a couple of years back. It's funny because I actually opened the kit just after I got it but I must have had some confidence problem with reading the instructions in Japanese and put off the sewing and forgot about it until I shifted house in June last year and I had to pack all my craft materials. But of course, with my ever growing list of projects to do then, this never had the chance to get into my WIP queue...

...until a few days back when I was trying to clear out my older pile of craft materials.. When i saw the kit again, the first thing that came to my mind was "If I don't do it now, it might be another few years before I see this again!" =P

After having tried a number of Japanese patterns before this, I've no problems understanding the instructions this time round. Then again, the pattern was so simple that the bag could be made without much instructions!

Used lace ribbons to cover the stitches securing the handles.

I <3 Yarn pins from my bosses!

Pink Polka Dots Tabi Socks

2011-09-12T16:47:00.003+08:00

I know, I changed my mind pretty fast. Lol. I mentioned in my previous post that I would be making tabi socks from some greenish fabric. Alas, I decided on this pink fabric with white polka dots...

.. which looks pretty cool actually. And it doesn't hurt to have a little mori-girl flair.. =)

Pattern from 手ぬぐいリメイクこもの

Yukata Completed!

2011-09-06T01:17:00.003+08:00

Yay! Finished sewing my yukata! It's actually pretty simple but the handsewing really took some time..

The color's really off, but oh well.. The dark brown fabric will be an obi and the green fabric will be tabi socks. The ribbon is just there for display.. =P

Alas, no faux inner eri.. Haha.. Split the collar into 3 front pieces + 3 back pieces. The back pieces are just cut from a plain colored fabric with a similar color base as the floral fabric.

Next WIP will be the obi and the tabi!

Last Minute Sewing: Fabric Gift Wrap

2011-09-04T04:04:00.001+08:00

Furoshiki idea, gift wrap style. =)

Yukata Progress - 31 Aug

2011-08-31T00:45:00.001+08:00

Finished attaching the other okumi and hemming the main body by hand.. Phew.

Yukata Progress - 29 Aug

2011-08-30T00:10:00.003+08:00

Sewn the sode (sleeves), and the main body. Still need to attach the okumi (right side, the sode and the eri (collar).

Hope - Emily Dickinson

2011-08-25T21:58:00.003+08:00

I first heard of this poem in one of the episodes of Criminal Minds. The episode only quoted the 1st stanza but it was so beautiful. There are some friends around me who are currently going through quite a rough time and I would like to dedicate this poem to them~

"Hope is the thing with feathers,
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune--without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me."
-- Emily Dickinson

New WIP: Yukata

2011-08-23T00:21:00.002+08:00

Well, I'm kinda in the mood for natsu matsuri. Haha.. Realised that I don't have enough fabric for the eri (collar).. =\ Thinking of using another colored fabric together with whatever I have left with the current fabric to make a faux inner eri effect..

Monday Dinners for Last Week and Today

2011-08-23T00:10:00.003+08:00

Home-cooked dinner for last monday:

Rice mixed with kinoko (mushrooms)

Eggplant miso stew

Grilled Tofu

Miso-glazed salmon

As for today, we had:

Yakisoba

A failed attempt at Japanese rolled egg... Haha.. I couldn't get it to roll properly..

Last Minute Sewing: Extra Large Make-up Pouch

2011-08-21T20:32:00.003+08:00

Why last minute:
Because I realised I didn't have a pouch that's large enough to hold not only my make-up, but also my perfume and what-not... Just a few hours before leaving for airport..

Inspiration was from a Japanese Zakka Sewing magazine called Cotton Time. I've basically followed the directions to get the nice origami feel on the sides of the pouch and it's pretty simple. I think I might write a full tutorial for this so stay tuned!

Back from Hongkong trip

2011-08-14T02:17:00.002+08:00

And I've some "loot" to show~~

Resin ring from K11 mall

A couple of fabric from K11 mall

Top and shorts from Lowrys Farm (@ Sogo Tsim Sha Tsui)

Poncho-style windbreaker (@ Sogo Causeway Bay)

2-piece Kaftan top + racerback blouse (@ a shop in Mongkok)

Japanese Magazines..

Casual Retro-style Dress

2011-08-06T23:53:00.002+08:00

Yep, finished my muslin! And I did modify the pattern pretty drastically.. Had to add extra darts and shorten some areas etc to make the dress fit me more correctly. Nevertheless, the end result looks quite cute and I'm keeping this. =)

My modified pattern~~

Monday Bake

2011-08-01T22:43:00.003+08:00

Have always wanted to try this Ginger Bread recipe from the Vudu Cafe Recipes/Calendar (which I got from the Vudu Cafe, Queenstown, NZ). The result is a surprisingly not-too-sweet cake with a nice soft texture and a not-too-overwhelming taste of spice. Oh, and how I adore the lovely aroma from the spices which filled the kitchen during the baking!

Making a muslin...

2011-08-01T22:06:00.003+08:00

For this:

Frankly speaking, this pattern is pretty simple and doesn't really need me to do a muslin... When I used this bodice pattern for the Mociun dress, all I did was just taking in the sides on the actual piece after I realised it was a bit too big on me. However, I thought it would be a bad idea to ruin this marvellous and expensive piece of fabric without ensuring that the pattern fits me properly first:

Added extra darts and taking in the sides from the muslin to fit me better. Hmm, I think the muslin might end up as an actual dress eventually.. hahaha.. I just love the color and the print.

Promise - A.N.Jell (Japanese version)

2011-08-01T21:43:00.004+08:00

This is the version from the Japanese remake. Enjoy~!

Lyrics (Did a Romanji version from the lyrics shown in the vid):

I will promise you zutto kimi dake mitsumete
I will promise you zutto kimi wo dakishimeru
Todokeru yo iro toridori no ai wo kimi e
Towa ni yakusoku wo I love you forever~~

(rap)
Yes A.N.Jell are here
I promise you and do it now
Sou nan da seikai nara mada hitsuyou nai
Shinzou kara kyuuten chokka tsutawatta kotae
One and two and three and more
Di-pu de jyo-ku na nichijyou Wow!
Tanoshimitai? nara te wo toriatte
I'll take you to my world

I will promise you zutto kimi dake mitsumete
I will promise you zutto kimi wo dakishimeru
Todokeru yo iro toridori no ai wo kimi e
Towa ni yakusoku wo I love you forever~~

Mm.. It's kinda sad that Yuuki (Yaotome Hikaru) doesn't really sing in A.N.Jell.. =\ I wonder if Mio/Miko only harmonizes in the song... haha.. Can't really hear her voice..

Tube Dress with Faux Shirring

2011-07-25T16:35:00.003+08:00

Some Info Bits
Pattern: None...
Notions: Bias tape, elastic tapes
Notes: Let's just say that I'd forgotten to use my hip measurement as the minimum circumference needed for the top part.. hahaha! Had a bit of difficulty getting the dress pass my butt!

Trying to make a silly face..

Sheer Summer Top

2011-07-23T23:41:00.002+08:00

I actually wore this out in the evening today to visit my good friend who's just given birth! But that also means the sun's already down by the time I took this photo... And the top's a little crumpled.. Heh.

Some Info Bits
Pattern: Female 2009 Summer No.389 (Japanese sewing magazine) Pattern Paper C (16+17)
Material: Lightweight cotton
Notions: Made my own bias tape!

Mini Lace Bolero

2011-07-22T01:43:00.002+08:00

The weather's been terribly hot!! Look at my reddish neck!

So much for setting a week to complete this project! == In case you're wondering, my last post about this bolero was on 9th May... That's more than 2 months of crocheting and lots of procrastinating and sewing temptations in between...

Pattern: From a Japanese crochet book
Yarn: Mercerized cotton (Black)
Hook: Japanese (Tulip) 1/0 + 2/0

Feathers and Flowers

2011-07-19T00:12:00.002+08:00

2 more finished sewing projects to share! But as always, I need to find time this weekend to take action shots..

Found this pretty cool fabric with feather prints at Golden Dragon and it was on sale for SGD8/m! The dress is pretty much a "tube top" with faux shirring (they're basically multiple elastic casings on the bodice) and 2 rectangular pieces for the bottom skirt with attached pockets. I also hemmed the bottom of the dress with black bias tape. In the photo, I paired the dress with a black tank top and an elastic belt.

Next up,

A summery sheer floral sleeveless blouse with loose fitting. Think it'll look great over a tank top or tank dress!

P.S. sorry for the crappy photos as the lighting was kinda bad.. And I'm feeling kinda frustrated over work, and I guess XB has run out of encouraging things to say. =(

Marine Tie-front Dress

2011-07-11T13:08:00.002+08:00

Ala mociun dress~~ Action shots!

I know. This pose looks strange.. As if I were peering through something.. But anyway, this view shows the side pocket and the tie-front better...

Some info bits
Pattern: For the top bodice, I've altered the top bodice of a dress pattern from the 2007 summer vol. of Pochee (Japanese sewing mag). For the skirt portion, it's just 2 large rectangle. As for the pockets, they are just simple pocket-shaped pieces. The ties have a seam at the center-back, so that the whales are not upside down on one side.
Material: Cotton (medium thickness)
Notions: None
Notes: Added side pockets. I pretty much did the collar/tie-front the kimono way as it's the neatest method. However, as the neckline on my back bodice is a little too wide, the kimono-style collar does not stay flat on my back. (If you know how the kimono collar works, it'll either stick up or flop a bit to show the nape of the neck.) I ended up taking in the sides a little from the collar (where the shoulder seams meet)

60s Dress

2011-07-11T12:59:00.003+08:00

Action shot!

Haha, pretty stiff action shot. =P

Some info bits
Pattern: 60's Dress by Alexander (free on Burdastyle.com)
Material: Cotton (my lining is also a cotton material)
Theme: Vintage/Retro
Notions: Invisible Zipper, bias tape
Notes: I've shortened the sleeves by 4 inches, and replaced the button closure with a tie-back.

2 Finished Dresses!

2011-07-05T21:44:00.005+08:00

Will try to find time to take some action shots over the weekend when there's daylight!

60s Dress (Long overdue.... ==)

If I were to make this again, I would reduce the width and increase the depth of the neckline.. I find this style of neckline kinda uncomfortable...

Tie-front dress ala Mociun + side pockets! The whales print totally screams summer! Haha

I would definitely consider making this again with some other prints. But the next time I make this, I'll make sure to make the shoulder straps wider and the neck width smaller, so that the ties lie properly at the back of my neck.

Dorama Fest for the upcoming month!!

2011-06-27T00:11:00.006+08:00

July is the month for Ouran and Ikemen!

はい！まずは、桜蘭高校ホスト部です！

I know.. Not quite what you expected.. I just hope that any good acting and the chemistry among the actors can help save the not too charming host club members! Haruhi seems fine though. And I know the actor for Tamaki is quite talented (having watched Hana Kimi and Atashinchi no Danshi before)..

次。。　「美男ですね」というドラマです！八乙女光がいるぞう！

I know. It's kinda pathetic for someone like me to be still going gaga over Japanese teeny boppers.. (mm.. Hikaru is over his teens already!) "我不想长大！！".. Courtesy of SHE. Anyways, this drama is supposedly a remake of a Korean drama called "You're Beautiful":

Here's one more look at Japan's version of A.N.Jell from Myojo:

なんか。。 Taisuke, Yuta and Hikaru make a tamer-looking band as compared to the Korean version. Almost to being cute more than beautiful... O.o Must be JE's factor at play... I feel so sorry for Taisuke.. I can't recognize him with his locks off.. haha.. =X

Here's a little more cuteness from HSJ with Hikaru's new bleached mane..

From right to left: "I wonder if you know who we are...", Daiki: "Who..??", Daiki:"Aa! You guys!", Hikaru: "I'm a foreigner" & Inoo: "I'm a Japanese" == Lame Hika-chan..

And the ever smiley Chinen:

"nnn... I'm full..."

Ninni from Eloise!

2011-06-26T23:48:00.003+08:00

"hola!"

"..."

"あんな美しさ。。。あの女の子は。。誰かな。。？"

Steampunk Ninni for Eloise, Eloise's Ninni for me, my test Ninni!

I've got mail!

2011-06-24T01:40:00.005+08:00

Look at what I've gotten in my mailbox!!

It's from my swap partner and surprise, surprise! There were 3 wrapped goodies in the package.

I was very obedient and opened the letter until at the very end. I knew Eloise's ninni would be in the biggest gift wrap, so I opened the smallest first!

I just ADORE this wristband!! To fully enjoy this awesome artpiece, I have hung it on my bag so I can show it off constantly!

I opened the next package and here're what I've gotten!

A really intricately designed fabric featuring what I think are macaws (or are they Keas??)

And some paper tags! Thought they'll be great to use in photo shoots.

As for the Ninni that Eloise has sent me, I'll leave it for the next post!

Monday Dinner

2011-06-20T21:01:00.004+08:00

Since it's my wedding anniversary with XB today, I decided to go with something that requires a bit more effort:

Home-made Japanese Hamburg spaghetti

Got the recipe for the yummy home-made Japanese hamburg from this youtube vid:

Cheerful as a sunflower...

2011-06-17T00:02:00.002+08:00

My birthday cake that is...

Premium Durian Cake from Emicakes

Happy birthday to me.............

2011-06-15T00:47:00.002+08:00

Lol.. Just excited to share this set of craft-related birthday gifts that I received from the company!

2 floral fabric stickers, 1 illustrated print, 4 yarn <3 pins! Crafting FTW!!

And here's the birthday cake waiting to be cut later today!!! Can't wait!

Reveal of the Steampunk Ninnis!

2011-06-15T00:08:00.002+08:00

Yay! My swap partner has received her package! And I think she likes the Ninni and goodies I've given her~~ ^.^

This was the test Steampunk Ninni that I made (and still keep..!)

And here's his little brother who's adopted by Eloise, my swap partner!

Complete with his steampunk box!

Mini Pullips and Mini Dal~~

2011-06-12T23:12:00.002+08:00

Received my dolls today!! Kinda surprised that singpost delivers on a Sunday too..

I'd another nice surprise when the seller included a third doll (Mini Pullip Blue Alice) as a free sample! Not bad of a birthday present for myself!

Happy Yarn Bombing Day!

2011-06-12T02:11:00.002+08:00

It's a little late but hey, it's still Yarn Bombing Day over at the opposite side of the globe!

Kinda failed at doing the bokeh effect.. Notice the heard shapes?

Stitches! Not the sewing kind...

2011-06-06T18:43:00.002+08:00

No idea if I'm fortunate or a little unlucky.. I was preparing dinner halfway when I accidentally cut myself on my arm by a falling porcelain bowl. Everything happened so fast but I guess the bowl hit the lower metal compartment (where I store my cups) and broke to pieces before continuing down to the basin. Umm.. Yar, I was trying to get another bowl from the same compartment and the rest was history.. But you see, considering there are other parts of my body that I could have gotten injured, like, my head.. torso... I guess I'm fortunate to have just a superficial wound on my arm?

Ninni Swap - A little preview for my swap partner =D

2011-06-04T16:07:00.000+08:00

Nifty Household Tip #2 - Rolls of Toilet Paper Holder

2011-05-29T23:29:00.010+08:00

Credit for this idea should go to my boss's mum. During my NZ trip with my company, we dropped by her place for a visit. She's a really pretty vintage-style bucket that holds a few rolls of toilet paper in her equally beautifully decorated washroom.

I was really inspired by her brilliant idea, and thought that's the perfect solution for my really tiny toilet that has almost no space for any extra shelving. Hence, I decided to bring this idea back home.

Knowing that Singapore's a terribly humid country, and there's a shower in my toilet, having a vintage-style metal bucket is a big no-no. So, my thought was to get a plastic version that won't rust.

However, the plastic pails that the provision shops sell are kind of an eyesore (tacky!)... But neither do I want to spend loads on something that's going to be hidden in our master bedroom toilet.. Luck was on my side when I made a trip down to Daiso @ Ion Orchard to get something for the Ninni swap.

As I made my way through the entrance, rows of pretty colored bucket-like containers caught my eyes. They are made of soft plastic and are malleable (You can use them as small shopping bags!). The matte texture and simple lines give them a modern and minimalistic look. There were a few colors that I liked but I chose brown in the end.

I would have liked them to be a little bigger so that I could contain a few more rolls of toilet paper. But I guess for S$2, this is a great steal! In case you're wondering, there are 2 rolls of toilet paper inside. Which is pretty okay.

Monster Ninni Swap at craftster!

2011-05-26T03:28:00.005+08:00

I'm currently participating in a craft swap at craftster and I'm psyched and excited! My week's turning a little better after the extremely busy weekend of work and lack of sleep (why am I still up at this hour?!) and I've finally had the chance to do a test piece! Here's a look at the initial stage of the test piece:

As my swap partner might be visiting my blog, I will only post the finished test piece and the actual swap piece after she's received it. =) Not too sure if you can guess the theme, but I'll just leave your guess as it is for now. =)

First time yarn spinning

2011-05-24T21:50:00.002+08:00

And it's a pretty lousy job. Hahhaha.. You won't believe how uneven my yarn thickness is! And I wasted this amount of yarn...

==''' I figured I must have had done something wrong somewhere, so went to search for a number of help videos on youtube. Tried spinning a second time...

With better results. =)

A new find!

2011-05-20T20:06:00.000+08:00

And it's not by chance. My boss lent me a really cute book today. It's called My Milk Toof by Inhae Lee.

It's basically a comic-style photo book about these 2 milk teeth characters. The photos are stunning and the stories are a simple read. A really good stress-reliever and the book's a keeper!

What's even better is that Inhae has a blog that showcases more amazing photos and funny stories! Do check out her blog at mymilktoof.blogspot.com!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Cucito Magazine Swap

2011-05-17T21:03:00.005+08:00

I have an extra Cucito magazine (a Japanese sewing magazine for kids' clothing) and I'm not too sure if any reader is up for a swap?

This volume was released early this year (Winter, Early Spring 2011), so it's very current. Here's a little peek of what's inside the book:

The magazine's purely in Japanese, but it has very clear diagrams to aid in understanding the process of sewing each piece of clothing. The pattern pieces are also included in the magazine. I will also be including some surprise items in the swap!

I reside in the sunny island of Singapore and I welcome any craft materials or your creative works from your swap! If you're interested, please leave a comment and your email address below by 29th May ! If there are more than 1 interested participants, I would have to randomly pick one. Good luck!

Tuesday Dinner

2011-05-17T20:44:00.003+08:00

I didn't get to cook yesterday due to my decision to do a little bit of work in the afternoon (which you might have already known from my previous post). My hb and I ended up having dinner at Ikea since I wanted to get some planter stands..

Anyway, here's our home-cooked dinner for tonight (It's a public holiday today! and I've decided to forget about work..):

From the top: Tom Yum Gai, Japanese-style Stir-fried Fine Beans, Scrambled Egg with Onion

Nightmares and Daydreams

2011-05-17T10:48:00.003+08:00

I always dislike it when I'm stressed over work-related stuff. It makes me tired and bad-tempered during down time at home. And that destroys the mood to do what I had planned. Even though I was on off-day yesterday and am on public holiday today, part of my brain is still stuck on thinking about work. So much so that I decided to work a little in the late afternoon yesterday. =(

It also kinda sucks that I lost my voice for no reason. My throat didn't hurt, but I just couldn't produce any proper sound from my mouth. Went to get some Chinese meds for a change, and the Chinese doc asked if I'd been sleeping late and been drinking cold water...

My medicine looks like sawdust...

Come on! Most of us work have to work till late (for me it's been about 7:30ish last week) and by the time we reach home and have dinner, it will be 9 plus. There are some of us who have to do housework, and by the time we can really rest and do our own stuff, it'll be midnight! =( Sigh, I need more hours in a day. As for drinking cold water.. It's been like summer these couple of weeks! I need cold water to survive!! Sigghhh...

On a lighter note, the hb managed to get Baumkuchen from a pretty newly opened store at Takashimaya! Yummy..

Alright, that's it for now. Planning to finish sewing the other sleeve on my 60s dress.. I know, I know.. Bad mood has just added on to my procrastination. I do envy fellow crafters who can spend full-time on their crafts. Sigh. *Daydreaming*

Ridiculous hot weather = WIPs procrastinations

2011-05-09T22:04:00.004+08:00

The temperature has been in the 30s (celsius) for the past 1 or so week! Even at night! =.= This totally ruined my mood to sew properly! I did manage to get the lining and one side of the sleeve done..

Wanted to finish sewing the other sleeve today, but I was really put off by the ridiculous heat.. haha.

I've also been crocheting a bolero for my mum. The pattern is from a Japanese crochet book and my mum has requested me to make one in black for her..

I'm into about half of the project. Hopefully, I can get to finish it by next week!

Monday Dinner

2011-05-09T21:52:00.002+08:00

Home-cooked dinner for tonight was.... DRUMROLL!

Home-made meatballs and home-made tomato sauce, Japanese style saute green beans and Chinese style egg-drop soup!

Mum did it again!

2011-05-07T09:37:00.003+08:00

And she upholstered (with Dad's help) her dining chairs with some nice (but cheap! SGD$4 a meter!) upholstery fabric. The chairs are well-finished on the underside too!