i made a bag!!

I've been looking for a roomy and comfy sling bag for out and about in weekends.. I do love my leather shoulder bags, but sometimes I need one hand to hold the pram, and the other for tagging the smartcard at the station or bus, ooooorrrrr for admiring anything that caught my eyes on! So, a constantly slipping shoulder bag would be one of the the unpleasant things that could happen to you in those situation :D

I love going to Fremantle and Subiaco Market, window shopping around the street mall, and a sling bag have always be my perfect to go bag, ever! I have 4 sling bags (one leather, one faux leather, one canvas and one cotton) but they are to small for my liking. I love to crammed my bag with my Braun Buffel long and bulky wallet, coin purse, make up kit bag (Clinique compact powder, Clinique sunblock, Candy Kisses lipbalm, Blistex liptone, Lancome mini eyebrow pencil+brush, Clinique mini mascara), Revo sunnies + case, Dettol hand sanitiser, kleenex, wet tissues, a pen, house keys, car keys.. And if I am lucky, I also get to hold my hubby bulky wallet.. :D

So, along came with my sewing addiction, I got the idea to make my own roomy and comfy sling bag. I browsed for free pattern and easy instruction, and I found this reversible shoulder bag pattern from Beth, check her site Lulalouise crafts and designs.

I was nervous but turns out the pattern and the instruction was so easy to follow. I did spice it a bit because I want make it as a SLING Bag (must add length in the handle, about 15cm) with lining with 2 pockets and key strap (because I don't like spending minutes in carpark digging my bag to find my car key, yeah I feel vulnerable if I can't see my surroundings), and a loop + button to secure the opening from pick-pockets!! :D

I purchased the fabrics, washed them and dry them in the sun.

Prepped my pattern cuts, iron the interfacings on the outer fabric to give it a shape because it's a light-medium weight cotton.

Sewn in the big button

Roomy Pockets, key strap and button loop.

In less than 6 hours, I got my dream roomy and comfy sling bag.. My hubby praised the bag, Thanks to you, Beth! Now I am going to furniture shopping with my kid and hubby.

made my first insulated bag

finally, i made my first insulated bag!

i was making a lunch bag for my hubby a couple of weeks a go, post the finished product at my facebook page, and a friend commented that it would be better if the lunch bag is insulated. well, my hubby workplace has microwaves and he can reheat his lunch meal anytime so i did not see the urge to make insulated bag. but then, summer is aproaching, and it means picnic picnic picnic or strolling strolling strolling and we'll be need cold/chilled drink.. and i determine to try make insulated bottle bag/carrier to fit 1,5 ltr bottle.

i bought outdoor furnishing fabric (from remnant basket), insulate batting with foil, color coordinating nylon strap and set of buckle. i sketch the bottle carrier and figure how to sew it as i go step by step.. it's hard to sew on hard/thick fabric like this, especially on the bottom binding. this is a succeed (yesterday) naptime project, i did this while i cooked rendang. a bit in a hurry, but in the end, i am very happy with the result eventough the insulate system has not proven yet.

my hand aching to make another one!!

my fave rendang recipe

here's my favourite rendang recipe.. it's such a lovely dish, a labour of love's product :D the meat will be so tender, some still intact in pieces, some will shred from repeatedly stirring in the pot. my mom made rendang with pressure cooker, sometimes she add small red beans, and tiny potatoes. some people prefer the rendang has thick oily sauce, some prefer dry rendang. i love rendang with a bit of sauce, but hubby loves dry rendang, there's no compromise here.. today i cook rendang and nasi uduk (rice cooked in coconut milk+bay leaves+chopped galangal+bruised lemongrass+salt). no veggies to cooked today but i promise i'll put steamed carrots and broccoli on our plates :D

preparation and cooking time 3-4 hours

ingredients :

2 kg lean beef, cut 3X3X2cm

3 stalks of lemongrass stics, washed, bruised with mortar

2 pcs turmeric leaves (if you can’t find this, omit it from the recipe)

5 pcs lime leaves

4 pcs bay leaves

1 tsp tamarind paste, dilute with 2 tbsp water

500 ml mixture of 100ml thick coconut milk+400ml water (or beefstock)

500 ml mixture of 400ml thick coconut milk+100ml water (of beefstock)

3 tsb grated palm sugar

salt to taste (saltiness of each brand is vary, sometimes i put 3 tsp)

100g desiccated coconut toasted in a wok until golden brown (optional)

grind :

20 red chillies

fresh ginger as big as your thumb

fresh/frozen galangal as big as your thumb

15 shallots/brown onion

6 large garlic cloves

5 candle nuts

1 tsp pepper

method:

- in a pot, heat a little bit of oil (3-4 tbsp of vegetable oil or olive oil) saute the ground ingredients, lemongrass, turmeric leaves, bay leaves and lime leaves until fragrant. pour 500ml mixture of coconut milk, add tamarind and salt, set on low to medium heat, bring to boil for a couple of minutes and the milk thickens and becomes oily.

- add beef, desiccated coconut and palm sugar, cook until the meat becomes tender. stir occasionally in low/medium heat, beware of the bubbly sauce. add the thick coconut milk and salt that suit your taste, cook in low heat and stir occasionally until the sauce reduced and the color turns brown.

note :

- it's best if you use high pot (because in this cooking proccess, the boiling coconut milk tends to bubbles and splatered everywhere and messed the stove, you or whoever the stirrer and sometimes the kitchen floor) and preferably pot with thick base so the meat wont get burnt easily just in case you forgot to stir.

- my friend makes rendang with slow cooker, she said it turns OK without the fuss of stiring occasionaly, now i got the urge to buy a slow cooker too!!!

happy 22 month, kiddo!!

noelle turn 22 month today.. trouble two is approaching!!! her personality shown day by day, she's an outgoing person, loves to dance, talk to stranger, loves to "help" mama, and she made me smile by just looking at her. i love you, kiddo!

here's what i made for her today, another pillowcase top and puffy pants. she's a tomboy girl (everyone can see that) and this combo is just perfect for a tomboy girl! i love the top because it's so carefree and easy to put on her despite her big head (and easy to make too); and the puffy pants is perfect because she loves to sit on the floor with split style, or squat to admire something in the grass, or messing with the dirt.

red and white polkadot crepe (remnant basket, $0.60), cotton irregular red spots on white fresh from the bolt, cotton red and white stripes for the waistband (remnant basket ($0.30)

spotty wot!!

citrusy attack!

what's not to love?

especially when you get these darling fabrics from remnants basket for less than a dollar, and you have a tot to dress in this, and turns out you still got scraps left for other projects?

me - loves - this - !

happy birthday, hubby!!

the birthday boy (who never like to pose)

my husband turned 33 today, but in my eye, he is still the same person i met in year 3.. yes, that's the downside of being a childhood sweetheart couple, too much memories from the past :D he's still the smart guy, a bit shy in new surroundings, easy going, caring, willing to work hard for his family, and he keeps me smiling in Hi and Lo..

no big celebration, and since our Touareg still in the service shop, we got to go everywhere with public transport (buses and trains), and we planned to go to Subiaco to have lunch at Wagamama and treats at San Churro Chocolateria, and a bit of shopping in the famous shopping strip. I got teriyaki chicken complimented with japs style rice and western style salad, hubby got beef teriyaki steak on stirfry soba. We shared calamari and edamame, turns out noelle loves edamame!!! i guess, because it tastes sweet :)

and the lunch make us feeling full, even after strolling from one shop to another, we still didnt feel for a treat and suspend the san churro treat for some other time.

chopstick (pretend) master

naptime sewing

noelle doesn't like to nap, while i want to sew when she nap. but in the end, i managed to sew something for her in the past two days.

refashion from my old mooks tee, i need to make a matching diaper cover/bloomers because this as a dress was a tad short..

sakura pants with waist tie, cost 0.60 because the fabric from remnant basket. elastic was my saviour of the day because i made a tad long pants and she almost tripped on it, so i fold the hem and insert elastic and it become a puffy pants, a bit harem pants isn't it?

refashion from my old ripcurl tee to toddler maxi dress. i love this tee because of the birds so colourful, so summery. but since it's a bit thin i dont like to wear it anymore. binding and tie from scraps, the nautical red white armpit binding from my FCUK daydress leftover.

mini alterations

wow, this blog change from my blah blah blog to sewing blog.. mmm i should back in writing my blah blah then..

finished yesterday afternoon, alteration for my FCUK jersey dress. it was a 3/4 sleeves boatneck dress, and i love the style but it look bad in my body because i got this swimmer shoulder, broad and flat (not steep) so the boat neck kinda fighting to stay in the boatneck shape and tend to scoop make it a bowl shape, and it look worse when i bow because everybody can see my boobies then. :( this image i stole from FCUK site, mine was exactly the same but it's red. purchased last year worn about once or twice and i almost forget about it because i shoved it deep in the drawer. but it's spring, and i love nautical vibe from the stripey dress, so i dont want it sit in the drawer again, and finaly i did something to fix it.

i just cut the upper body to make a raglan bodice, and add the sleeve from other old shirt and to make the sleeves had the same vibe with the bodice, i just sew binding (i made from the sleeves) as well as for the neck. i heart my "new" dress.. throw in my white birkis, slouch bag, wide hat and sunnies, i am going to the beach..

attack of the skirts

i've just realize that making toddler skirt with elastic is the easiest sewing ever. no brainer!! just rectangle, sewing casing for the elastic, thread the elastic in the casing, sewing shut the casing and you're done.

i was making 3 skirts, so i had 3 elastic, the bottom part of old tee/tank top (one is pink with butterflies and the other is stripey blue) and 57cmx57cm bandana (plus coordinate fabric to make the elastic casing). then, sew! it took only 20 minutes to make three skirts, i made them after dinner and noelle can't stop twirling when she tried them on.. silly!

I save the legging..

Been doing nothing much these days as I've been to busy with my usual chores, but I managed to save this legging from being thrown away.. It's from Mothercare, size 3T, color : salmon, bought in June, sooo it's still considered new. Noelle wore it almost everyweek, and we brought it on our vacation in Goldcoast early Sept 2010 because it's hot during the day and cold at night. Then, the disaster happened.

The accomodation we chose was apartment with one king bed (for me and noelle) and one sofabed (for hubby). After he set his bed, I immediately told him to cover the metal base with bedcover because I spy some sharps edges and springs underneath the mattress. But hey, my hubby is world's NUMBER ONE PROCRASTINATOR and mostly it took about one hour or two before he did whatever I asked (if I was lucky) or he fell asleep/completely forgot and not doing what I asked at all.

So, he kept watching the TV while lying on his sofabed, and my girl climb down from our bed and joining her father and then it happened. I saw a small tear and thread pull in her legging, left tigh to be precise, and it happened because she climb up the sofa bed, and then I got upset. Not because of the clothing got ruined, but because IT happened. Things that I already anticipated, but still happened because of PROCRASTINATING.

And to make things more interesting, my 21mth old find a way to amuse herself during the car trip (still on the vacation) i.e : poking the small tear with her finger and make it even bigger. DOH! I saw the tear become a big hole when I took her out from the car. It was huuuuge! And I give my husband the nastiest glare my eyes could make, which screamed "It's all because of you!!"

So, we got back home, but the legging never seen the day until I took it out from the drawer. I sigh deeply, and took it to sewing room and decided that I could do something to save this legging. A small patch to cover the hole so my baby can not poke into it again and making a pocket out of it. There you go, star applique (from scraps of rainbow tee and rainbow skirt) to save the legging. Hopefully it will survive till the next winter.

sailor dress

my first attempt of making a sailor dress, pretty rough i think.. this dress just got out from the dryer

so it added the roughness and i dont feel like ironing the dress or anything at the moment :D

as usual, i made my toddler dresses without pattern, i just sketch roughly in a paper and transfer to the fabric with a chalk. i tried to make a v-neck but that means a serious cleavage showing (for a little girl thats means business).. and i put a V cover but since it's a scrap fabric, it pulls the left and right sides :(.. not to mention my original sketch of sailor cape in the back was not happening because i have no leftover.. huhuhuhu.... no pat in the back but i said to my self, "better luck next time"

ahoy there me hearties!!!

another acomplishment : pirate tee.. hubby hates skull images/drawing/gothic stuff but me love it so much.. and i managed to make a pirate tee for noelle (and i think it's wearable for toddler boy too).. i don't know how hubby will react when i put this on noelle hehehe

this is how we start, with stripey navy+white from roxy tank top, sleeves from other shirt, red neck binding and sleeve..

no pattern that i followed because this is my 5th raglan tee. this time, a raglan sleeve tee with red neck binding to coordinate with the pirate applique to spice up the "boring" navy..

my friend says, my upcycled tshirt creations looks like a store bought. well, i think it's time to go a bit further, start selling my stuff on the market??? the thought makes me nervous..

summer dress

summer is still 3 months away, but i am really looking forward to it.. so i made a summer dress for me. it was a simple dress, i dont even use a real pattern. i just cut 2 rectangle with flower pattern (for body and the boob) and another 2 rectangle from blue jersey scraps (for the strap), embelish with red pocket and blue button, elastic under the bust to define the shape..

and i am ready to head to the beach..

RESULT of last long weekend project

here's what i produced during the last long weekend.. i managed to make a picnic bag, clothings for noelle and mine. these are the first batch of photos , toddler tees-dress-hair accesories all from my old clothing so it's refashioned/repurposed.. there's a sailor dress but noelle managed to spill her drink when she tried it on so no photos for now..

i was a tomboy girl so i got thise US TRAIN tee.. hopefully my next baby will be a boy because this will be perfect for him :)

my old coca cola tee, become flutter sleeve toddler tee..

my old levis tee become toddler tee with puff sleeves

my old levis tee, the maid ironed the print so it ruined and i refuse to wear it again ever. but toddler wont care if it's ruined. i turned it to raglan with elastic on the sleeve so it became a bit puffy..

my old gym tee, got white stain on the armpit (EEEWWWW) so i cut it out and made a raglan toddler tee.. and blue is noelle's fave colour.. i bet it will be her fave tee!

hairbow from scraps. it was easy but unfortunately noelle hates hair accesories.. :(

my old hardrock bali tee, got stain on the lower tummy (food i guess),

but turned out great as toddler sleeveless tee..

my pregnancy tee (can you imagine, puffy pregnant woman in YELLOW tie dye?? yes i was weird when i got pregnant) was so horrible so i made a harem pants for noelle.. combine with the hardrock bali tee, she looks so laid back.. hippy baby..

my old hardrock tokyo tank top, magically became noelle's dress.. she can wear it just like that or put on black leggings during unpredictable spring like nowadays..

skirt from my old GAP racer tee, i use the upper part to make binding for the hardrock tee, and when i see the boxy bottom part suddenly i got the idea to make a skirt.. noelle barelly had skirt so it will be great for playgroup. to make a difference between the back and the front, i put a rainbow and two clouds at the bottom left corner.. yes, the rainbow is made from the rainbow tee scraps.. :)

one thing i learnt about doing marathon projects, especially refashioning with knits, is we got lots of scraps, which wont frayed ever and it was easy to mix the scraps to make neck binding, raglan sleeves, applique, pockets and maybe there still tons of idea to use knit scraps.. i really looking forward to do a marathon projects.. but for now, i am busy with carseat cover to replace the old gray carseat cover.. summer is coming and we need to update noelle's carseat look!!! finger crossing mode ON..

failed bag

i was meant to make a LUNCH BAG for abenk, but i made everything too big for a lunch bag :(
the bright side, it will be great as picnic bag, it can carry a bottle of wine, a bottle of OJ, and heaps of snacks :)

gado-gado and chicken satay..

last week, i bought a woman weekly magz, and they have easy asian theme recipe pages, like laksa, fried noodle, and gado-gado. yes, they put the "gado-gado" word, not steamed veggies salad with peanut sauce dressing. :) and suddenly i want to eat gado-gado.

so yesterday, i went to the asian stores to buy the bottled peanut sauce for gado-gado, and ready made peanut sauce for chicken satay. i am lazy, and i never ever succeed on frying the peanut (read : burnt). so, to save my self from getting upset, i just bought them, KOKITA for gado-gado, and Enak Eco for the satay.

then i bought the ingredients (brocoli, carrot, gourmet potatoes, peas, cabbage), egg, tofu, tempe, and about 800gr chicken meat (chicken thigh more juicy than breast).

i marinated the chicken pieces in mashed garlic, kecap manis, kecap asin and a little bit oil, the longer the better, but if 3 hours is all you got, then go for it. meanwhile, soak the bamboo skewer in water to prevent got burned when we grill the satay. then, the pain part, threading chicken pieces into the skewer.. i got about 30 sticks of satay. saved 10 satay for abenk's lunch box tomorrow, and grilled the rest for tonight's dinner. and since we dont have a barbeque, i just toss them in the oven grill. they turned out good, welldone without those smokiness from chargrill.

the table was set for two, actually it was not SET, i just scattered everything on the table because I AM LAZY..

we have some ketupat lebaran from wina, and i bet abenk will have his satay and gado-gado accompanied by those ketupat. but me, NOT. i have always eat gado2 without carbs because i want to be full with fiber from the veggies, and protein from the tofu, tempe and chicken satay. YUMMO!

one of the best dinner i have ever cooked!

;p

chambray fever..

i have always consider my self as a non fashionable person, i tend to stick on classic stuff, never buy something because it's THE item of the season, i buy/bought something because i like it no matter how-it-was-so-out-of-the-season- or not-in-the-season.

soooo, during the last 9 month, i see chambray on almost every clothing catalogue. for women, girls, little girls, even men! and boys as well as little boys too.. and i despise the chambray fever, especially after i read this. i have always think that chambray look like an old clothing because the shade remind me of a faded light blue jeans garment.

some definition for chambray can be read here.

and finaly, FATE has spoken. today, i went (window) shopping with noelle at myer after taking care of some paperwork at the consulate. we were looking for some spring summer clothing for her, and i saw this cutie shirtdress with a sash, in chambray. will look good with legging this summer..

DOH! CHAMBRAY??!!! well, a part of me really really want to buy it, and the other part was very angry and mad and despise the other part. no grey area in here.

and i bought it. a JUNIOR bardot, size 4 for my 20 mth old girl.

then, we had lunch and keep doing the window shopping thing, and i saw a surf (clothing) store. i remember a particular white top that i have tried to purchase online but they dont have my size, so i went in to the store and hoped they have the white top. turns out, NONE. and i see this chambray shirt, it was standout among others, the one and only, in my size. and it was like sneering at me, and asking me to take it home. NOOOOOOOO!

and the shirt goes (Billabong size 12) into the shopping bag.

hubby said, like mother like daughter. and i half smiled half mad for my chambray fever!!!

Hi and Lo of the day..

Goodbye Winter, and Hello to Spring! Finally! Well, the weather is and will be still a bit chilly for next couple of days/weeks but the word Spring has bring a new spirit.. Spirit for Spring cleaning, Spring race and Spring sewing..

Which remind me that my NEW sewing machine, which I praised over and over again after several sewing projects, finally acted up for the very first time. I don't know yet what's wrong with her, but the stitches looks a bit wonky, like missing a knot and leave loose thread all the way down the stitch. It happened on top and bottom stitch, and this happened when I have cut the fabrics for 3 onesies. I was making the binding for the Mickey Mouse onesie, the neck for front piece went smoothly and perfect. But when I start binding the bottom front, I spy a problem.

I have to go to JANOME sewing centre to have them look at my machine, hopefully by Saturday the problem will get fixed.

That's my Hi and Lo of the day, and it's only 10am.

rainbow tee

It's been showering since last night, the sky is grey but the temperature is just perfect 21 degree in Celcius. Noelle and me get along together very well, which means she ate her brekkie and finished her milk without fuss. While she enjoys her morning TV shows as well as playing with her toys in her room, I decluttered my sewing table so I can enjoy looking at my sewing machine and colourful threads.

And as my hand start sorting piles of clothes (for refashion) and fabrics (awaiting projects), my eyes stopped when I saw two old tank tops, one grey marle, and the other is grey marle with rainbow stripes. The greys on both garment exactly the same and the weight/thickness of both fabric just match, they must be prefect for each other. Suddenly I got a rainbow tee with raglan longsleeves in my head. Within 3 hours the tee was finished, I put elastic on the neck ribbing and single bowtie from leftover fabrics to make it more girly, I stitced it on the left shoulder. The neck ribbing looks wonky, but when Noelle tried it on, it looks just fine for me :D I hope the tee will survive until next winter.

I think I've been very productive during this month, and I managed to take photos of garments I made and blog about it right away. Winter almost over but I think I've been bitten by sewing bug ;D

batik dress

today i feel like in the mood for sewing again, and i made this dress for noelle.

i encountered my very first buttonhole. I t W a s S c a r y ! see the wriggly buttonhole stitch there? yes. i don't know if i will be dare to make another buttonhole.

onesie on noelle

she will never pose nicely whenever or wherever i asked her. especially when there were toys around. so i opt to take candid shots, i've just finished changing her nappy and try the new onesie on. perfect sizing for her, still plenty of room left to grow until next year maybe?

first handmade onesie!!

after months of looking for cheap yet fitted 2T-3T onesie for noelle and never succeed, i finally decided to make our own onesie. i studied existing onesie, got the tutorial from this talented lady NAOMI and started to make it.

and since i am a thrifty mama, i do not want to spend a cent on buying knit fabric so i just go to my junk pile and decided that the victim was an old tank from POLO, i just love the white and blue combo (noelle loves blue too), and turned out i got the matching stripes knit (bought at opshop about 6mths ago) to go as binding. i made this onesie for full 2 hours because i dont have overlocker, i learnt how to cut the binding on quilters board using rotary cutter and i pressed the binding/seam (just like those sewing mamas do!) and got "help" from noelle :D

the hardest part of making this onesie was making the pattern and sewing the binding because i am impatient. i did not print the pattern from the site but i just traced existing onesie and add width and add length of the body by sliding the onesie up and down when tracing. i need to make the crotch area longer and more comfortable when she wear it. and when i sew the binding, it was pain because the stripes binding tend to roll.. but when i see the result, i feel pretty happy with my self.

i compared the result with babyGAP 18-24mth onesie and mine is huuuuge.. noelle was sleeping when i started sewing this last night, so i havent got any chance to try this on her. hopefully in a couple of hours more??

chop chop the old sweats!

today i commited a crime. i killed my dad's old sweater! he bought it when he went to england like 10 years ago, and it was a souvenir from Warwick Castle. it was big (XL), warm (love it) but he just never wear it (maybe because jakarta is too hot for this kind of sweater). i stole it from his wardrobe about two years ago and he didn't even notice!!!! i love the embossed thingy on the chest, so knightly.. :)

long story short, i just chop chop the arm and the neck binding, sew a little bit here and there, with a huge help from black binding tape and elastic the sweater became oversized vest for me, and a track suit for noelle.. love it!! thanks POP!

mickey mouse is in the house

i really really like mickey mouse and still wear clothing with mickey mouse on it until i was in senior high school. so, when i browse for fabrics on ebay, my eyes were stunned when i saw this mickey on white, cotton knit, 1.5mx1.20m, and it was a buy it now for $3. without further consideration, i clicked the button, and the fabric became mine. and what made it even better, the seller lives in northern suburbs of perth, (like me and it was only like 10km from our place), she speaks indonesian too, and she offered for pick up so i can save on postage YAY!!!!

it's mickey happy face, he's smiling and you can see a little bit of his red tongue and would be noelle's very first mickey mouse. the fabric has been sitting on my stash for about 3 months, and finally today i made something out of it. i purchased a red fleece binding because i want to make a sweatshirt for noelle, and for her big noggin i knew i will use the envelope opening just like neck opening on onesie. and the red binding looks great on the sweatshirt, i sew it as binding on the neck, arm and hem. oh and i handstitched an applique in the shape of mickey head (sillhouette) on the chest too..

i am glad the sweatshirt fit perfectly on her (and hopefully until next winter) because i just traced her existing t-shirt as the pattern.

still got leftover fabrics and i want to make one or two onesies for her because i never find onesie for 2T. finger crossing..