Tagged

Hi girls!

I haven't much to show. I haven't exactly been productive craftwise. Lots had been happening at my end. For all the peeps who thought I MIAed, I'm truly sorry. There has been quite some upheavals. I've got news though! Things happened rather quickly all of a sudden but bottomline is, I'm moving to a new company! Phew! There are still many loose ends to take care of, but ...:D So I'll still be MIA for a while until things settle down a bit. 2005 was pretty turbulent, so let's hope 2006 would be better.

Sewing and Knitting
As for knitting, it has been just as frustrating. I've messed up Butterfly a bit. Now the front has 86 stitches and the back has 89 sts, I have no idea. And Frilly jacket was ripped again. Thank you too Kitty kitty on the heads up on the sleeves tutorial. I read part 2 but somehow, part 1 and part 3 escaped me until you pointed it out..:)

Thank you girls for such nice comments on the clothes make over and the votes on the Chinese satin fabric. A Line skirt it will be! I promise to post a picture once it is done. I'm working on a mock DVF dress right now.

Oddball Meme
I got tagged by Ruth. So here goes..:)

***Ground Rules: The first player of this "game" starts with the topic "5 weird habits of yours" and people who get tagged need to write a blog entry about their 5 quirky habits as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose the next 5 people to be tagged and list their names.***

1. Sandles - I normally go around with either sandles or sport shoes regardless of what I'm wearing unless otherwise required. I have lousy feet that tend to hurt if I wear fashion shoes and walk around with them. So I need to take care of them.

2. Shopping - I'm really lousy with shopping. Unlike my girlfriends here, I can't shop whole day and I can't shop like them. I tend to browse real quick and wilt after 2 hours of constant shopping.

3. Music - I love music of all sorts except heavy metal and high soprano stuff. Hearing a song that I like sometimes is enough to start me moving subconsciously. Sometimes I get nudges when friends realized I've started weaving and bobbing a little to a song in the middle of shopping.

4. Singing - Yep, music does that to me too. Sometimes at work when I'm too into something and listening to music, I start singing. Once a while, I get looks and nudges too or a "What are you singing?" question.

5. Spicy Food - I've been getting a lot of incredible looks when it comes to this all my life. I can't take spicy food, I tend to gag or choke if it is too spicy. And in Singapore and Malaysia where it is all about hot spicy food, most of my friends ask which planet I'm from everytime they find out. LOL

Hmm who to tag? How bout Doreen, Vanessa, Celia, Michelle and Happy Spider. No obligations of course. :)

Pincushion
I have nothing crafty to show except this.



This was my second attempt at something handmade meant as a gift for a friend. But somehow, it is just not working out and I'm kinda frustrated. My mom took one look at it and pronounced it ugly and old, my other half suggested "Why don't you get her something else." Sigh, I really did want to make her something nice. As for my first attempt, ugh! Don't even ask, I'm too embarassed to show it. I don't understand it sometimes this gift thing simply isn't working out and I seem to be having a designer's block.

Entertainment

For the Chinese, right now, it is normally the time to do a spring clean so that our houses are ready to usher in the Chinese New Year, which is arriving next weekend. While cleaning my room, I came across these drawings I did in the past. Occasionally, I'd get these urges to just draw and I'll just do something that catches my fancy. Though, it's much less nowadays. Since I have nothing else to show, I thought I'd share some for fun.


This one is my favourite for sentimental reasons, quite simply because I have a fascination with unicorns and what they represented when I was young and also, it was my first piece of drawing I attempted.



Later girls!

Sewed Out

Knitting has taken a back seat while I revamp my wardrobe. Partly also because I’m bored with Butterfly and Lana Grossa Jacket had to be ripped back, I think I’ll call it Frilly Jacket from now on. The instructions are a little messy and the charts way off. It’s the actually the first time I attempt a piece with sleeves and that much seaming. Can’t say I’ll enjoy the seaming bit later. Anyways, I was doing the 2 sleeves at the same time. It came out way too big with the instructions given. I had to rip both sleeves. I threw the instructions out of the window after. I’m attempting to map it out myself. If anyone have references to how to map the sleeves, now would be a good time to share..:D please please please!

As said, I have been busying modifying my wardrobe. I think I’m obsessed with it. It’s just so fun to find something that you bought a while back but think would look better if some modifications are made that, with a sewing machine and a bit of basics, you could! And suddenly, I find myself digging out stuff that I bought but put aside because it didn’t fit well or I didn’t quite liked how it looked. I was kinda shocked, the pile is quite… err… high? Ack ack! But I’m having fun. Amazingly, I bought quite a few good stuff 5 years ago that I can still wear but required modification because it didn’t fit well and sewing by hand is just too tedious. Woo hoo!

T-shirt and jeans makeover


The T-shirt was initially a turtleneck, I loved the material, it was very comfy but I hated the turtleneck bit which was bit uncomfortable since I have a long neck. I prefer scoop necklines, it suits me more. What I basically did was to wear it, determine the width and depth of the scoop neck I wanted, marked it and then fold the T-Shirt into half and cut. Then I bought a bit of bias tape and sewed that on. Note though that with T-shirt material, it is advisable to bast it on first before the actual sewing or it will stretch and distort. I’m loving how it turned out.

Oh, did I say the T-shirts came in a set of 3? :D

Jeans


As for this pair of jeans, I loved the way it fitted me, but I didn’t check the seams properly when I bought it. The seams where the pants leg joined weren’t sewed on at all. The sewer must have been daydreaming or something. By the time I found out, which was after the first wash, it was too late. The threads had unraveled and I’ve thrown the receipt away. So anyhow, I’ve seen a tutorial on how to turn it into a skirt 3 years ago, always wanted to do it, but lacked the materials and equipment. No second guesses what happened! Yep, skirt it became. Though, this pair of jeans was boot cut. The shaping made it difficult to shape into an A line skirt.


Sorry bout the photos, that was all I could manage with shaky hands. Not too bad. But I’m still thinking maybe of unpicking the stitches again and try to tack it again. I just might.

Skirt??


Now girls! Opinion please! I just got this really gorgeous fabric out of inspiration. But I’m beginning to doubt my madness LOL. I wanted to do this Foldover skirt from Simple Chic. Mom was saying that because of the stiffness of this material, it would make the stomach look like it is bulging out. Should I consider this pleated pattern instead? The pictures are not clear. The main difference is that in the first picture, the fold starts right at the waist band. In the latter picture, the fold starts about 6 inches lower and away from the waistband. Or should I consider a simple A line skirt instead?

1.) Option A – First Pic
2.) Option B – Latter Pic
3.) Option C – Simple A Line Skirt

Girls?