Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Tissue Cover


This tissue cover is made from my pile of scrap. A very quick project to finish. Can sell? Hmm... I'll do the costing and pricing (mimicking an accountant.. *smile*)

Too much?

Its a relief that school holiday is over. Its not because that I don't enjoy the company of those school kids, I'm glad that "wedding fever" is over. School holiday means school is closed for few weeks, kids stay at home, people spent time with family travelling, and.. the list goes on. Not to forget, school holiday also means lots and lots of wedding invitation, lots of food and lots of door gift received. Isn't that nice? Yes! This is one of the door gift I received, a nicely assemble and decorated hankerchief:  
What happened if you received lots and lots of hankerchief? For the past 18 months, we (me, mom and dad) had collected 80 pieces! Too much? Of course. This is what I did: sew 2 pieces together and turn them into kitchen towel!


Friday, June 18, 2010

Experiment

During the weekend, I found two colours of 1/2 meters each of red and gold organza among my stash. As I am in the middle of relearning how to use my embroidery machine, I tried to experiment using the  organza. I say, not bad! (rolling eyes). See here:


The background was satin with foam underneath, quilted with simple straight lines. Why do I choose foam instead of batting? Put the blame to this town I'm living in. I've been searching high and low for a week to every craft shops, none of them sell batting! Maybe I should stock-up, advertise and sell.. TADAAA… business opportunity!


I am not sure what this piece is going to be turned into. Let it sit in a corner while I am away out of town. Ehheemm... that's my shadow at the bottom left corner...

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Quotable Quotes

Treasure I found while reading:

You've got to be original,
because if you like someone else,
what do they need you for?

~ Benedette Peters


Friday, June 11, 2010

Cover Girl



My compliments to Krista Bremer on her fantastic article, comparing her experiences with her daughter decision to wear headscarf.


Nine years ago, I danced my newborn daughter around my North Carolina living room to the music of Free to Be...You and Me, the '70s children's classic whose every lyric about tolerance and gender equality I had memorized as a girl growing up in California. My Libyan-born husband, Ismail, sat with her for hours on our screened porch, swaying back and forth on a creaky metal rocker and singing old Arabic folk songs, and took her to a Muslim sheikh who chanted a prayer for long life into her tiny, velvety ear. She had espresso eyes and lush black lashes like her father's, and her milky-brown skin darkened quickly in the summer sun. We named her Aliya, which means "exalted" in Arabic, and agreed we would raise her to choose what she identified with most from our dramatically different backgrounds.

I secretly felt smug about this agreement—confident that she would favor my comfortable American lifestyle over his modest Muslim upbringing. Ismail's parents live in a squat stone house down a winding dirt alley outside Tripoli. Its walls are bare except for passages from the Qur'an engraved onto wood, its floors empty but for thin cushions that double as bedding at night. My parents live in a sprawling home in Santa Fe with a three-car garage, hundreds of channels on the flat-screen TV, organic food in the refrigerator, and a closetful of toys for the grandchildren. I imagined Aliya embracing shopping trips to Whole Foods and the stack of presents under the Christmas tree, while still fully appreciating the melodic sound of Arabic, the honey-soaked baklava Ismail makes from scratch, the intricate henna tattoos her aunt drew on her feet when we visited Libya. Not once did I imagine her falling for the head covering worn by Muslim girls as an expression of modesty.

Last summer we were celebrating the end of Ramadan with our Muslim community at a festival in the parking lot behind our local mosque. Children bounced in inflatable fun houses while their parents sat beneath a plastic tarp nearby, shooing flies from plates of curried chicken, golden rice, and baklava.

Aliya and I wandered past rows of vendors selling prayer mats, henna tattoos, and Muslim clothing. When we reached a table displaying head coverings, Aliya turned to me and pleaded, "Please, Mom—can I have one?"

To read the entire article, please click here : Cover Girl

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Weekend Project


After so much trouble of "losing few sewing skills" I managed to sucessfully (huh???) compeleted this bag last weekend. It was poorly done: poor adjustment on the embroidery placement, where its not on the center and too far at the bottom. I also inserted slider of the zipper on the wrong side - its on the left instead of the right.

I realised the bag was a bit bare after I took its picture, transfered to my computer and looked at this photo. Lucky me, I found few leftover of beads from my previous project and started to emblish. The new look is here:



By the way, this bag goes to Jannah, a friend of mine as her birthday present. I'm glad she likes it despite of its imperfection. Jannah, happy birthday and thanks for liking the bag!

Monday, June 7, 2010

Inserting slider onto open-ended zip (continuous zip)

Arrgghh! Why it is so difficult to insert slider onto open-ended zip? I spent half a day trying to do it without any luck. I decided googled and found this amazing video. Thanks Phillip for sharing.

Lost of skills

By looking into this blog, you know that I've been doing nothing crafty for the past two years. Both of my sewing machine collected dust, I misplaced my fabric spray, open-ended zipper and its slider. Last two weeks I met a friend who is on machine embroidery, after a little chat, I say she had successfully "persuade" me to start sewing again. Yes, that's I what I did during the weekend. Unfortunately, instead of giving  pleasure and satisfaction as sewing always do, it was full of frustration.

I made lots of silly mistakes, sprayed too much fabric spray on batting, i put wrong side together when preparing piping, unsuccessful attaching slider to open-ended zipper (continuous zipper), the list continues.. bla..bla.. bla.. 

Conclusion: I lost my skills... or maybe I just little bit forgotten.. hahah!

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Tissue Cover


This tissue cover is made from my pile of scrap. A very quick project to finish. Can sell? Hmm... I'll do the costing and pricing (mimicking an accountant.. *smile*)

Too much?

Its a relief that school holiday is over. Its not because that I don't enjoy the company of those school kids, I'm glad that "wedding fever" is over. School holiday means school is closed for few weeks, kids stay at home, people spent time with family travelling, and.. the list goes on. Not to forget, school holiday also means lots and lots of wedding invitation, lots of food and lots of door gift received. Isn't that nice? Yes! This is one of the door gift I received, a nicely assemble and decorated hankerchief:  
What happened if you received lots and lots of hankerchief? For the past 18 months, we (me, mom and dad) had collected 80 pieces! Too much? Of course. This is what I did: sew 2 pieces together and turn them into kitchen towel!


Friday, June 18, 2010

Experiment

During the weekend, I found two colours of 1/2 meters each of red and gold organza among my stash. As I am in the middle of relearning how to use my embroidery machine, I tried to experiment using the  organza. I say, not bad! (rolling eyes). See here:


The background was satin with foam underneath, quilted with simple straight lines. Why do I choose foam instead of batting? Put the blame to this town I'm living in. I've been searching high and low for a week to every craft shops, none of them sell batting! Maybe I should stock-up, advertise and sell.. TADAAA… business opportunity!


I am not sure what this piece is going to be turned into. Let it sit in a corner while I am away out of town. Ehheemm... that's my shadow at the bottom left corner...

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Quotable Quotes

Treasure I found while reading:

You've got to be original,
because if you like someone else,
what do they need you for?

~ Benedette Peters


Friday, June 11, 2010

Cover Girl



My compliments to Krista Bremer on her fantastic article, comparing her experiences with her daughter decision to wear headscarf.


Nine years ago, I danced my newborn daughter around my North Carolina living room to the music of Free to Be...You and Me, the '70s children's classic whose every lyric about tolerance and gender equality I had memorized as a girl growing up in California. My Libyan-born husband, Ismail, sat with her for hours on our screened porch, swaying back and forth on a creaky metal rocker and singing old Arabic folk songs, and took her to a Muslim sheikh who chanted a prayer for long life into her tiny, velvety ear. She had espresso eyes and lush black lashes like her father's, and her milky-brown skin darkened quickly in the summer sun. We named her Aliya, which means "exalted" in Arabic, and agreed we would raise her to choose what she identified with most from our dramatically different backgrounds.

I secretly felt smug about this agreement—confident that she would favor my comfortable American lifestyle over his modest Muslim upbringing. Ismail's parents live in a squat stone house down a winding dirt alley outside Tripoli. Its walls are bare except for passages from the Qur'an engraved onto wood, its floors empty but for thin cushions that double as bedding at night. My parents live in a sprawling home in Santa Fe with a three-car garage, hundreds of channels on the flat-screen TV, organic food in the refrigerator, and a closetful of toys for the grandchildren. I imagined Aliya embracing shopping trips to Whole Foods and the stack of presents under the Christmas tree, while still fully appreciating the melodic sound of Arabic, the honey-soaked baklava Ismail makes from scratch, the intricate henna tattoos her aunt drew on her feet when we visited Libya. Not once did I imagine her falling for the head covering worn by Muslim girls as an expression of modesty.

Last summer we were celebrating the end of Ramadan with our Muslim community at a festival in the parking lot behind our local mosque. Children bounced in inflatable fun houses while their parents sat beneath a plastic tarp nearby, shooing flies from plates of curried chicken, golden rice, and baklava.

Aliya and I wandered past rows of vendors selling prayer mats, henna tattoos, and Muslim clothing. When we reached a table displaying head coverings, Aliya turned to me and pleaded, "Please, Mom—can I have one?"

To read the entire article, please click here : Cover Girl

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Weekend Project


After so much trouble of "losing few sewing skills" I managed to sucessfully (huh???) compeleted this bag last weekend. It was poorly done: poor adjustment on the embroidery placement, where its not on the center and too far at the bottom. I also inserted slider of the zipper on the wrong side - its on the left instead of the right.

I realised the bag was a bit bare after I took its picture, transfered to my computer and looked at this photo. Lucky me, I found few leftover of beads from my previous project and started to emblish. The new look is here:



By the way, this bag goes to Jannah, a friend of mine as her birthday present. I'm glad she likes it despite of its imperfection. Jannah, happy birthday and thanks for liking the bag!

Monday, June 7, 2010

Inserting slider onto open-ended zip (continuous zip)

Arrgghh! Why it is so difficult to insert slider onto open-ended zip? I spent half a day trying to do it without any luck. I decided googled and found this amazing video. Thanks Phillip for sharing.

Lost of skills

By looking into this blog, you know that I've been doing nothing crafty for the past two years. Both of my sewing machine collected dust, I misplaced my fabric spray, open-ended zipper and its slider. Last two weeks I met a friend who is on machine embroidery, after a little chat, I say she had successfully "persuade" me to start sewing again. Yes, that's I what I did during the weekend. Unfortunately, instead of giving  pleasure and satisfaction as sewing always do, it was full of frustration.

I made lots of silly mistakes, sprayed too much fabric spray on batting, i put wrong side together when preparing piping, unsuccessful attaching slider to open-ended zipper (continuous zipper), the list continues.. bla..bla.. bla.. 

Conclusion: I lost my skills... or maybe I just little bit forgotten.. hahah!