vacationing...

by the sea...watching the sun sets...diving with the underwater creatures and just enjoying the moment...I'd consider it a Mother's day gift for my mom and I ;)...just the two of us :) while my wonderful husband takes care of the misfits whom I miss so very dearly :D...These pictures were taken by my Mom

featured on burdastyle

yay :) the mother-daughters dresses is featured on burdastyle :)

tutorial: simple lined pouch

Why didn't I think of this idea before...this is exactly like making a book cover but instead of a book cover, I made the pocket deeper, hence making it into a pouch :) quite fun!

1. You need a piece of lining, the same length as your outer fabric.  You can use just 1 type of fabric, I've combined 3 fabrics for this pouch...the screen printed fabric is for the body where the flap closes whilst the blue japanese fabric is for the back and the flap of the pouch.  The honeycomb blue is used for the lining

2. Stitch the front fabrics together (right sides together), then top stitch on the right side

3. Make the button catcher using approximately 3cm x 5cm of fabric (depending on the size of your button), fold then stitch the catcher then pin it upside down on the edge of the flap

4. Right sides together, stitch the bottom edge of the fabrics

5. Turn right side out and top stitch the edge of the pouch

6. Sandwich the pouch (this is how deep your pouch is going to be), it will be like a letter M then stitch all the 3 sides leaving a gap where the flap is going to be for turning

7. Top stitch the flap and you're done

jicc bazaar

I went to JICC bazaar yesterday.  They were almost closing and I had to pay IDR 50,000! Which I think was overpriced for Indonesian standard :)...well, their target market was expatriate living in Jakarta, hence USD 4 was nothing for them :)...There were some interesting stands but still...IDR 50,000??? Even the biggest and most anticipated fairs in Jakarta don't usually cost that much :).  Nevertheless, I bought a Mickey Mouse cake mold and a Mickey Mouse egg cutter...Last night, I gave Big Misfit the Mickey egg and she just stared in awe...and refused to eat it HAHAHAHAHA

clockwise from top left: tulisan, kiddo bento(facebook) box accessories by a shop at MoI, Sylver Paige (facebook), and I totally couldn't find my name card on the last baby shop

clockwise from left: I believe it's by the Group of the deaf people, berries, Canvas I believe is the name of the last shop...they sell them at toi moi in Kemang

happy mother's day to me and all moms

today, misfits' school held a mother's day performance and we were asked to wear matching outfits (similar color or similar design).  I decided to make ruffled dresses for the misfits and for myself.  I used the pattern from children's style book and simple style dress and added an extra ruffle for the children in the middle and followed the same design like the children's dress on my ruffled dress :).  I used size 80 for little M and added about 1cm extra for the neck and used a size 90 for Big M.

I originally made a size 110 for big M and that was way too big for her, so last night I decided to sew a size 80 for little M and gave little M's dress for Big M :).  It only took me 1 hour !! mine was done in about 1.5 hours...not bad, I must say...I was so scared when I was about to try my dress...I was scared it was going to be hideous...but it wasn't as bad as I thought :D.  I used a beautiful discounted linen I bought yesterday...and I'm planning to buy some more...the fabric is absolutely beautiful!

i am in awe...

with a fellow Indonesian blogger...her name is Lia too :)...and she lives in Jakarta...I really don't know how she does this...I don't think I could ever make one...Here's her blog link...enjoy!

printed male kokeshi

well, I'm not fully happy with how the kokeshi turned out...but...these will be cut into little panels and turned into....mmm...zippered pouches?? we'll see :).  I am now erasing that print and modify it a bit :)

tutorial: burning image to your screen (for screen printing)

EUREKA!!!! IT FINALLY WORKED!!!!!! O...MY...GOD...I'm so very excited :)...this is what I did to make it work...

1. In a dimly lit room, if possible put the light source as far away from you as possible, cover your screen with emulsifier, then you let the screen dry (this was the missing link!!!! we put the image straight away when the screen was still wet with emulsifier- BIG BIG MISTAKE!!!)

2. Put a piece of black cloth/felt underneath the frame, then put the frame on top of the black cloth, put your image then cover with glass...after that, you just expose the whole thing using 100w bulbs, place it around 24cm away from your frame for 15 minutes

3.  Quickly rinse using high pressure hose and voila...ARGHGHGHGHHG it's perfect :)

i've finally got you...

after a long peek at amazon japan...and even after actually trying to buy them online (but my card got declined for security reason)...these wonderful books are finally here...and I got them from kinokuniya last night :)...I need to make matching outfits for the misfits' mother's day event on Friday..maybe the ruffled dress would be nice for us...maybe...

featureistic monday

i can't tell how happy i felt yesterday...when I saw myself featured on bkids' mom story.  I felt like telling the whole world...instead, I told all of my friends and relatives :D.  I feel honored and happy :)...thanks, Irene...it makes me want to go forward and create more :)

help vote for chia :D

my very dear friend is today's finalist...and you can help vote for her at the ongoing competition at madebyrae!!  Help me vote for her :D.  She's an amazing seamstress and an amazing friend.  Her top is called sweet top by chia and you can vote for 1 day only by clicking on her name on the right.  And on the same note, my other friend, whom I met through the blogging world also got chosen as a finalist...she's also an amazing seamstress and knitter!  Hers is hokidoki simplicity 2601...good luck, friends!!

treasures found at cipadu

I got myself a sheer rabbity fabric ( I love the print), a japanese print canvas-like material, finally found fabric thread-dots cotton (don't really what you'd call the material), yellow and blue linens, pale pink stiff mix cotton, canvas waffle like material, and this off white textured material...I love them all...and they're very...very...cheap

what made me smile this afternoon..

after a fun day of fabric shopping at Cipadu...and a delicious treat from my sewing friend, Diana....I came home to this wonderful parcel, sent by Fiona of table calender...I was ecstatic....THANKS, FI!!!!!!!!

failure after failure

:'( my attempt to burn image onto the screen had failed...one attempt after another.  After many attempts, I've found out that I was supposed to put the chemical in a dark room (one where you would develop pictures)...so, I shall try again another time :'(

a letter of explanation

Today is a good day.  Anne Moscicki of a common thread sewing emailed me, explaining her reasons and her misunderstandings as well as her failure of emailing me amidst their busy and hectic schedule.  Victoria emailed me as well and their emails certainly brighten my day.  Thank you all for all of your supports, I'm sure everyone makes mistakes, we're humans after all :) and I am far away shied from it :).