Three denim pencil cases

I made three pencil cases this morning, recycled from an old denim skirt of my sister. These are handmade little gifts for my students.

Hope you have a Happy Sunday !

Fabric pumpkin basket

I made this fabric pumpkin  basket yesterday.  A piece of unwanted CD is used for the base.

I think this basket is a failure.  I am totally  angry with myself because I did not stuff the binding on the top while hand stitching it.  I thought it will be alright without stuffing but it isn't. The  result is just not satisfactory , yet when my hubby saw it, he said it is just too cute.  I think one day

( when I am very free and in very good mood ),  I will unpick the binding and restitch.

I plan to sew another one.  Next time I am going to add handles for the basket,  and may be a lid too if

necessary.

 I think my hubby may be right.  This pumpkin  basket is just too cute.  I think I have fall in love with it.  It is  lovely and yet so practical. You can use it for keeping sewing notions , little accessories, or whatever little things  you like.  And what I am most happy with  is that it can be used as pincushion as well !  How nice !!! 

Thanks for visiting. Have a happy weekend !

Another patchwork zipper pouch

Inspired by Red Penguin , I made a patchwork zipper pouch last month . Yesterday I made another one , measuring 6.5 " x  4 ".

My friend saw my cell phone case and told me she likes the fabrics I used . I made this pouch as a gift for her, using the same fabrics . I am sure she will be happy to have it . :)

Patchwork pencil case

The size of this  patchwork pencil case is 8.5" x 3.5". I made it a couple of weeks  back. It is a gift for a Malay teenager.

Patchwork cell phone case

I never buy any cell phone. The cell phone I used is an old  phone of my hubby.Sometimes my hubby insisted that I must carry it along when I go out .You know, I do believe in the  hazard of cell phone use. I always try my very best to reduce my cell phone use or turn it off when not in use.

I made a patchwork cell phone case for my old cell phone yesterday. I sewed a zipper for this case.

Pull the zipper open and put my phone inside.

Now pull the zipper again to close it up.

The cell phone is inside the padded case now , hope it can help to  reduce a bit of the radiation. :)

The lining of the inner part

It is fun to make this little case. I really enjoyed sewing  it ! :)

Simple gray blouse

I love gray  colour. How could I resist myself from buying when I saw this lovely  fabric ? The sales lady told me  it is Vietnam silk. I think it is not silk but should be a type of satin fabric.

I  made a very simple blouse from it . No zipper, no darts, just binding at the neckline. So  quick and easy to make. Lazy me , right ?

Look at the photos below, the surface of the fabric shines. That is the reason I think it is satin and not silk.

I matched this blouse with a black skirt I made a couple of years back.  Simple yet I just  love it . What do you think ?

Thanks for visiting. Hope you have a fantastic weekend !

Polka dots pencil case

I made this pencil case ( measuring 7.5 " x 3.5" ) for a 13 years old Malay girl. She is a well-behaved and  hardworking student of mine. Just hope she will like to use it.

The other side of the pencil case.

I use pink colour polka dots fabric for the lining.

The three roses are cut from this cotton fabric given to me by my fourth sister .

Little house drawstring bag

Yesterday  afternoon , I made a small drawstring bag with batting . My hubby thought  it is  for  holding a cell phone, but it is not. It is quite small, only measuring  5 " x 2.75 ".

I made this small bag for holding my thread clipper. The dark blue fabric is medium weight linen cotton blend . The inner lining fabric is white and dark green gingham check flannel. I simply used some different colour cotton fabric to cut out a little house pattern for the machine applique` . The applique` turned out quite cute. I love this  little house on  the green ground with cloud above !

I have been using this thread clipper  for more than 20 years ! This 4 inches long thread clipper was imported from China . It is a bit rusty now, but the blades of this handy tool are still very sharp. I used to do some stitching work whenever I have long distance travelling. Now with this little bag, I can always keep my thread clipper as well as other small sewing notions such as  seam ripper and small scissor inside my handbag for convinence. :)

Patchwork zipper pouch + floor seat cushion cover

Just finished  sewing a garment for myself . I  forgot to charge my camera battery so no photos taken yet.

I bought some more cotton fabric last Sunday. I decided to use them for making patchwork and  dresses for little girls.

In fact this morning I managed to cut out some squares to make a zipper pouch for myself. I was inspired by Pink Peguin . Ayumi  is so creative and all her crafts  are all so beautiful and neatly sewn ! Do check it out here .

The size of the pouch is 6.5 " x 5 ".  All the fabric are from the same type of cotton fabric but with different prints.

I made another patchwork floor seat cushion a few weeks back. It was made from 91 pieces of 2.5" square fabric scraps.

This week is a stressful week. I love my job but sometimes teaching life is tiring and stressful too. Just imagine that there are more than 40 teenegers  in some of  the classes ! Actually in some of the Chinese primary schools, the number of students are around 50 or more  per class!  Sometimes we are disappointed with the education system here but sad to say that we could not  change anything …...Oh ! this is not a nice topic to talk about , so stop here.

Anyway, nobody can completely eliminate stress from his or her  life. For me, sewing activities always brings me a state of restfulness and a boost in my feelings of joy and serenity. I just could not stop sewing every now and then !

Hope you have a relaxing weekend !

Gift--- Craft books.

My hubby bought these craft books for me from a  Chinese book fair in my hometown yesterday.  The one at the top left is translated from Japanese edition published by BOUTIQUE-SHA. The Chinese publisher got the Chinese translation rights arranged with BOUTIQUE-SHA.

These books are actually for beginners and project listed are very simple. I told him I can sew those stuffs without refering to the books. According to him, no harm of buying since the books are inexpensive .( I do not  think so because all the books are actually 100 % more expensive than what you can get from China.) .  Any way , he made my day because it is really fun to look at those beautiful pictures inside the book.! !

I had went to China at least five times in the past , but only  had bought a sewing pattern book for " Qi pao"  there.  Well, I was  not so crazy about crafting in those days... :).

I think next time I visit China , I will sure to grap more craft  books .......! There are many creative people in China. Every time I visited China  , I was thrilled to  look at their architectures, sculptures, handicrafts, .....and most of all , the amazing , fantastic beautiful scenery of this country !  My hubby never get  tire of visiting this wonderful country.

Here comes the man who enjoys buying little gifts for me. The picture was taken in Tibet, China in the year 2005. I am happy this man  always knows what I want and likes to give me little surprises every now and then . :)

Thanks for stopping by. Have a nice day !

Little drawstring bag + a cute cat

Last night I made this little drawstring bag using the lovely girls cotton fabric. I was inspired by this bag my hubby bought for me. The size of the bag is 7" x 5 1/2 " .

I used  satin fabric  for the inner lining. The fun part is when both of the strings are being pulled , a flower is formed in the centre!

I went to the fabric store again this afternoon. I did buy some more. I am so happy because I love those cotton fabric so much . My nephew borrowed my camera just now. I will take some photos of the fabric when I get back my camera.

Oh, I would like to share with  you a photo taken by my hubby  using his cell phone. He went to a traditional coffee shop one afternoon and ....., he saw this lovely cat sat on the staircase at the side door of the shop. The cat ignored the noisy crowd and was enjoying sun-bathing ! Sooo cute !

Thanks for reading and hope  you have a peaceful weekend !

Strawberry, polka dot and lovely girls.

Last Friday evening, I dropped by a fabric store I used to visit while driving home from work. I  saw many new arrivals .  More than  thirty different floral prints and polka dot  100 % cotton fabrics.

I just love those  pure cotton fabric. I told myself that I will sure to  regret if I did not grap some. Further more the prices are reasonable and affordable. They are perfect for making little dresses, skirts, patchwork and .....( See how I am trying to find as many excuses as posssible whenever I am buying fabric...)

I  managed to control myself to buy eight pieces only. But the other beautiful floral fabric in the store keep on dancing in my mind, asking me to go back for them next Sunday ........ :) .

I would like to show you what I had bought. I love all of them. What do you think of them ? Let me know !

Should I go back for some more ? I do not mind collecting all the nice fabric and turn them into beautiful craftwork or clothing one day .  Don't laugh at me ! I am sure you are just like me,  fabric addict ! right ?  :)

Have a nice day !

 

Patchwork red floral coin purse

Recently my fabric scraps accumulated from sewing clothings are put into good use . Last night I used one of the  red floral cotton scraps to make another patchwork coin purse . It is very smal1, measuring 2 3/4 " x 4".

The other side of the purse

I used a plain red  cotton fabric for the inner lining.

I am going to give this purse to a niece of mine. I made a Chinese New Year dress for her using  this floral fabric a couple of years back. She loves that dress very much. I am sure she will love to have this purse too.

Purple flower coin purse

Yesterday we did not have cocuriculum activities in school .  I spent the whole day on cleaning up my home, cooking and watching an old Japanese drama " Love Generation ". The drama was acted by Kimura Takuya( 木村拓哉) and Matsu Takako (松たか子 ) . Fun to watch ！

Today  morning I continued watching the drama. In the afternoon, I sat down cutting square patches from my fabric scraps . I found some cotton fabrics scraps  from sewing this  little dress. I looked at the beautiful purple flowers and an idea  crossed my mind. I wanted to use them for sewing  a little purse. So that is how it came about.

The other side of the purse

This  little zipper purse  measuring approximately 2  3/4" x 4 " . The inner lining purple  fabric is 100 % cotton too.

I will  give this little purse  to a  lovely hardworking  Malay girl tomorrow . She  scored A+ for her Mathematics in the school mid- year examination and I promised to give her a special gift. Her favourite colour is purple and I hope she will love this little  purse. It will be great for her  to carry some coins or small notes. It is also small  enough  for her to put inside her pocket.

Thanks for reading. I  hope you have a great weekend !