Made over -- blue roses top

This is made from an old shirt of my sister. The collar of her shirt was worn out and she did not want to wear it any more. I transformed this worn out shirt into a sleeveless top. I love this cotton fabric top. The blue roses and the colour combination of this fabric is very pretty.

Two pieces dress for myself .

When I saw this fabric in the textile store, I was thrilled ! Beautiful colour and beautiful flower designs!

I made a simple blouse and a maxi bottom with a slit at the back. When I wear this to work, my colleagues said it is beautiful. The material is soft and comfy to wear. Furthermore, it does not need any ironing after washing. Oh ! This really makes me feel relief because sometimes I am really busy with my work.

Red cotton dress with embroidered roses

When I entered one of the fabric stores in my hometown and saw this fabric, I was really excited . This embroidered cotton fabric with roses on it is so beautiful ! There are a few colours , what colour should I buy ? Blue? purple? yellow ? orange ? In the end, I bought this red one because I like to see kids wearing bright colours.

When cutting the fabric ,I adjusted carefully so that one of the pretty rose fell just below the front neck line. The result turned out great .My little niece looks pretty and sweet with it on.

Another colourful floral cotton dress

I made another dress for one of my nieces.The fabric used is same as this one.This time I embellished the front with lace and ribbons, as well as machine appliqued flowers.

Cute coin purse

This morning I made a coin purse for one of my niece. The fabric used is unbleached and undyed natural cotton. The lining fabric is flannel. I told her that the machine appliqued little girl is her.She is very happy and told me that she is going to bring this purse to school everyday.

Frankly, I am not satisfied with this purse because I feel that it is not neatly sewn. My hubby said that I am too particular over my sewing. May be he is right ! :)

Puffed sleeves red top

This is another top sewn for Chinese New Year. Whenever I pay visits to the elders during Chinese New Year, I will wear bright colours clothes. Chineses prefer bright colours rather than dull colours especially during our great CNY festival.

This top is more feminine and I match it with a black tight skirt.

Red floral blouse

This blouse was made to match with this flared skirt. Both are meant for Chinese New Year celebration. I am not sure what type of fabric it is. It is soft and does not wrinkle. No ironing is required and this saves my time.

I like to see other people wearing red but myself always try to avoid .Red is always the centre of attraction. I am not a sociable nor a talkative person. When one of my colleague saw this fabric, she fell in love with it. May be this fabric is really pretty ?

Rectangular pincushion

I made another pincushion last night. It is rectangular in shape. The fabric used is still unbleached and undyed natural cotton.
At first I wanted to apply a dog applique on it, but thinking that every time I pop my needles and pins into it , I might have the feeling that as though I am hurting a poor dog. In the end, I decided the appliqué should be flowers instead. You know, there are flowers made from plastic, so I am not popping the real flowers …..Ha! Ha!

I need to stop here. I start work at noon and now it is time to prepare lunch. Holidays ended, back to work!

White and blue floral cotton blouse

This is a very simple short sleeves blouse. It is comfy and nice to wear.The cotton fabric was given to me by my fourth sister. Well, I have seven sisters and three brothers. What a big family, right ?

Sailing boat pincushion

I made a pincushion last night. The fabric used is unbleached and undyed natural cotton. I love blue colours , so I embellished the pincushion with a sailing boat applique,using scraps of blue denim and cotton fabrics.

Bright red flared skirt

This is an  8 gore flared skirt. It is very easy to make. In fact I am thinking of preparing a tutorial for the making of this skirt. Well. I will do it when I have time. When ? Hopefully in May.

The red fabric I used is not cotton nor l inen . I am not sure what type of fabric it is , must be a type of synthetic fabric. This fabric is soft and it drapes well . It is durable and does not wrinkle.

Broad shorts for myself

This morning I made a broad shorts for myself .I took out an old paper pattern that I drafted six years ago. The weather in Malaysia is still quite hot, but anyhow, better than the previous months. Once in a while, rain do comes but not heavy . This shorts is made from cotton fabric and suitable for the hot climate in my country. Well, it is meant for indoor outfit only , because I never wear shorts when go outing, unless on the beach.

An elastic band is sewn on the waist line.This makes me feel more comfy. This shorts is simple and very easy to make .I spent only about 25 minutes to complete the cutting and the sewing .

Colourful floral dress

This is another Chinese New Year dress that I made for a niece of mine a few years back. She is now a tall teenager girl and the dress is passed to her younger sister. The fabric used is cotton bought from a local fabric store. The plain red cotton fabric is scrap of fabric given by my hubby’s aunty. I cut some flower patterns from the colourful fabric and machine appliqued them on the plain red fabric.

Small head-rest pillows

I made two small head- rest pillows for my hubby. He has the habit of taking a short nap right after lunch. According to him, the nap brings him some relaxation and rejuvenation. One of these pillows is for him to keep in his office , so that he can use it whenever he managed to spare time to nap during lunch hours. Another one is for him to keep inside his car. When there is a need for long distance travelling and he feels drowsy when driving, he could pull over to a rest area, drink a beverage and take a 20-minute nap. At this point, the small pillow will serve his need well . I sewed invisible zips as openings for both of the bone shape pillow cases , so that I can wash them occasionally. The measurement of the pillow case is 11 in. x 7 in. The fabric used is cotton with cute cartoon cars printed on it. My hubby is happy with what he gets !

Denim pencil case

Ten years ago, a young girl came to me. She said that she looked fat wearing a pair of jeans with wide openings at the bottom .Under her request, I cut off the bottom parts for her .I kept the denim that has been cut off from her jeans. I knew that one day I will use them to make some handicraft.

The time has come.After reading the tutorial from Noodlehead, I sew a pencil case using the denim mentioned above.The pencil case is to be given away to a Malay teeneger boy.I sew his name on the other side.I hope that he is going to like it.

The lining used is cotton fabric with blue stripes. since there are still some denim left, I think I am going to sew another one very soon.

A pillow for my car

I used one of my favourite light green cotton fabric and some scrap fabrics to make a pillow. I put this pillow inside my car. I just simply cut the motif flowers and leaves ,without drawing or sketching on the fabric first. In the end, the result is not satisfatory. The appliqued flowers do not look nice !

" PingAnFu" 平安符 or Amulet

My hubby went to Taiwan after Chinese New Year. He brought back some special gifts for me .One of them is a “平安符”or amulet . It is given by a temple in Taiwan. The Chinese “平安符” is usually in the form of a folded piece of yellow or red paper which carries blessing words from the God that we worship . It is believed that when we wear or bring this along with us , we will always be safe and sound , and being protected from all evils and misfortunes .

A " PingAnFu " inside a small cute bag

The “平安符”he brought back is very special because it is placed inside a small cute bag, some sort like a sachet. Look at the pictures below . The bag is very small ( 2 in. x 2 1/2 in. ), with a small pretty Chinese knot and a adjustable red string attached to it. I supposed the fabric used is a type of satin .

The length of the small bag is half the length of a pen.

Can you see the cute little dragon ?

Thank you , Ah Meng , for bringing this back home for me. I understand you always care for me

Sweet Memories of Chinese Button Knots 中国钮扣结的情怀

小时候最喜欢看母亲缝衣服。她缝衣的过程很简单，可不像我现在那么麻烦，要画图，要用印纸，要用画粉……等等。记忆中，她自己身上穿的传统唐衫上的纽扣，全是亲手编的。

我应该是从小受母亲的影响，深深爱上了女红。年少时，当我念完高中，在等成绩揭晓时的假期里，便迫不及待地去学缝纫。我只学了一个月，学了点皮毛。但谢谢日本出版社，出了那么多那么棒的时装书，能让我参考。在这些书的帮助下，我在摸索中学会缝制一些式样简单的衣服。

母亲的早逝，使我无法从她手上学会编那传统的中国钮扣结，但幼时看母亲编钮扣结的情景，是我这一生中美丽的回忆。我就为了这脑里永不泯灭的温馨记忆，固执地要学会编这精巧雅致的钮扣结。

从台湾出版的《国最新女性百科全书》的一篇爱是千千结中，我学会了编这传统的钮扣结。 当然手艺与母亲的无可比拟，但当把我把编好的纽扣缝在新衣上，一股暖流涌上心头。啊，母亲，我终于学会您曾编过的，那传统又实用，雅典又美丽的钮扣结了！

Beige colour rose flower blouses

I sew these two blouses five years ago. The fabric used is Japanese medium weight cotton. I bought this lovely fabric from one of the local textile store in the town I lived in . The price of the fabric was unexpectedly low, only RM 7. 00 per metre! ( 1 metre approximately equals to 39 inches ) . I forgot how many metres I had bought . I think I bought all that was left in the store, must be less than 3 metres.

I sew the blouse with the puffed sleeves first. I sew the second long sleeves blouse with the rest of the fabric left. The blouses were made to match with one of the maxi skirt I bought from a local supermarket , as shown in the picture below . The two pictures shown below are two brown colour long pants I bought last year. The long pants match perfectly well with these two blouses too .The two pants were bought during a local supermarket closed down sale . The prices for these two pants were extremely low ! One for MYR 10.00 only !

Red and white flower purse

It rained yesterday, not heavy, but we are so happy ! Many of us in Malaysia were suffering from the heat , from the hot weather for the past few months.

The weather is getting a bit cooler today.This morning I woke up feeling relax and happy because I have nine days holidays ahead of me ! Oh ! Now I have time to sew ! I started my first holday sewing project early in the morning. I sew a cute red and white flower purse .



The sweet red and white flower fabric is 100% cotton.This is a scrap fabric left over from a dress I sew for my niece a few years back.I love this fabric so I bought a few metres and I still have 1 1/2 metres of it keep in my sewing room. A blouse to be sew using this fabric in near future.The plain red fabric was given to me by my sister . It is not cotton and I guess it is of polyester type. The purse is embellished with an appliqued flower motif I cut from the cotton fabric. I machine appliqued the flower , just as what I did for the little dress I made last time.

At first I intended to use this purse for putting coins and small notes , but I found out that its size is just perfect for my car keys instead. In the end I decided to use it for this purpose so that my car keys will not jumble up with other stuff inside my handbag !

Small red drawstring bag + two Japanese pattern books

In the year 2007 , my hubby brought back some gifts for me from Taiwan . A lovely small red drawstring bag and two Japanese pattern books. I love the small pretty bag very much.Its measurement is 5 1/2 in. x 7 in.Every Chinese New Year, I fill the bag full with red packets. It is a Chinese tradition for the elders to give red packet filled with money to children during Chinese New Year.

My hubby knows that I love Japanese pattern books.I could not get any of these books in the small town I lived in. If I want to find those books, I need to travel quite a long distance to other big towns to get it. When My hubby saw pattern books in one of the Taiwan bookstore , he simply picked up two. The contents of the LADY BOUTIQUE mostly are styles for early spring.Since the climate in Malaysia is summer throughout the year, some patterns do not really suitable for us in Malaysia. I love the second pattern book because most of the patterns are pretty summer blouses.