Remember in my last post, I was dithering about whether to get a serger or not? Dithered I No More. I got it.

Went to Ban Soon to grab a couple of packs of needles and ended paying the deposit for the machine. Hubby said those were very expensive needles indeed.

I brought it home on a Friday evening, after an hour at the shop with Helen, going through the set-up, the features and Q&A about the workings of the serger. Before I set off to collect my machine, I had my projects cut up, ready to be serged.

Over the weekend, I had it set up and while Hubby was entertaining Benji with trains and DVDs, I had some time to complete a table topper and a bathroom window cover-up (it is not exactly what I call a curtain). I started to work on some bedsheets for Benji too!

Apparently Ikea has discontinued the fitted sheets for the expandable mattresses. Armed with a measuring table and some wide-width fabrics, I set out to make about 3 more sets of fitted sheets for Benji’s toddler’s bed. Here’s one made from a duvet cover, also from Ikea. I followed Dana’s baby crib sheets tutorial loosely.

The Babylock is a dream to work with. It was easy to thread (jet-air threading) through the loopers and you don’t need to follow any sequences (thread upper first, then lower, etc), and best of all, i don’t have to worry at all about adjusting tensions for different stitches or fabrics!

Here is a view of a 3-thread narrow hem, serged on a linen-cotton blend from Ikea fabric. This fabric frays A LOT and with the serger, I was able to hem it neatly, fold over about 1/4 inch, iron and machine sew the hem down.

Looking forward to more serging adventures with the Imagine

Posted in Sewing | 2 Comments »

5 weeks’ worth of Fabric Stash Summary. This post is FULL of fabric goodness. If you are on a fabric diet, look away now

I ordered more fabrics from my favorite local fabric sellers again in May. Unfortunately, when they came through the door, I hardly had time to go through them. Today, I took some time to get them out of the bags to breathe some fresh air and of course, to take the pictures.

All Stars by Riley Blake

Lantern Bloom by Laura Gunn

Poppy by Lara Gunn

Dots by Paula Prass

Daisy Chain by Amy Butler

Michael Miller & Robert Kaufman

Cherish was kind enough to help include a special order for RK’s essex linen which I’m in love with. They are little trickier to handle, compared to 100% cotton, but easier (and cheaper!) than 100% linen. They are almost impossible to find locally and I would buy in bulk from the U.S. when we do a shopping spree online :p

Fat Quarter Bundle - 3 little bears

Fat Quarter Bundle - Mingle

Collect 'em all!

221 colours...

Cherish also helped me to source this colour chart as I’m deciding on stocking up on my Solids. Gosh… I absolutely adore EVERY colour!

As for what went OUT:

A few more custom-order crayon wallets

Fabric wrap for Benji’s friend’s 3rd birthday.

A few Matryoshka doll appliqued totes

Weeks 8, 9, 10, 11, 12: 24 May - 20 June

In: 126 yds (Ooops!)

Out: 2 yds

YTD total:
Purchased: 176 yds
Busted: 17.75 yds
net: -158.25 yds

Besides the usual work and family matters, we took off for a short get-away at Cameron Highlands and KL in Malaysia for about a week. It was a great road trip with friends and it felt like an extended playdate for our kids!

Hopefully I can get back into the sewing swing of things this week.

Tags: Fabrics, family, Moopie Fabrics, Needle and Thread, online shopping
Posted in Crayon Wallet, Fabrics, Kids, Sewing, Stash Report | No Comments »

I know I’ve been behind my stash reports - there are so many ‘ins’ that I could hardly keep up! I will save that for a later post.

Anyway, I’m taking a break from my work to share a little bit of what’s been on my mind for weeks!

Meet the Baby Lock’s Imagine serger. I visited Ban Soon a couple of weeks before to take a look at the Eclipse DX. The only difference between Eclipse DX and the Imagine is that the Imagine has the automatic tension feature. I’m inclined to go the idiot-proof way, and the price difference is not too big.

But STILL, it is going to be a hefty investment and I’m still dithering on whether to buy now or later (I mean, whether to buy one or not!). I really want one now, so that I can start cutting and sewing up projects for home. And I can still wait because I have a great sewing machine and I don’t see myself taking much time from work to work on my existing projects, let alone start new home decor projects. Am I going to crazy enough to pay S$1,800 for a machine to make pillow cases, cushion covers, napkins, etc? I think if there are friends who know me and reading this post, they are probably nodding their heads off. Sigh.

Perhaps I should do a ‘Serger Fund Raising’ sale, as discussed with a friend earlier. With the sale proceeds from selling what I make, I would feel a lot better shelling out for this baby.

Tags: serger
Posted in Sewing, Shopping | 2 Comments »

A couple of weeks ago, I had a few quick finishes. I remember being really happy, working on these projects. Because I got bust some Japanese fabrics that I was in danger of hoarding and also trying my 1st bias binding, and my virgin attempt at crafting with the baby strap hardware.

Cot-sized quilt made with ultra-cute Anpan man pre-quilted fabric, hand sewn bias binding

Stroller-sized blankie made with 100% cotton and backed with flannel.

I remember spending quite a bit of $ on ugly binky straps and general straps to tether items near Benji when he was little. So, I whipped up a couple of straps for Baby L that not only function as binky straps, but also as the tether strap for the stroller blankie.

Kawaii fabric tapes (for stroller blankie and binky straps) from Moopie Fabrics.

Tags: binky straps, fabric tapes, Japan
Posted in Books and Patterns, Fabrics, Gifting, Kids, Quilt, Sewing, Star QAL, Stash Report, Tools | No Comments »

You have seen a sneak peek here. The custom quilt has been delivered earlier in April to A to be gifted to her brand new baby niece. So it is pretty safe to post this here, presented by my sweetest quilt bearer

Peek

A

Boo!

Machine appliqued doll label

I’ve been waiting to do an applique with the little girl prints. And I found the perfect excuse in the quilt label!

Posted in Quilt, Sewing | No Comments »

Our work loft is a little messy right now… With all the recent buys and also new projects, it is a little hard to keep things neat and tidy.

I started on a new project a couple of days back (yes, yet another queen-sized quilt) and so far, I’ve made quite a good progress (by my standards!). During the process, I took my time to cut some blocks, sew some, iron some, square up some… relishing  each stage of production (read: I get bored easily). So, there are many mini piles of blocks/patches in various states of WIP scattered all over the sewing area and it was tricky moving the blocks/patches from the sewing machine to the ironing board, etc. And today at Daiso, I found the perfect helper!

These trays are like tubs without lids, and yet I’m able to stack them up. PERFECT. The little lids/catches at the sides are not very strong and I doubt they will hold much weight or many trays, but these trays are soooo handy and just what I need to get the little blocks organised for the sewing table/cutting/iron boards.

At SGD$2 a tray, it is really a good buy!

Here’s a sneak peek at what are in the trays right now:

Tags: Daiso, Trays
Posted in Hand Quilting, Kids, Quilt, Sewing, Star QAL, Tools | 2 Comments »

Last week, I had a finger-clicking good time and bought new fabrics which I will share later.

The highlight of a crazy work week was a visit by a long-time with her super duper cute baby boy. She came over to pick out fabrics for Baby L’s new quilt and we end up ripping into my still-un-packed-bags from my Japan trip. It was great fun and we ended up choosing fabrics for 2 blankies and 1 quilt! FUN!

Week 6: 10 May - 16 May

In: 0 yds (wait till week 7…)

Out: 4 yds (baby blankies!)

This is AnPan Man (Bread Man), a Japanese comic character that we all grew up with. I grabbed this 1m cut from Yuzawaya in Japan, and didn’t get a chance to pick out more Anpan character fabrics. Darn it! The fabric is cotton/linen blend for the top and cotton muslin for the backing.

It is super light and soft, so we decided to just add binding on this piece of pre-quilted fabric. LOVELY. I didn’t want to sew the binding entirely by machine, and chose to attach it by machine, then sew it down by hand for the ‘invisible’ look. Great chance to use Denyse Schmidt’s KJR stripe fabric in a bias binding!

YTD total:
Purchased: 24.59 yds
Busted: 13.75 yds
net: -10.84 yds

Tags: Anpan Man, baby quilt, binding clips, Fabrics, friends
Posted in Fabrics, Quilt, Sewing, Stash Report | 2 Comments »

In my sewing kit, I have a few tips about fabrics, notions and a list of where to shop, shop and shop some more. Check back often by clicking on the tab at top of the page, or the links on the left navigation bar.

For starters, I have created a visual explanation of Fat Quarter vs. Normal Quarter in fabric-land.

Hope you will find this resource useful

Posted in Sewing | 2 Comments »

Another quilt DONE DONE.

The Tales and Tidings quilt is one of my ‘oldest’ project. I bought it AGES ago and it took me a while before I found the ‘inspiration’ (read: procrastinated long enough) to cut it up.

The top was completed in Aug’08 and I put it away, and went shopping for the backing fabrics. After I ordered it, I put it away some more and agonised over the quilting. I finally sent it off to a quilty friend who did the quilting for me late ‘09 and I’m soooo happy with what she did with it.

Free motion quilting detail

One of my favourite blocks...

*heart* stripey binding fabrics

Since this is Quilt #3 for Benji, I think it is time to get a quilt for our OWN bed now. :p

Tags: baby quilt, benji, crib sized quilt, Quilt
Posted in Kids, Quilt, Sewing | 1 Comment »

I'm 3 and I get a new shirt!

Big man turned 3 in Feb and I did not get round to taking a picture of him in his birthday shirt till recently. :S

The birthday shirts are really handy. Benji’s kindda big for his age and the shirt has been great giving people a hint of how old (or young) he really is. Saves me from answering the ‘age-old’ question from kay-poh aunties from the supermarkets :p

Tags: benji, birthday, t-shirt
Posted in Kids, Sewing | No Comments »