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Updated video: Introduction and review of Olfa cutters + some thoughts when choosing your self healing mats and rulers

Don’t know which Olfa cutter to get and what are the differences between the models?

In this updated video, I hope to address those questions and I’ve included the pretty aqua Splash cutter and the 18mm rotary cutter (great for cutting smaller patches) in this review. You can also see how the blades are switched out for each model. Any questions, please let me know!

To purchase the cutters, you can visit my Etsy Shop. Enjoy 5% discount with coupon code (valid till 31 Dec 2015): YOUTUBE2015

For local mailing (to Singapore addresses), you can shop here in Singapore Dollars  contact me for prices for Olfa Self Healing Mats and Acrylic Rulers.

Also, view how I used the 18mm cutters to cut the smaller patches with curves

Some tips when shopping for rotary cutting supplies
1) What materials do you cut with? (light weight, stretchy, thick, etc. 45mm size cutters for most fabrics and 60mm for thicker fabrics)
2) What sizes do you usually work with? (Large size, small handsewing projects – so you can consider which size cutter and whether you require a large mat or large ruler)
3) Do you need to cut parallel cuts of fabrics (e.g. cut width of fabrics folded into 2, or just smaller patterns on the yardage)
4) which mat size to buy? – ASK: How big is your worktop? (which is the LARGEST self healing mat size that will cover that area? My advice is to get the largest size that your table can accommodate)
5) which ruler size to buy – ASK: How big is your self healing mat (My advice is to get the longest ruler that your mat can accommodate)

Often, I will receive feedback from the quilters that they don’t have a large enough work table. I will ask them if they can sit their sewing machine on top of the cutting mat. And when they need to use to the entire area of the mat, they can move the sewing machine away (assuming the machine is portable).

Some quilters set their cutting mat on the dining table or on the floor (not recommended as it hurts your back and potential for accidents when the cutters are on the floor too). The mats have to be stored flat, so as long as they are kept away somewhere safe (a friend stores hers under the TV cabinet when not in use), then no issues.

If you quilt, get at least the A2 sized mats, with the basic rulers of 6″x24″ and 6″x12″ with a 45mm Rotary cutter. This combination will be good enough for your quilt making requirements as it allows you to cut across the width of fabric (about 22″ when folded selvage to selvage). Then add on the large square rulers (for squaring blocks and quilts) and smaller rulers (for working with patches).

Do note that you should use a self healing mat as normal mats may be too hard and that will affect the lifespan of your blades. When using a clearly marked acrylic ruler, you will be able to cut your pieces accurately.

Hope this helps!

Imagine… how wonderful to sew with this baby

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!

babylock-imagine139124800

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. 😀

Sewing Kit Update – SG shops

This post is dedicated to everyone basking under the sunny SG sun, or to visitors who are planning a trip to our little city island.

While we don’t have the likes of JoAnn, Yuzawaya, or a Nippori Textile Town (closest we have is Arab Street??), there are still a few places here in town where we can spend hours emptying our pockets for new gadgets or delicious fabrics.

I have shortlisted a couple of shops where I have purchased from before.

You can find it in a new page in my Sewing Kit.

Enjoy!

Rants and Raves

Oh… my little bundle of joy is HERE! Some of it will go to a friend, but the rest are all MINE MINE MINE!

36m of lovelies

36m of lovelies

Magdalene from Needle and Thread is AMAZING. She received my order on Thursday and arranged for the fabrics to be delivered on this morning (Saturday). The prices from the store has been marked down and she is giving away 0.5m with every S$50 spent. This is great value for sewers in SG who often have to resort to buying from the U.S. to score great deals (yup, people like me). Note: I’m NOT paid by any sellers to rave about them. I’m just relating my experiences with the sellers and tools as-is.

This shopping experience is such a contrast to another transaction from hell that I’m going through right now with FabFanatic. I fell in love with DS’ Hope Valley series when it first came out in November last year. And then I was notified that Fabfanatic, a fabric co-op, was gathering orders to bring in the fabrics, I took up the offer since there were many positive feedback from other quilting blogs. The cost was about US$5+ per yard and I order a couple of 1/2 yard sets. That set me back over US$90+ inclusive of international shipping. I paid up as soon as I received the PayPal invoice at the end of Nov 09. To date, I have not received an inch of that order. I’m absolutely devastated! I’m not the only one in this shitty situation. Since their last email in March, promising the order will be shipped out that weekend, I have not heard from FabFanatic. They have not responded to my numerous emails and basically, I think they have fallen off the planet.

This taught me:

1) If I have a large order, get in touch with the merchant first. For Etsy, I usually test the ‘responsiveness’ of seller by asking a few questions via convo. Of course, the questions should not be ‘annoying’ or obvious ones that I can find out from the Policies page.

2) Do NOT prepay for orders that will take more than 4 weeks to be sent to me. PayPal has a strict rule about NOT entertaining disputes more than 45 days from transaction date.

3) Read Feedbacks from other buyers carefully. On the other hand, there are some buyers who do not leave ‘negative’ feedback for fear of retaliatory comments. So, look out for ‘high sales, low feedback’ ratio too.

4) Shop with sellers who can process the order or ship out the order quickly.

5) Pay with PayPal where possible.

6) Forget about fabric co-ops. :S

FabFanatic is probably one of the few black sheep in the world of e-commerce. But the ones that I truly admire are those sellers who are able to ‘recover’ from a bad service/shopping experience.

Once, I purchased a couple of items from an Etsy seller during the busy pre-hols season. She left out a tube of fabric glue that I ordered, but promised to make good by mailing out the item to me. I never received that tube. Suspecting that the item was lost in mail, I told the seller that I would BUY one more tube  of glue and pay for the shipping, and she can mail 2 tubes then. She agreed and said she would make good that order. When the package arrived, to my horror, there was only 1 tube in the mailer! Of course, I was rather frustrated about her getting my order messed up again. I wrote to her for a refund but she was slow in responding. Eventually, she responded with an apology and refunded me the cost of the glue plus the additional shipping, etc. I totally understand that we can falter during such a super-busy shopping period. But if you can make-good the experience, I will definitely shop with the seller again. Afterall, I need a good seller not only for good transactions, but also good salesmanship when the transaction goes awry.

Logging off to prepare for the rest of the weekend with the boys now. Ta!

Let your fingers do the shopping

My parents are away for a short break, and I have Benji all to ourselves for a week. That means playing tag-team with Hubby to care and play with Benji and checking in on work. It’s rough because of the dreary weather and the car’s in the garage being fixed. We have been in-doors since Tuesday and have gone through too many episodes of Fireman Sam and also re-reading Spot books.

Today, the thunderstorm is not helping matters. He barely laid down for 30 mins and was woken up by the ‘scary booms’. Sigh…

Im feeling a little like Skittles now... sleepy...

I'm feeling a little like Skittles now... sleepy...

This week, I have not been sewing as much as I wanted to as I’ve been feeling under the weather as well. After the babe’s in bed at night, I’ve been SHOPPING A LOT and spending time with the Kindle. And dreaming up new quilts and crafts 😉

The Kindle and I

The Kindle and I

This my SECOND Kindle. The 1st one was delivered to me all bashed up and this one came in the nick of time before our trip to Japan in February. I absolutely LOVE this Kindle sleeve, bought from Sakizome – a local Etsian. Definitely one of my best buys EVER from an online store.

Have you scored any good buys online lately? Please share! 😉