Kitty clasp pouch

Another new design for the clasp pouch. Been trying out new designs lately...This uses the same frame which i use for iphone pouch.============================================================
Seperately, was facetiming mummy last night and asked to see my darlings..i miss them!!! lots !!! Wished they are here with me in hong kong but cant la... it was be too traumatizing for them to travel by plane and too time consuming with those quarantine whatsoever. Plus haw told me that their dopey seemed changed after they brought him back from melbourne... apparently the plane ride may have been very traumatic for him.. poor dopey :( so will not subject my dogies to such experience.

Here they are .. caught on video.. funny thing is that they cant respond to me when i call out to them over the phone.. :( nor look at me on the ipad :(

Doctor's Bag/Pouch

"The classic doctor's bag is flat-bottomed with rounded sides, slightly elongated. Two large handles come together over the top for easy carrying. The mouth of the bag has a collapsible metal frame that springs open when handles are separated and tugged. The gaping mouth makes it easy to see into the bag and extract items."

Always on the lookout to craft non-zipper pouches. So when i saw this doctor's pouch thingy frame, i knew i needed to try it out. Here's it!Opens up by pulling those two polka dot thingy apart...
Comes with D-rings by the sides so that i could add a handle to convert it into a wristlet if needed.

Patchwork Linen Pencil Case

Have seen on other blogs how crafters paired patchwork with linen to make pouches and look pretty so i decided to try one.Hmm... something's just not right... i am so not liking it :( .. nice try anyway.

Handphone cozy custom order

Cousin called over the weekend... her friend, D, just got a gadget recently and needed a cover to protect it. But D couldnt seem to find any commercially avaliable cover. Hence ... Cousin tot of me :D Her gadget, the Sony Xperia S, is a cool slim looking smartphone that's lauched only this year.
So, over facetime, Cousins and I searched for an acceptable fabric for D. D had few requirements in terms of fabric which were suppose to be easy to satisfy as she knows what she does not like - no floral, no pinky, no girly, no cartoon, no letterings, no landmarks. Sounds like any easy one right? But no... cuz i only have limited fabric stash made up of all she does not like! Hahaha.

Anyway, D finally settled on a blue gridlines linen checkered fabric paired with black & white chekered fabric. She also settled on a cute hedgehog applique.

Once that's done, i had to get working on the measurements to create a template.
Then sew up a mock up casing. I usually skip this step and go straight to doing up the actual product but cuz i only had a small piece of black and white checkered fabric left which means no room for any mistake. So , in order to be on the safe side, i did up a mock up casing. And since i did not have the actual product itself, i had to create a mock up phone. The mock up phone looks like a joke but its necessary for getting the whole thing right. Slip the mock up phone into the mock up casing and it fits perfectly! :D On the first try.. lucky me. Trying to complete the whole look and feel. Looks good and now i amready to start on actual product.And so, from mock up to actual final product! Happy the way it turned out!! Its not too kiddy and fits the mock up phone nicely. YAY!!! Hope that it fits the actual product nicely too and that D likes it!!

New Girly Clasp Pouch

After that very happy luggage tag, i felt like i could conquer any craft.. i was on the roll. anything i sew will turn out prettiy. i had it in me to make fantastic crafts... u get the drift of the high i am feeling.

So the very next day, on saturday i started on my new project... a new clasp pouch!Looks good too right? Looks girly too with those gathers, lace and ribbon. But ... not so user friendly cuz the opening is a bit small. Not so convenient to use as a coins pouch etc. Good to look at but not so good to use.. pity pity.

All in a Friday's work

Tyre was out late on Friday night.. he had some company dinner to attend so that leaves me free and alone the entire day from morning till night to indulge in myself.. no need to clean house, do grocery shopping nor cook!

So.. spent the whole day trying out various crafts and looking for inspiration. So it started out with this early in the morning...the concept is good but end product aint too user friendly. Its a 'pop up' pouch thingy. Its rather fast and easy to do since its suppose to be a prototype... there's no need to be too exact.When you open it, the sides pop up and it becomes a box like pouch.. its suppose to be easier to find things in this manner.. supposedly a japanses style like pouch which i have seen some time back. But then, the whole pouch was abit too flimsy and cant really fit as much
Anyway, one dissapointing pouch.. and it was only noon time... i still have lots of time to play with other ideas.. so i tried doing this pleated pouch thingy which i saw on one of the blogs last time. Once again, it turned out wrong.. somehow the proportions were a bit off and the fabrics were a bit mismatched. Waste of time and effort again. Was pretty ready to give up already - two dissapointments in a day is too much to bear. But it was still pretty early at ard 4+pm. So i went in search for more inspiration... and it hit me!!!! i needed a luggage tag!! Its long overdue. And i have seen some applique styles i really like on some blogs and decided to do one! I really need a luggage tag soon.. in a few weeks time when i return to Singapore, i need to personalise my generic luggage.

I have seen some amazing bloggers who first draft out their ideas first before tackling the actual task so i first went abt conceptualizing my tag...drawing, mixing and matching different materialsAnd so , after more than 6 hours of almost non-stop crafting, here's the end product! Its just soooooooooooo pretty!!! i think i have outdone myself!!!! I love it!! It may be a small tag but there's alot of handstitching.. each of those small pieces of cloth/appliques have been to ironed on first then handstitched to prevent it from falling off and fraying.

Typically, luggage tags shd include address and contact. But i just stitched my name (Ms Vong said i shdnt call myself miss anymore..but but but... can la hor? ) and country. Not too keen on putting my contact and address on it. If my luggage's missing and airline needs to contact me, surely they can thru my name? :D Love it! Wish to do some for my travelling frens ... in due course... :D

And so that's it.. that's all done in one crazy crafting friday with a happy ending :D

Large Clasp Pouch 6

Large Clasp Pouch 5

One of my all time favourite fairy tale is " Alice in Wonderland". When the movie directed by Tim Burton was released in 2010, i watched it a couple of times... very nice, colorful and whimsical in some ways. Johnny Depp and Anne Hathaway were my faves.

So, when i saw this "Alice in Wonderland" print, i had to have it for my crafts. Made a large clasp pouch using the fabric.

Camera Pouch for Daddy

Dad has been bugging me to make him a camera pouch for his camera. He was using this bulky leather casing which is not too user friendly. Anyway, since we were hanging out in the tiny apartment with nothing much to do except watch boring drama serial at night, i decided to finally help him with his request :D

he chose the main fabric and i did the rest. Had been dragging my feet on this previously because i was simply too lazy to draw a template/design. Anyway, here goes...And here's the end product - added a layer of batting for protection.

Large Clasp Pouch 4

Surprisingly, i managed to find some time to make more of these for the past few days. Here they are. Love the floral ones (prints from leicen range) - they are bright and colorful .. very spring-like.And here's one of my favorite prints.. dad saw it and liked it so much that he asked me to make a camera pouch for him using this... which i did just tonight. Will post pictures of it tomorrow.

Large Clasp Pouch 3

Made two more while watching the new china drama serial "后宫".　Not a bad show (neither very good) for passing time and crafting away to. But its feeling a bit draggy now halfway through the show..

Patchwork Pillows For HK!

I love hexis... they are so fun to make and so portable ... i can make them at home, at work, at fren's place, on the plane, overseas etc. I made these hexis for the living room pillow case. It took quite a while to piece them all together but it was fun!
I always wanted to do a red and aqua blue combi.. so here's it.. i made 4 different ones for the living room. So pretty! :D

Seperately, I am now trying to 'tackle' a new project. Another quilt! (yeah.. i havent completed sean kiddo's yet but i cant resist doing a new one) This time, happy yellow and happy green color combi.. hmm..reminds me of the vong's grass patch at home :P. Spent the whole day today cutting and ironing them .. till i have no time to cook dinner :D Well, parents are coming to hk tomolo for more than a week so guess i be laying off crafting for sometime and be out spending some money!! Whoppeee!!

Large Clasp Pouch 2

Made two more yesterday while watching korean drama "Secret Garden"

Large Clasp Pouch

No 'feelings' lately to craft new designs... still searching for inspiration. So, in order to calm my itchy hands, i am back to crafting the large clasp pouches. They are quite a hit with many ... as it is perfectly sized and very versatile.

Here's the first of the many...
This piece of japanese fabric was a lucky find in hk. I kinda had some doubts when i bought it cuz its much brighter than what i am usually used to ... but... i am happy how it turns out in the end :D

Sean's Quilt WIP

I am going to make Sean Kiddo a baby quilt. Mummy Haw also already made a minky blanket for him but never mind, the more the merrier?

Here's a sneak of the color combi that i have pieced together for him using cartoon prints. I have already finished piecing it and i just need to quilt it now. I have to first go get some batting later this week. Hope to finish it before my next trip back.

My New Machine!

I have got a new machine!!! A Janome Memory Craft 6600!! On a nice date - 1.2.12!

My Bernina Activa 220 has been with me since 2008 (was one of the best surprise gift from tyre) and its perfect for my sewing crafts till now and will continue to be great! Its solid and sews beautifully & quietly.

Since tyre now works in hk, as the wife, i keep him company. It gets quite boring after some time (dvds and shopping overdose) so i needed to start crafting to pass time. Had bought a basic Brother sewing machine but quite regretted it after some time cuz its really for basic sewing and the stitches are pretty loose and weak looking.

So i started toying with the idea of getting a new machine. One in Singapore, another in hk. Ms G suggested for me to bring my Bernina over and when i needed to satisfy my crafting needs in singapore, i could borrow her juki. But but but... i just needed to own my own stuffs ! hahaha yeah.. wasteful.

My alternatives were Bernina, Elna or Janome.

Bernina is almost immediately out cuz its way to expensive for a more advanced model. I had used Elna few years back in Taiwan when we went on a crafting trip - the teacher used the Elna which sews perfectly and more importantly, it has a auto cutter function. This means, press one button and the strings cut perfectly. No need to pull and cut. I knew i had to have this crucial "auto cut" function in my next machine. As for Janome, its a foreign brand to me but Ms G said its popular among japanese crafters. Also, Elna machines are now made by Janome (so i was told by people in sewing industry) So being the sucker in me, i sort of decided on Janome.

And just before i confirmed my order, i did online research between Elna 7300 and Janome 6600. Seems like the features (which i look out for) are largely the same.

So... Janome it shall be!

And the best thing, they provide free delivery and home training! Compared to my Bernina after sales service support experience, Janome beats hands down! So friendly and patient! Bernina was more haughty in comparison.

Susan the trainer spent 2 hours going through in details how to use the machine. Here are some of the key functions i love - and with this machine, there's no need to use the 'step pedal' to sew - the start/stop button will do.
It comes with a boxful of footers for different types of sewing methods. Amazing! Without the training, all these would just be sitting at one corner collecting dust. I feel so inspired to start using the different types.
I havent started truly exploring and familiarizing with the functions, but i already feel very expert and professional and ready to tackle those big quilting projects! Sean kiddo - i will do your quilt first ... in hk!! :D

wish me luck!!!

Patchwork Zippy

Its been long time since i did patchwork zippy pouches. For the past year or so, most of the focus of my crafting was on fabric prints - as long as fabric prints are pretty, the crafted items turns out equally pretty , if not, more.

Lately, i develop an interest in doing patchwork and quilting again. Started doing patchwork pillow cases in HK then in Singapore for frens. I planned to do more patchwork when i return to HK next week (cuz i need to be very very free in order to do patchwork), but i just couldnt resist a small project!

Colorful zippy! So colorful and bright! :D but but.. lak said its gaudy ! :( never mind.. i love it all the same !! :D Its patchworked, its hand-quilted!

Pink & Green Patchwork Pillows

Lately, i have developed an interest in making patchwork pillows. It started from wanting to 'decorate' the hk apt with cushions in hope to make it more cosy and homely. So, i made matching blue and red patchwork pillows in different shapes - square, round and rectangle.

When i came back to Singapore for chinese new year holidays, i made some for Lak and Ms Vong.

Lak requested for bright pink and green pillows. When i first heard of the combi, i tot its kinda weird but then , to each his own, so i made it.

The end results was surprising - its soooo pretty!!!! Ok, it looks ok from the picture cuz i took it with the iphone (blame blame blame) - could have been better with proper camera but i didnt have it with me that day.

Switzerland Part 3 - The Glacier Express

After staying a night in Zermatt, we left in the morning via The Glacier Express. I think this is considered one of the highlights of the trip - you will see pictures of it featured in tour guide and such.

Here's how the train looks like. Full glass top and botom. Its good cuz it gives a good view but its darn sunny - me and mummy we trying desperately to avoid the sun in vain.

Its abt a 7.5hrs trip if you stay the entire ride and its free with the switz pass but have to pay a fee to reserve the seats. There's also option to pay to have a 3 course meal on the train - which we paid for in advance too (if you didnt, you could still order food from the ala carte menu which is slightly more expensive but the food's better). Here's picture of our food - salad, main course & chocolate cake. Lucky i brought my own hard boil egg - most yumy.

We departed Zermatt for the last station @ St. Moritz. On hindsight, we shd have done the other way round. Anyway, the first hour of the trip was very novel and fun and exciting for us. I was busying snapping pictures, drinking my coffee, enjoying the scenery, and crafting away. After that, the ride was just pure torture for me - the ride was windy and long. There was simply nothing to do other than greenery greenery and more greenery.

Other highlights of the ride includes going up the moutains ( i think up to 2000m) and all we see is dark , stark snow covered land. Its pretty!

The finale was this bridge with three arches (nearer to St. Moritz side) - everyone was filled with anticipation just to get a good shot of the bridge. See everyone busy snapping away -but the train moved pretty fast and from the collective groans of the passengers, i think most/all did not get good shots. Anyway, its such a let down for me. I came with high expectations, endured and then all i got was a good 10secs view and anticiaption? Lousy i say.

Was so glad that the ride's over! Seperately, i took some pictures of cuppa tea pouches which i crafted during the trip - so pweeety! I love ! Maybe i should explore doing matching teapots for it.