pass me a kleenex!

Here's one of my recent sewing endeavors -- tissue box covers! I'm quite pleased with the way they turned out -- quick and easy, but they serve their purpose ... covering those tissue boxes (which in HK tend to be quite garrish). Now I'm considering making covers for other unsightly things... the stack of junk mail on the table, or maybe the pile of clothes in my room.

pouch bag

I purchased a card reader today, so can once again blog with pictures! Hooray! This is not the post I was planning to write the other day, because since then, I have had some major sewing inspiration!!

I borrowed a rather non-descript, fold-up grocery-store tote from my mom the other day, and was inspired to copy it using some fun fabric. So far, I've made two, and I'm really pleased with how they've turned out! I experienced some challenges -- I'm still getting used to sewing with bias tape, and my sewing machine decided to throw a couple tantrums -- but it was a positive experience overall. Here are the finished bags:

Folded up, to fit nicely in your purse.

Unfolded part way.

And in use! The little pouch doubles as a handy outside pocket.

I want to make some more, but will need to take a trip to Sham Shui Po first, to stock up on bias tape... in many colors!

I'm sure there are patterns out there for similar bags, but if anyone would like me to put up a tutorial, I'd be happy to share the steps, so that you can make one of your own.

templeton-inspired cozy

Two of my favorite things finally meet:

This is a Templeton-inspired cozy for my mom for her birthday. My mom doesn't go out for coffee much, which is why I hadn't made her one earlier. But then the other day when we were in Macau, a few of us went to Starbucks for some holiday-inspired caffeine, and my poor dear mother had to use a cardboard coffee sleeve. I'm glad that the cozy situation will now be rectified.

handmade christmas: stockings

I was inspired by Sal, and made a couple stockings this year. Here they are.

For my roommate, Rebekah.


For my friend, colleague and crafting buddy, Sal.

We were both inspired by a project by Alicia Paulson of Posy Gets Cosy, found out about here. I think I will make more stockings in the future -- it was a fun process!

handmade christmas: gifts

Gifts for my nieces and nephews. Monogrammed coloring cases for the older kids, and a bib for the smallest.

And here's my labor of love for my brother. I got the pattern from The Domestic Scientist.

And here's everything wrapped and ready to take over to my parents' place. I bought the ribbon in Sham Shui Po at the last minute, and am very happy I did.

my old friend, sham shui po

I made a long-anticipated trip to Sham Shui Po today... first time in months, which must be a record for me. I decided to hold out on going until I'd used up more of my sizable fabric stash. But then things became desperate when I realized I was almost out of coffee cup cozy insulation... so I had no choice but to head to my favorite crafting destination. I limited my purchases to non-floral fabric, and of course, the insulation batting. I'm digging stars at the moment, so was thrilled to find two cool star prints. And then I came close to squealing when I found robots... not sure what they'll end up on, but I couldn't resist their cute little robot faces and all the zeros and ones.

And of course I managed to squeeze in lunch at my favorite 24-hour chain, Eat Together. (Check out this older post for a more detailed account of the Eat Together dining experience.) This time I thought one photo would suffice. It's a shot of the billboard outside the restaurant. I think the very serious-looking gentleman with the crew-cut must be the owner, because his picture is a fixture at every restaurant. Pretty inviting, huh? Makes you just want to run in and place your order, doesn't it?

another coffee cozy

I've decided to include Templeton in as many photos as I can.

He is not amused by the new coffee cozy. (Any wild guesses who this one is for?)
Nor is he amused by the reverse side. By the way, does this fabric look familiar? I'm happy to have found a new way to use up extra scraps.

two more

I've been pleasantly surprised that the sewing machine has held out as long as it has. I got two more bags made!

Outsides:
Insides:

They'll soon be in the mail, late Christmas presents for a couple friends in the US of A (who shall at this moment remain nameless...).

amy's bag

As part of my Christmas gift to my sister, I offered to custom-make a bag for her. She chose the fabric, and I put it together (while she and the kids were at Disneyland). Here's the end result:

I like the way the ribbon looks as the handles. I was planning to use it on a bag eventually, but to be honest, hadn't even noticed that it matched the floral fabric. Good eye, Amy!

The lining is a brown floral fabric, with a small phone pocket (there's my little Huan-huan poking her fiery head out).

eco-friendly coffee cozies

You know those little cardboard sleeves that provide insulation between your hand and that hot cup of coffee? Well, I recently saw a tutorial on how to make re-usable quilted coffee cozies, and figured since I know quite a few individuals (including myself) who frequent Starbucks and the like, I might as well try my hand at making some of the useful, not to mention "green," little things. The coffee cozies were originally going to be Christmas presents, but then my sewing plans became overwhelming (see previous post). So if you were expecting a gift from me and one never materialized, you can pretty much count on getting one of these in the near future:


Here's a close-up. I had fun trying my hand at embroidery... the cross-stitch-esque squares of the gingham certainly helped with the letter-forming.
Here's another shot of the inner fabric (I guess technically it's reversible), with a view of the quilting (done by hand -- a first for me!).

Here are a couple more that I worked on today. They're matching "his" and "hers" cozies for a married pair of Starbucks aficionados that I know.

A closer view.
So hopefully a few trees will be saved because of these (though I admit that the most environmentally-friendly option would be to bring one's own thermos or mug and forgo the paper cup altogether)... and I'll have something to keep me busy for the rest of the Christmas holiday!

Merry Christmas and Happy 2008!

saturday evening wanderings part II

Besides the book and the hot chocolate, there were a couple of other benefits of yesterday's wanderings.

1. I found a cheap little fabric store, and bought two yards of this bright floral fabric. It was originally going to just be one yard, but I liked it so much...

2. I stumbled across a little CD store (that I have vague recollections of going to before... but will I ever be able to find it again?) that had some good stuff. I found the new Jose Gonzales album (In Our Nature) there and quickly bought it. The process seemed so easy and pain-free, as his last album that I bought, Veneer, had to be special ordered from HK Records because it didn't seem to be available anywhere...
And I'm feeling optimistic that I'll find some way of listening to the talk I missed last night... I'm sure there's a recording of it somewhere. Maybe I can special order it...

from bags to belts

Yesterday I had the thought that fabric belts would be fast and easy to make. And I was ever right! I decided to sew some pink ribbon on one side, to cover the place where the two edges meet. And contrary to a previous hypothesis, I found that I actually can sew quite straight. Slowing down and being careful -- who knew that straight stitching was that easy?! :) I had some D-rings left over from a different belt-making project that never materialized, and they worked out perfectly.

Here's the final product... does the fabric look familiar? It matches my bag. Thanks again, Erika, for encouraging me to buy it in the first place!

quilting inspiration

I have lots of stuff to post, but not enough time at the moment. But here's some quick quilting inspiration I just came across via a post on Boing Boing. I like the idea of quilt squares being used like pixels... Link

mom's tote

Here's my latest tote. I had my mom in mind while making this one -- I think she'll like the colors. And there's a ribbon tie in the center to keep it closed.
I also think she'll like all the pockets inside. My personal favorite is the water bottle pocket (actually requested by Mom).
Mom, I hope you like it. If not, no worries -- I enjoyed making it, and wouldn't mind making another. Enjoy your last few weeks in California!

bamboo and circle bag

I went to Sham Shui Po today with Salome, Athania, and Gloria. We were on the look-out for a variety of craft supplies, and in our wanderings happened to stop by two of my favorite shops: the wonderful fabric store, and the cat/jewelery-supply store (I've blogged about both before...).

I excused myself from the earring-hook hunt to spend some quality time with these kitten siblings.
Sal bought some cool green and white fabric for a door curtain (which I hope she blogs about soon, so I can put a link here!), and came over to my place to sew it. I attempted (rather futilely -- is that a word?) to busy myself with other things, but before long was involved in a sewing project of my own.

I had some bamboo bag handles, some fun fabric (that I've had for years, but never used!), and some lining from another bag that I recently took apart. Put them together and viola -- a new bag!
One good thing about using lining from another bag is that this new bag now has a zipper, but I didn't have to do the work of putting it in! The bag also has some gathers at the bottom which make it more expandable.

tote for athania

The bag that I started making last week when the sewing machine stopped working was actually supposed to be a birthday present for Athania. Thankfully she was very understanding when I told her that her present would be a little bit late. Well, it is now finished, thanks to my other sewing machine. Yes, there have been two sewing machines all along... it took me a little longer to figure the second one out though. I'd tried it before and couldn't get it off the zig-zag stitch setting. But today, with a little experimentation (I'm an experiential-learner -- I'd rather just mess around with the knobs and switches than read any kind of manual -- Mom, if you're reading this, sorry for making your cringe!), I finally got straight stitches out of it!

Anyway, here's the bag (and since I finished it before dark-- a sewing first for me! -- I was able to take pictures outside!):
It's the same pink and green fabric that I've used before... but since Athania is a very vocal admirer of all things green, I decided to use predominantly green pieces. The lining is also green... but the pocket is Beacon Hill pink checks -- Athania and I are both BHS alumni! I decided to go for one long sectioned-off pocket this time, and have to say that I'm quite pleased with the way it looks.
Athania, I'm posting this with the assumption that you won't see this before I actually give you the bag tomorrow... but if you do, I hope you like it, and happy birthday!

sewing with die hard and hell's kitchen

My [mom's] sewing machine isn't working (a problem with the bobbin, as far as I can tell), and I'm at a loss for what to do right now. I think I'll probably opt for going to bed early, but at the moment I'm quite intrigued by Die Hard 2. I turned the TV on a couple of hours ago because it gives me something to listen to while sewing (though, now I'm thinking that maybe I should try books on tape instead...). I just watched the scene where McLane's wife calls him on the airplane phone and they have an entertaining little discussion about the advances in 90's technology (i.e. fax machines and air phones), and of course there's the obligatory "This is the 90's!" sentence. It's also a bit of a time-capsule with respect to airport security (i.e. the old lady sitting next to his wife on the plane is carrying a stun gun -- am I right in recalling/predicting that it will play a pivotal part later in the movie?).

Before Die Hard 2 came on, I was watching Hell's Kitchen -- the reality show with the wanna-be chefs trying to stay on the good side of the cranky restaurant mogul/chef Gordon Ramsay. It can be quite a stressful show to watch, but since I was still sewing at that time, I wasn't paying much attention. One thing I did notice though, was how, whenever anything remotely negative occurred, the overly dramatic narrator (is that even the right word?) would utter such phrases as "after all, this is Hell's Kitchen" or "they don't call this Hell's Kitchen for nothing..." Stupid.

OK, I'm going to see what can be done with the sewing machine now...

reversible bag

Alright, for the two people out in cyberspace who are actually interested, here are a couple photos of the reversible bag I just made! I like these colors a lot, but am not sure that the flash on my camera does them justice.

I decided to go with a polka-dot fabric for the lining, and then figured that instead of just lining it, I might as well make it completely reversible.

This is the fifth bag I've made in a week, and it's pretty much become part of my daily routine to take out the sewing machine once the sun goes down. The process is going faster and is not surprisingly getting easier too... I think this bag took me less than 2 hours to cut and assemble (while half watching "Child of Our Time" and "House")... which is pretty good compared to the time it took me on some of the earlier ones. I guess I'll keep going with this hobby (obsession?) while I've got the time and the interest. Anyone need a bag?

small purse

I should be in bed right now, but felt the need to post some photos of this evening's creation. It's smaller than the other bags. I decided to try some different things with this one: single strap, inside pocket, and ribbon for closing off the bag.

Green side.
Pink side.

Here's a view of the little pocket, with my phone modeling the utility of it. I'm definitely partial to the Beacon Hill checks...
Bottom/side view. I sewed off the bottom corners again, to give it a more stable base.
This post isn't quite milestone-caliber, but I feel I should share: it's is my 200th post!

my new addiction

It had been less than a week since I'd last gone to Sham Shui Po. I was nowhere near the end of my fabric supply... on the contrary... if someone had entered my room this morning, their first thought probably would have been that a giant fabric-eating monster must have entered at some point during the night and projectile vomited its entire stomach-contents all over my living area. I didn't need anymore fabric, but somehow I convinced myself that I would be needing more soon, and that I should save myself future trouble by going to Sham Shui Po today.

I went directly to the trusty fabric shop and immediately started noticing possibilities.

The big blue print will make some bags; the stripy print, the lining for said bags; the other two will probably be incorporated into a quilt at some point...
I bought more of the heavy cotton I've been using for bag-making. And the two checked fabrics are what I plan to use as linings (my only legitimate reason for needing to go to SSP -- I really do need more lining...). I thought the brown and red check print was pretty fun, and fortunately matches the red and brown flower print almost perfectly. The pink checks take me back to my days at Beacon Hill School (I'll have to resist the temptation to sew it into a large, pleated, uniform dress). The small flowery design in the center will be used for a quilt at some point. If you actually got to the end of my fabric descriptions and are actually interested in fabric, sewing, and craft projects -- yay! Me too! But if you didn't make it through (which incidentally means that you're probably not reading this now...), or you did read it, but only because you're a masochist, let me assure you that my blog has not permanently turned into a craft blog. I probably will write about other things again at some point in the not-so-distant future...