Sunny days.....

The weather has been FABULOUS!! We've been getting a lot of sun since late last week. People are walking/cycling around in their short sleeves T-shirts...children are playing at the playgrounds basking in the warmth....and there are actually people at the beach already even though it's still winter! Let's hope this sort of weather will continue for awhile.

I know Singaporeans are complaining about the hot weather right now...so it's funny that over here, we are celebrating the warm temperatures. RG and I have been out a lot lately to enjoy the sun because it seems like such a waste of perfectly good weather to stay indoor.

Rain Rain (snow snow) GO AWAY and let the sun stay!! =)

Sewing is addictive....

I was just telling my good friend LY that I'm kinda addicted to sewing right now. It's really a fun thing to do....and very fulfilling too!

My mom and aunt are both good seamstress and I used to watch my mom sew on her Singer industrial grade sewing machine which made loud roaring sounds and could sew at breakneck-speeds. She subsequently taught me how to use the very intimidating machine....and surprisingly, I hadn't managed to sew all my fingers together!

Back in Singapore, I'd sew every now and then when I needed some cushion covers or tablerunners to doll up our space....but I wasn't doing it on a regular basis. I guess sewing is one of those things like riding a bike - you'd never forget once you've learnt it.

I'm so glad I'm able to rekindle my interest in sewing....I've almost forgotten how much joy/pride one can derive from a piece of completed work. The excitement in turning out a sewn piece onto the right side and to see the final product!

And these days, you can learn to do just about everything using the internet! If I need some tips on sewing a certain piece of item....all I have to do is google and I'd be able to find all the information that I need...along with some patterns and instructional videoclips too! How cool is that. If we all make use of the internet in positive ways...we'll be able to do wonders with it!

Anyhow, I did manage to squeeze in a few sewing projects over the weekends even though we spent most of Saturday and Sunday out in the sun (we make hay while the sun shines!). Oh...did I mention that our day temperatures are in the mid-high 50s (10-15 deg celsius) over the weekend and earlier part of this week - love it love it love it! There was a 8 mile long vehicle jam at the cape over the weekend...everyone was trying to get to the beaches on Cape Cod to get a piece of sunshine.

Made a pleated bag out of cheap upholstery fabric. RG wasn't crazy about the fabric...but I'm just happy with the way it turned out as I hadn't relied on any sewing patterns/instructions. I embellished it with the cute little flower brooch that ML had sent me to make it look more girly!

Here's a bookcover in the same frumpy fabric. While the novel sizes are pretty standard over here....the thickness of the books are not. So I made the cover in such a way to cater for different book thickness. And I sewed on a little fishy bookmark too!

Okay....I know fabric bookcovers might be a little dated these days (people are sewing Kindle cases now)....but I for one would use such bookcovers 'cos I absolutely hate showing the whole world what book I'm reading...and I've a thing about keeping my books in pristine condition! Oh...one of my quirks is that I'd only open my books slightly while reading them 'cos I hate to have creases form on the book spines....hahahahahah

Shopped till we dropped....

We found a new place to shop yesterday near Plymouth. RG needed to buy some trousers and work shirts that are good for warmer days now that winter is almost coming to an end.

Boy...did we shop! Our haul was a good 18 pcs of clothings between the 2 of us. There was a clearance sale and many of the items were going for 80-90% discount!

Just look at our bill....we saved more than we spent! In fact, our final bill was $40 less than $235 'cos we got a cash voucher for our purchases.

Several of the work shirts were less than USD5 each! And these are by no means poor quality polyester shirts.....they are all 100% cotton and of wrinkle free quality.
My 2 biker chic jackets - USD25 for both!!!
I must say US of A is one of the best places to shop in the world!

By product....

I still had some pineapple jam left in my fridge (it's amazing that the jam can be kept for so long!)....so today, I made a second batch of pineapple tarts for ourselves as I had given most of what I baked away the last time.

I had some pastry left over after making the tarts.....so I made some cookies out of the leftovers. As the pastry has very little sugar....I decided to add some grape jam to the cookie to give it some sweetness. Using the thumbprint cookie method, I made a depression in the middle of the cookie with my finger and then fill in the jam.

The texture/taste is more like shortbread and the jam filling really reminds me of my favorite Marks and Spencer jam biscuit!

So I've been sewing.....

I've been practicing my sewing with my existing fabrics.

Well, my hands are still a little wobbly....I've to use tonnes of bobbin pins to hold my fabrics together while sewing....and I'm still trying to get better acquainted with my sewing machine which has been giving me some problems now and then.

The sewing part is kinda fun but I seriously hate to cut the fabrics. Maybe 'cos I don't have the right tools...it's so hard to get the lines straight and the measurements accurate. I probably spend more time cutting the fabric than I do sewing.

And I've been shopping at etsy! There are so many beautiful and one-of-a-kind fabrics (i.e. hand screen-printed ones). I bought some that are super high on the cute factor and am so looking forward to using them to create useful stuffs. So for now, I've to practice, practice and practice till I'm better at handling my machine/fabrics.....I wouldn't want to spoil my pretty purchases!

Here are 2 of my recent projects - checkbook and card holders.

Color pencil holder.....

I want to make useful stuffs for the summer.

So I thought....summer...vacation...car...noisy kids....

Bring along some crayons/pencils for the kids to draw with while in the car or at restaurants or at the beach so that the adults can enjoy some peaceful time!

Here's a cute and light-weight roll-up holder that you can pop into your handbag!

Now you see them......

....and now you don't!

Chicken door-stop : A miniature prototype

Someone gave me the idea to make fabric door-stoppers. Instead of the usual cube/pyramid shapes....I decided to be adventurous and make them in shapes of farm animals or perhaps something with a seaside theme i.e. lighthouse, boat, fish, seashell etc.

Here's my first miniature prototype (less than 5") of a chicken door-stopper out of some scrap fabrics.

I'd need to refine the shape of the chicken figure as well as make the comb/wattle/beak/wings less limp-looking. Some cuter and more sturdy fabrics would definitely help in making the door-stopper look better and last longer. Also, I'd need to figure out what to fill the door-stopper with so that it's heavy enough to hold the door ajar. I think some kind of material with "grip" at the bottom of the chicken door-stopper would be good in preventing it from slipping while holding the door.