Of pre-cuts, yardage & the end products

I love charm packs & other pre-cuts. I love the fact that pre-cuts gives me an opportunity to have and play with the whole set in a fabric range... otherwise it'll cost me a mini-fortune to buy each piece in each colorway!

This is the first time I'm actually using up one of our pre-cuts... I chose Dream On by Urban Chiks cos of the sunshiny colors :) Made up 4 nine-patch blocks with 6 charm pieces left over for another project. Spent an hour arranging the pieces, but sewing them up was a breeze.... my patchworking has improved I guess, since my seams matched up! Hehehe...

Haven't quite decided what to do with them yet... my options at the moment: 1) make 2 bags, or 4 if they're just the main centerpiece, 2) turn them into a baby quilt, or 3) line them up and make a table runner. Will update what happens to them once they get turned into something :)

One of these days, I plan to make this bag from pre-cuts or patchwork strips, just for variety... for the moment, though, this yardage seems to give that illusion anyway :)

This one's available ye, only RM 45 without postage. Drop me a line if you're interested, before someone grabs it off the shelf!

Silent busy bee...

I haven't been completely off the grid, sewing-wise... time's just so limited, if I have any extra I'd rather sit at the sewing machine undisturbed rather than fight over who gets to use the computer hehehe...

I've been pretty busy over the past few weeks completing several orders... this bevy of 5 beauties was the most recent, delivered to the owners just before the long weekend break started :) I'm happy to say that all were made in less than 2 weeks (in between a hectic work schedule this month plus a major presentation!) and are all meant as presents for others... Thank you so much to my colleagues who had such trust in my work!

This one's for my cousin, who requested a another pouch after seeing how useful the one we gave to her was heheh... she wanted it bigger though to put more baby stuff in :p

This bag, as well as the blue one below it, was supposed to be for the shop as stock, but now I gotta make more since both have been snapped up by my colleagues :)

Las but not least, these bags (in 2 different sizes) were for my SIL...

I've also got a couple more things sewn up, which I'll put up later (right after this!!! Otherwise it'll be another 3 weeks before I make another post :p). So you see, I've been a very busy but silent bee :D

From Saturday to Saturday...

I know I said I'd post the picture of the wonky log cabin block once I've turned it into something, but it's been weeks since it was done and I still haven't decided on what to do with it, so what the heck... here it is :)

I really like it... the colors are all bright and cheerful, and I felt the process of making it was really fun.

I wanted to keep the momentum going since I completed the block and coasters, but only managed to get more sewing done this past week. It helped that I cut all the pieces last Saturday, and had the whole week to put these pouches together....

They're now in the shop, ready for the taking :)
If anyone's interested, the ones with the colorful hearts are RM 25 each, and the green & pink dotty pouches are RM 35 each.

Didn't manage to complete any specific item today, but it was time well spent at the shop - cutting, sewing, and pressing fabrics to be turned into something pretty... I love Saturdays!

Now I've got a few pieces to keep me busy all week till next Saturday :)

Of coasters & pincushions...

I set a silent goal for myself this past week, to sew at least a little bit (1/2 to 1 hr) each night. I had gotten started on these coasters last weekend after working on a wonky log-cabin block (which I'll share once I decide what to do with it :p), and wanted to keep the momentum going.

By Friday, I had these all completed and blind-stiched too... a set of 4 unique, wonky scrappy coasters :) I just love the bright fabrics!

They're even reversible, if you feel like using the other side for a change :) the backing used home dec cotton.

Friday, I finally tried my hand at making a pincushion. When you think about too many patterns that you wanna try, it can actually delay the process of actually making the item itself (very common happening for me :p). In the end I just went with some binding scraps we had in the house and fashioned some patchwork out of them... Whaddaya think?

I'll put all these in the shop for sale... just as soon as I figure out the costing & price :)

All in all, not a bad week right? It's nice to put your hand to something other than customer orders for a change, and enhance your skills in the process :)

Have a good crafting week ahead everyone!

Long-overdue update...

I know it's been a really long while since my last blog post... too many internet restrictions during the day, no time at home to go online after work (adjusting to a new work place too!), little kiddies + hubby + home to manage as well in the limited time available... this poor blog's been neglected...

Thankfully I did manage to squeeze in some sewing each week (well, 1 day each week only to be honest), in between fulfilling orders...

Tried out this modified version of diaper/cosmetic/multipurpose pouch... one for myself, one as a gift and another as a sample for the shop (the sample's been sold! :D now gotta make another one soon...) I love how simple yet practical it is! It fits 2 diapers, one bottle of baby powder, one nappycloth (as emergency towel if necessary) plus one romper... roomy kan?

My mom & I rushed this quilt for my cousin's new baby... simple center fabric, one border plus hand-quilted circles in the center & stitch-in-the-ditch quilting around the center panel...


I have a mini project completed too... will put that up soon! And as always, there's a long list of things that I wanna try to make... I'll get to all that eventually, insya-Allah!

We got a bunch of gorgeous new fabric for the shop too... drop by Beverly Collection or look us up on facebook (Beverly Collection) for sneak peeks!

In the meantime, keep crafting people! :)

Little girls want Hari Raya handbags too... :)

I think it started with me saying I wanted to make a Raya bag for my daughter...

Then my colleague wanted one for each of her daughters too... so I said, sure! That's 2 more bags to make...

A few days later she came back to me and added 2 more to her request, for her nieces pulak... so that makes 5.

When I cut out the bags, I found that I had just enough for another piece... 6 in total.

In the end?

Please excuse the 'terbalik-ness' :( It won't come out right, no matter what I do...

These 2 are for my colleague's daughters, almost identical to the one for my daughter (including the pink polkadot lining) except for the name embroidery...

These are for her nieces... lined with the IKEA multicolor hearts...

And this one found an owner too, yeay! :)

Sadly, my daughter's sling bag is not in the picture!!! Will put up a pic of her using it soon... hopefully...

New Project - Laptop Sleeve

So I managed to get 2 out of 4 things planned done since last month :)

Just thought I'd share with you one of them first, ie the laptop sleeve project... I have many sewing books, some more advanced than others, plus numerous online tutorials I've collected/bookmarked as reference. After going through them, I decided to try out 1 version of a laptop sleeve that I thought was relatively easier to do....

This was the end result :) I decided to forgo the buttons as specified by the pattern, and chose to go with velcro tabs instead.

Without the velcro tabs yet... This one was lined with a quilted lining, and turned out a little bulkier than I thought it would be. I wasn't sure if the designer (can't recall whose pattern it is now :( ) purposely didn't make for any allowance for the lining to be slightly smaller once it was quilted, or I quilted it wrongly, but the end result was that the lining wasn't quite flush with the outer sleeve... Once you slip in a laptop, however, it felt & looked ok, so perhaps that's why it was designed that way... I'm using it now :)

After that, I decided to try out another sample, but this time without a quilted lining. The original pattern only called for it to be lined with fleece, but I used the fleece as batting and lined it with cotton instead. I wasn't keen on having the fleece all dirty with continued use of the sleeve...

I made two, and modified the original two tabs into one larger velcro flap closure.

The fleece batting was trickier to use than I thought it would be... it was the first time I've ever used fleece as batting (working with flannel was easier, methinks...), and the resultant 3 layers were challenging enough to work with especially when top-stitching at the seams...

All these would fit a laptop with the following dimensions:-

13.5in x 9.5in x 1.5in

The one I used was a hp laptop, but I tried them with a Dell (with almost similar dimensions) & they fit as well.

If anyone's interested, I'd be happy to let them go :)

Only RM45 each... BOTH SOLD!

Space-y Quilt

OK so I didn't manage to have any hand in this one :( This was all my mom's work, and cos it was an urgent order, I didn't get a chance to pitch in...

Isn't it cute though? The customer loved it - a present for a newborn :)

Time Wanted!

I've got so many things in my head all planned out, future projects - a laptop sleeve, a freestyle mini quilt, a handbag for my daughter in time for Raya, a patchwork bag experiment - on top of the current things we're making for the shop... and no time to do any sewing!!!

Sigh... Didn't get any sewing done for my mom last week... This week, only managed to do some hand-quilting earlier today but no more... ironing chores are waiting for me :(

Here's to more craft work time this week!

All Things Space-y! :)

When the daddy-to-be is someone who had the enviable experience of going into space, it's no surprise la that the theme for the baby is astronauts, space & the galaxy :)

The baby quilt was appliqued with different images in each block (astronaut, the Earth, the Sun, stars, moon & spaceship), in vibrant colors as requested by the parents-to-be. We echoed the same image & color combo for the cot bumpers but mixed it up a bit for the pillow and bolster covers.

Just had to take one last pic before packing everything up in its own carrying bag!

We really enjoyed making this order, and we hope both Datuk & Datin Dr enjoy using the set soon! :)

Kekabu sleep set - special order

Fiza wanted a sleep set (mattress, pillow & quilt) in kekabu for her son, and took a fancy to these bright fabrics I've used on a couple of other quilts... Luckily had some in hand, so got to work...

This was the quilt, pillow & bolster case... the quilt used cotton batting, which was thinner, but just as warm and more comfortable for her son...

She had her preferred mattress size, so all we had to do was make one (a very nice and plump mattress!) and pair it with the striped cover (secured with ties).

The whole set, as ordered... She can remove the mattress covers for washing as well as alternate with new ones if required... The day after Fiza picked up her order, I was told her son enjoyed sleeping on the mattress so much that he overslept! :) No problem, little kiddies don't have to rush :)

If anyone wants a kekabu set made to order, drop us a line! Kekabu's in limited quantities though, so hurry :)

Aya's Order - plus something for a little princess

Aya wanted a multipurpose tote for her kids to bring to the nursery, and also a girly bag for her darling daughter... tote, easy... kiddie bag design easy too, but I wanted to do something special for the bag...

Result?

Name embroidery....

Adorable buttons for embellishment... plus a magnetic snap button to keep the bag closed. The bag's big enough to fit in a milk bottle, water bottle, diaper & towel (as requested). Perfect for a little cutie to carry around :)


Here's mummy's bag, and the little princess' tote bag front & center...

From mummy's account, both mother & daughter loved their bags :)

Bag binge!

Not me! My beloved customers! :)

I've been on a bag-making binge these past few weeks (and I'm still not done!) for my dear friends, and I just wanted to share some of the pics with you...

Don't they all look great together??

I love the practicality of the dark outer layer, countered by the vibrant lining... and if you feel like it, you can always turn the bag inside out for the colorful experience (yep, these are totally reversible!)

This one went to Niza...

This one's for Bie...

and this one's Eleaka's...

Hope you like them as much as I've enjoyed making them, ladies! :)

A little something for a girlie girl...

I wish I still had a little girl to dress up... my girl is now more into jeans & tops... dresses, not so much anymore... so sadly, I've lost a muse & model for our dresses hehehe....

My mom & I tried out a new pattern, which we named the Mia dress... its simple, uncluttered design is easy to wear and has a really long shelf life, since the cut is for a 6-12-month-old but can be worn up to 2 years old (or even older!) thanks to the adjustable shoulder ties. It starts out as an ankle-length dress, gradually progressing to a knee-length dress and finally a frilly top. My 6+ year-old daughter can wear it too! I think it looks so cute with a pair of tights/jeans and a cardigan or inner top...

Sunshiny florals, 100% American cotton - RM36

Periwinkle blue Mia, 100% cotton - RM 30


Floral vines Mia, 100% American cotton - RM 36

They're in the shop now! More are in progress :)

More bag love - red, black & white...

An old friend placed her bag orders some time back, and I managed to get them all done before she travels... these were the gorgeous baggies she wanted...

The black & white leaf print bag is for her friend, and the black & red hearts bag is for herself, complete with a matching wristlet :)

I teamed up the black & white print with the vibrant multi-color stripes....

... whereas the black & red hearts were coupled with more hearts (in various colors) as the lining fabric.

Isn't this just so cute??? I was saving this fabric for a special project (for myself, to be honest hehehe) but as it was perfect for my friend, here it is... this is a larger bag than the B&W one (which was 17"x15"x4") cos my friend is a lot taller & can obviously carry off a bigger bag heheh...

As always, these bags are reversible (hence the pretty & vibrant lining fabrics used), and are now safely with the new owner...

Glad you liked them Rox! :)

I just love bright, colorful bags...

There's something about these bright and breezy prints that my mom & I like so much... to me, they add a splash of fun & color to life, counter-balancing the stress of daily work...

SOLD

SOLD

These 2 are identical in size... 12" in width x 15" height x 4" depth, with a large external pocket on an entire side of the bag plus smaller internal pockets... very suitable for work, quick shopping trips, multi-purpose carrying & what-have-you...

Price? Very affordable :)

Only RM63 each...

I'm still working on the pre-ordered bags... at last count I now have 5 (not that many compared to the other crafters I know, but that's still a nice number for me, alhamdulillah :) ) I'm also hoping to be able to make extras while I'm at it, so we'll see how it goes... 3 of the bags are also a rush order... need to complete them before my customer goes overseas...

Bag orders completed!

After weeks of cutting & prep-work, I finally got these bags done... it's really tricky trying to sew when you have 3 kids, and one is a 4-month-old baby... Saturdays are the only day I get to work on my sewing, hence the backlog (and I still have a couple of bag orders to do!)

This one's for Ajan...

This smaller handbag size is for Ila...

The one with the multicolor stripe lining is Shara's, and Ajan booked the other bag... These are wider and deeper than my usual document bags, measuring 18x16" before construction. I made one for my baby's nursery/diaper bag, and the size can accommodate a laptop & documents/files plus random stuff (if you're using it for work). Now to make at least 3 more... Never seem to have any to spare, alhamdulillah...