I Love Rainy Days

It is only 6 in the evening. Yet it is so dark outside, a sign that thunderstorm is coming.

I love rains. But only when I am at home.

This is my idea of spending a rainy day....

being a snuggly bug on sofa under a warm, cozy blanket...

a cup of freshly-brewed coffee....

a fireplace making its soothing wood crackling sound....

with this little fur ball (or germ bag, as my hubby calls it) curling on my feet....

a good book in my hand....

or, even better, watching Mr Firth's movies....

A pure BLISS.

Unfortunately I have to return to reality. I need to cook dinner, check my kids' homework, do laundry and sweep the floor... all in an hour. Hmmm....

All images from internet.

Fashinspiration from Pride & Prejudice

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The house was still quite when I woke up this morning. I turned on the TV and Astro was showing Pride and Prejudice (Keira Knightley’s), based on Jane Austen’s (1813) novel of similar title.  I watched it before but I don’t mind watching it again.  After all, it is not that often that I got to watch something other than SpongeBob, if you know what I mean.

I was most fascinated with the pretty gowns. There was one ballroom scene where the girls were all wearing white gowns.  The fashion differences were very subtle with the use of different tones, textures and materials of whites.  I noticed that pastel colours were also used for little highlights as belts, ribbons, etc.

Google Image

Google Image

The detective in me pushed me to google further. The costumes were designed based on the fashion in 19^th century England, where the story was set.  Apparently, the ‘empire waist’ of the gowns were pushed down lower as the movie director felt that the original fashion was unflattering.  The gowns may appear simple, but they were actually quite complicated involving different layers, wraps, necklines, regency era skirt, etc etc… too much sewing jargons for me to understand.

This is another of my favourite (glad that I found the image on the net). I love the stripes and the long sleeves. I suddenly remembered that I have a similar fabric stashed in my sewing room. Well, looks like I just got another inspiration for the next dress for my daughter! She can wear this for her mengaji class or as a night gown. My worry with working with stripy fabric is lining up the stripes. The cutting has to be spot on.   

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I love this too. Heart heart the colour!

Google Image

Maybe I should sew one for myself too. But the problem is that I think this kind of gown is suited for slim,  tummy-less people. I'm sure people will start asking me 'when are you due?' if I wear one. So unfair!

I leave you with this romantic clip from the movie between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy. 

"You have bewitched me, body and soul, and I love, I love, I love you. I never wish to be parted from you from this day on".  (Mr. Darcy)

Dress Me Up

I tried sewing a dress for my doter a fortnight ago. It is quite an upgrade from my past projects, i.e. cushion covers, skirts and baju kurung. It was made for my nephew's wedding but it wasn't worn as I wasn't too happy with the pink sash - felt that it was too strong for the dress. I was thinking to change it to a more toned-down material but haven't got the chance to buy it.

However, I've decided not to bother. Let's just stick with it as a reminder of my first attempt. After all, it was my doter's suggestion to match the materials together. And she had no qualms with it. The dress used 1 metre of fabric. I bought a metre of each colour from, you guess it, Nagoya last year. My original intention was to make pillow cases for Aisya but I felt the patterns are a bit too cute to be wasted as such. Total cost of the dress was just under RM15! I've cut the pink one and will try making a longer / maxi dress.

I asked Aisya what am I going to do when she grows up and if she would keep wearing my homemade dresses. She looked at me with a blank stare, trying hard not to say anything to hurt my feelings. That's a good girl... :)

Lempeng Bodo

Recently on the way to our 'canteen' (a nearby cafe where I usually get our dinners), my son complained that he was bored of eating the same food and asked me why he couldn't have nice food like kakak's (my mother-in-law's maid) cooking. Ouch! My ego as a mother was dented.  I told him that there was nothing to cook in the fridge (which is true) and promised that I'd cook something nice this weekend. The next day our fridge was still empty. So I korek our kitchen to find anything edible to cook. The only things I had were a can of sardine, frozen peas, flour, and almost rotten potatoes. There and then I got the light bulb moment - lempeng! I knew the kids would like it. To entertain them further, I got them involved in the cooking.  

Aisya helped dicing the potatoes. And Imran pan fried all the lempeng. During cooking, he asked me 'where's the pancake box'. I told him 'this is malay pancake, not the mat salleh ones'. Don't worry - no kids were harmed in the process. Their fingers are still perfectly intact!

Aisya, who is always eager when I commissioned her to do anything which involves pens and papers, wrote the recipe. 

Good job guys! Next time I'll train you to wash the dishes... :)

My wish is granted with a swipe

After much contemplation, I finally striked off one item in my wish list i.e. serging machine aka mesin jahit tepi. I have been thinking to get one since a year ago but felt it was too expensive and unecessary. Not that it is now more affordable (now more expensive actually) I got tired trying to beat the traffic at 6.30 pm after work rushing to the sewing shop only to find that it was already closed. While on the way to the shop today I vowed that if the shop was closed, I would go straight to Singer shop near my house to get the serger. So I did.. . this is the serger which I already test drove!

The serger was RM1345 (more expensive than my 'stupid' handphone (which is only RM150!).  I closed my eyes, swiped my credit card but not before shooing my husband to wait at a restaurant...hehehe.. To pay for it I probably have to hang the following in front of my house....

If it that's not enough, I'll probably have to put this too..

hmmm.... what the heck, might as well this too... hihihi...

For the time being my sewing cum art room looks like tongkang pecah surrounded by all the sewing projects under construction..

Hopefully the room won't stay like that for long as I have a very ambitious plan (ceh..) to transform it into one of these...

source: internet

source: internet



source: internet


Just wait and see..... For now let me enjoy my serger.. 

Silhouette Potraits

I made silhouette portraits of my kids some time ago. It is a great alternative to boring photographs. Silhouette is an image of a person / object / scene represented by a solid shape of a single colour, usually black. It was popular in the 18th and 19th centuries before the invention of cameras and at the time when paintings were luxuries. Classic silhouette portraits usually come in oval-shaped frames. Here are some inspirations I found on the internet.

 

So I decided to have a go. First, I looked for suitable frames. I tried to find oval frames but couldn't find cheap ones. These I got for RM1.50 each from BST shop. I spray-painted them in black.

Then, gather all other supplies. I bought thicker art papers in black and white and a good quality, high precision pen knife. Then, I snapped the side views of my kids. I intended to do just the head and half body silhouette. The photos need to be taken against a bright background or white walls to highlight the outlines. Print the photos on normal papers. The photo size depends on the frames. Then, cut the outlines. Carefully trace the outlines on the black art paper with white colour pencil. Once again cut the outlines very carefully with the penknife.  

Next, pasted the silhouettes on the center of the frame-sized white paper. I chopped my daughter's ponytail a little bit to make her portrait more balanced. I also also trimmed her head shape a little as I felt it looked too much like an alien's head (I hope she doesn't read this!). However, I wouldn't recommend the trimmings since it is better if we keep the exact image for memory.  I coloured her hair ribbon with the same white colour pencil. The finishings are quite detailed actually - it is not visible here but we can see my kids curled eyelashes. So pretty. I wrote their names and ages in pencil underneath.

This project can be done as the kids age as a testimony of their growth. You can do this on anybody and anything ... family members, pets, wedding pictures, house, etc...  And not limited to papers but on ceramic plates, or using papers from other colours, or patterns, etc... Just experimenting your ideas! It makes great gifts too!

10-ringgit baju kurung & telekung

When we were little, my Mak used to make our baju kurung & baju melayu herself, because we were poor. She sewed a lot given that she had 9 kids (just multiply with the number of hari rayas).
So like mother like daughter, I tried my hands on making a baju kurung and a telekung for my daughter. The sewing started sometime ago. But instead of finishing them in a few hours, they ended up being abandoned since I started working in KL. The baju kurung was my first ever attempt, made from a RM3/meter cloth from Nagoya. I used 1 1/2 meters for it. Aisya loves it, saying that she could easily wear it and take it off herself. She can now wear that to her mengaji class. The sewing was not that difficult but I no longer have the time to do it.  Next time, I'll just ask my tailor in kampung who can do a better and faster job. I am proud that I tried my hand on it and the outcome was not too shabby I think.  
As for the telekung, I made it just to introduce her to solat. Another easy peasy project. The little girl is so easy to please - I added some pink laces and butterfly sequins - she was happy. The material is another Nagoya cotton - RM3/meter (I used 2 meters). I bought 20 meters (!) in total, actually meant for another sewing project which I don't know when I can ever get to it. Here we are together : ) ...