Spring cleaning and Work In Progress

I’ve been  hard at work, spring cleaning around the house these past two days. One particular reason is I’m expecting special guests this coming Wednesday, InsyaAllah. Am excited at the prospect of having these guests over to view my work.

Being the hardcore crafter (ye ke? heheheh...) even when I sit down to take a break after vacuuming and moping the house and tackling 3 loads of laundry, I will automatically pick up my knitting needles. I can’t just sit still. Even when after all the housework, my muscles and joints are aching (signs of age catching up with me) and feeling numb all over, I would still do a few rows of knitting.

This is what’s on my needles right now. I bet my friend is wondering why is it taking a while for me to finish this shrug. I actually had to do the front panels three times as I wasn’t happy with the outcome. I’ve decided to modify and not follow the pattern to the letter as I’m using a different type of yarn. The yarn I’m using is Rowan Cotton Milk DK in Humbugs. It’s a lovely pastel grey though in this picture it looks a bit on the dark side. It’s actually much lighter. 

I’m working on the sleeve part and like the front panel, I normally do them two at a time. I hate counting rows and lousy at keeping track. So by doing it both at the same time, I reduce the chances of having one sleeve longer than the other :) This is how I was taught to knit and I felt it’s a great idea. The only drawback is you have to untangle your yarn once in a while as you’ll be knitting from two balls of yarn.

I’m almost 3/4 of the way in this project and only used 4 balls of yarn. I think another two balls would finish the project as I need to do the cuff and neckband.  I hope I can get this ready by the end of this coming week. 

As for my spring cleaning project, I’ve cleaned and cleared until I can’t clean and clear any more. And there’s still loads to go. A mommy’s job never ends.

Another Romper, A Passport Holder and Another Sexy Viao Pocket Series Cover

My second romper 98% finished. What’s missing is the buttons and the snap buttons on the crotch. Have to go get the buttons at Karysma later. Started this after dinner last night till 1am from scratch. This is from 1 yard of fabric made for size 18 months. The instructions said for this size,  you need 1 1/8 yards. But I managed to squeeze it in one yard. This fabric is from my old stash from one of my baby quilts projects done long ago. It’s In My Own Backyard from FabricQuilt. I got about 1 and a half meters lying around which is just dandy for a baby boy romper. This one is for Baby Muqri. He missed the magic date of 20.10.2010 when he decided to come into this world, in the wee hours of 21.10.2010. But that doesn’t make him any less special. Decided not to make booties this time around as the booties is for size 6 months. The baby would have outgrown the booties by the time he can fit into the romper.

Remember the first romper. I have enough scraps to make me a passport cover. It’s a simple cover just like the one you can buy from the passport office (the maroon colour one) but I don’t have that. I have the one I got from Reliance Travel & Tour. I’d rather have the fun and bright passport cover than the boring run of the mill PVC type, don’t you? I plan to make more from the scraps that’s building up in my scrap box. Interested? 

I almost forgot to blog about this cover. My friend asked for a second cover after the not the normal notebook cover I made her. So I made her this, using Amy Butler’s Flower Paisley in Apricot. This time, instead of the normal batting, I knitted the padding with Knitpicks’ cotton yarn. I knitted two yarns (Creme Brulle and Marmalade) together to get the random effect. It has a little stretch so it will fit the notebook snuggly. It’s also reversible :)

And to top it off, Arwen’s morning face as she walked into my sewing room; lomofied. Off to get her ‘shushu’ and give her a bath.

Something cute for a baby boy

 I’ve managed to tick this romper off my to make list finally. It’s a belated baby gift for a friend who gave birth on the this special date: 10.10.10. It’s for Baby Noah Madewnus. The romper is made to fit a 12 months old.

I made it from Anne Kelle’s Metro Market Pears in Aqua from just 1 yard of fabric and have enough scraps to make the booties as well. I used cotton denim scraps from my Cosmo Bag as a second fabric for the booties.

I used snap buttons at the crotch. Convenient for diaper changing and used Danial’s label for the first time. Isn’t it cute? Now, boys can wear designers cotton too :)

Now, I need to make another one for Baby Muqri. Don’t grow up so fast baby, Aunty is making this cute romper for you, OK.

Ipad Cover ver 1.0

 My first Ipad Cover. I don’t have an ipad. It’s for a friend. I’ve looked up some ipad cover tutorials and took whatever I like and came up with this simple slipcover. It’s approximately 8”x10”. I hope it fits. I did a ribbon closure just to girlify it a bit.

See How Good They Look Together

Photos courtesy of Faudzi Din

This is the sequel to my post on Not The Normal Notebook Cover. See how good they look together.

This sexy pocket notebook is getting a second cover. Stay tuned...

Not The Normal Notebook Cover

The green board has been generous to a friend of mine and she got herself a new toy (she wouldn’t call it a ‘toy’ but I would :)). It’s a Sony Viao pocket notebook, P series in this gorgeous orange. Isn’t it cute? She asked me to make a cover for it and so I did but it’s no ordinary notebook cover. 

 I saw something similar to what I’ve made on the net but it was made out of felt and a no sew cover. I searched some more and found that it’s an Amy Butler’s Laptop cover design. All the more appropriate, using the Amy Butler’s design as my inspiration on Amy Butler’s Geisha Fans in Clay fabric.

The lining material is corduroy in khaki. I thought the soft texture of corduroy would protect the cute pocket notebook from scratches. But it’s also reversible! I have a thing about things reversible hahahah! Enjoy the pictures below:

I’ve also sandwiched batting between the two fabric for added protection. Here’s my mark: 

To my friend, I hope the green board is ever generous to you. Thank you for letting me go wild with my craft. I hope you like it and more importantly I hope it fits. (I got the dimensions out of the product specification on Sony website) Otherwise, how the h**l am I going to find another Viao P series notebook owner to sell this to?!!!

My first Amy Butler Bag-Cosmo Bag

I’ve been working on this book for the last three days and completed it early this morning. It’s my new Cosmo Bag from my Amy Butler book. The main exterior is cotton denim as I want it to be hardwearing (lasak). I used Erin McMorris, Floral Swirl for the second exterior fabric for the trimmings. 

The interior is a scrappy combination of matching fabric. I modified one of the pockets so I get one zippered pocket and two big pockets on the inside. The bag is really big. I can actually put my little girl inside! While I was so engrossed in putting the bag together I totally forgot to attach my favorite item for a big bag, a Key ring strap!!!! Good thing I couldn’t kick myself, otherwise I would have. You know how things can disappear in big bags like this, especially car keys.

Inside view

I used a combination of light weight and medium weight fusible interfacing as I don’t have enough of one type of interface for the whole bag. When I started preparing for the bag, Arwen was down with fever after her vaccination shot so I wasn’t able to move around to get my supplies. After all, there’s no hard and fast rule for crafting, is there? I didn’t put any interface on the exterior panel as the fabric is thicker than the normal cotton. For anybody who’s attempting this bag in the future, my advice is, the lightweight fusible interfacing is sufficient to add body to the bag and easy to handle. I don’t quite know if it’s the equivalent of Pellon ShapeFlex SF101 as stated in the book. I think any thicker, it will make edge/top stitching a nightmare. 

The construction of the bag wasn’t as intimidating as it appears in the book. Maybe because there’s few pictures and a lot of words describing in length the steps to take. I’m more of a visual person, I like pictures. 

One of my labels (yes, I have two on the bag) goes at the bottom right hand corner of the exterior panel. The bag uses a one and a half inch covered button closure. I had the button done at Karysma, Bangi. Can’t wait to use the bag and show it off to my girlfriends.

By the way, I just realized that my blog is one year old on December 21st. After a year, I made great friends among fellow crafters, I have 129 and more followers (some of them just read my blog when I share it in my Facebook but don’t follow officially) and this is my 150th blog post. Wow!!! How cool is that?!!! 

Just in case I don’t make another entry before the year ends, so long 2010. You’ve been good to me. I hope 2011 brings more blessings and good fortune to everybody. 

Happy New Year 2011!!!!