Skirt Marathon 1

After succeeding in my first attempt with skirt (S is for Skirt), I made 2 more skirts for my lovely friends; an expert photographer  and a successful baker. Both skirts are tiered skirts.

Unfortunately, the skirts were not really a success this time. One is a bit loose at the waist; another is a bit tight at hip. More and more practice needed obviously. My version of tiered skirt is rather boring, don’t you think so? Each skirt was made using the same fabric design. I should try mixing it with at least 2 designs. Hmm, okay will gonna try this again one day.

Oh, this is the book that helped me a lot in making these skirts. I love it because:

•        there’s a guide on how to take measurement
•        consist lots of explanations on each method featured in the book
•        you can mix n match i.e. whether you want elastic or zipper waist band
•        and what’s more interesting is that you don’t have to trace any patterns!!

But I must warn you, if you don’t enjoy reading long-winded, picture-less instructions, you probably would want to try other books ;)

:)

Craftsy Online Course

I’m currently enrolling in an online sewing course at Craftsy. Already started a few chapters and I do find that this course is great, especially for beginners. If you would like to try an online course, I would recommend this one. It’s in a video format, less reading ;).

**Note that my current resources are only books. I have never attended any sewing class (except for baju kurung – Malay traditional costume). So, I guess this course is very useful for me as I wanted to learn the right way instead of just making assumptions on how things are sewn.

I’m taking Sewing Studio: Fashion Fitting, Home Decor & More - an online course available on Sympoz. If you feel that this course would help you and want to enroll, use the following link. I was able to get you a special discount of 50% off:

http://www.craftsy.com/IAF_25558

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About Sewing Studio: Fashion Fitting, Home Decor & More:

Increase your sewing savvy with fit and finishing techniques from Diana Rupp of Make Workshop. In Sewing Studio, she'll walk you through two classic patterns - an Envelope Pillow and Naughty Secretary Skirt - using methods you'll use again and again. Watch step-by-step tutorials on zipper insertion, lining a skirt, adding darts, finishing with French seams and much more. 

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Sewing Room Under Construction

Hi lovelies,

A little mess in my sewing room right now so you'll be seeing no progress this month. Can't really work properly in a messy environment :(.. Will update once this is over.

No Sew

Yup, no machine/threads/needles needed. Only fabric remnant; big enough to cover your old boring-looking tray, paint & brush and mod podge as adhesive/sealer.


hmmm.. no mod podge in this pic (matte-mat-mate)

The steps are pretty simple for this. I bet you can figure out what needs to be done.





First, I painted the tray black to match the drawing lines on the fabric, leaving the white base as-is. After the paint dried, measure, cut and iron the fabric. **Added 1/4" to all edges so I could fold them to hide frays.
Then, using mod podge, glue the fabric onto the tray and seal. Done ;)

TaDaa!

Worth A Visit

Hey lovelies,

Just wanted to share some interesting links I have in my list. Very inspiring!!

modernparentsmessykids
knockofwood
apartmenttherapy

**I know I shouldn’t be using ‘busy’ as an excuse for not sewing much this month but seriously, I’ve been snowed under with office work. March is always the busiest month every year. Don’t spank me please! *run & hide*


|>__<|

Zippered Pillowcase Tutorial

As promised, here's the tutorial :)
(kindly let me now if you have problems with the instructions)

	You will need: - 3 pieces of fabrics, measurement as shown in picture - a 20" zipper - sewing tools of course
	{ 1 } First, iron your fabric to get any creases or wrinkles out. Have the shortest edge of fabric A on the horizontal, wrong side up. Measure 1.5” and fold to make a hem. Press the hem.
	{ 2 } Line up the zipper teeth with the folded hem of fabric A (but not too close to the zipper teeth). Pin them together.
	{ 3 } Using the zipper foot, top stitch the fabric.
	{ 4 } Line fabric B (wrong side up) with the zipper, leaving 1” gap between the fabric edge and zipper teeth.
	{ 5 } Pin them together and sew a straight stitch (again, not too close to the teeth). This will be a bit tricky as you can’t see the zipper.. so, you have to do it carefully.
	{ 6 } Okay, with both fabric A & B facing up, it will look like this.
	{ 7 } Now, we want to make a flap to cover the zipper. Take about 0.5” of fabric B (starting from the seam made in step 6). Fold and place it on top of the zipper.
	Now you see it, now you don't.
	{ 8 } We need to secure the flap by stitching a straight line along and halfway across the zipper (like a C shape). So, it will stay folded. Otherwise, it won’t be able to hide the zipper properly (don’t believe me? you can skip this step :P). **Make sure your zipper pull is within the stitching range before you sew.
	The zipper is now hidden underneath the flap. Yeay.. you’re almost there..
	{ 9 } Open the zipper halfway. Place fabric (A+B) and fabric C right side together. Trim off any excess  and pin. Stitch around the big square with 0.5” seam allowance. **I did this part using my overlock machine.
	{ 10 } Trim/snip the corner. Turn the fabric right side out through the zipper opening. Push out the corner using a chopstick or brush tip. Insert your pillow. Ta-Da!! You did it! Give yourself a pat on the back :D
T.H.E   H.A.P.P.Y   F.A.C.E.S
The End Happy Sewing!!

On Hiatus

Hi lovelies,

I'm going on hiatus for a few days. Admitted to hospital due to lung infections.
Not so serious but need a prompt treatment. You girls pls be careful and take care of your health (especially those with asthma). A lot of this kind of cases happening here. Mmg musim doctor ckp..

So, see you soon.

"I'll be back"

xoxo,
Syaf