May already....

Wow, it's May already. 

How was your weekend?

April was a busy month for my family; but a happy one and with lots of news.

We are in the middle of moving. 

Our apartment is a mixture of packed up boxes and areas which I simply cannot over come. 

Things I don't want to throw away but I don't want to bring along to the new place either...

 It's also very gratifying watching the place empty out. 

Declutter has been my reminder word. 

Unfortunately the past week and a half was a long and tiring one. 

Both my kid caught the flu and had re-occurring fevers for about 4 days. 

They are okay now, and almost back to their bouncy selves. 

But boy am I tired out from it. 

It is always a reminder how fragile they are, and yet undeniably their spirits shine through. 

Even with low energy and loss of appetite, they were both quite interested in the world around them. 

Still being themselves and helping me pick and choose which toys to keep and which clothes they've outgrown. I keep telling my girl that if she wants new things, we've got to get rid of or donate the old. 

I think she's caught on, cause now she will tell me about how some families are in need of her toys...

Hmmmm, kids are so clever aren't they? 

Hope your week will go well 

And wishing you a Happy May. 

Love

Spring Time :: Hi-Low Hem Skirt

Hi Everyone! 

I'm so happy Spring is here. 

Plus I'm happy to share my new little project with you. 

The hi-low skirt :) 

It's a sheer fabric I bought when I didn't even know how to sew but knew I had to have it, and luckily I bought enough. It's actually a mini polka dot print if you look closely. 

I made a lining underneath it, one that is about 10cm above the knee

and the waistband is simply, I made it just like the circle skirt here. 

I didn't gather the skirt as much as you do a circle skirt so it's more elongated. 

In a nutshell, it's sewing down two long rectangles. 

Then cutting a slanted line from the one end to the next. 

The more slanted the more the more the effect of the folds, 

I also didn't want it to be too short (or too high above my knee)

as  I still and need to do those mommy things on a daily basis 

but I did want a effortless skirt to wear and dress up with any plain tank top, etc. .  

I must admit I was hesitant at first as I didn't know how to wear it with  two little ones. The bending down and picking them up; or just toys off the floor, and not to mention them playing underneath my long dresses like its a tent.  Well, I guess I only have one little one and one big (little) one now. 

My girl has certainly grown up a lot. 

At 4 and a half, I know how much she loves to dress up and be pretty, so I also knew that I couldn't get away with not making her the same one. 

I did give her the option of having it hi-low like mine, but she opted for a long all the way to the floor version. That's her favourite thing right now, long loooooooong dresses. You know, like all the princesses...the poofier the better. 

Anyways, back to this one. 

I made mine first 

You know, get all the major sewing down 

and then when I made hers, 

it felt like a breeze. 

So here we are in our new little spring skirts. 

Oh and this also fulfills my adventures of trying out different fabrics.

Double Yay. 

Happy Spring! 

Now I just need it to stop raining for a bit so we can wear our dresses.

Have a great week.

Love 

Little Owl Love Pillow

Hi Everyone,how is your week going?
A little while back my little girl started saying how she wanted a little blue bird. 

At first I had some trouble understanding her, not sure if she was pretending or just trying to task me with a new challenge. 

Well it was a new challenge that two nights to complete but it was a lovely little 

collaboration between her and I.  I would have to say it is the first real item in which 

she hand picked every fabric and even down to the placement of the ribbon on the owls tummy. 

It's a mix of all my scraps of fabric, and for the main body we choose a soft velour type 

of fabric as I knew it was going to be something she would be hugging. 

The rest are bits and pieces of felt, ribbon, and some cotton pajama's I think. 

I pretty much just cut out the shapes (Eyes, tummy, wings) and layered them on piece by piece.

We pinned it down together and I only got to sew it down when they went to sleep. 

Once the front face was sewn on, I cut another back piece and sewed it on. 

I left a little opening on top as she said she had to be the one to stuff it. 

I thought about putting a little tail or something in the back, 

but in the end I just hand stitched a little heart  instead. 

I like little secret letters or messages. You'll often find them on the things I make.

The next morning she stuffed it with batting after her breakfast and then I could close it up.

But ahem, I did  re-adjust the stuffing to make it a bit more balanced while she was at school. 

I have found it better to stuff it well the first time round. 

So here is our little home made toy. 

A little owl pillow. 

It is quite cute, and she has already tied a ribbon around it so she can drag it with her. 

It's gone for walks with us, they like to pretend its their baby...but mostly, they like to throw it around while jumping on the bed. 

Oh oh, kids always know how to have fun. 

Love 

Wool Hat for Baby

I love hats. Almost all kinds of hats, and I've always wanted to make them. 

Actually, I've made a couple - some following a pattern, but some not. 

And truth be told, I find them quite challenging. 

Such a small little item, but there's quite a lot of precision involved. 

Here is my attempt at the winter Hat, and template can be found here from Martha Stewart Crafts.

I admit I didn't print it out and follow it exactly, I eye-balled it and this is what we have. 

The outer  fabric is a wool it's very soft but also frays quite badly so I had to leave enough seam allowance since over locking it didn't stop it from fraying. The inside fabric is just a red stretchy left over I had. 

It's spring time already but suddenly today is about 12 degrees again, so these little items do come in handy. 

And best part is they don't take up too much closet space. I also like how you can just roll them up and stick it in your bag, pull it out in case the wind starts to blow & keep your little baby warm!

Hope you're having a lovely weekend.

Love

1st Family Road Trip

Hi  Everyone. We just came back from our first family road trip. And we had ourselves a fun time.

We were so blessed to have beautiful weather, being a lot warmer than expected and best of all - no crazy melt downs in the car we couldn't handle! (Every mommy's nightmare). I did pack some toys and not give them to them all at once, so that kept my oldest one a bit in check.

But back to the trip,  We drove about 3 hours down towards the South to a place known as Ching Jing Farm in Nantou county. February is a good time to to travel because it's also the beginning of the cherry blossom festival and you can see all the pretty pink flowers on the trees.  

It's really very scenic & a great escape from the city. It is also the first time my husband & I have actually left the city (other than to go back to visit family in other countries) and we are a little embarrassed to say that we have previously never really wanted to leave the city.

The main attraction at the place is that it is a sheep farm where you can pet them and feed them cabbage.
It's really very fun for the children & being such city kids I thought they might be a bit afraid, but I really saw how brave and adventurous their little souls are. And it reminded me of how important it is to just get them out doors as much as possible & for us too!  Sometimes we end up cuddled up at home for what seems like endless hours (especially in the winter), but this was such a good trip & I found my little ones to be pretty independent outdoors. 

Now we have a new found interest to want to explore the rest of the island. Short little trips are good because it's refreshing but we still get to go home to our things (yes, that translates as computer, sewing machine, toys, tv shows and just making a mess of our little place). 

Oh and for those of you in Asia, Happy Chinese New Year to everyone & hope you are also exploring new adventures in your life and sharing in it with the ones you love! 

Love

DIY :: Glitter nails

Oh and ps. Don't start knitting until you're sure your nails have dried...

Maybe wait a day or so :) 

Hope you try it. 

Love 

Winter Days @ the Park

Hi Everyone 

Sorry for not posting sooner, how is your day coming along?

My daughter started her winter break about a week and a half ago,

and so far, it has been very active!! I did not realize how much she could talk or not stop moving....My my! Besides that she has definitely been tiring me out, it has been quite a special time. My son really really enjoys having her around at home more and has also become much more playful and talkative because of another little person in the house. It's been fun and sometimes I don't know what to let her do, and so we just figure it out a little bit here and there. I  must say I don't understand how she still wakes up Soo early even in winter..I thought maybe the cold weather would force her little body to sleep in more...

But apparently not. She wakes up and is R-e-a-d-y for her day to start. 

Here we are at the park. Jackets, hats (I always insist!)

And even in the crispy cold air, there is such a beautiful vibrancy in the park. 

The colours almost seem richer, and I love how the leaves and petals are almost discarded but 

yet they are still so pretty. 

Hope you are having a lovely week, 

what ever it is that is keeping you busy. 

Love 

Winter accessory :: Lace collar

Winter Accessory :: Lace collar 

New Year :: New adventures

New Year, new sewing adventures

Happy New Year everyone, and welcome to 2013! 

At the beginning of each new year, I try to take the time to reflect and think about some new challenges I'd like to take on in the year ahead. I'm someone who loves to make lists, lists and lists of any and everything I like or don't like. I used to let these lists make me feel bad, for the things I couldn't yet achieve. 

Over time, I've started to understand that these lists (goals) are still important to have, but if you don't always reach that goal when you thought you would....hey, take a step back and look around at the things that you can enjoy. 

Anyways, I'm looking forward to some new sewing adventures this year and hope to share them with you. 

My first one so far :: LACE :: 

I saw it at the fabric market and just took a yard without any hesitation or even knowing what I would make. 

Subconsciously though, a pretty girly skirt did float in my head, but when I wanted to start the project, I found myself becoming very indecisive on what it should be worked into. 

Does this happen to you? 

There was so many possibilities, I wanted a stretch pencil skirt with lace trims, I wanted a lacey one piece dress, I wanted lacey shoulders, I wanted it in various colours............ I just saw endless possibilities with this lace and I didn't let the fact that I've never worked with it stop me. 

Anyways, here is the end result. 

A circle skirt. 

And, me loving the comfort and wearability of it!! 

There are many sites that show you how to make it, but I ultimately ended up using the method from this site here, (Dana made it)

Waist + 2 inches / 6.28" 

The length was 16" from wait to above my knee.

The fabric ended up being ok to sew since I didn't have to sew much of it. 

I cut one radius (circle) for my lace and one for my black cotton (which is layered underneath). 

For the waist band I made a band for the elastic to be cast through and attached it to the top of the skirt. 

I did have to hand stitch the hem in, but it wasn't too slippery or tricky and since it's black, I just made big stitches as I wanted to finish it fast so I could wear it. And since it's lace, it doesn't really show as it's not a very delicate fabric despite its pretty look. 

And of course, my little girl wants one too, and I can't wait to try it out again. She will surely be wearing it well since she is such an expert twirler  - for hers I will definately be trying out some new colours. 

Speaking of the which, I tried to make "turns" in the pictures so you could see how the fabric falls, not sure that was successful. But I do think its a good fall/winter item to have, and hooray the sun was out for a little bit that day. 

Hope you like it, and hope you try something new this year !! 

Ps. Check back for another little lace tutorial soon. 

Love

Felt Dangle Decorations

Hi everyone, how are our final days before Christmas coming along? 

I've found myself taking a tiny trips to pick up another and yet another gift every day of the last week...

I think somehow I'm enjoying the days leading up to the big event more than the big event...

or I might be a bit sad once all the wrapping paper comes off ? But it is really exciting, the counting down and anticipation of the morning of Christmas!! 

These little dangle decorations come from scraps of leftover felt from the homemade Christmas cards 

I used them as dangles and stuck one in each card. 

Felt is really easy to use, and cutting snowflakes was my first idea, but I found it a bit hard to do very intricate patterns and actually ended up liking the little heart and tree most. 

Pretty sure these will return as little bookmarks or something else. 

But for now,

Merry Christmas everyone & I truly hope you are having a warm and lovely time being surrounded with people you love. 

See you in the new year

Love

xxx