Itty Bitty Bella

I have been eyeing these cuties for months now, and I finally bought them recently since TOMATO (THE shop in Nippori Textile Town) was having a SPRING sale.. (I think I was the first there *grin*)

The fabric is Itty Bitty Bella by MARCUS Fabrics (see more pics here). The colour is very sweet and they feel heavenly, I just love the combination pink with brown and blue with brown, super YUMM!! I can't wait for the move to be over so I could start working on them..

Anyone out there has similar panels??Pin It

In love with LECIEN

I wonder if anyone out there not in love with Lecien?? For those who are not familiar with Lecien, they produces an extensive range of high quality Japanese designed quilting fabrics. From the beautiful floral ranges that they are best known for, which include the Antique Flower and Durham Quilt collections to the rich colours of the Mrs. March collection and the cute as pie Minny Muu ranges.

I have in my collection few of the super sweet and delicious Durham Quilt collections which now wishing I had purchased a whole lot more.. *sigh*

Have a look at some other Lecien fabrics here and here.

What would you make out of these darlings??  Pin It

Odekake Bag

I completed two commisioned Odekake bags this morning for my friends. As I was clipping excess threads and sewing the openning, I remembered the first Odekake bag I made about a year ago. I saw the pattern in one of the sewing books I got from the local library here. The thing that caught my attention about the bag is the wide openning and how you dont have to fiddle looking for keys or something. Odekake means going out in Japanese and I think the bag is perfect for going out *grin*   

The features of MyBotanG Odekake bag:

2 side pockets

3 deep expandable inside pockets

magnetic snap button for closure

Size: 45cm (l) x 21cm (h) x 13.5cm (w)

You can see more pictures and read more about my Odekake bags here and here.

I used Alexander Henry KOTO fabric for the bags above.

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Gifts from the heart

Since her rather successful first attempt at making this heart (read about her handmade heart here), my girl wanted to make more as gifts for her teachers and I was more than happy to assist her along the way.

We were heading to the immigration office for some official matters which is about 2 hours away, so I thought that was the perfect travelling time we needed to whip up 3 more hearts. I made all the preparation before the journey and got to use my travel sewing case for the first time (read about my sewing case here and find the tutorial here)

  

Heart 1 - for her class teacher

Heart 2 - for her piano teacher

Heart 3 - for her kumon teacher

I'm happy to report that we managed to complete sewing and stuffing 3 hearts by the end of our journey though not without fuss *sigh*  

What do you pack on long journeys..?? Are you able to read, sew, knit while travelling? 

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Quilted Alphabet Cards

I had a full set of uppercase alphabet fabric from Deb Strain - Love U (in green)  laying around, remnants from making crib bumper for my sister's baby (read about the quilt and crib bumper I made for her, here). I originally wanted to make an alphabet book (read more about projects I want to make, here), but then decided to make them loose individual pieces, as I figured there are many more exciting hands-on activities one can accomplish as compared to a binded book.  

Features of the Quilted Alphabet Cards:

a) 24 individual cards except for W&X and Y&Z

b) machine washable

c) comes in drawstring bag

I used Robert Kaufman's forest fun (see clearer pic here) for the drawstring bag

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!!Pin It

What!!! More bento bags!!!

I'm pretty sure you probably had enough of bento bag posts (if you haven't, feel free to read about them here and here), but I thought this version of my bento bag is rather..emm cool *grin* It's interesting to see how a bag to carry your lunch box evolved into a small handbag.

This is my quilted bento bag. I used Japanese cotton for the outside and light blue polka dot fabric for the lining. I quilted the cover fabric with the batting before sewing in the lining. It has magnetic snap button for closure.

Another quilted bento bag using Alexander Henry's KOTO.

How's your week progressing so far?? I feel like a walking zombie.. *sigh*Pin It

Pattern Variation - Bento bag with cover

Fabric: Happy Channel by Cosmo

Have you ever worked with a pattern - be it a pattern for clothes, hats or bags and after a while created a variation of the original pattern? What made you do the alteration or create a variation of the original in the first place?
As for me, I think my bento bag original pattern (read more about my bento bags here) has seen many variations of them all, mainly because I received many requests for bento bags with handles from my customers. One of the variation is my bento bag with cover.

Fabric: Trefle by Kokka

The changes I've made to this version are:

a) added handles

b) added a cover with drawstring
c) removed inside lining

Fabric: Alexander Henry - KOTO

Made any alterations lately??

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Sisterly LOVE

Did I tell you I have a sister?? Well I do, she's 5 years younger than me and now is expecting her second baby (delivery date 2nd April 2010). I love my sister, she's a lot like me and we get along superbly.. most of the time at least..heheh

My sis and I, taken March 09

As the best big sister that I am *grin* I managed to finish the baby quilt and baby crib bumper for my sister's baby in the nick of time.. My mom made the pillow covers and bed sheet covers using the same fabric I sent her earlier.

You can read more about the fabric and projects I plan to make with the panel here.

I used plain white cotton for the back

I sewed lace all around and binded the quilt with polkadot green fabric  

As for the crib bumper, I cut the alphabets out - to be used for another project and used only the centre panel (4 panels all together). Since my quilt batting is rather thin, I double layered the batting for the crib bumper for added cushion.

How about you? Ever made anything for your family members?

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Table cloth ordeal

My first attempt at making table cloth for a 6 seater didn't go well.. *sigh* 

Let me tell you why..

a) I don't have a table that big to measure for size.. but then I saw Lia's 6 seater table cloth here, and I asked her for the size (which she gave, of course - thanks dearest!!*grin*)

b) Almost all the items I make are with linings.. I have NO idea how to finish the hem on a table cloth.. but I found Kak Dee's tutorial on how to here, and although it was very clear and easy to follow, I was reluctant, being used to lining everything, I thought 'hey why not line the table cloth as well..' 

c) ..and so I did line the table cloth, which was hell!! spreading 6 seater table cloth in the crammed living room of a Japanese apartment.. well..ehhmm NOT a good idea. I hardly had any room to move, but I survived the ordeal somehow.. 

d) after all that is said and done, I was feeling rather pleased with myself, and so I wanted to picture the said table cloth.. but again another problem, no table big enough to put it on!! So I hanged it on my girl's loft bed and this is the best I could manage..  

Some information about the materials I used for the table cloth -

Japanese cotton with sweet strawberry prints for the centre

Happy campers plaid yellow for the border

Plain white cotton for lining 

Although the whole experience with space and hemming was disastrous, I find making table cloth quite fun. Nevertheless, I hope no one commisions me for another 6, 8 or 10 seater table cloth..*gulp*. I have however, taken another commision for a 4 seater table cloth though and I plan to try K.Dee's hemming style next.. Wish me luck!!  

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Fabric Scraps - what to make??

As I'm packing for our move soon (read more about our move to Kyoto here), I find some of my earlier projects - small stuff, made mainly from scraps as then I was nervous about cutting into good fabric, scarred of making mistakes and ruinning perfectly good fabric.

Looking at those stuff now, I think they are a perfect way to reduce some of the mounting scraps you might have collected over the months/years of sewing. The final product would make a cute and warm gift to friends and loved ones. It would also be a great excuse to take an afternoon off from sewing serious stuff and wander into your scraps bags looking for matching strips to make one of these items  *smile*

Snack mat in the shape of cup and saucer - it's smaller than placemat and is suitable for kids' snack time

(read more about snack mat here)

Another snack mat in brown

Hand sewed coaster - coffee mug

Another coffe mug coaster

Would anyone be interested in a tutorial for the snack mat and coffee mug coaster??

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