New Look 6892: Peasant Top

Still in holiday mode here! The kids are home and the husband is hanging around. I must admit that there is a lot of things to drag me away from my sewing machine and blogging. I can honestly tell you that my creativity is at an all time low :)

Well, when all else fails, I can always sew something from a pattern. Turns out, the local fabric store had a pattern sale, and I got this real cheap:

Woo hoo! Peasant top for me??? Sure thing!

So, in between making snowmen, watching hilarious CSI Miami reruns, entertaining dinner guests, being a dinner guest, playing Clue, playing wii games, dress-up games, eating chocolate and cookies, and fretting about holiday weight gain, and generally being a bum, I squeezed out this top:



I tried to enlist my husband's help with the photography, but only the last shot is his. Turns out my 6-year-old is a better photographer. Go figure!

If you are thinking of using this pattern, please visit my review here.

Stylish Casserole/Pie Carrier

How have you been? Busy with the parties, get-togethers, etc? I hope you are surrounded by loved ones.

I tried write a post two days ago, but that didn't happen. I thought I should really catch up with everyone in blogland today. It's boxing day, and Ottawa has been blessed with icy rain. This morning, I barely made it out of the house to teach my yoga class. When I got back, I could not get the car up my short icerink-like driveway. In fact, it was nothing short of a miracle that I did not have to crawl on hands and knees to make it from my car to the front door. In the end, my husband had to scrape sheets of ice off the driveway in order to get the car into the garage.
So, we are staying indoors today.

Here I am, rambling on about ice, when I really want to talk about my pie carrier.
It never ceases to amaze me. Every time I make one for myself, I end up giving it away. I've made a few of these carriers now, but do not have one for myself yet.

Here's the latest one:
I love the lining:

I like things that fold away neatly when not in use:

This time, my sister gets to take it home with her. Lucky gal.
I had a very brief moment of hesitation before giving this one to her, because I really, really like how this one turned out. But of course, it is hers now. I can always make myself another one.... again!

You can make your own using this tutorial.

"Dude with Food" Apron

During the weekend, my husband does the cooking. One day after a particularly messy session with bacon, he mentioned to the kids that he could really use an apron.

Hehe, guess what the kids are giving him for Christmas?

That's right, a very musculine, manly-man apron.


You may or may not recognize the skull fabric from the man's lunch bag project from before. I just decide to use up the fabric to make this apron.

The skulls made me want to put the tag, "Eat at your own risk", or "No one has been poisoned... yet". However, the truth is that he is a really good cook. So much so, that he is asked to cook when we are invited to our friends' houses for dinner. (They are good enough friends that they are not hesitant to demand that he cooks them his ribs, roast, etc.)

So, I settled for "Dude with Food":

I'm pretty confident that he will not be reading this blog from now until after Christmas, so this will definitely be a surprise for him.

Also, I don't know if I'll be doing anymore posts until past Christmas. Like most people during this time of the year, I have a lot to keep me occupied. I'm also teaching yoga classes on Christmas eve and Boxing Day. It's just how the dates fell this year.
However, you can bet that the rest of the time, I'll be busy eating, playing mahjong with my husband and my sister, and doing all the rest of the Christmas-sy things.

So, if you do celebrate Christmas, a very Merry Christmas to you!

Otherwise, Happy Holidays :)

A gift for my Sister, leads to awkward Photoshoot

Well, this is one of her gifts anyway. She IS my only sister....

I have been thinking of making a dress for my sister. I'd like to think that I know her style and what looks good on her, and I had been planning on drafting a pattern for her. However, my local fabric store had a great deal on McCall patterns, and I just couldn't resist picking this pattern up. Well, if someone has already created a pattern (McCall's 5705) for what's in my head, why not go ahead and buy it. Especially at the great deal of $1.99?

For a serious review, please visit my review at patternreview.com.

This is her dress:

Why yes, I'm wearing it, but she is my sister. She wouldn't care. Best of all, if she thinks it's really bad, she'll let me know. And I'll take it BACK. Yes, I would!

This is the back view:
I love the way the shawl/hoodie hangs at the back. You're supposed to be able to wear the shawl as a hoodie too, but really? Really? I can't imagine anyone wearing it like that, unless you're a sulky model walking down a runway.

I like the red dress a lot, and I think my YOUNG sister will love it too. She will look really great in it.
For myself, I made a sleeveless grey version. Much more understated, and a little longer:

I always admire the lovely photos in fashion blogs. I mean, I usually only read those blogs for the lovely fashion photos, because I'm usually not brave enough to wear what they wear. I do like how stylish a photoshoot really shows off a garment, so I decide to try my hand at a proper photoshoot with my dinky, self-timer camera. The results were, to put it kindly, hilarious!


The cutie-pie pose:

The "I see the light off in the distance" pose:The "knock-kneed celebrity" pose:

The "tough girl, Imma give you a piece of my mind" pose:
All that was missing was the "Paris Hilton", and the "Awkwardly Limbed Human" pose.

I'm sorry you had to go through that. I found the pictures ridiculously funny and thought you might enjoy them too. My favorite, has got to be the "light in the distance" pose.
I wish I could rope someone in to model for me, I'm obviously uncomfortable in front of a camera.

Needless to say, you wouldn't be seeing many of these "photoshoot"s. Seriously, where did I find the time to do this? Shouldn't I be baking Christmas cookies or doing something useful? Like vacuuming the floors?

Sewing for Charity

Most of my friends don't sew, so I'm very glad to have met Claudia, whom I am sure loves sewing much more than I do!
When she told me of that she was going to hold a charity sewing marathon at her school, I was very eager to help. You see, a bunch of volunteers were going to get together to convert old sweaters into cool hats, mittens and scarves. All these accessories will be donated to a homeless shelter. You mean, a bunch of sewing enthusiasts getting together for a good cause? Um.... yes! Sign me on!!

I arrived at the school at around 10am, and the ladies were already hard at work.

See Claudia Work:
Note the generous mound of sweaters behind her waiting to be transformed.


Our efficient, high tech tracking system:
Here's my deer-in-the-headlight look. Very flattering, right? Especially since I desperately need a haircut, and have a red nose from a lingering cold:
I got to use Claudia's awesome Janome sewing machine. I must say, it is a sweet contraption. Much better than my machine, that's for sure.

Only a fraction of the awesome stuff made that day:
I had to leave at 2:30 pm, but the girls stayed until much later. I had to go home to prepare supper for some guests. Actually, to be precise, the man cooked. I picked up around the house.

Anyway, I had a great time. Thank you, Claudia, for inviting me to join you and your friends. And thank you to my dear husband who took care of the kids (took them swimming!) while I was away having fun.

What a Girly-girl 6 Year Old Wants.

Why, any respectable girly-girl will want a ruffle dress, of course.

I've been so preoccupied with other things, that I made the yellow dress the night before her birthday party. In retrospect, I could have left out the extra ruffle around the neckline. If I had more time, I would have tried to find matching fold-over elastics for the neckline and sleeve. The white on yellow is a little jarring. Or I could call it a design element. Yeah, that's it. Design Element. :)

Lessons learned:

1) Ruffles take quite a bit of work, even though the concept is simple enough.
2) Ruffles makes the Big Girl very happy.
3) Fold-over elastics only works well if it matches the color of the fabric.
4) Don't leave projects until the very last minute. (Did I say lessons learned? Well, I'll have to retract that, because I can sometimes be the last minute queen.)

Happy Birthday to my cheerful, happy, playful, sweet and loving Big Girl.

Can it be that not too long ago, she looked like this?

If It's Visual Impact in the Bathroom that You're Looking For....

... you've got it!

That's the first comment I received from my friend who shall remain anonymous (wink).


I think I'm in deep denial. I have two more Christmas presents to make, loot bags for a birthday party to put together, but I have been doing other things with my time.

My husband and I have been talking tentatively about moving. It's just a small possibility, but it got me looking around thinking, "Man, I have a lot to do around here, if we want to show the house!"
So, instead of making Christmas presents, I've been making shower curtains and a slipcover for the floor mat in my kid's bathroom.
Well, it is also a guest bathroom. I decided that perhaps a ladybug themed bathroom will be a little too much for any grown-ups that will be using the room. Anyway, the kids have their pink and green bedroom. It's full of flowers, birds and all things girly.

I really like the curtain, though. After all, I did pick the fabric.

Eventually, the ladybug toilet seat cover will go as well. I don't know about the counter top and the artwork.
Anyone has any suggestions as to what else I should do to this bathroom? I'm really challenged when it comes to decorating the home. Let's just say that I don't have the "vision" that some people seem to have.

The Anniversary Dress (That I never Wore)

It was one of our anniversaries last month. According the the hubs, it was 12 years ago that he proposed. Aww... so sweet!

Wait a minute! Twelve years? True, even though know I still sometimes look like a kid (unless you spot those crows feet and grey strands of hair - hard to do here since most of my photos are taken from far away), I have been married for many, many years.

The thing with us Asians, is that most of us tend to stay youngish-looking for a long time. Then, one day, everything just droooooops. I'm serious, it's an over night thing. One day, everything is where it should be, the next day, the person in the mirror is unrecognizable.
And that's when you'll hear me going..............."NOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"

Hahahaha...

ANYway, I made a dress to wear to our anniversary dinner. It is from McCall (5752) but never did wear it out, because I was not pleased with the way it turned out:


I think I would have been fine with the big folds of fabric across the front torso. Although, I was definitely not going to be comfortable with a top that will keep flashing my server!

Anyway, I had made this dress before, but without the sash coming down the front. I made a mistake with the dress and forgot to gather the front panels of the top before attaching it to the "belt" area. Turns out, this "mistake" made for a flattering dress.

So I ripped out the seams of my anniversary dress, and redid the front of the dress without the gathers:




So, no anniversary dress. It's just a really comfortable and flattering dress that I can wear out on a date. Oh, and this dress is made out of sturdier knit than the black and white one, so it is a lot less clingy. Which means I can eat more! Always a good thing this time of the year.

Snip and Glue - Get Your Zen Groove On

What I'm really trying to say with that cryptic title, is that sometimes, when you are forced to sit down with a pair or scissors and some glue - it's actually incredibly calming. It is a kind of meditation, if you will.

My daughters and I sat down to make this cute star from some old wrapping paper. The paper is double sided, so it's doubly cute:You can find the instructions for the star at Cut Out + Keep.

My oldest child (who is just about to turn 6 any day soon), was able to help me cut and construct the little points. She just could not do the final part of gluing all the points together, but I think she was starting to lose interest by that point.

It's pretty, huh? It is a little big because I had to use bigger pieces of paper so that my kids can help with the cutting, but it has a place on our Christmas tree, nevertheless.

Oh and if you're wondering about the giveaway, the winner is commenter 100:

I counted and counted, and then repeated three more times. The winner is:

free indeed who said... "Very well done pouches and those fabric bags will come in very handy every year! There's always something I can't find bags/boxes big enough to wrap!"

Thank you to all who entered, and congratulations to Shelley who won!

Formal Onesies

Well OK, not exactly "formal" formal, but dressed up, nevertheless.

We're all going to my friend's house for dinner on Saturday. She has 4 kids, including a 2 month old baby boy. She's having our family and two more families over for dinner. That is 8 adults, and 13 kids in total, people. Did I mention that she just gave birth two months ago? **She's an amazing woman**

Anyway, I did not want to show up without a gift for the little boy. I did not have time to make something from scratch. So, I actually had to purchase some plain white onesies, in order to dress them up:
I was inspired by something I saw at a cute little boutique downtown. Inspired, shminspired. I stole the idea, OK? Shameless! Heh! I couldn't help it. Look at those cute little onesies. Who are the cute little onesies?
Right. This blog just got a little weird.

I really like the red plaid tie version, but I did not do too well with the blue and white one. It was most definitely because I made the applique out of knit. Well, that's a lesson there - don't use stretchy fabric to make appliques.

And don't forget to join in the giveaway day(s) fun, if you haven't already done so!


It is on until midnight of December 6th, 2009. Here is the giveaway post!

Giveaway Day!

The Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day is back! I was too late to join the giveaway last year, but I had a blast discovering new blogs and stores. This year I'm participating by offering two big reusable fabric Christmas Bags and two zippered pouches.


The fabric bag with the white background measures about 15"x15" and the red one with little bears measures 19"x11". They are pretty big and will hold some big items under the Christmas tree, but then they fold up neatly to be reused the following year!
Here's an example of how they will look when filled with items:


The two zippered pouches are lined, and they are big enough to fit tissue paper, mp3 players, makeup, coins and other items. I use a similar pouch to protect my phone from getting scratched up in my handbag.

Here are the two pouches I'm offering:

The one on the left measures 5"x3" and the other one 6"x3".

• To enter please leave me a comment between now and midnight December 6th (EST).
• One entry per person
• Open to everyone!
  
• Make sure you leave me a way to contact you if you win.
• I'll find a random way to pick out the winner.
  

The winner gets both fabric bags, as well as both pouches!

Good luck and thanks for visiting!