The making of a Clutch purse

Call it spontaneous, it was a quick decision when we, the girls at WSG meet for a private session of making a clutch purse with Barbara's (FB)  well not all was into making the clutch, only three.

We actually did planned for a meetup with a couple of crafting ideas about a month earlier, just that everything happened so quickly.  Despite that we had some initial setbacks but somehow all ended well. We manage to complete all the necessary and  most important details for the clutch before we called it a day.

I had a hard choice to decide on the fabric, I finally settled for fiery red poppies with a red lining, JT went for blue monochrome with berries and sunflowers while JW's choice was  bears and polka dots.
Almost five hours later, with preserving attention and some energetic effort and without lunch, yes, we skipped lunch to make up for some lost hours in the morning plus some 30 minutes later at home,  I am happy to have completed my clutch purse

All of us adjourned for a late, very late lunch at Boat Noodles where servings are so small that one will need  to order a couple of bowls to fulfilled our growling tummies. It's a Thai dish, a small but rich pho-like dish served with fresh bean sprouts, Thai basil, crispy pork skin, and condiments made famous by the boat people vendors on the Chao Praya  river.

While digesting we had a lil'gossips in progress

which include sharing and getting some tips and hints on some other crafty stuff

that were on our mind and for our next meet

Have you seen the KING OF FRUITS ?

It's the DURIAN, yes ! that pungent, stinking, foul smelling fruit which is the best and yummlicious fruits of all to all who loves the fruit and with it being a seasonal fruit, it is very much sought after . This season, the produce was slightly low and with that the prices rocketed. I had a few one morning when a friend  came from his orchard and was generous enough to offer us the Musang King during our morning coffee session, the highest grade of the fruit from his orchard.  

 I have been diligently crocheting some doilies a couple of weeks earlier before the meet , contributing to JT's project when she mentioned that she was looking for some handmade crocheted vintage doilies and not those machine made. I am glad she love these few doilies I made for her.

Hope you enjoyed my new crafting adventure, until my next post, take care everyone, stay safe  especially if your area are typhoon active. 

Weaving for a life

One notable happenings in August that  I should give it a mention is a charity drive for the Penan Women Project .

The women of the Penan tribe are excellent weavers and are able to weave intricate patterns from memory despite the lack of formal education. This project is being initiated to help sustain their livelihood and ensures the continuity of their heritage in weaving.

"When you buy a bag , know that your money goes towards helping a Penan woman, putting food on her table and giving her children a brighter future."


Who are the Penan ?
The Penans are believed to be the last nomadic hunter-gatherers in Malaysia, calling the rainforest their home and one of the indigenous tribes of Borneo.

Due to the widespread of deforestation, these hunter-gatherer tribes, who had lived in harmony with the rainforest for thousands of years, found themselves without a livelihood on the island of Borneo and are left with no other choice but to flee their ancestral homes.

The Penan are truly isolated tribe living in the middle of the jungle devoid of basic necessities like clean water supply, electricity, health and sanitation services and education besides roads and vehicles. Deforestation not only deprived them of their home, it also deprived many species of their natural habitat and it also causes silt to build up on riverbeds, killing off fish and thus leaving the Penan people without a crucial source of food.

The Penan have been fighting back against the exploitation of their ancestral homelands since the early 1980s. But they've hardly stood a chance in the face of big business.As a result, many families have been forced to leave the forests and relocate to big cities such as Miri, living in poverty on the margins of society. It's a  catastrophic consequences for the region's ecosystem with giant palm oil plantations sprouted up in the place of ancient rainforests, providing the raw material for products such as biodiesel and cosmetics.

The Penan Women Project and it's charity drive is a project initiated by the Miri Women Weaving Association (MWWA) 

Aren't these weaved bags gorgeous ? 

I can't seem to recall when was the last time this Charity was held in Kuala Lumpur and definitely not going to give this a missed when it was held on August 19 for ONE DAY, no a few hours actually.  It wasn't an easy task for the organizer  to locate a venue large enough to host the Charity drive, and  when it came, all bags and baskets were SOLD OUT way a head of it's closing time. Isn't that wonderful ?

It's a project for a caused and not forgetting that all the bags are beautiful.  All proceeds from these charity were given back to the Penans to improve their quality of life, including revolving fund for the weaving project. 

I took lots of photos, but none as lovely as  the one I found via google search
All image : credits to Penan Women Project /FB &  Google Image search
The last photo Quote directs you to the Penan's plight to save their home
https://www.facebook.com/PenanWomenProject

Sew can do

It has been some weeks of waiting anxiously for news of my Christmas in July package swap. It has a long way to go and I hope it arrived safely. A few more days to wait. While waiting, I had allow myself to be in this "flatness" and therefore made no impressive progress in crafting. These are only bits and pieces of this and that where lack of enthusiasm can still manage .

A little design I scribble while waiting in the queue out of boredom and thought I made into a red stitchery

Finishing it into a pincushion on a small palate

I had to wait till the eleventh hour to create a birthday card for a July baby

Took me 2 attempts at the sewing machine to complete upcycling a bag from an old denim

This is as near to an autumn scenery we get

Occasionally we see the hilly terrain changes colors to such, naturally we are oblivious to the minimalist changes of our foliage.

A route I took almost weekly on my way to the pool

We are having afternoon thunder storm rain again after some weeks of hot spells, when it's hot it's hot and humid.

Thank you all for your visits and have a wonderful weekend.

A Class for a tote day

I attended a Tote Beginner Class last Saturday under the tutelage of   Barbara J  . The day began with choosing fabrics for the tote and a short demo on how to operate the sewing machine since all of us left ours at home.

I had something Nautical in mind, but was spoilt for choice at the venue, World of Crafts, there was no doubt that I had second thoughts many times over.

My choice of stripy navy blue and navy blue lining

 Lessons begins with measure and cut

 Pins and sew

 Handle attachment

Let's take a peek at the others choice of fabrics

Can't help it, need to go busy body to check out others, LOL
There's the Beary Cute, Paris Theme and Baby Blue and Grey Owls

Back to my table with more sewing
Here I am almost done

Ta Da !

The tote that went home with me

Oh! you should have seen me that day

proud like a peacock!

The sewing class in progress was stress-free, no competition. Everyone worked at their own pace and we even had tea with banana cake baked by BJ.

The best part was, at the end of the day, we marveled at each other's choice of fabrics

and we had some fun time taking photos.

Thank you BJ, for hosting this wonderful class, I truly enjoyed my day.

So you see BJ, I came to have fun and I did !

A word of thanks to all who came by and commented in my last post.

Wishing all a good week ahead.

My nine days in a week

I had a long week, beginning last weekend when the nation celebrated Hari Raya Adilfitri or also known as Eid Mubarak which is the Muslim celebration., while most would have a four days weekend, I had the entire week  when the firm decided to close for the rest of the week, lucky me...yeah

Like last year and the years before, my neighbours would sent over these traditional home prepared food from the festivity which took care of breakfast and lunch for the day, LOL  and its also the week of school break and semester break which means both kids are home and its a stay at home week this time since Diane's trial SPM (equivalent to O-Level) examination is scheduled to start the week school reopens, tomorrow that is. Its also the week we decided to give the kids' room which they had since they were 'kids' a makeover by first trashing out all the kiddies stuff

 Among the toys, clothes, books which were the main things, I found this bag, a craft from long ago

 The bag that put a smile on Diane, obviously long forgotten but was one time dear to her on travels

......the stuff she would carry.......

Another crafting passion, its always fun to have little girls who could be a living Barbie, playing dress up was always fun until the time comes when they grow up, LOL it felt so long ago

and give them accessories like hand carry bags and bag pack from another one of my crafting madness especially with beads

 Little monsters 'pokemon' that was the craze some upteen years ago as what Angry birds is today

Gosh ! I found more, thought the one box is a lot, never knew Vincent had so many more, I could take up a stall at the Pasar Malam (Night market) and make some money for some new stash, LOL

 A long forgotten pair of beaded shoes on velvet from MIL , this gotta be from about 20 years ago.

and look who I caught 'catnapping' with all the ongoings in progress

and tonight 's dinner, my first attempt at a home made Pizza, looking yummy and smells good too

Well, it gotta be yummy when this is all that's left within minutes it came out from the oven........

LOL !

Thank you for visiting and for all your wishes on Mom's Birthday I so appreciate,  I had planned to stitch up a storm during my nine days off from work but all I  got to work on is a couple of stitches on a piece of my Christmas ornament for an exchange. We did managed to watch Expendables 2 thou, but  I did not make it to visit the Bookfest which is a week long at PWTC this time and it will be no fun going back to work tomorrow, in fact I woke up this morning thinking its Monday today  !  It must be a  phobia....haha

Hope you'll have a lovely evening wherever you may be 

My heart misses a beat

I thought I had the last stitched at 7am on the 2nd of August, the date of the mail out day. Unfortunately for me, it was not meant to be.

For you see, the French knots for the pins are not done which I had left out meant for last to  stitch and  had overlooked! Then, there was the border and my initial which I had totally forgot, must be the age thing, so the stitching continued after all the day's chores is done  into the next morning, and I'm late to mail out by one day!

Finally completed on Wednesday morning at 7:35am! This is for the NNC group's LHN/CCN Stitching Needlework Round Robin.

Design name CCN - The Needlework shop , stitched for Margaret W, all original colors : DMC threads.

One more round to go, and I am holding my breath for my baby to come home. I had a peek at my piece when  Diane posted in her blog. She did a wonderful job and I am so loving it!

Next, on to another sewing 
I was desperately in need of a gift for Jamis's birthday a fortnight ago. I thought a bag would be more appropriate for someone who  almost don't craft, least with this she could use  it to carry her everything  rather than collecting dust in a little showcase that gets added-on only once a year.  By googling I found many wonderful bag ideas and  nailed down a few but choose this,   The Wasp bag  (with pattern) as my choice for its simplicity and easy on me for my bold leafy fabric. The sewing went smoothly and I even made two since I had sufficient fabric. Gave the other one to mom.

Its a bit smaller than the original size. Finished size approximately : 15" x 13" x 3", Fully lined, it has a key strap and an internal pocket complete with a shoulder strap. The Wasp bag design  adapted from  here by Alison and I've added a rosette brooch  to go on the bag since my strap was too simple and plain looking. Here's a closeup of the rosette.

Before July comes to an end, I also had this freebie stitched up on 14 count Pink Aida. I was then toying with an idea for my intended bag before the Wasp bag design came calling, I can't visualize the need for it now. Maybe later.

Design Freebie  Primitive Bettys, DMC Threads.,

As I write this, the final Round Robbin arrived day before yesterday. This round belongs to Joanne and I am the last to stitch, all the ladies had done an amazing job. Not going to reveal for now but in a couple of weeks time.   Till then, have a good weekend, wherever you may be. Thank you for visiting me and for your time in leaving me your comments. Much appreciated !

Bulb lighting moments

When I have my moments, its all the way, otherwise I'll go on procrastinating and get nothing done. Those moments came some weeks back.

 
Hexa flowers..been piercing these  on some nites..fabric ramnants, various sources. No idea yet as to what will become of this, just needed to see if I am able capable of piercing it all together. Started this is March, cutting the templates while seriously into  fabric cutting and piercing only began some three weeks ago. I lost count of how many times I poke myself during basting. This is all new to me.

and the ripping then sewing and ripping and sewing on my old machine which was forced to work over the overly thick  jeans fabby many times. I am lucky for no broken needles.  Sewing took two weeks to complete including sewing  into the night  on some week days, the fabric cutting was done earlier about a month ago, then I wasn't in the right set of mind to start sewing.

Named Bag Number Three, Three for its the third fabric in line to be cut but got finished first, all because I suddenly figured it out  how to construct with the sewing and all while I was assembling the other fabrics for sewing.

Diane modelling the bag, its hers to keep after all this is what she requested for the fabric of her choice.

Lined with calico fabric with one pocket inside, that navy blue strip is from a cut-off jeans legging (never been worn jeans that is) that a friend managed to salvage from a jeans shop. I don't know how she got that seamstress to part with the ramnants to her. She dropped off a bag at my door step some three months ago.

Apparently the size is a bit too big for the strap. Shall change this when I find a more suitable size.

Bag size : L 14" x W 12" - Long adjustable strap. Fabric from Kamdar.

Bag Number One was this, my red and white weekender tote.

Size : L 18" x W 15" (excluding handle at 5"H)

A big enough to carry all my possible stuff of a couple of projects on a weekend trip or just for loitering around killing some hours while waiting for Diane to finish her lessons . The bag idea from here, "Sweet Bag" chosen because it looked easiest of all and big enough  from the entire book.

While finishing that, I thought I should sew another small tote in matching fabric for my mini DVD /laptop  to go with Bag Number One. I had a short strap for easy handling.

Size : W 14.5" x L 12" Fabric from Kamdar, Calico and canvas.

Bag Number Two or should this be numbered Four is one that I wasn't sure what or how it will be . I had no pattern for this and because my hands could not  come to terms with my mind , it become this.

Its a scrappy tote combo from the lot of ramnants jeans cut-off and Diane's bag and if I make the inside lining pretty enough, its reversible too. All I had for the inside lining is a  navy with white,pink and bits of yellow flowers cotton fabric. I forgot to snap the inside.

Size : H 12" x L9"(excluding handle  of 5.5" H).

And lastly, I finally joined the bandwagon of mug rug madness.I must be the last one in line, LOL.

I made two because I wasn't happy with the first one, this   

so I made another, giving better thoughts to color combination.

Its all done, not perfect but happy to have tried thou, with lots and lots of tuck-ins here and there to cover up all the flaws. The mug rug was the in between project just to take a breather while working on the bags, also sort of a  time out while figuring out the construction details of the bag.

Now that the light bulb is no longer lit, I shall get back to cross-stitching. Btw, received the 4th round LHN Stitching Needlework robin.

Have a good crafting weekend everyone !