I Love Helping Mum

Finally! A post that's just more than a photo uploaded from Instagram or from my iPhone. How sad am I, as far as blogging goes, these days?

I'd be ashamed to call myself one, which is why, I don't.

We've been busy recently. Or rather, I have. Stumbled upon Pinterest recently and have been totally addicted. As much, I've been bombarded with DIY and craft ideas so have been busy with my hands. Enlisted small fry to help but she gets distracted so easily when it comes to the nitty gritty.

Lucky me, though, that she loves organizing as much as I do. So here are a few of her dilligently filling in little jars with my collection of buttons. Diligently, that is, until her playmate Troy calls her up on the phone for a dinner-cum-playdate at the playground.

We can just imagine what she'll be like when she reaches dating age.

Slowly, slowly...

Oops, dropped one!

What's THAT doing in there?

Sewing Into The New Year

Time spent not on the blog is cobbling and sewing fabric together to make:


1. A pair of leg rests (poufs) for my parents:

Lovely fabric finally back in stock at Ikea

2. A bag for a friend who's just delivered:

Left side

Right side

3. A 'replacement' bag for sis (who's using the one I gave her more than a year ago, day in and day out for work without a single wash since):

This is nicer than even my own bag!

In the works: too many to mention and I have a way of leaving projects unfinished, so will not jinx myself and post only when done.

Another Bag

I finally finished the bag that I wanted to make for a friend. It's supposed to be a hold-all. The original design in the book was actually just a plain bag with embellishments  only at the handles and in the bias binding of the pockets. I decided, to heck with boring bags. So I spiced it up. Ribbon, trim, rick-rack, bursts of colour everywhere, taking a cue from my El Porto. 

I like it, it's not bad. But shape-wise, I still prefer my El Porto. Because the base of this bag is square, it actually hangs down a bit if too much is put in it. The original pattern called for a plastic grid and little feet on the base. I couldn't find either and was running out of time. So I went without.

Oh well, it's the thought that counts, isn't it?

El Porto

Here's the infamous bag, the El Porto. Design credits go to Nancy Langdon at Studio Tantrum. Of course, I didn't come up with the design or pattern on my own! Too lazy, heheh. Excuse the blurriness of the shots; hands tired and shaky (no coffee) and was too lazy to shoot all over again. Sigh.

My take on the El Porto - with my usual gear stuffed inside. One of these side pockets holds my two expandable shopping bags.

The other end: also stuffed.

Close up: stuffed with my key pouch in the Mezzaluna Pocket and my handphone and card pouch in the zippered pocket. The green bit is also a pocket.

The fully- faced cut-out pocket: with attached key ring and my eye drops are in this pocket.

Another view: in one of the two side pockets is my packet of tissue.

In the main body: sweater, iPod (in an inner pocket), big ass earphones, tupperware of snacks for small fry,  purse, small face towel, small fry's cloth, all with room to spare and a few side pockets empty.

Creative Assessment

Small fry is unrelenting in putting her dirty shoe up on my thigh and my newly made bag while we're on the train.

"Stop it, babe! Please take your foot off my bag. Your shoes are dirty!"

"Mummy, did you make this bag?"

"Yes, I did."

"Mummy, it's not very pretty."

Yeah, shoot me, why don't you? After I spent two backbreaking afternoons tracing the patterns and cutting the material. As well as a whole Saturday of ignoring both her and her Daddy while sewing the multiple pieces, pockets and zips together, and almost sewing my finger into the bag in the process.

But it was worth the mountain of effort because it is my best bag ever! Daddy was so impressed that he got over his grumpiness at being ignored and proclaimed that it was all worth it because it looked totally awesome. He even went on to say that if sis saw my bag, she'd probably want it for herself, hahah.

All that and today the small fry announces that it's not very pretty.

I guess it's time to take it up with the bag designers at Farbenmix/Studio Tantrum then. It can't possibly be my choice of colours and fabric.

Maybe a few years from now when she's battling with me for use of my bags, I can throw her comment back into her face.

I just can't wait for her to see the yet-to-be-made skirt when it's completed and that she helped pick out the fabric for.

Backlogged!

So while I've been sitting around on my butt and my sewing machine's been squeaky clean in the cupboard, here are the projects that I have yet to complete:

1. A birthday bag for a friend (overdue)
2. A tea cosy for mother-in-law (overdue)
3. A small pouch for nenek
4. A fabric 'garden' for the small fry (a few stuffed flowers on stems and a couple of pots)
5. A bag/casing for parents' bamboo mat
6. A bag demanded requested by sis

Yup, I'd better get started on the list before it gets any longer and threatens to drown me.

So Much For That

Tortoise B has disappeared.

One minute he was in the stroller with his buddy, and the next, he was gone. I didn't even notice his disappearance till we arrived home. Small fry was notably, asleep; so of course, she didn't even register the loss.

I retraced my steps back to the station, hoping that he'd have fallen down somewhere nearby. But nope, I guess he went in search of greener pastures.

So now it's on to Tortoise B, version 2.0.

The small fry is gonna bawl when she wakes up.

A Tale Of Two Tortoises

Conversations about two tortoises:
"Toetoise is sick. He needs medicine."
"Really, what happened to him?"
"Aw, he's got a cough. See, he's coughing mummy."
"Here toetoise, here's your medicine."
"Now he's going back to sleep. I cover him back."
"How about the other tortoise? He's not sick, right?"
"Oh, this one has got a fever. He needs medicine too."
"See, he's drinking his medicine."
"Now they're both sleeping. They are both sick."
"Aw, toetoise. It's OK, toetoise. It's OK."
Pat, pat, pat.

Everyone, meet Tortoise A (light blue) and Tortoise B (bright blue). They are now the small fry's constant companions. They're about 4" long and 3" tall. They have dethroned Totoro as her new friends.

They follow her everywhere: they watch from the sink when she's bathing; they watch from the floor when she's on her porta potty; they perch on the dining table when she eats; they share her pillow on her bed; they follow her in her stroller when she goes out; they go EVERYWHERE with her.

It all started when a woman in a wheelchair at the MRT station gave her a tiny balloon tortoise when I gave the woman $1. Naturally, the balloon tortoise lasted only a week before it deflated into oblivion. Small fry was distraught, and I mean D.I.S.T.R.A.U.G.H.T.

Every once in a while, she would burst out, "My toetoise! My toetoise!" as if it were the first time she found out about its demise. The last straw dropped when I wheeled her into the station past the spot where the woman in the wheelchair was and she whimpered, "My toetoise, my toetoise."

I didn't want to buy her another stuffed toy. Her stuffed menagerie is already colourful enough - octopus, armadillo, porcupine, Totoro in various sizes, Catbus, tiger, Miffy, Mickey, teddy, Senget, among others - and I didn't want to add to the clutter that is the mound on her bed. So I thought, maybe something small.

Luckily, a riffle through my amigurumi crochet book yielded a pattern for a cute tortoise. And he was small, to boot! Thus Tortoise A was born. Unfortunately, Tortoise A was not very well made. The stitches were a bit sloppy and his neck was floppy. Doesn't help that she grabs him and takes him around by the head. Therefore, Tortoise B was born.

Small fry had a hand in Tortoise B's creation. She chose the colours. She nixed all my suggestions of colour. She wanted the exact same shade of shell, just a brighter shade of head and limbs.  No green, n browns, no pink, no nothing. Just the shades she chose. Right.

Her tortoises can fly, they also like to sleep. A lot. Snug under her cloth. On the sofa, on her bed, on her pillow, on her tray table, on the coffee table, they sleep everywhere.

They have both taken a fall from her stroller. Somehow her hands lose their grip and each has met the cold hard floor. On different occasions.

So far, they're both holding up. Tortoise A is a bit battered for the wear. Stray yarn pops up here and there. I find them and I stick them back in. Tortoise B is better constructed. He stays intact. They've been around for a week or so. I hope they stay around for a bit more.

"Toetoise, you are so cute, na! Aw, toetoise!"

Saturday Project

Saturday was rainy. It stopped and started and stopped and started. That's how it went the whole day. So we spent the day indoors and I decided to finally start on that pair of pants I'd wanted to make her.

She likes making creative use of her clothes: the original pair of funky pants I got off Etsy. See how snug it fits?

The pair that I made her with the original pair on top of it for good measure. You can see how lose the band is around her head.

It took me about half the day. And...it turned out to be about 2-3 sizes too big. The sizing was deliberate; based on the original pair, I'd marked the seams larger on the new pattern. What I didn't realise was just how big it turned out. It's so big that we could probably keep it for a year and she could still fit in it after that one year.

Yikes.

I never was much of a stickler for measurements.

I guess it's back to totes, pouches and storage after this.

Making Something Out Of Something

I've always been a sucker for making things with my hands. I'm not too good at creating things from abstract ideas or coming up with my own designs but give me a pattern or something to follow and I'll be more than happy to reproduce it.

I've gone through almost the whole gamut of crafting when I was young: cross-stitching, crocheting, knitting, embroidery, felt stuffed animals, beading, those knitted animals/dogs you comb out the yarn to make furry (no idea what it's called). I would have done tatting if I'd known where to get the equipment.

I also loved helping my aunt bake and make cakes, paus, bread, and even pastry. Her sturdy Kenwood mixer was my favourite equipment to operate. I loved that industrial strength mixer.

In secondary school, I opted to do Home Economics rather than boring old Commerce. And boy, did that turn out to be the right choice! My most memorable experiences and happiest memories of school can be distilled from those three years of Home Ec. and the havoc I caused in cooking class (mistaken ingredients, tiny teacups, sporting teachers and great friends) and the quiet times during sewing class.

My 'crafting' genes may have skipped my mom and gone straight on to me as most of my aunts on both my parents' sides have some sort of love for sewing or baking or some form of handicrafting. My mom has no love for it. She can operate a sewing machine (she made me my favourite pyjama pants all the way till I was in college) and make great home-cooked meals but she's not one to 'craft'.

These days, with more time on my hands (??? well, discounting the 'jobs' that I have) I find I'm rediscovering my affinity for making things. Especially now when ingredients and equipment are so readily available as compared to when I was a kid.

It all started with the cooking. And the recipe books. Granted, I don't do gourmet nor gourmand. But I do like to try out a new thing more often than not.

Then I discovered Etsy. I mean, REALLY discovered Etsy. It got to the point that I would trawl through the site everyday just to look at all the pretty things on sale. And then I started buying them. Not much, but a vintage skirt here (and I absolutely LOVE my Etsy vintage denim skirt), a bracelet there, some groovy upcycled clothes for the small fry.

It was her upcycled pants that got me to thinking I could sew for myself too. And then I got the sewing machine. It spent a few months in the cupboard before I took it out and put it to use. First, I had to finish the cat that I was crocheting. And then there were other things I wanted to crochet.

I started borrowing crochet and sewing books from the library. Then I started ordering them from Amazon. Finally I started buying fabric. And dug up some scrap fabric I'd bought from a quilting shop. And then...

Tissue pouches

Tiny totes for tiny tots

My phone pouch with both my phones in it.

Doesn't it look lovely red?

Small fry doing groceries with the tiny tote.

A little bit closer on the tiny tote.

...it's still early days yet. I've got a stack of fabric that I've collected that I have yet to work on.

I don't have a top-of-the-line sewing machine. It's a pretty basic portable Janome with less than 20 different stitch patterns. I just want to sew, I don't want to craft on the machine. I don't even own an electric mixer even though I have thought I'd love to own a Kenwood. I just can't seem to justify forking over an arm and a leg for something I may not make full use of.

I'm planning and organizing patterns in always with a mental footnote to myself: finish whatever you're working on before you start something else. I have a tendency to start many projects but sputter out of steam halfway through and abandon them to their unfinished fates.

So this time, I'm trying to pace myself. I'm taking breaks in between 'projects'. I'm trying not to stock up on too much supplies. I'm trying to juggle all my 'hobbies' (reading, sewing, baking/cooking, photographing) with work commitments, yoga and time for myself and my family.

In the meantime, I've already slightly burned my second batch of banana-chocolate chip muffins. Nigella must not have her times right; 25 minutes at 190C doesn't seem to do it for my babies. At least I halved her recipe and burnt only 4 muffins and not a dozen.

Luckily I'm not one to be daunted. Burnt muffins are but bumps on the road to better, tastier muffins. A slightly sewed over tote handle is just a hiccup to a kick-ass funky messenger bag.

I have greatness in my hands and it shall be utilized!