31 Photos in 31 Days – August 2010 – Day 31

Day 31. My last photo... no.31. 

I can't believe I managed to keep up with this challenge. It was fun and I would definitely join the next one. So this is me, a bit blurry but this is me the photographer of all 31 minus 1 photos for 31 Photos in 31 Days - August 2010!

31 Photos in 31 Days – August 2010 – Day 30

Day 30. The boys having fun on the bike.

My two little clowns love to have a good laugh at themselves and this time they both tried to squash themselves while riding this very smile bike. They fell over and rolled around with laughter and then it was back on the bike again!

Picking it up again.... a needle and thread

It's really been awhile since I picked up the needle and thread and thought about doing it somewhat full-time. I love to sew and when I can try to make something but these days I've been thinking alot about making handbags for myself and my daughter especially now that she's almost a teenager. There are just so many designs and come with but essentially in my case I need something that can serve the dual purpose of carrying "the kitchen sink" and hold all my other "junk"!.... no no no I meant to say all of the baby essentials like multiple change of clothes, sippy cups of juice, baby wipes, a handful of nappies and toys.... junk on the other hand are whatever is leftover space for my stuff; the lippy, phone, keys, pens, paper and purse.... but only if there is space to spare!

All my sewing studies and the books I collected. 

My sewing collection gathering some dust!

Long Long Long Ago... I took up a sewing course and learnt the pattern making, alterations, fabrics and of course some sewing tricks. I learnt to sew and then taught myself to smock dresses for my daughter when she was little. Little dresses were expensive and sometimes not worth the money so I decided to make them for Ashley. 

Some work I've been doing lately. 

It was fun to create virtually something from nothing and come up with something that was one of a kind. I bought tons of material whenever something caught my eye and I'm still finding stashes of fabric in bags and boxes around the house. I pleated my own material on my pleater, serged my own edges and sewed all hours of the day. I even started sewing for friends and eventually it became a little business. I didn't really mean it to be that way but I ended up sewing more for others and eventually my daughter grew up and went through a pants only phase. 

Eventually the sewing became less when I had my son and I did sew a few rompers, little shirts and pants for my son ..... I even sewed a business shirt for my hubby one Christmas! But nowadays I've found myself playing with the sewing machine and making handbags for myself and Ash but also making some to give away to friends. So now I've been thinking about sewing them to sell and I've been working on patterns and doing some fabric sourcing  and basically just trying to get back the confidence to sew again.


But I must say that sewing handbags is actually a whole lot easier than making clothes...no alterations but I do miss the doing embroidery work. I guess that's something I could incorporate into some designs... appliqué here and there ... Sashiko embroidery is something get into but perhaps later... so stay tune ....

31 Photos in 31 Days – August 2010 – Day 29

Day 29. Oh mum I'm just way to cool!

Jacob playing with his cool sunglasses.

31 Photos in 31 Days – August 2010 – Day 28

Day 28. Chilli and some good old cornbread.... yum yum yum.

What snack did a whip up today.... I should really put this in my foodblog .... I'm so far behind on Foodbuzz.

31 Photos in 31 Days – August 2010 – Day 27

Day 27. What a mess!

Chocolate crumbs around his mouth, pencil marks on his feet and just a total mess after going through his sister's desk. 

Recently Updated

Fashion Week

this week's Polly Dolly theme is:What would your Dolly wear to...

Fashion Week

It's Fashion Week and I'm dressed up in this gorgeous satin stretch dress in just the perfect colour. My heels are those fabulous pewter sandals all strappy and making me so much taller. Lots of beautiful jewellery, rings, rings and pearls and crystals. And I just couldn't forget my Lu Lu hobo which would make my day at this week's Fashion Week.  

Phone Pouch

Ashley's little phone pouch is getting a bit old so I revamped it a little and made her this one today. It took a while to draft this one out because I had to get the dart just right and give the pouch enough room to fit the phone. Had to throw away the first few attempts but got the pattern right. I was thinking of adding a small pocket at the back but decided it  would have been too bulky. The material I used was the same pink batik scrap that I made the little clutch with. 

To draft the pattern I use my phone as a template and then added about 1/2' for the width and an extra 3/8 for the seams to get enough space for the dart. I managed to use up all the material scraps and had nothing to spare. The pouch is fully lined with a medium interfacing to give it a bit of structure. 

The Little Clutch

I've been working through my collection of material and I found this small off cut from a dress that I'm making for Ashley. It's actually a piece of batik which I had trimmed off from the side of the bodice. It was too small for anything I had put it aside for a small purse or clutch. So last night while watching tv I drafted out a clutch with an wristband which I could use for quick errands or for an evening bag. I also dug out the rest of the red kimono material that I made the red bag with and cut out a few to make later this week. I'm going out this Friday so I'm hoping to use this little clutch.

The red kimono material all cut out and ready to sew. I think I cut out at least 5 little clutches... I was watching tv so I just keep cutting!

Sewing up all around the edges.



The finishing touch... the side seam and the button. I decided to use a button since magnetic buttons are hard to come by but I think it looked better with the turquoise 
button. I didn't put any inner pockets into this clutch as the space is pretty small.... I just hope it fits all my stuff.

31 Photos in 31 Days – August 2010 – Day 25

Day 25. My little patch of green. 

I live in an apartment so there isn't much of a garden on my balcony plus I'm not much of green thumb. This is just a little patch that we have on the front balcony. Most of my plants have been donated and some I've "borrowed" from the common garden near the front door to the apartments. The lovely big pot was a gift from hubby and I love the texture of the clay. 

what's in your handbag...

This week's My Place And Yours over at Hello Owl is 

what's in your handbag...

This what is hiding in my bag or should I say this is what I'm hiding in my bag these days. I'm using my red bag  that I made the other day and it's one of those big bags that can fit almost the kitchen sink. I've been using it lately to double up as my nappy bag and so it's crammed with nappies, a big packet of baby wipes for all those messy occasions, a camera for those unforgettable moments with the kids and also for my 31 Day challenge, car keys, hair clip, lip gloss for that quick splash of colour, my pocket purse and my phone. .... the things missing from my bag .... change of clothes for Jacob because he's a mess these days and has to change at least 3-4 times a day, toys, snacks and a sippy cup. I usually have so much in my bag that I'm forever looking for my keys even though I made 3 pockets inside I'm really going to have to add a cord or something next time so I can clip it onto all my keys. 

31 Photos in 31 Days – August 2010 – Day 24

Day 24. Muffin break.

I bought these big muffin papers and the kids and I whipped up these banana muffins. They were a bit larger than normal so instead of making a dozen we could only make 10. Tristan had a blast stirring the batter while Ash helped supervise..... and Jacob was the muffin tester!

31 Photos in 31 Days – August 2010 – Day 23

Day 23. A secret ingredient to the pasta. 

I was wondering why Jacob was happily eating his pasta until I took a peek at what he was eating and there before me was his secret ingredient...... chocolate coco crouch cereal! 

This little boy is either going to be a chef in the making or going to have a upset tummy:)

31 Photos in 31 Days – August 2010 – Day 22

Day 22. A blurry photo of Ash.

I was in the kitchen and was taken in a hurry.

31 Photos in 31 Days – August 2010 – Day 21

Day 21. Driving home.

Stuck in the jam on the way home. 

Oops I forgot about Day 20. 

Stars In Your Eyes Hobo bag

I've named this the "Stars in your eyes" Hobo bag because of the material. Now this piece must be about 8 years old just part of my material stash. Anyway, I use this hobo pattern for this bag and it turn out quite nicely. I'm giving it to my daughter for this weekend. I hope she likes it. 

The inside of the bag has a zipped pocket and it's fully lined. You could probably make this a reversible bag if you take away the magnetic button. 

Sewing the bag. This was the first time I had used a magnetic button and it wasn't too difficult to put it in but they are really hard to find here. I used a star shaped keyring instead of a D ring or a an O ring for the strap. 

Cutting the fabric and sewing it all up.

How to make Japanese Paper Dolls "Ningyogami"

In my previous post I took a photo of some Japanese paper dolls or otherwise known as Ningyogami that I had made for my daughter. I haven't made them for a while but I wanted to teach my daughter how to make them to give to her friends and teachers at school. It's her last year in primary school and next year she'll be going off to study back home so the dolls were just little gifts to give away. 

Anyway, this is my first step-by-step tutorial so here it goes. 




What you need.
* Wrapping paper (not too thin)a few different types. The best paper to use is "chiyogami", traditional Japanese paper.
You can download and print some chiyogami paper from Creative Canon. 

* White card paper for the body and head. It's a slightly thicker paper than print paper.

* Black paper for the hair but you can also use the white card paper and just colour it in with a black pencil.

* Scissors

* glue

Dimensions

* Kimono: 2 1/2' x 4'

* Kimono Sleeves (Optional): 1 1/2' x 2 1/2' (cut 2)

* collar: 1/2' x 1 1/2'

* obi sash: 2 1/2' x 7/8'
* obi sash back: 1 1/2' x 7/8'

* obi jime: 2 1/2' x 1/8

* body: 2/8' x 5

* face: roughly 6/8'diameter oval

1. Fold the collar into half and fold over the top of the body. Fold the left side first facing you.

2. Fold 1cm of the top part of the kimono facing the non-printed side and then fold in half facing the printed side. Place the body and collar on the kimono and glue down the middle of body.

3. Fold the left side of the kimono over the collar but not the full side just the top part.Fold the rest of the paper over to so that there is a straight edge of the kimono lined up along the body. 

4. Repeat this for the right side of the kimono. Glue down the straight edges down.

5. The sleeve is optional. Glue the 2 pcs of sleeves together and press in half and cut one curve corner. Place down just below the outer collar.

6. Cut the sleeve along the body up to 3/8 to the top. At the back trim the portion of the sleeve on the back into a V shape. Glue down the sleeve to the back.

7. Place down the middle of the obi/sash onto the kimono and fold over the back and glue down.

8. Fold the obi sash back to form a small roll and glue ends together. Place the obi jime along the middle of the obi sash and glue down. Place one end of the obi jime through the obi sash back and glue down the end and repeat with the other end. 

9. Glue down the face onto the body and attach the back of the hair to the face. Glue the hair onto the face and body.

10. Attach the fringe to the face and glue down. You can play around with all different hairstyles and decorate the hair and obi with flowers.

This is the back of the paper doll.You can play around with the different paper and add layers to the kimono. Give each doll a personal touch with lots of different hairstyles. It's fun and you can give them as bookmarks, tags or just little gifts. I made a few of them and now my son wants a boy paper doll so I'll be post that soon too. 










What's new on this blog.... 22 March, 2011

The Giveaway!

I've reached another 25 new fans on my Facebook page and so this is my little giveaway to say thank you. I'm giving one of these clutches for the giveaway and you can have the chance to pick one if you are the winner. Just become a fan of my "This Side Of The Island Shop" page on Facebook and make a comment below this photo of the clutch purse giveaway. This offer ends on 31st March and I'll be using a random generator to select the winner of this giveaway. The winner will be announced on 1st April.

Become a fan of This Side Of The Island Shop on Facebook , leave a comment and WIN!

31 Photos in 31 Days – August 2010 – Day 19

Day 19. "Ningyogami" Japanese paper dolls.

I haven't made these in years and today I showed my daughter how to make them for her friends. I made a few using leftover wrapping paper and gave them a few different hairstyles. When I was young I use to have a few Japanese friends and I remember getting a few of these beautiful bookmarks. 

I'll be posting later on how to make these paper dolls. 

31 Photos in 31 Days – August 2010 – Day 18

Day 18. Old Chinese restaurant sign board... Man Tai

You don't see these types of sign boards anymore. It's very old school with the raised lettering on a wooden board. This restaurant has been here for a very long time.

31 Photos in 31 Days – August 2010 – Day 17

Day 17. The Hindu Temple near the school.

This is the Hindu Temple near the school. It's quite a lovely place, peaceful and surrounded by a pond full of water lilies.