Ice cream dress

I am continuing on my Oliver + S kick - this is the Ice Cream dress made for Lucy. It's just a little big for her because I made it in a size 2T, but I always think that after the effort I put in to make the children's clothes, I'd like them to be able to wear the clothes for a bit longer! She was supremely pleased with the pockets. This colour combination makes me happy! It's not so clear in the photo, but there are little ladybugs on the pink fabric. I am thinking of making the blouse version of this, one for each of the girls.

Oliver + S

Just a few months ago, my goal when sewing was to come up with something that the kids could wear, that wasn't too difficult to sew. I didn't want to struggle with anything to fiddly. I think it's an indication of how much I've been learning in my sewing course that I am now more focused on producing clothes that look more professional and that are a bit more of a challenge in the actual sewing process. These outfits take a bit more time, but they also look better.

Josh has his own pairs of Oliver + S's Sketchbook shorts now. They have proper pockets, a faux fly and a pleated front, and aren't all that difficult actually. After working through the steps on Noah's pair, I could sew two pairs up for Joshua quickly. I made a pair in the same green elephant print as Noah's and one in this blue and orange camo print. He chose to wear this one! I guess not everyone is a fan of elephants on green! I made an 8T size so that they'll last him longer.


Emma got an outfit from Oliver + S's Swingset tunic and skirt pattern. This was a tricky one but I found a tutorial (with pictures) that explained the tricky bit, so I could work it out. I made my first buttonhole on the tunic, so I was plenty pleased about that.


I am now obsessed and am determined to sew through as many Oliver + S patterns as I can. I can't do all because some of the patterns are for jackets which the kids don't need here in Singapore. I also will have to omit outfits that I think the kids won't wear, no use working on an outfit which fails to pass Emma's twirl test!

navy blouse

So this is it, my Muji-inspired blouse!

My sewing teacher had talked me through knocking off my own version, but in the end, I didn't even have to draft my own top. I found a free pattern online, made some changes and that was it. The navy blue cotton has an embroidered edge, so I didn't even need to hem, which made me happy.

I wore it to church on Sunday, and almost choked when someone came up to me and said that he was guessing that I had made my outfit! It looked homemade??!! But he quickly clarified that he was just making a guess.

Overall, I was very pleased with it. I found the navy cotton at a shop in Chinatown; I'm guessing it's a voile. It sews up very well, runs through my sewing machine and serger so easily. I love it, and I think I have enough to make another skirt!

green elephants

Noah's favourite colour is green. And he loves animals.

So he and this green elephant fabric I found in Chinatown are a perfect match.

I bought the fabric weeks ago, and made the mistake of showing it to him that very day. He's asked for his green elephant shorts everyday since then.

Here they are at last! They are the nicest pair of shorts I've made so far, from an Oliver + S pattern - pockets, pleated front, and a flat front waistband. He was very pleased.

crossing a line

I think I crossed a line today.

But first, the backstory. There has been little sewing done since the beginning of May. All my energies have been focused instead on learning patternmaking. It has felt like I am learning a completely new set of skills, one that involves more math than I anticipated, but I have found drafting a basic skirt block and a basic bodice very satisfying. I am almost done with the beginner course, and if all goes well with my assessment, I will move on to drafting pants. A prospect that I am ridiculously excited about. (Except for the six pairs of Dockers bermudas that I bought when living in the US, I have never been able to find pants that fit me well.)

A related aside: I learned to put in an invisible zip a few weeks ago and that was also ridiculously exciting.

So back to that line.

Today was the first time that I saw a blouse that I really liked and instead of pondering if I should buy it, I pondered over how I could sew it myself. (It is quite a simple loose fit blouse.) I spent a few minutes studying the construction, noted how the necklines and sleeves were finished, and surreptitiously snapped a photo of the blouse for reference. I feel an overwhelming need to speed down to Chinatown or Arab Street to hunt down some linen with an embroidered border.


Alas, I fear other responsibilities beckon and that fabric hunt will have to wait.

obsession

This is how you know that sewing has morphed from being a nice, harmless hobby into an all-consuming obsession.

1. I dream that I am in sewing class, actually working at the sewing machine. And when I wake up and realise that it was just a dream, I actually feel disappointed.

2.I tell my husband that I need to make a trip down to Chinatown to get a couple of small things: a concealed zip, a concealed zip foot, and some interfacing. An hour later, I leave Chinatown $70 poorer, with THREE different fabrics (two to three yards each), an extra seam ripper (can't have too many of those, right?) and a handful of wooden buttons (which were too cute to pass up). Do I know what I am going to do with all this fabric and buttons yet? No. But I have a few ideas and an extra seam ripper if things don't turn out well.

3. About a week later, I am lying in bed with a migraine - the kind that produces a fog of pain. My husband and helper have to handle the four kids. But I cannot fall asleep because my brain won't stop thinking about how to attach a facing onto the yoke of a skirt that I have half done. Pathetic.

Postscript. I am learning some basic patternmaking and am enjoying it a lot. It's complicated some times - so many numbers! - but when I've finished drafting a basic bodice, it feels oh so satisfying. As a result of this course though, I have had no time to work on any kids' outfits.

Drafting the front neckline of my bodice - I took a picture to help me remember how to place the French curve.

gratification

It is always gratifying to see the children happy with something that I made for them. It's one of the reasons why I like to sew. Josh is generally blase about clothes and won't bat an eyelid at whatever he's given to wear, so he'll cheerfully wear whatever I make for him. Noah is usually thrilled to have homemade clothes because it's something that belongs to him and him alone - no sharing necessary! (One of the perils of growing up in a big family!) Lucy is starting to show some vanity and wants to wear whatever is new in her section of the wardrobe. And Emma... well, so long as it's something pink and twirly, she'll heap praises on me. ("Good mummy! You're a good mummy!" or "I love it, mummy, so beautiful!")

Cooking for the children, on the other hand, is sometimes a little trickier. My kids have clearly defined ideas of what they like and don't like. Josh is by far the best eater (and it shows too - every time his pediatrician sees him, she asks if he exercises outside of school. Luckily he has taekwondo and swimming.). Two of his loves are eggs and ham. I made quiche lorraine for Saturday morning breakfast, figuring that it'd be a hit with him at least. And it was. He polished off the leftovers the next day and was sorely disappointed when there was none left. Emma is the pastry queen and will happily peel off the pastry from the whole quiche if I let her, not that I did.

Noah and Lucy weren't all that keen, but that could be because they couldn't wait for the quiche to be done and had eaten already. Oh well, two out of four isn't too bad! I used the recipe from here, but added some romano cheese that I already had in the fridge.

kaya

One of my favourite breakfasts: kaya toast and soft-boiled eggs, washed down with kopi-c. I can't replicate the kopi-c at home, but I make really good soft-boiled eggs, and now I have my own kaya for toast! Two out of three isn't too bad.

I cooked the kaya in a slow cooker, and then whizzed everything up in the blender. The recipe I used recommended using a hand-held immersion blender. I plugged ours in, only to discover that it was kaput. Ah well, it served us well - I did all the kids' baby food with it.

Homemade kaya is going to be somewhere on my list of Christmas gifts to give away this year.

kcwc day 6 and 7

This is my final outfit for KCWC 2011.

I based this dress for Emma on this spring dress. My modifications were doing away with the front tie because I didn't feel up to tackling the buttonholes; and adding a bottom contrasting hem because erm, it turned out a little too short when Emma tried it on. I do like how it turned out though. The print of Japanese cherry blossoms, while pretty, is very busy, so I thought that the solid lavender hem was a nice grounding touch.

I think I need to lengthen the elastic around the waist because right now, it fits a little snug, but I am putting that off for a bit. Daunted by having to lengthen three elastic lengths! I am not sure why it is, but I seem to make elastic bands that are either too loose or too tight, can't get them just right!

I am taking a self-declared holiday from kids clothes now. I am either going to do something totally different, like bake, or do some selfish sewing for myself.

kcwc day 5

Emma is quintessentially girly.

As in she loves pink, princesses, twirly skirts, new shoes, ballet and glitter. If she could, she would be in dresses all day, everyday.

She vehemently rejects t-shirts and shorts every single time I suggest them.

Then I discovered that what I needed for her to change her mind was peer pressure! She came back home from school one day actually asking for me to make her shorts because one of her friends in school thought it'd be a good idea for them to coordinate their outfits! *shockers*

Digression: While I am happy that she deigns to wear shorts and pants now, I worry about how easily swayed she is!

So this is her shorts, which aren't shorts because she decided that she wanted them to be mid-calf length. I let her pick out the fabric from what I had in my stash.


Edited to add: The girl has changed her mind! She says she likes the pants but won't wear them, because "shorts are not comfortable". Haiyah.

kcwc day 3 and 4

3 pairs of 2T boys underwear.

Some random notes:
1. The final product looks so small, but there are a lot of seams on boys underwear. And topstitching practically doubles the number of seams.
2. I've tried it a couple of times now, and I think sewing with knits isn't very gratifying. There are so many puckers that I have to iron out, but by the time I actually finish up a pair, I'm too tired to pull out the iron again to make everything look nice. I think I am going to take a break from sewing knits for a while.
3. I actually considered just cutting out this underwear from the girls' pattern because I figured, the boy isn't actually going to use the fly opening. I didn't in the end. And I regretted it when I was sewing on the fly binding - it's another two seams; four if you count the topstitching!

kcwc day 2

Completed 2 pair of undies late last night!

I haven't managed to iron out all the puckers, but I am counting them as done.

kcwc day 1

Yes, I have OCD tendencies.

Because sometimes, once I get an idea in my head, I just can't let go of it until I actually do it. It's like an itch that needs to be scratched. And this is how I ended sewing the children's underwear.

Yup, underwear. Now, I can see how this would seem a tad ridiculous. After all, children undies aren't that expensive. And sewing their underwear means I have to take on sewing knits, which I thought I'd never do just because it is harder than sewing woven cottons. But like I said, it became an itch that wouldn't go away.

I decided to make Noah a couple of new pairs when I noticed that he had been wearing the same few pairs of Thomas the train undies. (I also have to add here that Noah was pretty easy to toilet train - I guess it helps to wait until they are really quite big. I only started with him just before his third birthday.) Since I had signed up for Elsie Marley's Kids Clothes Week Challenge, I decided that this would fit the bill. And since I'm making up some for Noah, might as well go ahead and sew up some for Josh and Emma too. Production line sewing makes more sense, right?

Except that I underestimated how long it would take to cut up the pattern pieces. I started at 11pm, thinking that I'd take probably just a little more than an hour (an hour of sewing a day was the requirement).

Umm, wrong. I am clearly not as good as wielding a pair of scissors and a rotary cutter as I though. And those leg band and waistband pieces got my head all muddled up. I only finished at 1.45am.

But here they are, ready to be sewn up. 3 pairs for Noah, 2 pairs each for Emma and Josh.

Children undies pattern from here

Day 1 done!

back in the day

Penpals don't exist anymore.

Because nobody writes letters with a pen anymore.

Back when I was in secondary school, writing to penpals was one of those things that lots of people did. I think teenage magazines used to have lists of people who wanted penpals, complete with their list of hobbies so that you could pick someone who had the same interests as you. I had a couple. I wrote to penpals in Hong Kong, Greece and France. I have obviously lost touch with them. although I did meet up with my penpal from Paris when I backpacked in Europe. I stayed over at her apartment for a night and she showed me the Eiffel Tower. I remember that she was very into all things Asian - which was a little funny because I was very interested in all things French.

Anyway, all this to lead up to this: 2011 International Postcard Swap for Families. I've signed us up and am already thinking of what sort of postcards to send off. Maybe with a little gift too?

pao de queijo

I have been reading The Little Teochew over the past week or so, going through posts made over the past two years whenever I have time to surf. It's reminded me of how long it's been since I've baked anything! For a while, I was baking something every week or so. Then I must have hit a rut because I stopped. And then I started sewing, so no more time to bake!

But I have been inspired! I am itching to bake again. I started with this recipe because it is extremely easy, and the end result was super yummy. I read elsewhere that you can do up the batter and store in the fridge for up to a week, which was even better since I could then blend everything up the night before, and then just bake in the morning for breakfast. This is the only Brazilian anything I've ever made.


So now the question is: should I make Nigella's old-fashioned chocolate cake, Tan Hsueh Yun's lemon yoghurt cake or my own carrot cake with Jamie Oliver's lime marscapone frosting next?

outgrown

Of all the kids, Josh is the one who enjoys his food the most. The other kids all went through phases of either being extremely picky with their food, or being simply uninterested in eating. There are, after all, a whole lot of other things to do; eating sometimes can seem like such a waste of time.

Not for Josh though. Even when he was a baby, he ate easily. He used to watch Thomas the train videos during meal times (yes, not the best form). He'd be so glued to the TV that he'd just unquestioningly open his mouth every time a spoonful of porridge appeared in front of it.

All this to say, he loves to eat and so has outgrown quite a few pairs of his shorts. I have been on a mini-mission to sew up some new ones for him. When I was sewing up Noah's pair for his birthday, it was easy enough to do up a pair for Josh. I loved how they turned out.

And I love this picture of Josh. I can't get over how grown up he looks. Most of the photos I have of him are shots of him doing something goofy; this shot below is what he gave me when I said, "Do a handsome face."

Easy Fit lounge shorts in chambray, with front patch pockets that I added

to jump in or not to jump in

I came across this yesterday and have been wondering if I should do it or not. It's the fear of commitment that is holding me back. But I think I will try it out. I have four children and five boxes of fabric waiting to used. Why not?

birthday bunting

This is one of my favourite things - a birthday bunting that my man puts up the night before each birthday, so that the kids get to see it when they wake up the next morning. The older kids know that we only put it up to celebrate a birthday, so there really is an air of festivity in the house when they see it!

It was really easy to put together since it only involved sewing straight lines - the hard part was having to cut all the alphabets out of felt and hand sew them individually. It was worth the work though - with four kids, we get to use them four times a year!

gathered skirt

I saw this tutorial on MADE and promptly put this on my list of to-dos. My kind of project: straight lines, no buttonholes or zips, looks cute and doesn't take forever to complete.


I decided to do the double layer skirt. I had some chambray left over from making the boys' shorts, so that became the bottom layer. And I used half a yard of a Riley Blake print for the top layer. I did make some tweaks to the tutorial. I didn't want to fold down two layers of cloth for the elastic casing because I thought all that cloth(four layers and the elastic!) bunched up would make it a little uncomfortable. And there are fewer things more frustrating than to make something for a fussy child who refuses to wear what I made! Instead, I made a tube casing for the elastic at the waist by sewing the two pieces of cloth right sides together, and then flipping it right side out and topstitching another line of stitching to create a casing for the elastic. I also made the top layer only two inches shorter than the bottom layer, even though the tutorial recommends a three inch difference, just because I wanted to use up more of the pretty print.


She looks happy enough to be wearing it, no? Noah is busy stuffing his face with ice cream in the background.

Now to make her a top to go with the skirt. I still have a mermaid iron-on match that she picked out to use, maybe on the pocket of a new top?

true story

Ok, so. True story.

Late 2003, I was pregnant with my first son. (He was born March 2004 and is now SEVEN years old!) I was talking with my husband on the phone and said, "Hey, won't it be cool if I get a sewing machine, then I can sew clothes for my baby!" I thought it was a brilliant idea.

Silence on the line. Then he says something to the effect of how I'd end up going crazy frustrated with the sewing machine. Anyway, new baby on the way, how would I find the time?

This was not quite the enthusiastic response I expected.

Then, Joshua was born. This baby turned our lives upside down because he refused to sleep. Of course he was cute, and sure, we adored him. But we were so sleep deprived. He was the reason my man started drinking coffee. And I was tired, all the time.

In 2009, and four kids and a helper later, I wondered again if I could get a sewing machine. This time, my man hauled me and our four down to town to buy me a sewing machine. I chose the simplest one I could find, just in case I did lose interest!

And now I sew.

noah is three

Noah is in exactly the same place that Joshua was when he turned three - train crazy. So he got a choo-choo train cake for his celebration at school. I think he liked it because he came home from school and gave me a kiss and a hug, and said, "Love you, mommy."

Apart from the cake, I also made a birthday outfit for the birthday boy. Dark blue chambray shorts from an Easy Fit pattern off Etsy; and a appliqued monogram t-shirt to match. He calls the shorts his "birthday shorts" and he loved them, so I was happy. The shorts took a bit longer to make with the patch pockets and double line of stitching around the hem, but I was quite pleased with how they turned out: not so homemade looking.

Maori much?
I don't know why he decided to pose like that, other than just because he was so pleased to be wearing his birthday shorts and wielding his birthday present: a Thomas umbrella. Such fights that has led to between him and the baby.

This was Noah when he first came home to us. This is on the car ride home - first time in the car seat! He looks suitably bewildered. How he's grown.

daiso buy

The older kids spent the afternoon at grandma's house, so I made a quick dash down to Spotlight. I couldn't resist dropping in at Daiso just to see what they had - not that I've ever managed to make it out of Daiso without buying anything!!

Anyway, I found this piece purple checked cloth for $2 and couldn't pass it up. There was enough to make a simple dress for Lucy. I based it loosely on the ruffle sleeve top tutorial here, but somehow the ruffle on my sleeves ended up much shorter. Oh well, it was still cute anyway. I added a line of ric rac around the bottom, so that it wouldn't look so plain. Otherwise, it was a loose, comfy dress, cheap and quick to make.

I thought Lucy looked really cute in it, especially since she let me put her hair up in two ponytails. She lasted all through church with her hair done up, but the moment we got into the car to leave, she pulled the ties out of her hair!

ruffles are not my friends

Eva dress pattern from Manimina on Etsy

Lessons learnt from making these dresses:

1. When making matching dresses for the girls, don't go all the way matchy-matchy. I sewed these two dresses at the same time, and ended mightily confused when I sewed the bottom green strip from Lucy's dress onto Emma's. The dress looked extremely unbalanced, with the narrow green bottom band, and I was so annoyed that the pattern seller had gotten her measurements mixed up. Until I figured out that I had mixed up the pieces from the two dresses. Oops. Major unpicking and some silent swearing.

2. Making ruffles for a gathered skirt is ok, but doing four tiers of ruffles in one sewing session is too much. I took a while to recover from all that ruffling.

3. Emma loved the twirl factor of her dress, which reminded me of why I did all that ruffling in the first place.

joshua is seven

It has been such a big year for the firstborn: he started primary one! There has been some angst, all on my part of course. He has been too busy enjoying school for any angst. He loves watching National Geographic and will pick non-fiction books at the library over fiction any time. He's fascinated by snakes, but so far doesn't dare to have one placed over his shoulders. He asked for a snake cake for his birthday.

Josh picked out a snake cake from a cake decorating book I have. Fondant again! Josh took a look at his cake and said, "They kind of look like worms." But he told everyone else that they were snakes, considerate as he is of my feelings! We had a MacD's party for the first time. We've told the kids that each year we'll only have one big party where they get to invite their friends; and they have to take turns for it. Josh's turn this year, and Emma is already planning hers next year.

Here he is posing with his beyblade, his birthday present of choice this year.

Lounge shorts in navy seersucker. EasyFit pattern from the scientificseamstress on Etsy.

kindness and beauty

Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty.
Anne Herbert

Yes.

emma is five

Emma's birthday always marks the beginning of birthday season in our family. We have three birthdays in three consecutive months. She wanted a princess cake. Actually she'd been asking for one since last year, and I was initially quite hopeful that she'd forgotten. But no such luck. It gave me some impetus to overcome my fear of working with fondant though. So the princess' skirt didn't fall straight down, but that's what skirts are like, right?

Birthday celebration at school

Emma's birthday fell on Chinese New Year eve this year, so it seems particularly appropriate to include this picture of her at the Chinese Gardens. She loves this skirt for the twirl factor. I used the circle skirt tutorial from MADE.

Does she look like she's having a Marilyn Monroe moment?

Christmas table

I have decided that even though we are already in 2011, and have been for a month, we can still admire the sight of a Christmas feast laid out. This is our Christmas table from 2010. Every year, we have a big dinner together with all the grandparents, and we pull out all the stops. Nice ham, roast sausages, and a hunk of roast beef. Along with whatever sides I can think up to make. The meats are the stars clearly.

I got it into my head to sew up some simple table toppers to add to the festive atmosphere. This was the first time I did this - usually we just plonk the food down on the table. But I managed to find some lovely Christmas fabric from Spotlight so I went with it. I was very happy with how everything looked - but I also confess that those pretty table toppers added some stress for me. How to get the stains out if someone dropped food/gravy/wine on the table??? (I did think of putting a clear vinyl sheet over the cloths but decided that it would be too tacky!)