My little girl first sewing project

Sniff and I am fast asleep

My daughter Ning began asking me this question since she was four -" Can I learn to sew?" My answers has always been -" Not yet. Your fingers are not strong enough to hold the needle firmly." Her next question would often be-"At how many years old can I start sewing?" I answered- "Perhaps in a year or two when you are almost six." She would then walk away disappointedly.

Two weeks ago, when I was working on a sewing project, Ning came close to me and pleaded for a sewing lesson. My answer was positive this time. She suggested for her to begin with a simple project by learning to sew in straight line. She rejoiced with a cry and wanted to start immediately. I was too engrossed with my own sewing and asked for sometime to plan for her a project rather than just sewing straight line on a piece of fabric.

Few days later, I came up with the idea to teach Ning to sew a lavender cushions sachet. She loves lavender and would often inhale its sweet and soothing scent from my little old jam bottle that I store my lavender. Felt would be a great material to use for kids sewing project. Wool felt is too expensive and difficult to get locally, but synthetic felt material is readily available in most sewing supplies shops. So, a felt lavender sachet was the plan.

Lavender sachet

Great work for a  5 & 1/2 year old beginner

Ning was so excited from the very beginning when we chose the color for the felt and embroidery thread. I marked the sewing lines and demonstrated to her before she started. I was worried about her getting hurt but Ning learnt very well and didn't even get poked by needle. She stuffed some poly fiber and inserted a tiny lavender pillow which I made into the sachet before closing up the seam on one of the side. I helped her to knot the thread. Mission accomplished in one sewing session in the afternoon. She proclaimed she loves sewing and wanted the next project right away! I was surprised and happy with her enthusiasm for sewing. I foresee they would be many great moments we could cherish in the future.

She hugged the small lavender sachet into sleep that night. Her satisfaction and happiness warmed me up.

Hand dyed Indigo batik placemats

Right after I finished making the dove appliqué placemats, I decided to make a set of placemats for daily use at home. My present set of placemats was made more than 4 years ago using an old wrap around skirt. They are really worn out from regular used.

It took me very long time to decide on which fabric to use and the theme for this new set of placemats. I got confused with a full cupboard of beautiful materials I collected over the years. Many of them were acquired on various travelling trips abroad. Finally, I went for my favourite fabric -the indigo dyed batik. These few pieces of fabrics used here were produced by the infamous water town of Wuzhen, which also regarded as the Venice of the east in the north of Zhejiang Province, China. For the info of my American readers, Wuzhen was the destination for the World of Quilts Travel from United States that was organized last year.

Set of six placemats with three different prints

Front and back view of placemat with Wuzhen batik and linen.

Unlike batiks in other regions of China and around the world who usually use bee wax and wax for the dye resist process, the indigo hand-dyed batiks in Wuzhen are unique with its used of bean flour paste for the dye resist process.   The artisans in Wuzhen still use the technique and natural plant dye like it was done centuries ago.

I love to utilize the selvages of fabric as part of design. The selvage of burlap linen that I used for this project added a rustic charm to this handmade project. 

Ready for dinner

I am going to cook a good meal for my family this evening and decorate the table with these new placements and pretty blue & white crockery. I know some of you may be considering on the cleaning part... but you could just be a little cautious when you eat and get the chance to practice a good table manner :) I would lay a bigger plate under my younger daughter's plate of food to prevent staining onto the mat. I am lucky if she can use the mat thrice.

For tutorial and template, click here. (Sorry this is not ready yet. Please check again in few days time and I will have the link connected to Yann's tutorial from the highlighted words)

Placemat with dove applique

The dove that escaped the placemat?

I still haven't got through with my 'bird flu'.  I made 6 place mats with the dove design after I completed the fabric birds and duo sided festive table runner projects.

The placemat making processes included steps like painting, appliqué, embroidery and sewing. The place mat is padded with interfacing material and it sits firmly on the table.  It turned out so sweet and pretty that I decided to use them only on special occasions, most likely during Christmas.

Christmas tea time

My daughter asked if I was going to sell those mats and how much would I sell them for. I guess I would have to make another set before I am willing to sell the first set away. I would consider selling on Etsy for $12 each or a set of 6 for $66 when I eventually set up a seller account. (Etsy is a social commerce website focused on handmade or vintage items as well as art and craft supplies) As for now, I have very little things to start my shop in Etsy.

Click here for tutorial on how to make this lovely placemat. Change the colour, tag and you can modify the design to fit any occasion.

Fun time making mixed media art

It was an artsy fartsy Sunday for us last week. I decided to spend time to guide my girls to do mixed media artworks. This is  something that I had been wanted to do with them since  Ning inspired me with one of her many creations,  see image on the right. I love how she upcycled the harden play dough which I told her to throw away.

The girls welcomed the idea of an art project with excitements.  They were especially excited when they see me bringing out my stamps and ink pads to share with them.  It is a big treat for them to get to play with the “forbidden” tools at home.

I thought collage would be a fun project.   I got this idea some time ago when I saw Ning doodling on my outdated business cards. I found these little artworks fun and interesting and had kept them up for an art project. We had been saving embellishments from broken hair clips, old shoes and Christmas ornaments; reserving used gift ribbons and wrappers, fabric scraps, pretty brochures and catalogues..... and even corrugated boxes for upcycling projects.  All these materials came in handy for  a project like this one.

Zen came up with the idea of wrapping news paper on the  corrugated board and then layered it with paints all over the newspaper. She created a beautiful half translucent effect on the prints and images of the newspaper by surprise. Then, she went searching on my treasure box for pom poms fringes..... I went on to guide her on layering by using stamps and marker. With very little guidance, Zen created a lovely piece of artwork.

As for Ning,  she decided to paste  the pieces that she created on my outdated business cards onto the corrugated board and she decided to add on other items she found in our collection of elements. I showed Ning how she can linked all the elements in her artwork with strokes and lines, and that she can create a stylish piece of work even when it looks kind of messy. She went on to create images with free hand drawings, stamps, and doodling words onto the cardboard.  She uses various materials like poster colors, ink and crayons for those images.   She went bold with her strokes and achieved a wonderful piece of artwork.

The above artwork created by Zen is lovely and sweet. It looked like a real nice handbag :)
Looking at her art piece, I realized how much she has grown. She is more of a teenager than a kid even when she is only 10.

Ning's work is charming. I like the phrase ' Ning's Happy'. Indeed, she is happy when she does art.

Duo Sided Festive Table Runner

Christmas Theme - Dove represents Holy Spirit and symbol of peace

Chinese Lunar New Year Theme - Peony flowers are known as riches and honour for Chinese

When I was planning for my next project, I brought out the pre-cut fabrics for a Christmas theme table runner that I didn't get to complete it for the recent Christmas. I know Christmas had just past. But the good thing is we can look forward to the next one. Therefore, I decided to finish it with a new addition to it - making it a duo sided table runner with one side features of Christmas theme and the other side Chinese Lunar New Year.

I don't have any sketch and just made use of the sizes of fabric available. My pre-wash natural linen burlap was in square and too short as table runner for my coffee table at home. Anyway, I was too keen to start the project right away that I cut the fabric in half and joined them to form a long fabric. Then, I decided to make the scallop ends. Being too eager to see the result, I sewed it before I had the complete idea for the table runner. I painted the images after almost completing sewing it and left an opening for turning. I had to lay a piece of paper between the two layers of fabric to prevent stain on the other side. I would advice one who is going to make this table runner to paint the images before stitching it. This was my first experience to embroider with stem stitch which I did on the olive leaves and "Noel".

Stem stitch is used to embroider " Noel" & olive leaves; Doves & wings were painted with acrylic paint

The doves and wings were sequential effect of sewing the fabric birds earlier. Dove represents Holy Spirit and also symbol of peace which made them great icon for Christmas theme table runner. 

As for the Chinese Lunar New Year theme, I chose the enchanting peonies that are full of body and rich in colours as main subject. Peony is the auspicious symbol in wealth and prosperity for the Chinese. It has been used extensively in pottery designs, embroidery and painting subject since ancient Chinese. Whereby dragonfly is associated with prosperity, harmony and taken as good luck charm. Lastly, the Chinese character "Chun" which bore the meaning of spring was embroidered on the table runner. This is sure to be an auspicious table runner.  :)

Without delay, I laid the table runner with peonies facing up on my coffee table right upon completion for the Chinese Lunar New Year is drawing near. Last week I had just brought down all Christmas decors and tomorrow would be my busy day for another session of new decor.

For those of you who like to try this out, click here for template and tutorial which included a video demo of painting the peonies.

Acrylic paint for the peonies and dragonlies; stem stitch on embroidery

Auspicious elements of Chinese

Fabric Birds

Once Upon A Time

Sew Sunny Homestyle by Tone Finnanger is a book with beautiful ideas on sewing projects and it comes with gorgeous pictures . I fell in love with it as  soon as I received the book. Its nostalgic, country and fairy tale like projects would capture the hearts of many girls. There are plenty of projects that I wished to work on but to date I have only sewed some fabric birds.

My first batch of fabric birds was made with English country style print materials. Just the way they were made in the book.  I made them for one of my fun outing in Kaka Art Market - a local talent art market in Kuala Lumpur. Some were sold, some were given away as gifts and left two I reserved for myself.

I love the colors of old French fabric and had been yearning to make something with them. The idea of a Christmas sewing project with this color scheme was just perfect. The second batch of 21 birds was made in combination of red, white and neutral colors for decoration at home and gifts to dear friends. I sewed them at home; in the car (of course, I was in it as passenger); while waiting my kids taking their music classes, in the clinic........for 1 & 1/2 months.

Friends love these birds that don't fly. Some had offered to buy them but I hesitated. I wasn't sure they are willing to pay for them when they know the price I would ask for. (Though I think my price is very reasonable) Too little it does not justify the time and effort. . So, I ended up giving as gifts for various occasions as usual.

As I am writing this post, I decided to take order from now on :) . I could use the money to buy materials and sewing supplies. For those who like to sew this on your own, click here for template and simple tutorial.

Big - RM28 /   Small - RM23
Basic bird
(excluding postage & handling)

Christmas Decor at Home

Christmas is my favorite time of the year. It's season of love. The love of God is shown with the best gift anyone could give. We exchange gifts with loves one. We prepare gifts to those whom we like to express our gratitude and even to anonymous by sharing the love of Christ.

I love the decor of this season. To have a properly done up Christmas tree is a real investment. But to handmade all the ornaments would take up years. Hence, I gradually add on new ornaments for the tree and I handmade new decorative items for my home every year.

My family was blessed with a beautiful 6 feet Christmas tree (artificial) this year from a great couple. I am so glad to receive this as the 4 feet tree I had was too short for the room.

This year my project was to make some handmade fabric birds from the book Sew Sunny Homestyle by Tone Finananger, one of my favorite designer. To collaborate with this season, I made all 19 birds in red, white and natural jute colors. I have added some embellishment on the royal family birds for a little ethnic touch. That's simply Yann's signature :)

I found great joy making these birds though I have to sacrifice some sleep, TV shows and time for my family. It took me couple of days to set up all the decoration at home in between my chores at home and caring for my family.

I know recent Christmas had just passed. But I hope this inspired you for this year Christmas. You will have ample of time to do many projects!

Check out more pictures of the fabric bird and basic guide on my next post.

View all

Get your own

Guizhou- The road less traveled in China (chapter 8.2 of 9)

Day 4 part b - Southeastern Guizhou - Sandu Shui village

 

In less than 30 minutes, we reached Sandu County to visit village of the 'Shui' people. 'Shui' in Chinese means water which explained their inhabitant near the river. Our driver was able to drive us to the closets spot to get to the village. He pulled the car over by the roadside and told us that the village is across the river. He waited patiently while we explored the Shui village.

The river water at the time was shallow enough for us to wade through by stepping on the pebbles laid on the riverbed. However, we saw a boatman waiting in idle for his passengers on the other side of the river. He was handicap with a missing arm. We thought taking a boat ride would be a better idea than to get our feet wet in the cold. Although the boatman asked for a fare that did not justify to the short ride, we took the offer anyway.    

We arrived the village in a few minutes. The village was very quite, we learned that it was because most of the villagers were still out working somewhere. We tucked our heads into the houses around the village and took great delight when we found a lady weaving in one of the houses. After asking for her permission, we were invited into her house.  We found her weaving a long narrow lace at a dark corner. It was a very intricate lace weaved with fine thread. I know that they use this kind of lace as straps on their apron. (Refer to the photo shown on the left.) We managed to buy three beautiful laces from her. We didn't stay too long because we were unable to communicate with her. The lady did not speak much Mandarin.

Shui lady in Sandu county

Weaving loom is an essential item in every Shui family

As we continued to explore deeper into the village, we came to a house with a lady who looked busy preparing dinner for her family.  The setting of her kitchen was basic. Nevertheless, it was organized and clean. She invited us to stay for the meal. We politely rejected the invitation even though we very much like the idea. We were just not sure if she really meant or it was merely an act of politeness. In addition, we didn't have time to stay anyway. It could have been a good opportunity to get to know the family better. In future, I will plan to have more time for each of the destination so I don't have to pass on an opportunity like this again.

On our way back to the riverside, we came across a young girl. Bravely, we asked her if we could visit her home. She was very kind to bring us to her house. I guess this is something we can never offer to strangers we meet in our country. We are usually quite suspicious of strangers in the big cities :).

Beautiful roofscape from the balcony

Baby carrier

The young girl lived with her brother, sister-in-law and a baby nephew. Shortly after we went into her house, her brother came home. He was also amiable like his sister and welcomed our visit. We saw this beautiful baby carrier made by her sister-in -law for her baby. In a bedroom, we saw a weaving loom with a half woven cloth in white. We noticed that Shui ladies wear hand woven white head scarves with thin blue and purple lines running at the two ends. The head scarves may appear to be simple at first glance, but if looked closely, you will find watermarked designs that are distinctively different from weaver to weaver, like thumb prints.

Tyng and I were so intrigued by her sister-in-law's craftsmanship. We expressed our interest to buy some head scarves from her. The young girl hesitated. She was not sure if she could make the decision without her sister-in-law permission. But after discussing with her brother, they decided they could offer two head cloths to us. She looked like an amateur trader, I am pretty sure this is an unusual experience for her as it was for us. We bought the two head scarves and she helped Tyng to put it on.

Happily, we waved goodbye. Both of us giggled like kids with new toys on our way back to catch our boat ride back to the car. We were few steps away to catch our boat ride when we met two other Shui ladies. They had baskets of vegetables on their shoulders and appeared to be coming back from the field. At first, they looked like they were amused with Tyng wearing their traditional head scarves. But one of the ladies started to whisper to her friend when we got closer to them, and pointed her fingers at Tyng. As we got closer to each others, she looked like she was able to confirm with her friend on something. Suddenly, she approached Tyng and pointed at the head scarf on Tyng and then pointed back at herself-it was hers! She held Tyng's arm and led us back to her house. Although she was speaking in the local dialect but we could understand her through her body language. Oh no! This must be the sister-in-law of the young girl. We got worried and wondered if she wanted us to return the head scarves. Technically we paid for the head scarves, but we felt like a guilty kid caught from stealing and wanted to flee. But we managed to calm ourselves and followed her back to her house.

She called the young girl to make confirmation. In our hearts, we both thought we had to return the two head scarves. The young girl turned to us to interpret her conversation with her sister in law. To our surprise, she felt that we should have new ones instead of the old ones because it was better and more polite for the visitors to bring home new items than the old ones. We felt great sense of relief.

Moments to cherish

Shui people handmade shoes

The lady brought out few new head scarves for us to pick! To people who treasure old junks don't always think new items are better than old ones. However, for this item, we love the new ones.  She was very thoughtful and kind. We took the opportunity to request to view her other works.  From her bedroom she brought out few pairs of gorgeous hand sewn shoes. These shoes were part of her trousseau for her wedding a year ago. Two pairs were made by her, the others were wedding gifts. These shoes are 100% handmade including the soles. All these shoes were all new and reserved to use on special occasions or pass down to her children.

She sold two pairs of shoes that she could part with to us. We later displayed these shoes at our business stall in the mall. We tagged the selling price at RM239 per pair. While many people had admired, no one bought them. I guess $$$ matter. Today I would not part with it with the same offer. I am glad that Tyng and I each get to keep a pair of these beautiful shoes.

Happily we waved goodbye again to this family after we took some photos with them.  We ran to catch our boat ride to cross the river. We were late but our driver was patient and didn't make any fuss.

Spacious room with
two Queen size beds

I couldn't remember how long we travel to Danzhai. But it wasn't a long drive. Our driver dropped us at a hotel. We checked the room. They are fantastic -the best hotel we had stayed since arriving in Guizhou. The rates at small hotel in China have different rates for locals and to the foreigners. The receptionist thought we were local travelers and told us 150 Yuan per night. But we wouldn't satisfy with the rate and continue to bargain. He then discovered we were foreigners and told us we were getting good offer. Half way through our bargaining, a local traveler walked in and asked for a room and paid for the requested rates without a word. She got her keycard and head straight into the room while we continued to bargain! Many wealthy Chinese in mainland China think that only the poor would bargain. And that you ' lose face' (lose honor or prestige) to do so. The locals wanted to be regarded as wealthy and be respected for that. But not to us foreign Chinese who care more for our purses than the face matter. Aiyah! We are two chippo (cheap) Malaysian Chinese.

From conversation with the receptionist, we learnt that our ancestor and his are all originated from the Fujian province. That made everything easier when you are ' Ka Ki Lang' (same family). We got the deal at 120 Yuan, 30 Yuan cheaper than local. I guess this is something about women winning at a bargain, it is not only the money that matter but satisfaction too.