Receiving Blanket for Baby Girl

Last week, we woke up to a text from my bil announcing the birth of his daughter. Everyone was very excited and hubby and I decided to welcome the newborn with a handmade receiving blanket made by yours truly. I decided to go with David Walker's Spring Fling collection. The pink bunnies and flowers and blue chirpy birds and squirrels scattered on a light yellow background looked yummy for a baby girl. And I also had the coordinating panel from the collection. Since we decided to go visit at noon, it gave me some time to put everything together. I also had another baby dress waiting for the buttons to be sewn on which I wanted to include in the welcoming present. So, following my wholecloth quilt tutorial, I used 1 yard of the pink bunnies fabric, 1 yard of the coordinating panel fabric, 1 yard of warm and natural cotton batting, and coordinating Gutermann thread. And voila, it was ready after topstitching the borders. (Nope, I didn't quilt the blanket)Since we were in a rush, I didn't get any nice pics of the blanket. Maybe I'll update this post when we visit baby next time. In the meantime, I'm glad the parents were delighted with the presents.

CONGRATS! Welcome baby girl! :)

Fabric Review: Jillian Phillip's A is for Alligator

http://kapastree.com

For those of you who love cute prints especially for kids, then I'm sure you've heard or know of Jillian Phillips. I love all her designs for Hoffman Fabrics so far. Her 'A is for Alligator' line was absolutely adorable and I've been getting requests for more of those prints. I've made a messenger bag, a card holder and a lovely toddler quilt using fabrics from that line. If you're wondering why some of her prints look familiar, it could be due to her experience designing for Mothercare, Debenhams, Adams Kidswear, and Fisher Price, to name a few. She also designs for scrapbooking supplies and even children's colouring books! Check out her blog for more info on her work.

The 'A is for Alligator' collection has cute animals either tossed around or peeking behind a letter of the alphabet. Coordinating foliage prints compliment the collection and are available in aqua, pink, and green, as well as a selection of circle dots and stripes. We only have a couple of yards left of the animals with alphabets print, and only the foliage and circle dots are currently available for preorder. This collection has been selling out fast!

Baby Dress

A lovely friend of mine, Aida, gave birth to a beautiful baby girl early this year and knowing how she loved handmade gifts, I made a baby dress for her little one. Aida and I were colleagues once upon a time, and now we're both SAHMs. She started sewing before I did and we used to share sewing projects, fabric hunts and other baby-related stuff. We both supported breastfeeding and somehow even had the same Medela Freestyle pump. We also believe in the power of play and enjoying nature with our little ones. Now, with her baby girl, she's made so many beautiful dresses. So when she told me she wrote an entry on my very simple gift, I really appreciated it. I'm so glad they loved it (that's always the best part of giving, don't you think?). You can view the dress in action here. The fully lined baby dress was rather simple (looked like a mini A-line dress) without any ruffles or accents. It was not my first attempt at sewing a baby dress, but it was probably the first one with results decent enough to qualify for gift giving. ;)

Welcome beautiful baby Mia Amani!

Eid Mubarak!

Wishing everyone a beautiful and blessed Eid!

"Selamat Hari Raya, Maaf Zahir Batin"

Picture Source: http://eid-cards.blogspot.com/

Fabric Review: Anna Maria Horner's Little Folks

First of all, I must say that I've never seen or touched cotton voile as soft and as silky as Anna Maria Horner's Little Folks collection!! And I thought I saw my share of voiles - obviously not. I haven't started any projects with the material but I do have a couple in plan. I love the fact that the voile isn't as sheer as most of the cotton voile I've seen. It's probably due to the rich colours used. This is the first time that I adore all colour palettes of the collection! I also love that the voile is 100% cotton and can be washed easily, without the need to send it for dry cleaning. It's breathable, it's beautiful and there's just nothing bad to say about it! Oh, except the fact that it's really pricey (at RRP $15USD/yard). But you get soft, silky, gorgeous fabric that absolutely glides against your skin. Dreamyyyyy..... If I had a baby girl, I'd love to make a little baju kurung with these lush voiles. I would definitely recommend you to add some to your stash!! For more insight on this wonderful collection, check out Anna Maria's blog. Now I'm anxiously waiting for her latest Innocent Crush. Lush!!

Tutorial: Pillowcase

Since starting on my little one's quilt, I had wanted to complete the gift by making other complimentary accessories such as pillowcases. My mum had just finished sewing a few pillowcases, so I got excited to make mine, or rather, his. I had some fabric leftover from making the backing of the quilt and decided to use them for this mini project.

Ingredients:

- Piece A (front): 1 piece of 28 1/2" x 18 1/2" fabric

- Piece B (back): 1 piece of 29 1/4" x 18 1/2" fabric

- Piece C (tab): 1 piece of 6 1/4" x 18 1/2" fabric

- coordinating thread

Note: Seam allowances are 1/4", unless otherwise stated.

Steps:

1) First, hem one short side of Piece B. This will be the opening of the pillowcase. You can hem any way you like, but I hemmed by folding in 1/2" twice and then sewing near the edge of the hem.

2) Then hem one short side of Piece C.

3) Now, take Piece A and Piece C, and with RIGHT sides together, align the open ends together (not the end with the hem). Sew the pieces together. Since I don't have a serger, I used zigzag stitches along the edges of the seam to keep the fabric from fraying. Now, fold the pieces along the seam so that the WRONG sides are together, and press. Keep the pieces in this position for sewing in the next step.

4) With RIGHT sides together (Piece A and Piece B), pin and sew along the 3 open edges. Make sure Piece A is between Piece B and Piece C when sewing this step. Again, I used zigzag stitches along the edges.

5) Finally, turn your pillowcase right side out, stuff it with a nice fluffy pillow and make your little one smile :)

My first finished Baju Kurung top

This was the first time I actually sewed and finished a baju kurung top. Previously, when I was pregnant, I tried sewing one to wear during my pregnancy. I finished sewing everything together, but didn't have time to hem it. As they say, time and tide wait for no man, and baby was soon delivered which meant that there was no need for that huge baju kurung anymore. And I put it away. Now, almost two years later, my mother-in-law was in the midst of sewing her baju kurung for Eid and I decided to learn a thing or two. She has been sewing since she was 9! Isn't that grand? That's more than 60 years of sewing experience under her belt!!

This time I had some of Mo Bedell's Party Dress fabric to play around with. After prewashing the fabric, I was ready for my lesson. First she taught me how to cut the pieces. I used the measurements from a baju kurung that I had in the closet. Then I sewed the pieces together, zigzag stitched the raw edges and hemmed where needed. It was looking good, and then she taught me how to stitch the neckline with the 'tulang belut' stitch. It was rather tedious and I'm not sure if I'd be willing to do that again! lol

Next would be the 'kain' or skirt of the baju kurung....