Green Batik Top and How Sewing Keeps Me Sane

Hello!

How's life?


I hope you're all healthy and happy. The baby and I are happy and healthy too. He's been keeping me from writing any decent blog. And I was (still is) happy to oblige.

Which was rather strange for me, since I never really thought of myself as that kind of person. But a baby can change a person, or probably brings out what was hidden inside a person. Ummm ... let's just see it that way.



I haven't been absent from sewing though :D



I've had my ups and downs on sewing before, sharing my own stash of unfinished projects. But after the baby, sewing became an outlet for me. I get bored easily, really. That's why I love random things. Babies can be very random too. But they can also be very tiring and demanding. And sewing lets me puffed the steam and be alone with myself for sometime. Well, at least when Nara is asleep or someone else is playing with him.

And sewing, with it's many options of projects, difficulties, materials, and techniques are random enough to keep me entertained. At least until now, 10 months after the baby arrived. And I have to say, that sewing keeps me sane.

Well, as sane as I can be.

Anyhow, I've managed to sew a top a couple of months ago. Which is a great deal. I've never got the courage to sew garments because of the fear that it won't fit well. But this time, I was really into the project that I wasn't gonna let it stop before I finished it. Mostly because since I was fully breastfeeding Nara, my breast was about 2 size bigger and I needed a new top that fits well and comfy. No kidding.

This Green Batik Top was traced from a favorite top that fits well. It's a 5 piece pattern that is very easy to make.

Yes. That's me XD

I finished it with a zigzag stitch and a little detail on the front side.

The small detail.

The finishing zigzag.

Sewing this top was a lot of fun and gave me the 'me time' that I need. Yes, trust me, if you don't have children yet, you'll need 'me time' when you do. Maybe you can take up sewing. And who knows, as a bonus, you'll get yourself a neat new top too!

Camel Laptop Sleeve

After a rather dark post the other day, I was feeling a bit better. Well, I tend to be a bit darker and sadistic when I got ill. So there you are.

Anyhow, the health improved somehow, maybe because I'm already past my due date and my hormones, especially my estrogen, already dropped. So, right now, I am waiting for my contractions. The husband is pretty tense about the delivery while I, the person who gonna give birth, try to be as calm as possible. Kinda remind me of that English sign from the beginning World War II.

Calm On!

So I tried to keep myself busy doing stuff. The sewing machine was serviced and it's ready to roll again a week ago. And the husband's birthday is coming up. So what one with impulsive tendency to sew would do? Eat banana and watch some movies.

Of course I sew.

He just got a brand new laptop in fuschia. Kinda a weird color for a guy to have a fuschia laptop, so I decided that manning-up the laptop was the perfect project. I'm gonna make him a laptop sleeve. Plus, I found this really gorgeous tutorial to make an amazing laptop sleeve online.

I used an old t-shirt with a camel picture on it. It's grey, so I think it will serve the purpose of manning-up the laptop. But since I was once tiny, in a skinny kind of way, the t-shirt is a skinny one and there aren't much fabric to it. And I should've took a picture of it, but I forgot. Preggers thing.

But I remember to take a picture after it's done! No worries!

Here's the front (or back, it doesn't matter)

As you can see the picture is a bit off-center. I tried to make an efficient pattern placement with the fabric I had, but in the end had to settle with a bit off-center picture. And since it's a t-shirt, I used an iron-on interfacing to make the fabric more stable.

that's the fuschia laptop in there

with the laptop inside

I use centimeters most of the times and this time since the pattern pieces uses formula in inches, I used inches instead. I made several error on sizing but managed to make it a rather tight sleeve. But I thought It's just because the lining hasn't stretched out yet. I used grey felt to keep it warm and snuggly inside and velcro to close the flap.

The husband was surprised that the bedridden wife was able to whip up such project in one day. Bottom line, he's pretty happy. After he said thank you, he started reading a book and made me feel I should've sown a book sleeve instead.

Oh well, what can you do. Keep calm and carry on it is.

another sewing episode

My husband always says that when I'm into something, I'm INTO something.
I never really admit realize it until he pointed it out to my face.

And apparently what I did with editing, I do so with sewing.

After venturing with plushies and starting to ran out of animals to make, I decided that I should move on to something for me. The plushies are not for me, of course. it's for the baby, which will be due in 7 weeks.

So I went out online and searched for simple and easy to do projects. There were wallets, another plushie, baby boots (yeah, .. i know, something for me) and many others. But I got so frustrated with the detailed tutorials. I guess I'm not into following anyone's orders today. So eventually I ended up making a pillow out of a t-shirt. Which was something I was planning to do anyway since a while back. No patterns, no tutorials. Let's see what's gonna happen.

The t-shirt itself is a treasure for me. A couple of years back, when I was super-thin, I went to Bangkok and bought t-shirts with camera pictures on it. I bought two with two different sizes. One is smaller, the white one. I say, when you find something that you really like, you should buy more than one, just in case. So I bought two, one in white, the other in grey.

Needless to say, in accordance to my comfortability level in my ex-office, I soon grew out of the white one. And of course, now, with a baby on the way, I'm pretty sure will never fit into it again.

Done with several measurements, I found out that the pillow can't be bigger than 38x38cm. The standard size is 40x40cm here. So I guess I have to make the inside myself too, eh?

So be it.

Several sewing disasters later, I managed to have this on my bed.

on the right is the other t-shirt

Now, if you don't mind, I need to welcome this new member of my bed.

What? The grey one? I still dream that I will fit into it again one day :)

the plushie adventure

Heyah!

The reason I've been absent is because .. well .. I've been ill. Very ill actually. Got hospitalized for 12 days. My first time ever. I ended up having to drop all of my editing work and concentrate on my recovery. Which, I have to say, aren't easy, both on the dropping the work and recovery.

But I'm much better now, and I hope it will stay that way.

Now, now .. let's not be dragged away.


On another news. I'm pregnant. Yay!

The husband is obviously very happy and I'm just coming along with him. I have to say that I'm super nervous about being a mom, and the delivery, of course. So it has been kinda bumpy for me to swallow all the facts that I am pregnant. It's seventh months now and it's probably part of the reason why I got so sick. But hey, it's a pregnancy!

And since I'm on a bed-rest, I can't really move around too much or hang around anywhere, on that matter. And it gets kinda boring and pretty depressing rolling on the bed every day. Or so to speak, since mah belly has gotten soooo big, it's impossible for me to roll. Teehee!! And the back! Oh, don't make me talk about the backpain. Which makes me have not that so many options of activities to do.


So what do I do?


I do what most people would do. I make plushies.


You know, stuffed doll from fabrics. I was gonna make a nursing apron for myself, but since I've never saw one in real close-up, I doubt my novice sewing skill would produce a decent apron. So, move on the next project!

I stumbled upon this pattern on Burdastyle, one of my favorite sewing site. I was looking for something easy to do, without much thinking or handy work but useful. So this I make.

Giraf Giraffe

It's a giraffe. It's two dimensional, made from two different colored fabrics. Just perfect for no-fuss sewing with a hint of originality. Go look with Gigi Giraf keyword. Don't forget to say thanks to the pattern uploader if you decide to make it.


Now, after that cutie, I can't seem to stop. I was planning to make a dinosaur, but failed at pattern designing part. So, instead, I made this bunny pattern.

The Depressed Bunny

... or what the husband likes to call as the alien bunny. Well, at least he agrees with me that it's a bunny. The dad calls it a spider and the mom can't seem to understand what it is. Come on, people! It's a bunny! See the ears? No?

Well, the dispute was soon over anyway since the alien bunny was followed by this little guy ...

Dino having a serious discussion with Paul.
Probably about evolution.

Yay! The pattern was not an easy one. But I prevailed! And this time, everyone agrees that it's a dinosaur. What a relief.

Now, that I'm all confident again of my pattern making, I made this after the dino and was getting mixed review on him (or her). What do you make of it?

Hint: Not an obese monkey.

update: I have uploaded the dino pattern over here. Enjoy.