Completed: Skinny Jeans for Aidan

Remember my maroon bull denim jeans? I had almost 1 yard of remnant left after that and I turned it into a mini skinny jeans for my big boy Aidan.

 

Pattern used: Skinny Jeans from Peekaboo Patterns

Materials: Bull denim in maroon, remnant quilting cotton for the pocket lining, 1 button for closure.

Time taken: As usual, I find that sewing mini clothes for the kids are tougher than adults cos everything is so mini especially the hemming portion.

I brought the pdf version n printed them but, somehow my printer missed out on the pattern edges, (must be the wrong settings), so I have to roughly gauge and add the missing width myself. I choose the easiest method (elastic waistband) and faux fly for finishing. The fit is a bit too tight for my boy though, especially the waist portion. I really have to pull hard to pull it over my boy bum. HAHAH. But overall, the jeans looks really cool.

In future, I will reprint the patterns again and try out the many other finishing options.

 

 

The patch pockets and the belt loops. The pattern actually asks for stretch denim, which I did not. The bull denim doesn't really stretch, so it might not be as comfy for my boy.

 

 

I also sew up some long tees for the boys using the remnants gray interlock fabric. They are actually meant for the kids clothes week posts, but we went on our SF roadtrip then so I missed the 'series' and they became 'backlogs' till now.

 

 

Didi in his plain long sleeve tee.

 

Pattern used: Charlie Tee from Fish sticks design

 

 

Ok, got to go... Good bye! Closes Door...

 

Thanks for stopping by.

XOXO Ashley

Completed: Moose Isle Hat

I was looking through raverly hat patterns and this cute moose hat grabbed my attention. I had to knit one of that straight away. So I popped by Joann store and brought lion brand wool ease yarns in the colors needed.

Its's my first time trying fair isle knitting. And I fall in love with it straight away... That explains my latest finished fair isle sweater for myself n a ongoing dino fair isle sweater for my boy.

PS: I am having problems with uploading pics into my flickr and on my blog... So pardon the shitty FB pics.

Materials used:
1 skein of LION brand wool ease in choco
1 skein of Lion Brand wool ease in Fisherman
Some remnants of Everyday yarn in red (that I used for my honey comb cowl)

I used 3.5mm n 4.5mm circular knitting needles and used magic loop method for working in the round.

For the pom pom I used the Clover pom pom maker which I brought years back in sg.

While working with the colors for the moose portion, I viewed some youtube technique videos for stranded colorwork. I tried to learn the technique of knitting with one color in each hand, but my left hand is still quite clumsy especially the tension part.

 

Pardon me for the super messy and ugly wrong side. I only noticed the correct yarn changing method while knitting my fair isle sweater thus this hat is really a first time anyhow try at strande colorwork. And because of the anyhowness, the different color yarns keep twisting n tangling. And the tension is very different thus some floats are a bit too tight. I also made a terrigible mistake of weaving the float at the same stitch for many rows causing bandings to occur. So many mistakes in it, but that how u learn right?

 

Anyway the right side of the hat still looks ok. And I love my new hat. I even used the remnant choco yarn to knit a simple pair of fingerless mittens so I can match with the hat:)

 

 

I haven blocked the mitts yet and the other side is still missing somewhere in the wardrobe. LOL.

 

 

The red trimmings really pops. Ohya, I am wearing the fair isle sweater for the pics. Will blog about it in the next post:)

 

Thanks for stopping by:

XOXO Ashley

Dipping into coupons and savings world...

Last week, I watched my first episode of extreme couponing on TLC channel by chance. And I got so drawn into the couponing world and started to try out on couponing for groceries as well.

I had been using ebates to earn cash backs on my online fabric purchases and Joann coupons for in store purchases. And now I am trying out Ibotta for groceries cash backs and coupons as well.

Just 2 wks upon downloading Ibotta smart phone app and I had already earned more than 10 bucks. I highly recommend it if u r staying in US.

You just need to download the app to your mobile device and choose the offers you want to take advantage of. After you purchase the item, choose the store you went to, take a picture of your receipt, pick the item from the list and scan the barcode.

Then all you do is watch your Ibotta savings add up. You can withdraw your Ibotta savings as soon as you hit $5 or more and it will be deposited directly to your paypal account!!

Try out with Ibotta today!!

PS: Other than knitting non stop, my other past time now is cutting coupons... HAHAHA.

Completed: Dinosaurs Set for the boys

Ok, they are actually meant for Halloween, and I am so sorry that I took so long to blog about them:P

Aidan (my bigger boy) is currently living in the Jurassic world. He keeps asking to play his dinosaurs dvd collections and of course, his dinosaurs toys are also growing in numbers. So I decided to sew up dinosaurs hoodies and pants for the Halloween party which are also suitable for everyday wear as well.

 

See how happy he is? LOL.

 

 

For the hoodie: I used the Charlie Tee and Hoodie Pattern from Fish stick designs.

In order to Insert in the dinosaurs spikes, I did a little pattern hack by splitting the hoodie pattern into 2 and adding seam allowances to it.

Materials used: Green interlock knit from Joann.com

I started to fall in love with their interlock knits. Although their retail prices are quite exp like $9.90 per yard, but when u got a 50% or 60% coupon, you can make full use of it and had them at a cheap price. So every trip, I usually buy more than 3 yards of it, to make the coupon worth while and have lots of spare to make into other tees for them or myself.

 

The spikes are made from darker green felt from joann as well, I am so lucky to find a half yard on the remnant section:)

 

The sewing of the hoodie is really straight forward and simple. And it just take 1 day to finish up on the 2 hoodies for the boys.

 

 

For the pants: I went back to my beloved Treasure Pocket Pants Pattern.

I really like this design as it doesn't look too simple and allows for a contrast pop of fabric usage.

For the materials: I used green kona cotton and the dinosaur prints cotton from fabric.com

While cutting the pieces, Aidan was actually beside me admiring the dinosaur prints on the fabric and kept repeating: 'See nani, dinosaurs!' Yes, he calls me nani as he couldn't pronounce the 'M' properly. Even his school teachers are confused by him and thought I am his nanny instead. Luckily, the little one calls me 'ma ma'... Hopefully, when his pronunciation gets better, we will be able to correct him back to mummy...

 

Beware! Allen the Dino is stomping away!

 

The usual bribing with sweets in order to get the boys attention for photoshoot.

 

Oh,  a front pocket!

 

And lastly, Allen ever so cute smiling face.

 

Thanks for stopping by:

XOXO

Ashley

 

PS: Sorry for the late updates, I just finished my fair isle sweater 2 days back. HAHA.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I caught a bug!

Yup... A very serious bug... It's getting colder nowadays, n I caught the knitting bug again. I just keep knitting n knitting on the couch, had finished with 1 hat, 3 sets of fingerless and halfway through a sweater for myself... With both of my hands busy on the needles, eyes on the boys, cooking n housework while their naps, I have neglected my blog. I have gt so many finished apparels for myself n the boys waiting to be blogged n of course the knitted accessories as well. 

Every time I tried to shift my attention to blogging, my mind just keep switching back to knitting mode...   Maybe I am just too excited with my first fair isle sweater, maybe I will be more settled down after finishing that n be able go get back to blogging on the fos. Yes... Back to knitting.... Bye.

Project Sewn Week 4 Entry: My Signature Style

I am having so much fun sewing along with PROJECT SEWN:) And this is my last entry for their week 4 challenge: Signature style. Hmm... I am not really sure of what exactly is my signature style at first, so I went to look through all my previous sewing works. It seems that I love navy and red colors a lot. Further more, I am in desperate need of a fall jacket as we will be going for a road trip to San Francisco next week. And! my winning prizes from Sewaholic patterns had arrived in my mailbox. So everything mixes together and churned out an ever so cute Minoru Jacket:)

Pattern used: Sewaholic Minoru Jacket
Materials used: Cotton twill in navy color from Joann. Red Japanese flora cotton from stash. Zippers and Velcro and elastic.

This is my first time sewing up a jacket for myself, and I am really glad that I choose this pattern. It's easy enough for me and also taught me many new techniques along the way. I cut a size 2 throughout and did my usual reduction of the bodice length by 2cm. It turns out to be quite long for me still, but that wont be too big of a issue.


The jacket took me 2 nights to whip out and 1/3 of the time I am stuck at the stitch in the ditch part. (yay again! I hated it man...) I tried my best to align the seams as much as possible, but somehow, the stitching will not hit the correct spot on the under layer so I just keep unpicking the stitches and repin and re stitch. The tedious struggle ended up with a more decent stitching in the ditch but still not perfect.

 

Everything I adores are in this jacket, navy color and my precious Japanese red cotton print. Red top stitching. Super cute hoodie that can be folded and zipped up in the collar. Sweet little pockets with Velcro closure and an elastic waist at the back for overall enhancement of the figure. I even brought some coco cotton twill hoping to sew up my second minoru jacket:)

After living here in AZ for 6 months, I really love how easily available quality fabrics are and their humongous range and cheaper prices than in SG. BUT! the notions here are so expensive! 1x 500yards thread can cost more than $4 while in sg, u can get it at less than $2 each. And the zippers.... I dunno what to say. My jaws almost unhooked itself when I first saw their prices here. But I must admit that for their prices, their quality is much higher than the usual made in china notions found in SG.

 

This jacket is not super thick and cosy, hopefully it will be sufficient to keep me warm during the road trip. (Sorry I am not really sure of what to expect yet as it's my first fall experience and I can't wait for it!)

 

 

Little bitsy Velcro closure. Navy with red, I am loving it. How about you? And to all my dear readers, thank you all for visiting and even leaving lovely comments on my works. They are super encouraging to me. My English isn't really good, so I am not exactly good with words. Hope that my sucky English wont turn you all off :P

 

Thanks for stopping by:

XOXO Ashley

 

Completed: Deer And Doe Aubepine Dress

Tadaa! My second Deer and Doe project. I loved my graphic Belladone, but now I love my aubepine even more!

 

 

Sewing Pattern: Deer and Doe Aubepine Dress

 

I cut a size 4 throughout for this dress as I prefer a loose comfy fit. This dress is really easy to put together (except the stitch in the ditch part-will talk about it later in the post) and is fully lined with hot pink voile. I find that this dress is really perfect for the cooler weather nowadays maybe its' becos of the double layers. The pleats at the waistline and the trapeze skirting helped to cut down on the 'maternity' look, creating this lovely babydoll style.



Look this dress has pockets! I kept the original length of the dress and now I am still hesitating whether to shorten the length or not. What do u all think?

Materials used: Pink chambray linen sort of fabric from Singapore Chinatown PP
Lining fabric is a hot pink voile from fabric.com
Pink grosgrain ribbon from stash
And a thin elastic for the sleeves cuffs.



Ohya, this dress doesn't require any zipper or buttons closure! Great for beginners!



Actual pic taken before I cropped out my busy "boys"



The pink linen is slightly wrinkly, but I like it:) It has this country style feel to it. LOL! And the only shoes I had to go along with it is a brown winter boots brought in Taiwan years back. And finally, I will be able to wear it in this fall! Cos it's almost impossible to wear them back in SG as it is hot all year round.

 

My ribbon has hot pink polka dots on them, perfect match for this dress.



The inside out of the dress.

And let's get to the stitch in the ditch portion. I hated it!!! The construction of this dress as instructed is to sew up the outer main bodice and skirt first, then sew up inner lining bodice and skirt, and join them at the neckline, then stitch in the ditch between the 2 layers at the empire waist seam to create the casing for the ribbon. I tried to pin baste the waist seams together first and had quite a tedious struggle with it to get the seams to align properly. Almost 1 whole hour is spent on trying to align the waist seam. And then, the instructions say to stitch 3/8inch away from the first seam to form the casing. I did as followed only to find out that my elastic threader is way too fat to go through the small casing. Being the stubborn me as usual, I spent another 30 mins trying to squeeze my threader through the casing. Finally I gave up trying and unpicked the casing and restitch at a half inch width instead. Is it my threader is too fat or what? LOL. At least I have learnt my lesson, not to always follow what the instructions call for.

Other than the empire waist casing part, the dress is a breeze to sew. I already started cutting out my next aubepine in a maroon linen. But for the construction wise, I will definitely change the steps a bit to avoid the stitch in the ditch portion:)

Thanks for stopping by:
XOXO ASHLEY