I’m sure you have heard of the quake and tsunami devastation that have hit Japan and her beautiful people.
The crisis is utterly heart-breaking and everytime I read or watch the news, I get the goose-pimples (not the good ones). I really hope that the people who are affected by this horrible disaster will stay strong and pick up their lives from here. The amount of suffering they go through really put things into perspective for how we view the minor inconveniences in our own lives.
My 1st Japanese print quilt which I started about 2 years ago is finally done. The Japanese prints are from Konabay Robert Kaufman and a friend helped with the quilting, which I love. All 12 blocks which are all distinct, came from the same fabric print.
Benji turned 4 earlier this year. And for the very 1st time, we attempted a themed birthday party celebration.
We knew it would be all about Lego from the get-go as we have almost everything we need for a brick party!
The cake was a custom order from the wonderful people at The Pastissier. We did a mock up at home and took some pictures before we briefed the bakery. All minifigs were provided by us.
Thank you, all, for your comments and email about my fabric stash. It really just struck me that I have more pictures of my stash than actual projects! But hey, no worries… I will get to working with them ONE day 😉
I have also received a few emails from readers who love fabrics but don’t want to sew a stitch. Sure! For starters, I have started a Tutorial section and try out the super-easy fabric-covered mousepad instructions!
FREE FABRICS: Magdalene from Needle and Thread has a sweet deal for you. From now till 31 December 2010, she will give away one Fat Quarter for EVERY S$15 ordered from her store! NB: You have to include ‘Midnight Crafts‘ in the comment section when ordering. And NAT will pick the free FQ for you – no choosing for the free piece. The no-choice bit is no biggie because there are no ‘ugly’ fabrics in my dictionary. All prints will work out great depending on what you pair them with!
Disclaimer: I am not paid, compensated, or sponsored by any organisation. This promotion was suggested to give Midnight Crafts readers a chance to build up their stash and also to try out a simple handmade project.
Halloween is becoming a fun excuse for me to dress up Benji for our get-togethers with friends. And who says you
can only have fun dressing up little girls?
Last year, we had a fuss-free outfit and Benji was not totally clued in on what was going on!
This year, it was as clear as daylight what he would enjoy being costumed as… I present: Young Ben Kenobi!
I have the Taftc apparel pattern and sewing course to thank for the confidence to work on this project with the Simplicity 3575 pattern. The Dad said that the costume should not have a sash but I included it anyway to keep the layers from getting into the boy’s way.
For fabric, I used this lovely brown Essex Linen that I bought a long long time ago. There are a few learnings from this project:
1) Buy the pattern from the store, instead of purchasing the softcopy. I had to print 41 pages on my printer and used about 2 rolls of tapes taping the pages together. Even then, some lines were wonky. TEDIOUS!
2) The sleeves and robe length were way too long even when I used a XS child size which listed the same measurements as Benji’s.
3) The pattern doesn’t provide overlocking instructions or seam finishing recommendations. I will simply overlock every piece of fabric cut-outs in the future.
4) The sleeves were too long for my Son, and I decided to ‘hem’ the sleeves with the Blind Hem Stitch. I found it much easier to hem the narrower ‘tube’ by hand.
5) For the robe hem, I finally got to use my blind hem footer on the Bernina as it is meant to be used! It was so easy and it really works great on the garment.
Looking forward to next year’s dress-up already! 😀
