Dress 1 : Yellow Dress

This dress is sort of a quick fix, because I already know by heart how to make it. Only I altered it a bit for fun. Come to think of it, a lot of things I sew are 'quick fixes'. Hmm. It's funny how I can knit slowly and leisurely, and yet when it comes to sewing I just want to get.it.done.NOW.

Let's have her stand up to see what the dress really looks like.

I added a sweet little apron, which is basically just a square-ish piece of fabric.

The bodice is peasant top style, chopped a little short. I like this style because it means no buttons or zippers - easy to sew and easy to put on the wriggly girl..

It looked like she was getting tired of photo taking...

and now she was literally saying "Dah!"

For the next dress, insyaAllah I will attempt to learn pattern drafting and draft a custom fit body draft for Mia and turn it into a dress. Goodbye quick fix! Wish me luck!

Mia's dress(es)

It's December. Time to start sewing some dresses for a special girl's upcoming birthday. This is a tradition I hope to keep. Yesterday the sewing urge I have been waiting for finally arrived, phew.

No time to dilly dally...I dove straight into the good stuff - my precious Little Folks voile. I am making a modified version of one of her existing dresses.

I am a little positive that I might make a few more dresses, seeing as all I can think of is sewing right now...

I do get lots of help....

Getting Lost

If there was ever a place I want to get lost at, it would be here.

We went there as an impromptu short getaway after my friend's wedding (Fiza and BBM girls, boleh letak you gorgeous girls punya pic kat blog tak?) We stayed at the Lost World hotel (nice hotel) The hot spring is a must-go. Especially at night, the setting is quite romantic..

Warm, natural hot spring...in a well-maintained facility...it was a bit crowded when we were there..if there was less crowd I bet it'll be lovely there..

The next day we went to the theme park. They have a nice petting zoo. You could catch fish...

touch a snake...

and err...hamster? er...squirrel? rat??

I much prefer this place to Sunway Lagoon. One of the best part about this place is...the backdrop! Look at that beautiful banjaran at the back!

Adam had so much fun with Abg Zaid, Abg Amar and Abg Adam....thank you Cikgu Julie kasi pinjam your son :) the children play area is fun, safe and child friendly...loved it!

bye bye Nigel. Hope we'll see you again someday!

Mia's baju raya

I just realised I don't have any decent pictures of her completed baju kurung, just the ones I took right after I finished sewing it, and Mia insisted I put it on her. I used this tutorial, the same one I used for her baju kurung last year that still fits her. Very clear tutorial...I wonder if I can translate it to make baju kurung for adult...

I haven't done the neckline yet when this picture was taken. You can see the finished mata lalat neckline in the AidilAdha entry. Malam raya baru sibuk nak jahit mata lalat...

ok enough photo taking...time to knit :)

Laundry - more than just a chore

Is it too weird that hanging out the laundry in the morning has become one of the things I look forward to every day? The earlier, the better. When the sun is just about to rise, the air is cool and crisp. And soon the sun comes up fully, drying up my fresh laundry in no time.

This is the first time I live in a landed property after I got married. Laundry used to be yet another dreaded chore in my to do list. In London it was worse because I had to use a tumble dryer no matter what the weather. Wrinkles up everything! We were not allowed to hang anything on the balcony.

Mia usually wakes early, in a good mood and walks around with me as I cook our breakfast and hang out the laundry. This is the best time to chat with her, she has a lot of interesting and often funny opinions.

This particular piece of quilt in the above picture was especially a pleasure to hang out to dry. I found it in our old house, must've belonged to my mom. It has some yellowish stains and a few worn out spots but in otherwise good condition. As i washed and examined it, I realised that this quilt was hand-quilted! What a treasure. You can't find hand-quilted quilts anywhere these days. and it must've taken forever to make! I'm suddenly feeling inspired to do some hand-sewing...

Now folding the laundry is another (not-so-pleasant) matter altogether...hmmm....

Blue..

..is Adam's favourite colour. When we moved into this house, he has his own room, and he wants everything in it to be blue.

This bed is actually his old cot that we bought for him before he was born. He slept in it..maybe twice? Anyway, we converted the cot into a toddler bed for him. To make the beddings, I took him to the fabric store to choose the fabric himself. He was very specific, ok buy this colour for the selimut, this one for the bantal..

no cartoons or polka dots...just plain no-nonsense colours...hmm...not my style, but it's his room...

when the room is ready my husband asked him if he wanted to sleep in his own room. Before bedtime he asked his Daddy 'Dad, can I sleep in your room tonight?'

Aidil Adha in Melaka

I've been a terrible blogger. Almost a month from my last entry. Gosh. I have so many things I wanted to blog about, they never got written down. Oh well. I hope you will enjoy some pictures from our Aidil Adha celebration.

I got really lucky this year. After a few years of celebrating Eid and AidilAdha away from family, this year I didn't have to cook my own rendang :) we went to Melaka, my mom and all my siblings were around, and coincidentally we all wore red/pink. Time to take a family picture!

the four of us

Aidil Adha in my nenek's (my mom's hometown) house is the best because there is always qurban done by some members of our huge family (really huge, like, let's see i've lost count now..my mom has 13 sibling, i have i think 80+ cousins, and i don't know how many children of my own cousins...). My uncle would sembelih the cow or goats himself, with help from other uncles/cousins, and then everybody will help melapah the meat, send out to other people and my nenek will make delicious sup tulang...and nasi beriani kambing...hmm yum...this year there were 4 goats altogether..

this is mia's first time watching this ceremony and surprisingly she was most enthusiastic. She asked her pak ngah (pic above) to hold her so she can get close and watch the qurban...then she went 'mbeeekkk! mbekkkk!' calling out to the goats. Not scared one bit. Adam on the other hand asked me what will happen to the goats, and when I told him we will eat it he said NOOO and looked at me like I was crazy.

p/s: I made Mia's baju kurung. Will blog about it later with more pictures...

A sneak peek

Welcome to my little corner, a little haven full of wool and cotton (and a bit of silk if I'm lucky)...

I love this room.. it is not large, mind you...it's teeny tiny...but i love it nonetheless..

In my head I have begun to think of this room as the Wool Room..( I blame Elizabeth Zimmerman )

It's not completed yet, I will reveal the whole room when I feel i've done it justice.

Adam's Birthday Celebration

My husband and I woke early the morning of his birthday to get everything ready for his birthday. Balloons blown, bunting hung, cake iced. Then we waited for the Prince to wake up...the Princess as usual woke up early with both of us, oooh-ing and aaaah-ing her approval at all the preparations...

When he woke he was very surprised and happy..

to realise that it was his birthday...

he and I baked the cake together the day before. He thought it was for Daddy, and didn't know it was for him...the cake was moist and yummy, home-baked by birthday boy himself :) of course the little..ehem..fingerprints on the cake made it all the more delicious...

the little mischief, caught chocolate-handed..

no he didn't mind...afterall, what good is a chocolate cake if you can't dip your fingers into the chocolate cream on top...

Afterwards we quickly got in the car for another exciting adventure...

Out to the 'Pool Party', as he called it...

Oh yeah, it was a party alright...

We all enjoyed ourselves....and the birthday boy had the most FUN of all...

Happy 4th birthday, my boy.....

We love you!!!

Paint Day

I never had any water paints in the house before because we lived in rented houses but now it's time for lots of wild painting!!

They both had so much fun...

You can't see in these pictures, but we were outside and it was pouring with rain. It was quite a remarkable scene for outdoor water painting...

i knew they were talented painters, both of them ;)

p/s: paints and brushes from Ikea. Vivid beautiful colours. Stains easily washable.

Happy Birthday Adam !

Adam yesterday, proud of the train tracks that he built all by himself

Adam is 4 years old today. Four!! Four sounds so grown up to me. He has grown a lot. He speaks well (though his malay sounds a bit funny), he gets along with everybody, he takes good care of his sister,his memory and observation is amazing, he is loving and very attentive to other people's feelings. Sometimes he is so independent I forgot he's still a little child. Oh my Adam.

Today, he is the person I talk to the most, the person who listens with no judgement, the person who hugs me for no reason, the person who loves me unconditionally, the person who comforts me when I cry. And I hope I can do the same for him. As I write this it makes me cry to realise that my son has become my best friend.

Adam, I love you so much. Happy Birthday baby....

Connected!

Remember me? :)

Finally we have internet at Home. Does that mean frequent blog updates? I hope so.

My sewing room furnitures are arriving next week too. Can't wait!

Stay tuned.

Our new house

I met a friend in Tesco the other day and she said why there's hardly any updates anymore on this blog, and the pictures are all blurry. Hehehe... she's right...i do apologise...

We recently moved into a new house and i'm hoping to get internet connection soon. For now pls accept blurry updates from my phone :) the kids love this house. We're now in the process of turning this house into a Home....



they love being able to play outside










i look forward to my sewing room. i've got it all planned out in my head. right now it's all still in boxes...









surprisingly, my favourite space in the house is the kitchen. i'm not much of a cook, i have to admit.

I will update more as soon as i can... i love this house.. it gives me a feeling of calm and peace everytime i wake up... alhamdulillah...