Me And My Bias Binding Aren't On Speaking Terms Anymore

I thought I was losing my mind. For two days I struggled with bias binding. You see, granny bags were next on my to-sew list and you know granny bags need bias tape of some sort. I have had experience with bias tape. I thought I'd learnt everything I need to know about them. I'm so wrong. The one other thing I hadn't learnt about bias tape is they're impossible. I haven't come across such stubborness for such a long time.

I used a cotton tape for this granny.  I was just a tiny irritated at how inflexible the tape was.

For this granny, I made my own bias binding. I thought it would be easier. So wrong. It took me forever to handsew it. I honestly thought of going for a third granny and try doing the handle differently but I wisely decided that me and bias binding need some time apart. Might try again in a fortnight. Oh, check out the charming fabric I used. It's Chinese Kids from the period when men wore skirts.

I haven't been checking the weather forecast for around the world. Here in Singapore it's been raining a lot lately and flooding spectacularly. Today I didn't see the sun at all and it even felt cold. Might have to put on a sweater! Yeah, winter time in Singapore.

School term has started and I have to adjust to sleeping early and waking early. Gosh, I just love to sleep! And sleep. School term also means I get back my exercise routine. I take the kids to school and I go to the Senior Citizens Corner for a bit of machine exercise. No, you don't have to be a senior citizen to exercise there. After 15 minutes of joint rotation, I go home which is when I come across this ancient looking Chinese woman who practises a complicated form of Chinese exercise. She sits on a stool with her back against a tree trunk. Her eyes are closed and her arms are hung out in front of her and she sways. Sometimes she nods off. Yep, that's about it. Sits, sways and sleeps. My kind of exercise!

Tomorrow I have MAAD. Hope it doesn't rain. Hope it doesn't flood. Come back for my post-mortem won't you? I won't be a cry baby if sales aren't great. I promise.

Blue, White And Blue-Grey Duffle Bag

Lately I've been thinking about how time is passing so quickly that if I'm not careful, I may lose many moments in my kids' lives. My boy is 13 and my girl 11 this year. It wasn't that long ago when they were just little kids running around. Now I hardly see my son who stays in school until evening. I see my girl more but she has her own thing going on - music, books and facebooking.

Recently my son asked me to read this book, The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin. This is an unusual request. In the past it was I who would recommend books to him. Naturally I was a little suspicious. Might it be required reading from school which he wanted me to read so I could help with his homework? Well, as it turned out, it was required reading but he thought I would enjoy the book. So, I'm going to read it so we can share. And I'm delighted that my son thought of me.

One of the "casualties" of my son growing up is us not enjoying the same music anymore. When he was little, I introduced country music to him. My husband introduced country music to me and I became hooked. Now, this may seem normal to some of you readers but understand that I live in Singapore. If I tell anyone here I like country music they'll go "Whaaaat?" and laugh so hard they pee in their pants. So naturally I was so happy that my son enjoyed country music and in iTunes, his playlist was similar to mom's playlist. So cute, right? We liked Brooks And Dunn, Garth Brooks, George Strait, Tim McGraw, Trisha Yearwood and Tracy Lawrence. Those magic days are over. Now my boy is just like any regular kid who listens to pop. In a way it's good he's over country because I don't want him to be treated different in school. Probably get beaten up! Now he introduces pop songs to me.

My girl and I shared Barbies and TV shows. Sadly, she's over Barbies. Why do kids grow up so fast??

In a desperate bid to hold on to more moments of my kids' lives, I started Movie Night. I copied this idea from Dad who would get the kids in my bed and they would watch something together. So when Dad's at work, and everyone's free, we watch a movie together at home. My son gets to choose the movie because he is super fussy about what to watch. The first movie we watched was Slumdog Millionaire. It was entertaining. The second movie was Bolt. It's an old movie about a dog-actor which believed it had super powers and got lost and had to travel across the country to save its co-star. It is the funniest movie I've ever watched. I'm someone who doesn't laugh easily when it comes to humour unless Steve Martin is in it.. I've often wondered why everyone's laughing at the cinema and I'm not. You should watch it if you haven't already. Laughed till I cried. Just imagine: Super Bark!

Back to my bags. Are you drooling over my latest bag? Because I am.  My husband calls this a duffle bag. I don't think it's a true duffle bag but I'll call it a duffle bag anyway. This bag is constructed the same way as The Money Bag. From a sewing point of view, it is an extremely difficult bag to construct mainly because the seams on the lining are hidden. But the result is well worth it. I included 2 front pockets and piping!

I'm sorry my husband had to pose for me again. Next time I'll dress up and be the model. In case you're interested to know how my husband's green jeans (see pic) helped save the Singapore economy, go here.

Can you see my husband in the background leaving for work? Okay, back to the bag. The pockets are binded for a sleek look to go with the piping.

See how hot it is over here?

The inner pockets match the outside. For the lining, handles, piping and binding, I used an odd blue-grey twill. Loving this bag. Might make another one!

Countdown to May MAAD. (1st to 2nd May) 3 out of 6 bags I said I would make for sale. 3 more to go in 6 days. See ya next post.

Skulls And Bones Messenger Bag

 I had been slaving over this messenger bag over the last few days. Ordinarily, a messenger bag would not be too hard to construct. But I wanted to try out a technique I hadn't tried before. I used binding to hide the raw edges (and I mean every raw edge) instead of my usual "escape thru' a gap" method which I'm sure many of you are familiar with. And that's mainly why it took me longer than usual. I can cross binding off my "To Try" list and I must say, not liking it. Too long, too tedious, not worth the effort.

 Today my husband is my model. He too has a freakishly long torso - perfect for modelling this bag.

My girl is frolicking in the background.

I asked for "The Boss" pose.

Someone is stressed. "You keep saying 'last pose'!"

If you find the skulls and bones fabric familiar, it is. I've used it to construct a few bags in the past. See the metal thingy hooked to the D-ring? It's my latest toy. I quilted the flap. Do you notice I'm on a quilted look roll?

I binded the top edge of the bag with the skulls and bones fabric.

The 2 pockets are also constructed using the skulls and bones fabric. Guess what? I still have a small amount of the darn fabric left!

This is only bag No. 2 out of 6 bags I said I would make for May MAAD. I have to make 4 more bags in 7 days!

Granny Bags

I've made 2 granny bags.

This is the first one - a blue and white checked granny bag. I used heavy weight iron-on interface. It gives very good support but I don't like it so "stiff".

 I really prefer sew-on interface but it's hard to find the heavy weight kind.

This is the second one. It is for Kimmy. It is her second bag from me!  Kimmy's bag has a slightly different shape from the checked granny bag. It has medium weight interface which feels more like fabric. I really prefer this feel. I also included piping around the bottom gusset. My girl likes this bag. I'm getting to like piping on bags.

Other side of the bag.

Can you see the piping?

View from the top.

April MAAD countdown. 12 out of 15 bags constructed. 3 more bags to go. Can I do it? I'm really sleepy and tired. We'll see.

Black And White Beauty

I've been really happy last couple of days as it started raining heavily. In Singapore, cold is something you have to pay for. I don't mind the hot weather so much as long as it's not muggy. And Singapore weather is mostly muggy. I love rainy days especially when I'm indoors about to go to bed. Due to some freak fengshui, my bedroom is located in this part of earth where during cold nights, the room feels like there's air-conditioning. It's so cold I could sleep till noon. (sometimes I do :D)

September MAAD is fast approaching and I've started packing for my sale. I always leave a lot of tasks until the last day. It's a habit I can't break. I'm always nervous before the sale because you never know how it's going to turn out. Each time is different for me.

I really shouldn't be sewing anymore but I'm on a roll. It's that way for me. Some days I can't make anything. Some days I can't stop.


This black and white bias binding beauty is my latest bag.

Bias binding is no piece of cake. I've done bias binding countless of time but it's still a lot of work. I wish I have a bias binding foot for when I sew the edges together. Right now I use a zipper foot. I looked up the catalogue for my Brother machine innovis-200 and I cannot find any bias binding support device.




I love this black and white print. I rarely use black and white print mainly because it's hard to find good ones. The ones which are available are overpriced. But I'll definitely like to work with more black and white prints.

Darn it! The sun's out again.

Patchwork Bag For Moi

This is a little patchwork bag I made for myself. It's definitely a get-up-and-go bag. But it's not too small - just look at what it can hold. My keys, giant wallet, bills, handphone, transport cards and room for more!

It's soft and nice - completely uninterfaced. I personally prefer the natural softness of fabric. The design is fairly simple. (but the work is hard) Just patch up a rectangular piece of patchwork using your scraps. Fold in two and sew up the sides. Include lining and for the top, I used bias binding to give it a nice finish. The handle is a mix of the same red as the bias binding and batik.


Front view


Back view


Sometimes I like the pocket to be a startling contrast to the background fabric. When making a bag to sell, I have to remember this might not be everyone's cup of tea so I have to resist the temptation to do it for every bag. But doesn't this bag just scream out for something different?

Patchwork Garden

I love to make bias binding handled bags as I think they are very interesting in a casual/attractive kind of way. You definitely can't make such bags if you don't have the skills to handle bias binding. Having invested in 2 Clover 3/4" and 1" bias binding maker, I can easily make them with my choice of fabric. One thing about the choice of fabric, you need a sturdy fabric because you're using it as a handle and you don't want the fabric to tear easily.

Funny thought. Singapore uses the metric system and I know km, m, cm, mm and so on. But when it comes to sewing, I think and sew in inches. I think it's probaby the influence of the American blog/tutorials I visit. Usually I buy my fabric from Spotlight which sells fabric in metric system. Recently, I went to Chinatown (yes, there is a Chinatown in Singapore) and I discovered a fabric market which sells fabric in yard! Who are these people? I'm so intrigued by my discovery.


For this patchwork garden bag, I used all my floral fabric and patched them together. Between the handles, I did some small pleats.


This is the back.


I used a nice plain pink button - don't want to overcrowd.


The inside is pink too.

For my next bias binding handled bag, I'm thinking I want to make the body longer. Look out for it.

Envelope Bags

Envelope bags look like the easiest thing in the world to make except they're not. The difficulty lies in the bias binding. If you can't handle bias binding, you can't make envelope bags. Since I've some experience with bias binding, I think I'm ready to make me some envelope bags except this tutorial by ayumills calls it "camera case".

Of course I did not just make a simple envelope bag. I need to do it the hard way. Helen, my beloved Brother dealer had sold me a walking foot and I wanted to try it out. I did a simple straight line 45deg quilting lines and man! The noise the walking foot generates. It's almost as if a giant is stamping across my fabric. I have also recently become obsessed with paper cutting applique and had to have it in the bag. I used blanket stitch which came with my sewing machine using my new open toe foot. (That Helen sure is a good saleswoman) I'm finding blanket stitch a little challenging.

Front view


Inside view


I referred to ayumills tutorial but didn't fully follow the bias binding bit. For one thing, I wanted to see how the self-mitering of my bias binding would work out.

Here's is the self-mitering bit.


On the other side I had to whip stitch the mitering together.


Helen the saleswoman of the year had also sold me a quilting foot. For my next envelope bag, I wanted to try free-motion quilting. Free-motion anything is so complicated. You need to lower the feed dog (I keep calling it dog feed). On my machine, you just press a switch. Next, you need to move the fabric while stepping on the pedal. The first few times I tried my thread kept jamming up. I have since learnt not to pedal at break-neck speed and to move the fabric up/down left/right instead of in circles.

Front view. I added some cut-outs because I just can't stop myself. Also the flap is curved.


Inside view

Peace No War

I spent so much time shuttling between acupuncture, physiotherapy and rehabilitative exercises that I had to sneak in time to make this small bag. The problem with sewing nowadays is that I could only sew in 1/2 hourly duration so as not to aggravate my muscles. I can honestly say this is the toughest bag I've ever sewn. Small is harder to make! Plus I chose to do bias binding once again and something new - gusset. Why do I punish myself so? In terms of structure this bag is really simple as it just consists of rectangular pieces of fabric.

This is how it all started. Pieces of rectangles. First the pocket...


Next I work in the gusset to the front piece.

Then the gusset gets joined to the back piece.


This is the fun part. Cut outs.


Can you see a man and a child behind the cut out? Camouflage. Geddit?


Here is where I hide the handles and closure


My son took this photo


I wish my sewing had been better for this bag. I got a little wobbly after a while. I left the bag unlined because the fabric was quite stiff and I doubted if I could handle another layer of fabric. I did line the front only to cover the cut out. The bias binding was tough especially round the corners. Really hard. Still, I'm very pleased with the result.