Little Boxy Bags

Folks,

Over the weekend I was suddenly overcome with a familiar feeling - the one which comes when one is making stock for a craft market. A overwhelming desire to stop sewing. It hit me hard. One minute I was sewing, or maybe dawdling. The next I wanted to do nothing. I'm thinking after my Christmas market, I'm going to take a very long break from craft markets. I know I say this every year end but it's getting harder and harder to keep going.

So I thought to make it interesting for myself, I'll make a few pouches for non human beings - like my dolls. All my bags are usually slated for humans so I wasn't very sure how "my guys" will take to them.

For the first pouch, I used a Japanese fabric which has bamboo leaves and flowers and crests. This is an interesting fabric as it has these textures which I would normally call slubby but it's not really slubby. Just nice to touch. This fabric has a unique name but for the moment, I can't recall what it is. Melly must have the same taste as me because the minute I finished the bag, she jumped right into it. She was so quick no one else had a chance.

Melly reasoned that since she's from Japan and the fabric is from Japan, it's a no-brainer. She does look cosy in it. But don't tell her her head's too big.

This is the 2nd bag I made. There was an ugly fight over it. Little Red won. Needless to say, Bear lost.

She wouldn't budge - no matter what. Yup, she's still sitting in the bag in the balcony right now. Little Red said Bear's big butt couldn't fit into the bag anyway. Oh, don't tell Little Red her big head can't fit either.

You know what Kevin Bacon once said? (wise man)

You're only as happy as your unhappiest doll.

Bear put up such a big sulk that I figured his bag had to be 3 times more kick ass than his siblings'. (3 times more because his butt is 3 times bigger...)

I think he likes it but he's not sure yet. <grumble, grumble> And I slaved over it too.

It's really mine?

That's Bear's happy face.

Now everyone's happy, we can all move forward with our lives.

I had to drag the bitches out to get pics of the bags.

Hmm... actually I kinda like the bags without the dolls in them.

Maybe I'll sell them to humans after all. Shhh.

p.s. I have a big promotion at my Etsy shop for all my digital bag patterns. Use coupon code ILOVEJANE50 (all caps) to get a 50% discount. Coupon expires Nov 13th 2013. Hurry. Go here.

Friday Ketchup No. 2

Folks,

When hubs first announced that he had bought a dish washing machine, I was a bit apprehensive as he had tried to talk me into buying one over the years. Many, many times and I was never keen. I just couldn't believe a machine could wash the dishes like a human could.

Once the machine was delivered, I started coming round and even looked forward to trying it out. It was bigger than my clothes washing machine and being such mountain tortoises, both of us dared not use it. We waited for the demo lady to arrive. And I let the dirty dishes pile up. By the time she came to my home, I had a weekend's worth of dirty dishes.

It turned out the dishwasher is not too hard to use. The only issue I had was how to arrange the dishes in the best way so they get really clean. Then we realised we did not have the special detergent needed. We were given a few sample tablets but these were for the super oily stuff.  And still I refused to give in and let the dishwasher win. And I carried on letting the dirty dishes pile up. I mean, who washes by hand when you have a brand new dishwasher sitting in the laundry room? (yes, I have a laundry room)

One morning I needed to drink some water and there were no clean cups and glasses anywhere to be found and let me tell you, we have a lot of cups and glasses. (because idiot McDonald's kept giving us free glasses) So I had to drink from a bowl. Not a small tiny bowl that could pass off as a cup but a big bowl. I think that was my lowest point this week.

It took us a few days to finally find a supermarket that stocked the special detergent.

One morning I woke up and I saw the detergent on the dining table and I swear I felt as happy as when I received my yellow roses. I had a ton load of dirty dishes to wash!

This was my first load. I pressed the start button and more than an hour later, it was all over. I think I was too eager to see the results and opened the door too soon after the cycle was over. Because when I opened the door my face was hit by steam!

Anyhoos...

My life is changed. Forever.

The dishwasher is the best invention on earth. If I could go back in time, I would go back to the exact moment when hubs and I first lived in our own flat which was a rental flat with 2 holes in the ceiling and sometimes bats came. That was when we cooked a few times a week and although we agreed to take turns to do the dishes, he often forgot and we had to throw away at least one frying pan and a few plates. We were that lazy. Yes, I would go back to that moment and buy a dish washing machine. And when that one breaks down, I would buy a replacement.

I have to say this. Hubs is right again. He said a dishwasher would solve our dish washing problems and I never listened to him. I have no idea why I was so resistant. And I'm someone who hates to wash the dishes. Over the years, how irritable and annoyed I had been often over doing the dishes.

Yesterday I cooked to test out how well the machine cleans my wok, frying pan and big pots. My god. Super mother&$#@#% clean. 100 marks. Did I say my life is changed? Forever? Can I go back in time? Please? My only regret? We did not buy the really giant industrial sized dishwasher because if I could I would just load my fridge in it and my kitchen cabinet and other stuff that needs cleaning!

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I think one of the reasons I was resistant to buying a dishwasher was the cost. They are priced ridiculously high in Singapore - way more than clothes washing machine. I suppose it's due to low demand. Then fate intervened.

Some time in Feb, hubs won an award for the newspaper he works for.

He won Headline of the Year (see pic above) - Teach, Prey, Love? and received some money. And the money is just enough to pay for the dishwasher! So you could say the headline paid for our dishwasher.

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A few days ago hubs took me to see G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra  G.I. Joe: Retaliation (thanks for the correction hubs! so...you do read my blog!) on the government's money. He was sent some vouchers for having served National Service and someone in the government kindly included cinemas in the scheme. It's not a bad movie but not great either although hubs loved it. All the big stars are there and I mean BIG. Have you seen the rock?

Anyway, after the movie we had lunch and then I went to the library while hubs checked out the supermarket for that magic detergent for our dishwasher. When we met up later, hubs said the supermarket was under construction and he had also purchased a pair of glasses so we had to wait around. Anyway, he wanted me to buy a pair of glasses for myself (on sale) and as I was trying each pair looking at him for his stamp of approval, I saw something black in his teeth and I was going to say something when the salesperson spoke to us. Anyway he didn't like any of the glasses on me face so I did not get any. Then he had to go upstairs to collect his new spectacles and while he was talking to me, I really saw something black in his teeth and I really wanted to call out to him:

YOU HAVE SOMETHING BLACK IN YOUR TEETH.

But I didn't. So he went up and I supposed he spoke to a few people, flashed his big smile and the something black in his teeth. Meanwhile I was downstairs waiting for him and trying not to laugh thinking of that something black in his teeth.

Here, you see for yourself. I know my drawing of hubs doesn't really look like him but it's the best I can do.

Finally, on the way home on the train, I pretended it was the first time I saw something black in his teeth and got him to remove it. Anyway, maybe I did let the black thing sit on his teeth for a while because I was annoyed that I saw him smiling broadly at the lady selling ham the other day. Haha.

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I have some updates on my craft markets. It is quite frightening. To me. I have like 6 weekends of craft market to prepare for. The earliest is on the first weekend of May and I am so not prepared. I don't know why I am not producing more bags. Someone needs to kick me in the butt. Today I got a little scared and decided to make a couple of boxy pouches. I haven't made any for ages.

I learned a big lesson from last Christmas. I won't make so many of the same kind as that will lead to a burnout. So I couldn't bring myself to make another same boxy pouch.

Instead I made a boxy bag.

Check out the ribbon tab!

This is a pattern I had been working on last year and never got around to work further on it.

Speaking of patterns, I have adjusted the prices of all my bag patterns. I hope no one minds! I rounded everything up so at most the increase is 10 cents.

Sales of my new bag pattern, Easy Sling Bag Pattern has been quite pathetic. I only sold 1 and it's to a regular customer. I'm not exactly new to this selling thing so I know things change and sales will pick up in future. Even saying that, I feel I am lying to myself.

SO! To rectify that, I'm offering you guys a surprise coupon at my Etsy shop. The coupon code is EASY20. This means you get a 20% discount. I will keep this coupon active for 1 week.

It's cooling off day again

Today is Cooling-Off Day for Singapore's Presidential Election. Voting day is tomorrow. As a joke, the sky poured all through morning. Generally, I dislike heavy rain in the morning because the kids have school and walking to the train station requires three umbrellas and three rain jackets. On top of that, the kids eat their breakfast while they walk. In case you're wondering why they don't eat at home, it's because the kids are unable to wake up early enough to eat at home. Anyway, it's only a problem when it rains.

Well, the weather stayed really nice and cold after the rain. It's so rare to experience such cold air (without freezing) and not sweat at all. So I would loved to have stayed home and sew or snooze. But I had to be out all day.

Remember the Ikea grey roses fabric? I made another bag with it. Nope, not getting sick of it yet.

I made another been-there-done-that bag. Honestly, this bag is getting just a wee bit boring for me.

I wanted to try something different with something familiar. So I went back to the good ole zip pouch. What's different about this zip pouch is how the handle is made.

Thought I'll include a BEFORE image before I complete the handle. See it's really just a zip pouch.

Once the handle is sewn on, it becomes a zippy bag. P.S. The bag is hanging on my sewing chair.

Just to give you an idea how small this zip bag is, look at my phone. I think this bag is really cute. If I were to make it again, I would have to make the area where I sew the handles on less bulky. I broke 3 needles sewing the handles on.

But what I really love about this bag is the bottom. It's so boxy. I used a layer of batting for the bottom but you can't see it.

Back to the Presidential Election. As you may know, in my family, I'm tasked with deciding who to vote for. I do take my job seriously and I've been busy reading up on the 4 "Tan" candidates. The Election is very much like a job interview except it's a $4 million job interview. The voters ask the candidates questions and based on the answers given, the "interviewers" think it through and decide who they want to give the job to.

Have you ever been asked this question at a job interview? It's my personal no. 1 hated question.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years' time?

You either give a completely fake answer or you say something stupid.

For the presidential hopefuls, the questions are geared towards personal standing on issues like death penalty, detention without trial and use of govt reserves.

Let me explain a little about one of the key roles of the Singapore President. He holds the key to Singapore's past reserves. Each year, there is a budget surplus which goes into Past Reserves. Over the years, the amount of money has grown. The amount is not publicised. But it must be substantial enough to warrant a $4 million President to guard it. So if the government wants to spend a part of the reserves, it needs the okay of the President.

That is why the choice of the President is important. He must be someone who is smart, fearless, fair and well-versed in finance. Honestly, none of the candidates fit the bill fully. So I think I'll have to go with the fearless candidate.

In my family, we too have our current reserves and past reserves system. Every month me hubs transfers a sum of money to bank A (current reserves) which I use for household expenses. By the end of the month, most of the money is used up. We have a bank B where we keep our "past reserves". I usually don't withdraw money from bank B but if I do, I inform me hubs so he doesn't get a heart attack plus he's the President. (I'm the Prime Minister) Occasionally I forget to do so but me hubs is eagle eyed and will ask me about it. So far this system has worked for us.

Come back on Sunday and I'll tell you who our new President is. See ya.

YOG and 2 Bags

Hello!

The Youth Olympic Games(YOG) has started and yes, Singapore is hosting it. It's from 14 to 26 August. I'll bet most of you guys have not even heard of Youth Olympic Games. I caught a bit of the opening ceremony on TV but I'm not the kind of person who enjoys ceremonies. My girl was riveted to the screen but she was more into giving a commentary of the ceremony. I almost went crazy listening to her. Friday was rather more exciting as the Olympic torch went past where I live. Me hubs tracked the torch relay thru' the internet and when it came to where we lived, we went to watch it.

The guy in red is carrying the Olympic flame.

Me hubs and I tried to chase the flame but we gave up after 100m because he was wearing a long sleeved shirt while I had no make-up on. Okay, it was just very hot. Still, that short 100m chase brought a little excitement to our boring lives.

I'm now officially out of my Michael Miller's Chinese kids fabric because I managed to make another bag out of the last rectangular fabric remnant. Remember my money bag? I made another one.

I'm a little shocked it took me 1 whole day to make this little bag. My way of making the money bag is just too hard. I should seriously consider using bias binding to conceal the raw edges.

You can't tell from the image but the cheery red I used for the handle? I chose to use the "wrong" side as the right side. The "right" side is a little too shiny for my taste.

Inside out.

This is a change purse I made last week. I have a friend, Periwinkle Su who hand stitches everything! Absolutely no sewing machine. I've often wondered how different a handsewn pouch would turn out. So for this change purse, I hand sewed the lining. I thought about hand sewing the entire pouch but I worried the zipper would just come loose easily. Anyway, handsewing the lining doesn't result in a better zip pouch so I'm sticking to my sewing machines. I've listed this pouch at Etsy. Check it out if you're into linen cotton pseudo cross-stitch fabric.

Just wondering. Does anyone watch Project Runway USA 8? I'm a big, big fan. I watch PR Canada and Australia too. Have to say without Heidi and Tim Gunn, it just isn't the same.  But Canada's Iman saying "I'm sori you just don't measure up!" is hilarious.

Today I watched episode 3 of PR USA 8 and I'm starting to be able to tell the faces apart to the point where I'm beginning to have favourites and faces I hate. Oh, I love Valerie because she is so cute! I'm on the fence with Gretchen but I know the editors are gonna make me hate her. What I don't like is how they keep the really horrible designers over better ones just because they make good TV. If you cry easily, they will keep you. If you are a drama queen, they will keep you. If you don't say much, it's Auf Wiedersehen. Oddly, every season, there's bound to be a contestant whose designs look like they learnt sewing from someone very old. So all their outfits turn out looking suitable for the age group 70 to 100.  Think Casanova. It's still too early to tell, but I'm thinking the weird lonely one, Mondo will make it to the final. Plus surely enough good TV has been squeezed out of Casanova. It's hard to look at him because he has very unattractive facial hair.

Auf Wiedersehen!

Projects By Jane Tutorial Page

I have moved my tutorial page to HERE.

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Below are my bag patterns which are available for sale at Etsy (instant download). Clicking on the images will take you to my Etsy shop.

For more Applique Resources
For more Tutorials