Houses Bag And 2 Rejects

Last week I was feeling very tired and achy most likely triggered by the weather change. This week I was quite determined to be more productive and I did the most unlikely thing.

But before that, I had been eating rather sweet food for breakfast and would usually end up with a sugar crash. And that would mean I ended up napping for a good half hour wherever I happened to be, usually in front of my monitor. I don't look good waking up from a sugar crash induced nap. Guilty, horribly achy, numb because I'm not in a sleeping position plus I'm covered in drool.

So this week, I wanted to stop eating sweet food for breakfast and I ate peanut butter with bananas on multi-grain bread!! My friend, Vivian introduced this mind-boggling concoction to me years ago and I had tried it then but never quite stuck to it. I'm a typical Chinese in the sense that I don't eat fruits for breakfast. And seriously, the idea of peanut butter with bananas is quite gross. But I wanted to get energized so I could do some serious sewing instead of just lethargying around all day. And it worked! Tastes pretty good too plus bananas give it a little sweetness so I'm not like deprived.

So I felt pretty good for the past 3 days and I made this.

 Yes, another BIG sports bag inspired bag. The canvas cotton fabric is ricco-ricco.

I used piping again. My sewing machine seriously groaned when I sewed all the layers together. And I busted 1 needle.

I like this angle of the bag. When my girl saw the bag, she said, "Diaper bag!" Gosh, I hope no one else thinks it's a diaper bag because it's a sports bag inspired bag!

I had so much energy I made 2 more items but sadly they didn't make the cut.

This curvy zip pouch I made with my current favourite Patty Young's clover print fabric is a little too small. Plus the pleats make it a little too bulky at the seams for my liking. So I'm gifting it to MYSELF. It's cute, isn't it?  Next week or so, I shall attempt another larger version and take care of the bulk.

When I made this recessed zip clutch, I was trying to make a mini-version of another pleated bag I had made in March 2010.

Remember this pleated shoulder bag?

Somehow when it's small, it doesn't quite work. If I were to attempt another one, believe it or not, I'm actually going to ADD PLEATS in the bottom. My girl likes this zip clutch a lot so I'm gifting it to her.

Hmmm...if I have more peanut butter and bananas I may make 1 more bag this week. See you soon.

Madam Butterfly

This has to be my last bag for June MAAD. My 16th bag. I feel a little exhausted. I had a good run with this denim.

This is another huge bag. When I was sewing it on the sewing machine, I had to literally hug the bag. Big bags are becoming a problem for me to transport. My luggage finally died. Last year a taxi ran into my luggage and I thought it survived. Turned out it was just hanging on. Last month the handle broke and I'm still searching for a replacement. Hmm, let's see. It has to be light, yet sturdy and large enough to contain all my bags. It's going to take me all of the Great Singapore Sale to find one.

I used piping and the handle is made of very sturdy twill. Yes, I made my girl crouch for this picture.

I gave myself a little challenge for this bag. Recessed zipper!

And still stuck on this eastern charm theme - Butterfly applique with blanket stitches. Isn't the Japanese fabric gorgeous? It has golden streaks!

I hope you have a great day and I'll see you next week.

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.

Piped Bag

Remember my Evolution Of A Bag?  This is the next generation.

For this bag, I wanted to address the issue of bottoms. I wanted to make the bag bottoms firmer? I did this with the help of a band.

The band (the red curvy part) is sewn onto the front and back of the bag. The band makes the bottom heavier so I added piping to the side gusset. Yes, piping! I've used piping on bags before and it can be a lot of work.

I used Ikea fabric because the fabric is like a painting. This is one side.

This is the other side.

Side gusset with piping.

Other side gusset with piping.
April MAAD countdown. 10 out of 15 bags constructed! 5 left. Hope I can finish by Thursday or I'll be burning midnight oil once again on Friday.