Pouch #10

Experimenting with simple shapes and lines.

Pouch #8 + #9

Pouch #8 

 Pouch #9

Striped pillows

I love the idea of upcycling. Some time ago I made a couple of envelope back pillow cases from an old t-shirt and dress. This time I made a couple more from an old striped dress and skirt using the same tutorial.

Sweetie #2 - my go to model.

Pouch #7

Pouch #7. All four of them. 

 And an extra bird on the other side.

Merry Christmas!

It's washable!

My new friend Agnieszka was wondering if the fabric markers are permanent enough to withstand washing. I've been wondering about that myself so today I popped this pouch into the washing machine to find out. 

And here it is! Right out of the washing machine. No fading, no running, no bleeding. Stained by Sharpie Fabric Markers work! I'll take another picture when the pouch has dried.

BTW you must check out Agnieszka's work over at her blog. Lovely! :)

WIP - pouch #7

I've had this piece of grey fabric for quite a while now so I thought I'd use it to make some pouches. Managed to get four out of it. I'm also using the felt I bought yesterday for the birds. I tested the Sharpie Fabric Markers on them but they don't work on felt. As you can see I'll need to embroider on the details. Will show you when it's done :) 

Felt

I'm actually not a big fan of felt but I needed something that doesn't fray at the edges. So I bought a whole rainbow over at Daiso, a popular Japanese chain store that has been popping up all over town. 

Great colours!

A little embroidery

I enjoy sewing embroidery but I find it can be a challenge sometimes. I tend to pull the thread a little too hard and end up bunching the fabric. You can see I did exactly just that to the left side of the little birdie. Oops :) 

 If you are into hand sewn embroidery, Mary Corbet's Needle N' Thread is a wonderful website where you can learn a whole bunch of stitches.

 

 Pouch #6.

Three little birds

I used my dad's old shirt for the lining. I think the colours go really well together.

Pouch #5. 

Pouch #4

 

 Here it is. Pouch #4. All done!

A recipe - Ulam

The Man and I cooked dinner for his relatives last night. I made this local salad a.k.a. ulam with fresh coconut sambal to offset the hot sambal fried chicken. I love this salad. It's one of my favourites. It's a combination of my mother and mother-in-law's recipe. They're both from Johor so... yeah :) 

This recipe uses pestle and mortar for pounding, so, depending on the amount, you might have to do it in batches.

1) Selom shoots (water dropwort, water celery, water parsley) or ulam Raja (King's Salad)

2) 3 - 4 red chillies - chopped and deseeded is you don't want it too hot

3) A small handful dried anchovies - washed and strained

4) 2 medium sized red onions or shallots - sliced

5) 2 handfuls grated fresh coconut

6) 2-3 tablespoon thick tamarind juice 

• Roughly chop greens and set aside - Selom shoots are recommended but I used ulam Raja because those weren't available.
• Pound the chillies into juicy paste.
• Add generous pinch of sugar, salt + anchovies. Continue pounding into paste.
• Add coconut - using a spoon, mix and pound alternately to release some coconut juice and to combine with the chili. Do NOT pound to a paste.
• Add onions - mix and pound alternately again only to release some juice. Do NOT pound to a paste.
• Add tamarind juice and mix.
• Add more salt, sugar or tamarind juice to taste if necessary.

I like mine when I can taste a bit of everything - the coconut milk, the onions, salty, sweet and sour. And no overpowering taste of the anchovies. It takes a bit of experimenting so you're gonna have to use your taste buds as guide.

Chill in fridge.

Serve - Some people like to mix the coconut sambal and the ulam but I prefer to keep them separate like in the pic. It allows my guests to take a combination of whatever amount suits them. I like to pile mine on :)

Pouch Bug

I think I've caught the Pouch Bug. Bought a bunch of new Stained by Sharpie Fabric Markers at CZipLee in Bangsar and went right to work on another one. 

First I tested the markers and doodled on some scraps. The Man really liked the colours and the raw quality of the drawings so I decided to use them. Here's a glimpse of a pouch in the making...

If you have read my post on my first quilt you will know I sew everything by hand. I don't have a sewing machine. I don't even know how to use one! But it's there on my list of Things I Want to Learn along with Photoshop, taking better pictures, silkscreen printing, stamp carving, ... :)

Headers

Sweetie #1 designed these cool headers for me including the one I am using for the blog. She has been teaching herself how to use Photoshop through tutorials she finds on the internet and through good old fashioned trial and error. It's amazing how quickly kids these days learn and how fearless they are at making mistakes. I've been wanting to learn to use the Photoshop for ages but with so much else to do I haven't found the time yet. So, I've struck up a deal with Sweetie #1. She will instead teach me whatever new thing she learns. I have yet to sit down with her for my first lesson though but I will soon!

Another pouch

Taking pictures takes luck and perseverance. I had to snap away quickly and hope I got some decent pics to post before Sweetie #2 got brored playing model for me. 

It's always a nice surprise when out of those random shots I get a few that I can arrange into some sort of sequence that makes some sort of sense :)

Oi! #4

Poster colour on 300gm watercolour paper. 18" X 12"

Oi! #3

Poster colour on 300 gm watercolour paper

Pouches

Sewed a couple of pouches over the weekend. I made the red one first and ended up spending the whole day hunched over a very messy table cursing, trying to figure out how to sew on the zipper and lining. I know. I could've spared myself the grief if I had gone online and searched for a tutorial but I think I secretly enjoy the pain of figuring things out myself. It didn't turn out too bad I guess.

I drew directly onto the fabric freehand with my new Stained Sharpie Fabric Marker and Zig Fabricolor Twin. The markers needed a bit of getting used to and I tested them on a number of different material to see which bleeds the least. I'm not sure what material I used for this pouch but it worked all right. After drawing I then ironed it to set the ink.

 

I really like the contrast of the the two colours.

The next day I of course went online. Haha. And I found this relatively simple tutorial on youtube. 

I cut up the fabric, placed it on top of the sketch below and traced with a pencil. I then retraced using the markers. It's a nerve wracking process because the slightest hesitation creates blobs of ink. 

 I think the fabric is a mix of cotton and linen. I'm not sure but I love the texture it creates with the markers.

Might try fabric paint next :)

Birds in a tree

Watercolour and acrylic ink on 300 gm watercolour paper.