EID 2011...

Nothing much, just would like to wish my family, friends and fellow Muslims an Eid Mubarak...

Not really in the mood for writing as u can see (I wonder if anybody ever reads anything from here... hmmmm). I know, the last entry was like 7 months ago, this blog of mine has cobwebs everywhere... ewwwwww......

Anyway, just would like to update my recently acquired toy..... Yeah, I know i promised to post the photo of my then new toy (snap press) once I get my camera back.... Don't worry, this entry will have photos and not just boring words and more words.... So, without further ado, I present to you my latest toy (drum roll please....) :

READ 32 rows pleating machine

That's it.... my pleating machine... I love it! Love it! Love it! All I have to do is practice feeding fabric into it almost everyday and hopefully it'll take me only 10 minutes or so to pleat my fabrics like everybody else instead of the close to 12 hours (with a few hours of break in something in the afternoon because I got so fed up hehehehe).... I thought it was going to be easy, just roll the fabric, feed and I'll get nicely even pleated fabric ready for smocking. Boy, was I wrong! Like everything else the simplest thing as feeding fabric into a manual machine like this requires practice to ensure the fabric feeds right and get the feel of things and master the way of controlling your fabric that is being fed.

This brings us to some more photos.... of my current obsession (and hopefully this one will last as long as my eyes permits me see clearly to enjoy the pleasure of it)... Smocking... My little princess in her very first (and mommy's first try) smocked dress... It's not easy trying to get that kid to be still for a few photos... She's very uncooperative I tell you!... So here she is...




After I finished my first smocked dress, I got so excited I smocked 3 more... 2 geometric smock and one counterchange smocking.... Unfortunately all 3 are lying around waiting for me to make dressed out of them... Kinda got lazy @ that point. I like doing the smocking, like sewing the dresses, just a tad bit need a wee bit of push @ cutting the fabrics...... Maybe I shall start on that over the weekend....... Maybe... I need to....

This is us, in our traditional (sort of since mine is not baju kurung or kebaya, instead it's a smocked maternity blouse which I don't have a nice picture of and I promise I shall snap a nice photo and update it in here... One day, I promise hehehehe).... Ridzuan and daddy both are wearing baju melayu teluk belanga with tulang belut embroidery @ the neck (u can't see it since it's the same color as the fabric... Mysha a baju kurung with 5 petals pink bullion daisies, light brown lazy daisies as fillers and and green leaves which I used the leaf stitch.... All attires have cultured fresh water Sabah pearls (wanted to get the salt water pearls but I didn't think it would be worth it since the kids rarely are going to be wearing their baju kurung / baju melayu untill the next Eid and they're surely going to outgrow them in less than a year....). As for the button holes I used blanket stitch (3 strands of DMC cotton floss) in the almost same brown as the main fabric.....







That's all for now... enjoy the pics people!

Bye.....

Down Down Down I Go.................. shish!

The sky outside really reflects my mood today. I don't know, my day was so-so untill a few minutes ago. Somebody came to me and requested something which totally makes me a bit bummed out right now. I feel it's kind of unfair, but what am I to do? The decision has been made. It's their decision but I have to sort of execute it. Darn it! Not fair! I don't want to... but, life's not fair right? I guess luck hasn't struck my way yet. Still hoping it'll pop up in the near future. When I was sort of in the same situation, I was just left drained out and didn't really get anything. Kind of. Anyway, the past is past, the future (and the nomination justification) awaits.... For now, it's 547pm local time and I just want to go home, clear my head with some sewing and enjoy my darling cutie pies... I just feel the need to hug my babies right now. It's such a comfort to hug children, especially when they're yours....... Mommy miss you guys, even if it's only been 4 hours since mommy went to see u @ day care....

MOMMY'S NEW TOY!!!

Yeay! Mommy's got a new toy... The KAM Snap Presser, the DK-98 Model (what is also called the professional model)....

I'm so excited! I got it on Saturday. It comes with one set of die set (size of your choice) and 1000 snaps (10 colors of your choice)... Got it, tested it and loving it... That's all I can sat... It was a bit intimidating @ first, the presser looks kinda big, but after one try @ it, I'm so hooked on it, all I can see now are things that I want to apply those darn snaps... And I went onto one of the sites that sells the Kam Snaps and oh, those Ooga Booga snaps, I just gotta get those.... arrrggghhh..... I'm snap crazy! I think I need to make myself some cloth pantyliners... If not for the environment, it's just for the sake of wanting to apply the snaps, hehehehehe....... I'll upload the photos once I get my camera back (Yup, the camera is still with my brother dear!).

Who To Blame? The Parents or The Child?

Why is it that though we say we are courteous, day by day I find that we are not what we say we are? Take the other day for example, The Man and I took the kids to Petrosains for an afternoon of fun science... Ok, so they don't know what the heck is science, we're trying to introduce to them slowly what is learning and wanting to know things and trigger their minds to think...

The Man and I are trying our best to teach our kids to share and to respect others among other things. One of the things we like about Petrosains is that they've got alot of interactive learning toys for visitors to try out. @ the Petrojaya section they've got are 2 bulldozers for kids to try have a feel of working @ a construction site. Being a typical weekend, there were a lot of visitors last Saturday, including a few groups from schools in and outside of KL. So, Ridzuan was told to wait in line for his turn. My son is 3.5 years old had to wait patiently for this woman by the looks of it might be in her 40s if not 50s playing with one of the bulldozers (mind you, I don't want to refer to her as a lady as she's obviously not one). The other one had this kid playing and taking turns with his siblings and then there were these other siblings also waiting in line.

Anyway, that woman just kept on playing and playing and playing... My God! I just wanted to shout in her face to just get herself a real one and play @ home... Next was this kid, by the looks of him I think he's either a really really really BIG 12 year old or an immature 14-15. His mom was there looking on, not saying anything when her son was on the thing, all the while a small 3.5year old kid just looked on patiently waiting for his turn. What got me angrier was the fact even though the machine stopped, he pressed the start button again and again... Finally we got a turn on the other machine beside it, even after Ridzuan was done playing that kid was still on it, no signs of stopping in the very near future.

So, who's to blame in this situation? The parent for not controlling the child, for not telling him it's not polite to hog something that is public property, for not teaching him to share, for not teaching him to be respectful of others, for not teaching him to take turns, for not controlling the kid... Or is it the child, for not wanting to share, for not being respectful of others, for not learning to take turns...

Ridzuan all the while looked on with a sad face on him waiting patiently... Poor child. as a mother who is trying my best to teach my children to share and be respectful and be polite, I only could tell him to be polite and wait for his turn. Thankfully Ridzuan didn not throw a fit for waiting too long. He knows it's not his toy, so he knows to wait and to share. And thankfully also Ridzuan obeyed us when we told him his time is up and it's others' turn right now...

Those people we encountered @ Petrosains are examples of how bogus we are when we say Malaysians are a courteous lot... The inconsiderate women ignoring children who are waiting in line, the inconsiderate boy ignoring a much much much smaller and younger boy and his mother who just looked on @ his son without saying a single word......

Petrosains was just an afternoon with only one senario... There are more -- on the road, in the elevator, in public transportation..... Heck, just to give another example. About 13 years ago, while I was still doing my undergrad, during one of the school breaks, I went to Penang with my aunty and her family. I was carrying my baby cousin in the train up to Penang Hill. The car was loaded with people, unfortunately for me, I didn't get a seat and had to stand. Of all the people in the coach, the only tourists who were NOT MALAYSIAN offered me their seat because I was holding a baby... Yes, my cousin was still a baby, a mere 6 months old baby... The other passengers who were the so-called courteous MALAYSIAN? They just looked or ignored me all together...

Others who have had the same experience, kindly raise your hand... I know there are those who would offer their seats, or help those in need but most of us have lost those values somewhere as our country continue to become a developed nation. Is this a price we have to pay to be a developed nation? I don't think so. For those out there, and I constantly remind myself the same thing day in day out. To lead by example, that is the best. Therefore, it is crucial to show good example in our daily lives to our children with the hopes that they get the message and make the right choices... But then again, with all the crime rates going up people are being too cautious to the point where they lost their courteousness altogether.... hmmmmm.....

To Pee Or Not To Pee...

My son's a few days short of 42months but is still in diapers... Yeah, I know.. I feel so ashamed, like I'm a bad mother... So many excuses for not potty teaching him (I read somewhere on the net she prefers the word potty learning rather than potty training... training is like training a pet or something... good point there...). Juggling between work and being a mom, I don't have that much time to spend taking him to the bathroom constantly to potty teach him (one my excuses I guess). I know it's high time for him to learn, he's already using the potty when he has to go No. 2 almost 100% of the time. He'll make that face when his bowel starts to move and say he has to go poopoo so we better scramble to the bathroom pronto or he'll let go in his diapers.

In my quest to transition him out of his diapers I've decided against those disposable pull-ups. This is due to the fact that the kids are in a day care and I don't want their sitters and my son to treat the pull-ups as another form of diaper. I remember back in the 80s when my dad was a student in the States my mom bought my third sister a pair of cloth training underpants. They look like ordinary underpants with the exception of a thicker middle part to contain any accidents. I so wish to have one of those, I googled and found there are such a thing now days with look much nicer (the ones my sister had was plain white underpants that were unisex, BORING!). But my GOD! Those things are expensive.... Still sticking to the plan I've googled here and there on how to make my own...

I heard about cloth diapers for the first time about 18months ago after I gave birth to my daughter, but again, sending the kids to the day care where parents have to supply disposable diapers only I don't give much notice on cloth diapers by saying to myself those things cost a fortune each. See how low the concern about these kind of things are in Malaysia? I think the government should hold a wider campaign to create awareness among Malaysians and promote the use of cloth diapers just like they're doing right now with breast feeding, though this one needs some more fine tuning... Not many places are nursing mother friendly you know, we'll get to that later on in a different post.

So when I googled for training pants, ooooops my mistake, learning pants, I found this very nice lady of Lampin Kain. Though hers is an online store she was gracious enough to meet up with me in person to bring some sample of the materials that she sells for me to physically see what all those fabrics look like. After I saw the things she brought and physically touching them, and a bit of consultation and advice from her, I finally purchased some PUL, HEMP for the inserts and bamboo velour for the inner or is it outer? It's that layer that will be next to my son's bum... She suggested maybe 3 layers of inserts would be sufficient since these will be learning pants and not diapers. It was either the velour or this other material that I forgot what it's called. I chose velour because my son will feel the wetness as soon as he wets his pants. The other material takes a wee bit longer for him to feel the wetness and discomfort if he has accidents, which is not what I want. I want him to learn that it's not a good thing to wet in the pants and he'll be more alert when he needs to go.... We hope it all works out as I planned... In all I paid RM95 for the materials I needed.

It took me a few weeks more (I think close to a month) to actually sew one for him... After so many days of thinking and browsing for the perfect learning pants, I finally decided to just buy a store bought underpants and sew on a soaker instead... over the weekend we went to Jusco (they don't pay me for this, but since this is my blog I think I can mention names if I want to as long as it's something good, right? No? You don't think so? Well, tough! I'm mentioning anyways). Anyway, I bought the store brand underwear for 3-4year-old boys RM10 for 3 pieces (good bargain as it's of good quality material and workmanship). I finally summoned up the courage to some up with a pattern on my own (the freebies I got from the net simply won't fit with these smaller store bought underwear). I did the old-fashion-learning-to-sew-with-the-click-of-the-mouse trace store bought underwear and adjusted the pattern as I see fit. The prototype you could say was a success, minus the slightly lopsided soakers... I think that's ok, it gives it a more mommy-made-it-for-me look (I'm trying to console myself here, so bear with me! Just say 'Yes mommy' will you? hehehehe). It was not all @ one shot cutting, assembling, sewing and you're done though! I just did it as I go along according to the logic that I see fit @ the time, which ended up in me having taking it apart and starting over again beginning from the assembling part and using my serger instead to combine all the pieces together.... Again, thanks to the nice lady from Lampin Kain is where I got the idea. She was so nice as to give me a sample of one of her soakers where she just serged the edges to keep them together and I thought maybe I should try that and it worked much better...

So excited with last night's kind of success I got to thinking maybe I should try cloth pad making next... hmmmm... so I googled and found this site... One of the many tutorials to make cloth pads. One of her readers left a comment sharing the materials she uses for her cloth pads which made me realise I don't need comlpetely new materials to make those soakers. Yeah, I know, you could've told me that, but you didn't, right? So, let me ramble on... I got to thinking, to save cost further, there are so many materials I could use... I gotta admit, since I learn from the net, and I don't want to get it wrong, so if it says A, I'll so A, so variations or substitutions... I'm going to venture out using hand towels that I bought but haven't use, old t-shirts I need to get rid of (what a good way to re-use my clothes! I'm helping to conserve the environment, YEAY for me! hehehehe)....

I know, pictures are much more fun than words, but since I don't have my camera with me, this will do for now. I'll update this post later once I snap some pictures of my learning underwear... Hmmmm maybe I can join in on giving out tutorials... What say you? Do you want me to?

“Giveaway 2010 dari TiniHani.com”

It's started! Penyakit masuk online contest...

Saya masih baru dalam aktiviti blog mem-blog ni. Start buat blog ni pun sebab senang nak follow blog orang lain untuk saya belajar menjahit (sejak ada anak dara ni makin menggediks nak menjahit untuk dia). Dari jahit baju anak boleh melencong konon2 nak buat craft (walaupun sedar diri ini takde la lembut tangan) yang end up dengan bahan2 tu dah beli dok dalam plastik asal dari kedai yang menjualnya... lama2 terperuk la kat bilik jahit / arts n craft / computer / simpan barang..... Anyway, dulu sorang kawan nih dok cerita la dia masuk giveaway itu ini, hmmm masa tu dengar je la. Sebab blog pun tarak. Sekali tu dalam mencari2 cara untuk menjahit apa ntah tejumpa plak tutorial nak buat apa ntah (tak ingat dah) pastu teruja terus la buat blog sebab nak follow tutorials dia (dia buat bersiri)..... Beberapa minggu lepas tengok ada giveaway, terus nak cuba nasib... Tapi tak berjaya... Tadi tengok ada lagi satu giveaway dari TiniHani... Alamak, bestnya! Nak jugak satu felt T untuk anak bujangku (kesian dia, asyik adik je dapat baju, walaupun bajunya pattern itu aje tak tukar2)...

So here it is, my entry untuk Giveaway 2010 dari TiniHani.com... Mencuba nasib, harap2 ada nasib boleh menang t-shirt. Di bawah adalah gambar yang kena copy kat entry... Nice, huh? Betapa ketinggalannya diri ini, baru tahu ada felt t-shirt pagi tadi... Kalau kita kreatif n rajin, macam2 boleh jadi kan?... Tapi, tengok je la blogku ini dah tahu empunya diri kreatif takat mana, hehehehehe.... tapi takpe, tu belajar perlahan-lahan... One of the things kena masuk To Do Checklist for 2011 kasi blog ni cantik sket... Jangan harapkan gambar kat post aje untuk kasi meriah suasana di jalan raya.... Kepada sifu blogku, cik pertmuffin, terima kasih sebab bersabar dengan panggilan SOSku tatkala nak buat posts, hehehehe.... Sekarang kemaruk nak masukkan link (takut telupa, karang pertmuffin kena ganggu lagi, hehehehe)... Sempat lagi tu nak iklan orang lain.... hahahaha...

Eh eh jauh peginya.... ok, back to the giveaway, ini adalah gambar yang dimaksudkan.... jeng jeng jeng....


Dalam syarat2 tu kata kena bagitau kenapa nak menang hadiah... Sebab utama nak t-shirt yang cantik ini untuk anak bujangku. Ayik adik dia je yang mummy dok jahitkan baju. Mana taknya, mak dia tau jahit lurus aje (shirring la tuh, tu pun bising tanya sana sini kenapa tak jadi2 jugak kegediksan walaupun dah ikut kat semua blog yang ada tutorial untuk buat shirring, rupanya salah sendiri daaaaa.... hahahaha... nak tau tu nanti post lain la kita cerita....)... Mesti anak bujangku seronok dapat t-shirt yang ada nama dia sendiri... Sebab kedua seronok oi bila menang something. Selalu diri ini memang tak bernasib baik (Boleh kata hampir setiap kali la tuh!) kalau masuk apa2... Lagi2 kalau ada cabutan bertuah, dapat hadiah kalau cabutan bertuah tu cabutan bertuah kesian (semua orang dapat hadiah, so confirm dapat jugak!). Tapi Tahun 2009 punya family day seronok! First time ever menang macam2 hadiah, macam tak sangka... Rezeki anak kot, sebab time tu mengandungkan anak dara gediks tuh... Emmmm jauh menyimpang plak ek? Tapi syarat tak kata takleh menyimpang kan? hehehehe......

Ok, seterusnya kalau menang t-shirt nak jahit apa? Hmmmmm jahit nama anak bujangku 'RIDZUAN'... gambar plak nak gambar kereta atau keretapi sebab dia suka benda2 tu... Keretapi yang dia paling suka Thomas. Hari2 tengok takpe, sanggup tak tidur malam... Malam cuti takpe lah, kasi chan, tapi kalau bukan malam cuti sorry yea... sila tidur wahai anak...

Apa lagi? Mari kita tengok checklist yea....

• Buat entry dengan tajuk “Giveaway 2010 dari TiniHani.com” -- DONE!
  
• Copy gambar di atas untuk dimasukkan dalam entry anda tu eh… -- DONE!
  
• Tulis kenapa anda ingin menangi hadiah dari TiniHani.com? -- DONE!
• Kalau menang tshirt nak jahit : -- DONE!
  • Nama: ————
  • Gambar: ————
• Like Kedai JahitKu.com di Facebook -- DONE!
• Tinggalkan link anda di ruangan komen di bawah -- DONE!
• Pemenang dikira berdasarkan cabutan bertuah la ya dan akan dipilih melalui random.org

Memandangkan semunya dah DONE! bolehlah click PUBLISH POST... Wahai cik random.org, harap2 today is my lucky day la yea.... hehehehehe...

Kalau tak lucky pun, I had fun...

Kepada tuan rumah giveaway, terima kasih sebab sudi buat giveaway and sudi mudi mempublishkan tutorial2 untuk sama2 orang macam saya yang baru melibatkan diri melembutkan tangan menjahit dan membuat kraftangan belajar itu ini.....

Gediks-ness...

Is there such a word? hahahaha.....

I started making Mysha a dress (free pattern and instructions courtesy of Samantha of Little Comet Tails, THANK YOU!) on friday night after dinner but stopped half way (I was literally pulled from the machine, mind u!). The fabric is a lovely cotton print she got as a present from her Aunty Lida when she got back from a shopping spree in bandung a few months back....

We were a bit busy on saturday and sunday with groceries shopping, supplies shopping, a wedding in Seremban on Sunday I didn't have time to complete the dress. Thankfully I manage to steal some time before bed last night to sew the bodice to the skirt and do the hemming as well. I started on the snap buttons (the old school snaps, not one of the snaps like u see on cloth diapers, oh how I wish I have one of those pressers!) last night. Unfortunately I accidentally sewed on the wrong side of the first pair of snaps and only realized it when I stopped to see if they aligned. Arrrrrgggghhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Since it was midnight, I stopped and went to bed instead.

Me being me, I just can't wait to show off what I've done..... Not sparing any minute, I sewed on the snap buttons in the car, on the way to work and finished the last button as we entered my office... Hooray for me! hehehehehe...... And the showing off began the moment I entered, so many envious mommies.... I just love the fun of it!

I would looooooove and can't wait to show off the dress, unfortunately my camera is not with me @ the moment... Brother dear, when are u returning my camera?! I need it to show off my recent work.......

Oh, and since everybody has labels, me being me again, I just have to have one too (even if it's just a home made dress for my darling). It just gives the dress a much more so called sophisticated store bought look (ehem, don't look @ the dress too long or u'll see the imperfections in my beginners level sewing)... I just got the labels yesterday, so this dress is the first of many more to come (hopefully!) made by mommy for Mysha to have a label on it..... More on the label in the next post....

Again, thank you Samantha (of Little Comel Tails) for sharing this free pattern and to Aunty Lida for the lovely fabric....