Sewing a messenger bag!

 If you google Messenger bag sewing pattern online, you can probably find a lot of patterns and they are mostly free. I have made messenger bags in the past and they were self drafted and I didn't save the dimensions that i used cos i mostly winged it on the spot.

I had a pokemon fabric that I wanted to make into a messenger bag for my brother to go pokemon hunting with my mum. I already made my mum hers - it's a tote bag pattern from Winter Wear Designs.  But for my brother, I didn't think a tote bag would be good - hence messenger bag. (p.s. you can read more about that tote bag pattern here. It's a free pattern!)

Here's my mum's bag btw. Cute right! 

Anyway, so I found this blog post with a cute messenger bag pattern. What I liked about the pattern is that it is a Jpeg with GRIDS so i can download it and use my projector to project the pattern and rotary cut the pieces. 

I had to hack it a bit in order to use my directional fabric. But it wasn't too difficult! 

Here's the bag i made!

Isn't it cute? I checked with him already, he doesn't mind the kiddy print! yay! 

I hope he likes it! Hehe. The pattern is good and I really liked the overall size. It can definitely be used for A4 sized papers too so u can make it for school/work! (Reinforced first of course)

The pocket on the flap is very useful and i made it with an extra big pocket bag.

I think u can stuff loads of snacks in it if u want to hehe.

On the inside, I opted for a water resistant material with a nice textured look. I used a scrap piece of the main to create a pocket just the right size for an ezlink transport card (this is a card we use for public transport)

The pocket behind that is perfectly sized for handphones while the other pocket can fit a wallet with room to spare. 

Candy castle Gummy Bear Dress

I had the opportunity to test for Candy Castle's latest pattern, the Gummy Bear top, tunic and dress pattern.

I made 3 in total during testing and here's 2 outfits I made!

This first one I'm showing is also the last one I made during testing. It's made with a 2 way knit that is so soft and comfy to touch. 

My girl has a unique sizing issue in that she is actually already 3 yr old but her measurements puts her in the 18mth size on the charts. 

If I were to make an outfit for her based on instructions, I might use the 18 mth size but it wouldn't fit right. Why? Because as a 3 year old, her head size is actually that of an average 3 yr old and the 18 mth neckline wld not actually fit! 

Similarly, if i try to use the 18 mth armscye, while it "fits" the measurements, in real life, it would actually be too restrictive on her. 

So, for her, after discussion with Rebecca, the designer for Candy Castle, we decided to try blending a 3 yr old size with a 4 yr old sleeve and armscye. And that, is how we got the fit of this final outfit. I just love the silhouette of the dress, the sleeves fitted beautifully and she has a great range of movement afforded by the bigger armscye. 

This, my friends, is why I sew! Because no kid is the same and making your own kids clothes that fit properly is just the best feeling! And this is also why a muslin is so impt! 

Which brings me to my next dress - my muslin piece. I love this so much! I have sufficient of this fabric i didnt mind using it as muslin. For this dress, i used straight size 3 on the chart and added a cute iron on decal. 

U can kind of tell from the photos that the sleeves are still a little tight. She loves the dress and likes wearing it, but i prefer tt it fits better. And this was the reason why my final dress had used the size 4 sleeves! 

That said, she still looks super cute in this dress and the sleeves don't bother her so she has been wearing this as is! 

Hope my makes have inspired you and also gotten u just a bit more interested in blending sizes for ur kids! Candy castle pattern has one of the most thorough blending pattern instructions i have ever seen and I have learnt so much about blending from these instructions (psst i even use the instructions when i need to blend other patterns! Hehe)

The Gummy bear pattern comes with layered projector file - a first for candy castle!! Imagine my excitement and joy!! 

Buttons and Bibs Coastal Crossover

Hi everyone! I made another twinning set! This time round, I made the Coastal Crossover from Buttons and Bibs!

My version is the V neck with faux lace (printed) CL and black modal handkerchief skirt in top length. Her version is black CL with the faux lace CL as a skirt in dress length. I didn't bother hemming mine and hers was rolled hemmed with a serger so both dresses were really fast to sew! 

I really do love twinning with this cutie pie! 

Here's some photos of how beautiful this dress looks worn! 

We hope you liked our versions of the Buttons and Bibs Coastal Crossover!

Summer days, Summer Sewing~

Where I live, we get summer pretty much all year round! So while most of my northern hemisphere friends are sewing up for cold weather, I still need to ensure I have a decent summer wardrobe! 

Since it is the school holidays, this is the best time for me to sew up on summer staples: shorts, tees, that kinda thing. It also means I have time to sew for family too! 

Here's a top I made for my mum that I paired with shorts meant for me! 

Despite our height differences, (I'm a little taller) we wear pretty much the same size clothes so I can model the clothes for her (she's shy!) This top is Winter Wear Design's Traveller Tee and it's a raglan top that you can make with a woven panel. COOOOL! 

I had a piece of textured Japanese Dobby fabric that I bought some time back that I realised was too small for most woven top patterns (always buy more than 1 yard!!) and I was just feeling sad about it when I realised I can use it with Traveller Tee! And because it has texture, I thought pairing it with a navy stretch crepe knit would be lovely and I like to think that it really is cute! 

In fact, I have half a mind to not gift it hehe (actually no, I will gift it then I will go back to that shop and buy the same fabric to make another to twin with her! yay!)

The shorts that I am wearing with this is the Endless Summer Shorts. This one I made is with a cotton sateen twill that gets really soft and comfy with every wash. I like how the shorts look on me though now that I am older, I think I would extend the inseam just a tad more cos I prefer more coverage these days hehe. (As I am typing this, I do realise just how old I sound lol!)

Front view:

Back view:

Both Traveller Tee and Endless Summer Shorts are great staple patterns to have in your pattern stash and you can really get a lot of sews out of them! 

They are on sale for a very limited time ($3 each!) now for WWD 12 Days of Christmas so don't miss out! 

Pattern Showcase: Toteally Awesome Tote Bag by Winter Wear Designs

Me again for Winter Wear Design's 12 day of Christmas Blog tour! Did you know that Winter Wear Designs have bag patterns too? 

There's the Collect-all Drawstring Bag, the hipster bag, the about town clutch and my favorite bag pattern of hers: The Toteally Awesome Tote Bag. (There's still more free patterns to discover if u click ard the site!)

Many of these patterns are freebies from her very popular 12 days of Christmas giveaways and codes can be found in her fb group under the announcement! 

Why did I say it's my favorite bag pattern? Cos ever since I made mine, I haven't stopped using it.

Here's me with the bag:

and here i am again!

And again...

I could go on since it is relatively easy to find pics of me with this bag but u get my point! 

The pattern comes with 2 sizes of bags. The bag I showed is the bigger version.

Look at all the pockets! It's perfect for everything. 

When I go to work with this bag (I'm a teacher), I fill the pockets with markers, and my comp mouse, cables for the projector, pens, glasses and water bottle then the main compartment has my laptop (I padded this bag really well so it's safe to put a laptop in here!) and worksheets. 

I love it so much that now that it is school holidays at my part of the world, I emptied it out and use it when I go out with kids, so now these pockets are filled with their water bottles, change of clothes, diapers, wipes, snacks, packet milk while the main section contains books, toys etc. So roomy! 

When I go out shopping sans kids (seldom these days but I do!) I bring out the bag mostly empty so that I can fill it up with SHOPPING! WOO HOO. Save the environment yes! 

It's really just a perfect tote bag for working folks/ busy mothers/ shopaholics etc etc 😂

In fact, my non-sewing friend saw me with this bag and was so convinced of its usefulness and versatility (and also that it was an easy sew), that she came over to my place and we spent 2 lovely afternoons, very leisurely sewing her very own tote bag while we chat away about life and kids. 

I think the bag pattern must have been really good cos she is now hooked on sewing and she wants a sewing machine for herself! 

Here's her bag next to mine:

I just LOVE that pink. In fact, I love it so much... 

Here's MY Pink bag. 

This time in the small size without the inner pockets. So cute. It may be 'small', but it is still a good size! I'm using it as a yoga bag for my yoga mat towel and a waterbottle. There's even space for a spare set of clothes and towel (not shown in pic) if i intend to shower at the yoga studio. 

 

Never made a bag before? No worries, this is a simple project. With no special notions needed, no zippers, no buttons/closures etc... 

I did the pocket version in 1 afternoon, my friend, who never sewn before, did hers in 2 afternoons, and that includes cutting and us chatting. The smaller bag without pockets was done in 2 hrs including cutting with a projector*. So it's definitely a do-able project and did I mention free? 

Big bag vs small bag ❤

Get it here and get sewing! 

*regarding projector sewing: if u are like me and love projector sewing, u should totally download the free inkscape software. The side panels and bottom panels are rectangles while the front and back panel already has A0 files that u can use directly with your projector. What i did was i drew a digital rectangles of the correct sizes of side and bottom panels using inkscape then project that file directly to my fabric to cut out the side panels. This saved me loads of time since i only needed to do it once. Projector cutting all the pattern pieces for the small bag without pockets only took me 10-15mins! 

Making a backpack for my boy!

 Here's a funny, messy and also gross story for you! 

My boy's backpack had been rather old and tatty already but I dragged my feet getting him a new one cos "mummy can make you one, just wait a bit". Well, he waited quite a bit and mummy hadn't found time to. Then, one day, his classmate had a little tummy trouble and the story goes "he ran to his own bag, took off his pants and liquid poop blasted everywhere. (OMG right?) And cos my boy's backpack was next to his, the backpack got a bit of that too. eww. 😂

So, when he came home that day, his bag was very wet - his teachers (poor things) cleaned his bag up for him but with just water, no soap. And that was when I resolved that this bag I promised the boy is going to HAVE to happen. 

Back to the fabric stash again for the boy to select his bag fabric. True to his nature, he picked the darkest of dark Batman Canvas cos "I like BLACK colors mama!"

I was determined to put some color on his bag so from my zipper stash, i dug out the remainder of my rainbow plastic zipper. Unfortunately, there isn't enough for the front pocket zipper so for that one, I just used a 2 dollar zipper from Daiso. 

I used a pattern I found online from this website as a base but hacked it to suit our needs: increased backpack depth - added 2 cm width to the side panels, side pockets for water bottle, no flap. 

I also sewn the lining directly and then binded everything instead of bagging it as per instructions. I ran out of black bag binding but I didn't want to wait to complete the project - I'm rather impatient like that =p So, digging through my stash again, I found a rainbow bias tape. PERFECT! 

Isn't it adorable! 

The bag is a lovely size. Great for all his childcare stuff and not too big that it weighs him down. 

He's been using this for several days now and so far, it's holding up. I think I just found a keeper! This backpack pattern (with the hacks) will be my go-to when my girl needs a new bag. =) 

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas~~

Over at our house, Christmas is usually a quiet affair and with young toddlers in the house the past few years, the Christmas tree has not been out of storage for a really long time. But 2020 has been a crazy year and the kids are both just so excited about Christmas and decorating and gifts that we decided to finally take the tree out of storage this year! So I'm going to be posing for photos next to the tree! Hehe

Hello from Singapore! A warm welcome everyone who's here for the Winter Wear designs blog tour! I'm Hwee Ke and I'm here to show you WWD's latest free holiday pattern (Don't you just LOVE Suzanne Winters for being so so generous? 💋💋💋)

 So... On the 7th day of Christmas, WWD gave to us... All Wrapped Up (a beautiful scarf pattern)! 💖💖💖

There's 2 versions - a pocket scarf version and a sleeved version. I made the sleeved version and I just love it so much, don't you?

After you downloaded the pattern, you would notice that recommended fabric for the scarf is actually structured knits. In fact it doesn't actually require any stretch (only the sleeves need a good stretch) Well... I had this beautiful, stretchy, drapey, shiny lurex knit that is so soft to touch inside and shiny (So holiday appropriate!) outside that I just HAD to use this knit for my sleeved scarf. 

I'm 5"6' tall so I'm using the regular size but cos my knit is so so slinky, I took 4 inches off the width (you may wish to remove more width if this look isn't what u are going for! But if you are using the recommended fabric then no length removal is necessary. Tip: Check first by wrapping it ard yourself b4 sewing to test the length! ) 

I think it works really well as a wrap scarf and the sleeves help keep the wrap on me! The shiny lurex also gave it just that extra bit of holiday cheer! Also, with the knit I used being so slinky, I knew I could wear this sleeved wrap differently so after playing ard with it, here's another look:

For this look, I pull the wrap all the way past my shoulders so that the entire sleeved portion of the scarf can be seen, then I allowed the wrap to drape down my back so it forms a deep cowl. I think I am gg to wear this wrap like that quite often! Loving that cowl! 

Here's another look:

For this look, I simply wrapped the scarf ard me without wearing the sleeves, then I tied the sleeves at the back of the wrap with a knot. 

And the last look I came up with is this one:

I think you can probably guess how to put this look together 😂 All I did was rearranged the wrap ard my neck, tie the sleeves part and tucked them in. 

Are you excited to try it out? I'm excited to find out from all of you the other ways I can wear this versatile little wrap! 

Download the pattern here and remember to check the FB group for the code to get it for free! 

Thank you for coming and Merry Christmas everyone! 

Designs by Call Ajaire: Overlay dress

After I made this dress, i felt it needed a post all for itself cos I loved it so much! 

I decided to start my Chinese New Year sewing early cos I knew my work schedule for next year is crazy. No procrastination here!

This watermelon double gauze fabric was bought some time ago just for CNY sewing but I haven't decided on a pattern when i got it. I bought from nekoneko.co a red watermelon and a yellow watermelon double gauze, intending for the kids to twin. 

The boy (who is fussier) got to choose first and since he picked yellow, the red watermelon naturally goes to my girl. 

I think she wears it well! This pattern is the Overlay dress by Designs by Call Ajaire. To be honest, I had my eyes set on another pattern of hers initially -- raglan party dress, but that one had no layers, no A0 and obviously no projector file as well. For a sewist spoilt by my projector, i just didn't wan to do the paperwork.. so i decided to give the overlay dress a go instead. And I am so glad I did! It's just about the perfect pattern for a cute watermelon dress!

She had so many compliments today about her pretty watermelon dress. I can't wait to make the yellow one into a twinning shirt for my boy. 

Stay tuned! 

Sew PDF Holiday Showcase

Are you in the habit of sewing gifts for the holidays? 

I only started sewing last year so I hadn't started any tradition of sewing gifts. In fact, I probably can count with both hands the number of gifts I sewn for friends and family over this 2 beginning years of sewing (masks not included of course - i sewn too many masks to count) 

As my skills improve, I feel more confident gifting me-mades to people and I'm hoping that they love the things I made too! If you are in the market for patterns to make holiday gifts, there's a 1 stop holiday gifting pattern ideas shop you can go to that showcases more than 1 pattern companies! 

I'm talking about the Sew PDF site! What's special about this site is that it works with indie pattern designers that are less well known but who have some lovely patterns just waiting for us to discover them! 

I've been busy sewing up several of their showcased patterns and here are some of them to hopefully inspire you!

Cufflet pattern by Make it Last Great for using up all your knit remnants and it is rather useful as well! 

Rogue Cloak by Buttons and Bibs If you don't know the recipients' size, this can be quite forgiving so you can probably guesstimate it hehe. Also, it is such a lovely cloak!

Mabel by Goober Pea Design I made the handkerchief skirt but there is also a super cute circle skirt version and they also have puffed sleeves!

Split Pea by Goober Pea Designs This is one of our favorite for running around and playing cos of the looser fit. 

Copeland Cardi by Tie Dye Diva I made the shortest version cos it reminded me of my teenager days but there's also a top length version is very flattering!

Coastal Crossover (Adults) by Buttons and Bibs and Coastal Crossover (Kids) by Buttons and Bibs

I made a twinning set of us and LOVE it. It's flattering and there's so many options i have more lined up! 

Arthur's Chinos by Suco by Susana Hands down, this pair of pants has the best zipper fly I have ever made! The instructions are so great! I love the button elastic back cos then he can continue to wear this as he grows. YES! 

Overlay Dress by Designs by Call Ajaire for those of us who are experiencing summer now, here's a lovely summer top for little girls. This one here is made with a lightweight cotton woven main and double gauze overlay. When making ur own, don't forget to use a lightweight drapey woven for the overlay for best effect!