Sew Loving it!

Last week my crafter friend mbak Dita of Cemprut who lives in Jakarta, came to Bandung to have a sock doll making workshop at Crayon's.

Of course I eagerly attended it, not only because she's one of my close friend on the net that I haven't meet in person, but also because I've never learn to make a sock doll before, I love to learn something new.

As I expected, at that workshop I met other crafters, I already knew some of them from the net but haven't got a chance to meet in person. I was so happy to find that the crafters are so friendly, down-to-earth and hilariously funny ! We laughed at our own jokes through the workshop session with our hands kept busy on the needles and threads.

The Cemprut's workshop at Crayon's Bandung

Unfortunately I had to go before the workshop's over. Nevertheless, I had fun and I especially loove to have & meet new friends (or old friends but "newly met") . I "sew" loving it!

Speaking of sewing, this month I've finished commissioned orders on "Love to Sew" bags. This time I designed it in form of pochettes. Not only "Love to Sew" actually, there is one pochette embellished with nothing but crewel and beads embroidery. They all have gone now to their new owners (thanks so much customers, I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoy making them ).

"Love to Sew" pochette in pink flowery canvas & brown faux leather

A New Place (again, sigh)

As written in my previous blog, I wasn't happy with the place I lived in Bandung.

No, not because it's an old house, it's just have not enough electricity to be use by 2 families and that other family who live there wasn't happy to share the house with me and my son.

So we moved again, still in Bandung city but this time we chose a house built specifically to let the rooms for rent, located not far from my parent's. There are 24 rooms and we rent 2 rooms which available. We like it here better than the previous one, alhamdulillah, obviously because each room have its own bath, enough electricity and it's quieter here, more plants and trees too.

Love the jasmines on the yard, always smell nice each time I pass it

Unfortunately our rooms are in second floor, so that moving in was quite exhausting.

But once it's over, I can slowly settle down and quickly back to my work .

My son in front of our rooms

Insya Allah, we're gonna be here for a while, I'm tired of relocating, unless it's to move to our own or to be live together again with hubby . Amiin...

Anyway, "Gigi" hijabs are back, now only pink, light brown and black colors are still available

"Gigi" hijab, sold as a set with below matching pin

Another Craft Swap, Alhamdulillah :)

Me and mbak Samsiah of Shafaa Craft have been online friends for quite a long time, as I remember.

And all this time, we haven't meet each other in person, of course because I lived in Bandar Lampung (that time), she's in Jakarta. Now I live in Bandung which relatively closer to Jakarta, took 2 hours drive, but still haven't got a chance to meet, lol...

Though we only keep in touch online, I just knew (from her blog & comments) that she's such a sweet person that I can trust. That's why I really hoping we can work together when I asked her to share a booth at Bazaar Arafah.

I was right, she's so easy to cooperate with, trusted and super kind. When she said she has an eye for Calyx cupcake hijab, but unfortunately it was sold, I instantly said that I would make another one for her as my thanks for her good cooperation in the bazaar.

Surprise, surprise, when I asked her to kindly send me back the items that haven't sold on that bazaar, she included a pretty brooch, beautifully crafted by her self, alhamdulillah !

Shafaa Craft's pretty cabochon brooch

To mbak Iah, I the brooch, a lot!

So sorry for not sending the swap sooner, because I ran out of material (my supplier just came back from Eid holiday, she just opens today).

Pink Calyx Cupcake hijab with matching pin

I hope she likes it, just as much as I like her brooch...I just hope we can meet each other off line soon and work together as a team again, amiin

One of a kind Eid

I know Eid has passed and we missed it already. What I'd like to share here is, this year's Eid, for me, is one of a kind.

It started when the discussion about Hilal sighting in our Department of Religion hasn't ended until about 8.30 pm. There were different opinions; some believed that Eid will be on Tuesday, August 30, 2011 and some were sure that it expexted to fall on the next day. It was finally decided that the occasion will take place on Wednesday, 31 August 2011, based on that Hilal wasn't seen that evening. But, the Government will still respected those who still celebrate Eid on August 30 and advised people to do the same.

So on Tuesday, me, husband (he was home for Eid) and my son came to my parent's house still in fasting condition. What a surprise, my parents and family had already celebrate Eid because there was other information that Hilal was finally seen and many of our people and other neighbor countries did the same. So we broke our fast without doing special Eid shalat because it was too late. I found this quite odd and confusing, really hope that it will never happened again.

We did the shalat the next day, with some people who celebrate Eid on Wednesday. It was pretty quiet, fewer people came compared to last year.

Only a few rows

Anyway, before Ramadhan's over, I managed to finish orders of hijabs and one special order of ribbon embroidered tote bag, alhamdulillah

Tote Bag

Heatnbond vs Pellon: An applique making experience

All Indonesian needleworks crafters I knew are crazy about cute designer's fabric, including my self.

It's like a trend now, everybody hunts for Alexander Henry's, Robert Kauffman's, Farbenmix, Suzy Ultman's, etc, or just something similar to their design.

I love the picture/pattern/characters on those cute piece of fabrics (I usually only bought fat quarter because it's quite pricey to me, heehee ), feel timid to cut them. So what I did was just turn them into appliques.

To make appliques, I was helped by this great product named HeatNBond.

It's a double sided fusible web, so convenience to use. We just iron the web on the fabric intended to be appliques, only for 2 seconds and it's ready to be cut. To stick the applique to other fabric (in my case, it's a cotton hijab) just peel the paper backing and iron it again, slightly longer than the first one. Because the fabric I use is a thin, sheer cotton, it only took 5 seconds to stick it. Although there's a "No Sew " wrote on the wrapping, I preferred to stitch it afterward, just to make sure that the applique stays strongly on the fabric.

Calyx Hijab (end of July 2011 edition)

Hiii, back again, bringing you the latest Calyx Hijabs...

This time, I didn't only have it screen printed, I also stitched the cute appliques I made from various cute fabric I've purchased.

All of them are sold in sets with the matching hijab pins.
Please shout in the shout box or email me for further info such as colors availability, etc.

"Owl" stitched applique hijab & pin. Pin made of velvety beads & novelty button

Beads Couture Needle

Remember my post about Tambour stitching?

As I said in the past, I will save some money to buy the tool, because I really interested in it, but it's relatively pricey for me.

Today, I've received the tool I ordered from here. It was Clover's and came with a plastic tube to keep the needle.

So happy, I tried it right away. At first, it's kinda awkward because I've never use it before.

But after 3 trials, I finally got it and love the tool because it make stitching (whether it beads or chain stitch) done faster (and more even in size...I think) .

This is the result of using the needle for beads stitching

These are the chain stitches I made with the needle. Not bad, eh?

Hmm, projects, projects...

Over Due

Yeah, this is an over due post but I just think I need to share it

So, it's been almost a month now, we're living as Bandung citizens...back to my hometown, after so many years (I think since 1993).

Adapting to the new climate (it's much, much colder here than Bandar Lampung), I got 3 days of cold, but I'm fine now.

Since we moved, I've been busy surveying junior high schools for my son. He done some assessment tests in some schools and waited and prayed for whatever Allah think is the best for us. Alhamdulillah, now he's accepted in an Islamic based junior high and will start his study next week.

At the moment we're renting 2 rooms in an old house. In that house, there is other family, a young couple with 2 toddlers.

The front of the house

Our house mates

To be honest, I enjoyed our space in Bandar Lampung more. Yes, the one we're living in now is more spacious, but there are problems that forcing me to look for other place to live (that's why I still haven't settled yet, still unpacked, out of the thought that I will move again very soon). Electricity is one thing. I'd like to buy a fridge (sahur is on my mind), but I don't think the electricity in this house allow it. Until this moment, I still haven't found the right place...still looking for it...

Anyway, we're happy to be in Bandung, although there are friends we missed in Bandar Lampung. We took some last pictures of us in the hotel we used to live in, in Bandar Lampung, together with my buddy, ibu Pia. For 2 weeks hubby stayed with us, helped our relocation. We're so happy, though after two weeks, hubby had to fly back to Langkawi, Malaysia, to continue his work there.

Calyx Cotton Hijab (May 2011)

Back by demand, here's another batch of Calyx hijab scarf & pin sets.

Made of cotton fabric (katun paris), screen printed, sold together with the pin as a set.

Should you interested in purchasing it, just please e-mail me at lia.emilia12@yahoo.co.id or you can leave comment/message at my Twitter, Multiply or Facebook.

- Cinderella's castle:

The hijab scarves

The Pins

Note: Pink color's sold

Occupation Theme Bag

For those who've read my previous blog, know that though the mini hoop can be used as a doll house thing, I intended it to be a bag embellishment.

So here's the newest bag I made; shall I call it "Occupation bag"? Hmm, doesn't sound right...

Anyhow, this bag's theme is "Embroiderer". Made of faux suede and cotton fabric, with felt inside lining. Can be worn as a shoulder bag or wristlet. In dusty pink color.

The Bag

The details

Another themed bags I made were "Love to Sew".

I Love Matryoshka!

Don't know why, but I have a thing with matryoshka...there's something that so adorable of that simple (but turned out not so simple to make) doll.

I've been wanting to make one, but as you know, got no spare time. But a project offered, demanding different kind of things with ribbon embroidery on them. Clothes, shoes, bags, book cover, hijab, etc, all done... and I was wondering, what else?

Recently I purchased this lovely matryoshka fabric from Etsy and it just came to me, why don't I make a ribbon embroidery on matryoshka doll?

So this was my first ribbon embroidered matryoshka doll. Not quite happy with it, but hey, practice make perfect, right? Hope I have more time to do more practice on it . Insha Allah...

Shared with this site:

Recycled Mini Embroidery Hoop

Once a friend asked if I could make another "Love to Sew" bag, but instead of sewing, she'd like the theme to be about embroidery.

I thought, there won't be much different with sewing theme, the only significant thing is the embroidery hoop. It has to be mini, as the same size as miniature things used in doll house.

I came up with the idea of making one, using recycled objects, which were mineral bottle cap's rings.

To make one, we need:

1. Two mineral bottle cap's rings (the ones left on the bottle's neck). They're made of plastic. You can use toilet paper cardboard tube cut into rings too, but I want my bag to be washable and we all know cardboard will be ruined if mixed with water.

2. A scrap of fabric.

3. Sticky tape and a good glue. I use E6000, because it was proven to stick well on plastic.

Here we go (apologize for the poor quality of the pictures though :P) ...

1. One of the bottle cap ring will be the inner hoop, while the other will be the outer. Cut the one intended to be the inner hoop, so it will be fitted the outer one.

One of my favorite documentary :)

Signe Channel is one of my favorite.

Especially the below episode. At 2:50 shown a lady, 75 years old of age, who braids. Iadore & admire her so much. Insha Allah, if my age can reach 75, I want to do interesting & creative thing like her :)

In general, these documentary series charge my crafting spirit.

My mind wonders...if only I could join those Chanel team...the pressure, the rush...so exciting!

Calyx (ribbon embroidery) for Idys

Ibu Pia and I are bff, we help, support each other all the time.
Her residence is not really far from mine, so it's just natural if we see each other almost every day.
She's the owner of Idys and we just love to talk about craft and our children all day, lol.

For the Inacraft 2011, she asked me to design some simple ribbon embroideries to be done by the Sukaraja women for Idys and of course I'm happy to do it.

I didn't manage to take pictures of all of the creations, but below are some of them:

- Various tissue box covers


- Mukena

The Sukaraja Club

As written in my previous blog, the less fortunate women of Sukaraja, Lampung, had been participating in one of Rumah Zakat programmes, which is a free workshop, intended to empower them.

But Rumah Zakat didn't stop there. They talked to ibu Pia of Idys and I on how to generate extra income for the Sukaraja women. What a coincidence! Ibu Pia and I had a "human resources crisis", we need extra hands to assist us on our productions for Inacraft 2011 and it's easier for us to work together with the Sukaraja women because we trained them our self, we can "shape" their quality of work to meet our standards. We provided materials, designs, commissions, etc and they were given freedom to choose any part of work they'd like to take. So we discussed it further with Rumah Zakat and the women of Sukaraja and they agreed to collaborate with us.

From more than 24 women who attended our free workshop, only few of them who are willing and happy to join us in our productions. Others are simply too busy with their daily life, they have babies, etc. So let me introduce you to the talented women of Sukaraja and some of their creations, achieved after intense trainings with us these several weeks:

Giveaway @Pojok Utak-Atik

Pojok Utak-Atik is currently giving away some fabulous prizes.
I'm eyeing this one, because it's cute, whimsical, rarely found and perfect for generally any projects:



Actually there are more pretty things to be won. Just visit Pojok Utak-Atik for further details ;)

A Sneak Peek (Inacraft 2011) :)

Yep, this is a sneak peek of Primula & Calyx products which will be brought to the Inacraft 2011 event.

Though there are not many I made these days (with relocation, this coming re-relocation, orders and my son's final exams), these products are just a few that I managed to take picture of, the rest are still in the making.

One of the Primula's minaudieres

Some of the kids jersey hijabs (and some of them have already sold :))

One of the screen printed cotton hijab-pin sets.
See it here for more.

For the cotton hijab & pin set, actually I made another ones but they have all sold out already, alhamdulillah :)

Hope you'll enjoy it and wish you can come to the booths and enjoy the event :)