cloth.with pegs

Family Time in Perth

2012-04-10T16:31:00.000+08:00

Just returned from my Perth trip. Most of my activities there revolved around the family. We hadn't spent a lot of time bonding as a family for a long time, especially when my sis & bro-in-law now lives in Perth. I like the casual & 'no-rush' schedule; afterall, it's supposed to be a 'holiday'. So with all the family outings, I didn't find time to hangout with friends. I might have to make another trip for that then (now, that's a valid reason to return).

Family outings included sis & mom's birthday lunch buffet at Burswood, shopping for outdoor stuff with the husband, bro's graduation at UWA, double dates with husband's cousin, sis's house-warming-birthday celebration, hiking with family at Lesmurdie Falls, etc. etc. etc.

Here are some sketches I did when there is extra time to kill.

brunch at Tarts with the family after a walk at Hyde Park

afternoon drive to Cottlesloe while shopping for outdoor gears

waiting at Whitfeld Court, in front of Winthrop Hall

pipe organs in Winthrop Hall

keeping myself busy during my bro's convocation at Winthrop Hall, UWA

Padungan

2012-03-30T23:39:00.002+08:00

A ole-skool sundry shop along Padungan Road... I love a busy scene, with a lot of inanimate details.

Kenyalang

2012-03-30T23:33:00.004+08:00

Last weekend, Ms Yeo, Lee & I went sketching in one of my favourite places ... Kenyalang Park Shopping Centre. I always go there for my crafting supplies, costuming supplies, junk food, supplies of box sets, etc. But, this trip is purely sketching ... no shopping. Mine ...

... and Ms Yeo's sketch.

Sunday Market

2012-03-30T14:45:00.000+08:00

A lot of Kuching folks grew up going to the Sunday Market at Satok for fresh produce, like fruits, vegetables, local produce, meat, seafood; all the way to daily sundry, pets, plants and flowers. It's full of life, color, smell and flavor. Azie initiated that we should capture the Sunday Market before it is moved, and so we did on 28 March 2012, with some close sketching buddies.

Stopped by Singapore

2012-03-30T09:10:00.001+08:00

Recently, in February, on the way to Taipei, Taiwan, we had a day's stop in Singapore. While waiting at the exit of Chinatown MRT for Stephen to arrive, before meeting Denise & Andy at Kki, I found a spot to sit & sketched.

Bangkok in Sketches

2012-03-30T02:21:00.001+08:00

September last year, my husband and I with a group of friends made a trip to Bangkok. Here are some of the sketches I did while sightseeing and waiting for the group.

Here's a picture hubby took of me sketching in the yard of Jim Thompson's House, while waiting for our guided tour to start.

The Sketchbook Project 2012

2012-02-11T14:28:00.001+08:00

This morning, I received an email from The Art House Librarian Robot (hihi... cute, rite?) that made me so relieved that I can finally blog about this project that we've been working on.

All 5 of us had been on the edge of our seats since we sent out our labour of love. Now, I could totally comprehend the agony parents had to deal with parting with their children when they go away to venture the world. And this was what our Sketchbooks were supposed to do ... to go on The Sketchbook Project 2012 World Tour (hopefully) and be on display at the Brooklyn Art Library.

Sketchbook Project 2012 by the Art House Co-op in Brooklyn, NY. "The Sketchbook Project is a traveling library that archives thousands of artists' sketchbooks from across the globe and shares them with the public. This is where we share all of the incredible work from the shelves." ~http://blog.sketchbookproject.com/

I signed up for the theme "Life Underground" and toyed around with a couple of ideas on how to express myself through the theme on the sketchbook.
I decided on a visual storybook, but no idea on what kind of media I'm going to use. So it was a work in progress. People around me kept inspiring me with feedback & ideas when I shared my drafts with them.

I started with pencil sketching and drafting the layout for the pages, and stayed with just 6 spreads (12 pages). I didn't use the sketchbook that was provided in the end because I need the paper thickness that only watercolor paper could give me. I intended it to be textured & layered.

After I inked it with details, I applied watercolor from Sakura Koi Watercolor set. At first the colors were on the section cut of the ground. Not wanting to dilute the details of the interior spaces, I opted to not color the interior but shaded in shadows to give it some layering and defining forms.

Here are 5 sketchbooks from our little group here in Kuching, with our chosen themes (from a list of themes provided by The Sketchbook Project):

Peggy Wong "Life Underground";

Chen LiLi "Hope"

Azie Morni "In 10 Minutes"

Soh Zu An "Companion Book"

Soh Zu Yi "Heroes & Villians"

Sharing My Passion

2012-02-11T13:22:00.003+08:00

Last December, PC published a feature interview with me on her blog, about my love for crafting. So glad to share this passion with other fellow crafters. This is part of the effort of "Creating Success Around the World" with their blog interview which is published very Wednesday their host from Europe, Australia, North America and PC, herself, from Asia.

Head on over her BLOG ENTRY on my interview! ;) Be sure to check out her wonderful crafts as well ... and link up to other creative crafters in her circle!

Nice Bottom for CNY

2012-02-01T15:50:00.000+08:00

I've seen Chinese Lunar New Year lanterns being decorated from below with spring blossoms. I figured that since it is not really difficult to be put together, I can save some money for CNY snacks~!!!

I bought some basic red lanterns (MYR35 a pair), and bouquet of plastic/fabric spring blossoms (MYR3.50). As the base inside the twigs were in metal wires, I used pliers to cut off all the shorter sprigs, from the bouquet, and divided them between both lanterns. I used the glue to make sure the fabric flowers were secured to the sprigs, as they are just plugged on.

Since the lantern is also made of fabric, I sewed the sprigs of spring blossoms on. It was quite easy with the lanterns being hollow, while maintaining their cylindrical shape by having their circular hoops on (even without fully extended by the metal frame).

I used a brown thread so it would blend in ... like so ...

At the end, I spruced it up with some fabric leaves from the bouquet, just to balance out the colors.

Ruffed Xmas Decor in Hair

2012-02-01T13:53:00.002+08:00

Last December, the AhMah Mafias decided to have our Xmas dinner at The Dyak. I decided to make everyone something as a Xmas present. So instead of a party hat, I made us hairbands with felt flowers.

Similar to the felt flowers I did for the ruffled felt collar, I did the 'ruffled bouquet' with randomly trimmed petals along the edge. This time in 3 colors; light blue, teal & purple. I added pearl beads when I attached the sewn bouquets onto the slim metal hairband.

My intention was not to have it too protruding, but yet subtly present, with the contrasting colors to our hair.

Here are the ladies, with the hairbands. The restaurant owner helped us with this group picture after the dinner. It was fun catching up.

Getting Ready Santa's House

2011-12-13T16:49:00.000+08:00

I missed building models the most ... gosh, model kits nowadays are not cheap and time-consuming. I need a quick fix and also a cheaper alternative, for a Christmas diorama. Here's a site I always run to for fun & print at home paper craft ... Canon Creative Park

Amongst their Christmas Special Collection gallery, I downloaded this Santa Claus's House, printed it and was already working on it soon enough. One thing though, I printed this in half the size it was supposed to be so, everything worked out smaller than it should.

Above is an image from their site of the completed model. Since I am still working on it, I'll share some tips and post up the final product eventually (in 'due' time too). To save printing, you can just save the pdf file of the assembling instruction manual, maybe into your computer or iPad or something you can keep referring to each step of the way.

One of the things I discovered while assembling this is that, it always helps when you score along the fold lines, so you can get a clean corner. I score all necessary score lines before cutting out the pieces, because individually, the pieces are much harder to navigate around without running the risk of tearing the pieces up while scoring. I just use a ruler and the tip of a mechanical pencil, as long as it runs smoothly.

Another tip, try to use quick dry glue that can hold, because you sure do not want your diorama falling apart before Xmas. I use my all-trusty All Purpose UHU adhesive. Towards the end of the assembling instruction, you'll be assembling smaller loose pieces of finishing touches, like the furniture or decorations. Here are some of the furniture I completed.

Here are some close up of my half-scaled model. There are some tips in the instructions on how to curl the spiral cord on the 'telephone/computer' or the 'fax paper'.

So, head on over for some quick Xmas decoration ideas here.

Birthday Special: World Architecture & Habitat Day

2011-10-05T19:08:00.002+08:00

This year's first Monday of October for World Architecture Day & World Habitat Day, coincided with my birthday. Combining both my loves, architecture & crafting (with recycling), I did my part in contributing to the public installation of 'Cardboard City' at The Spring shopping mall. Essentially, it highlighted that basic shelter is every human's right. Min's entry on the project here.

Earlier in the week, I collected plastic soymilk bottles (drank by my colleagues) and asked my friend Alvin from Just Light, to help me wired it up for the installation.

The glowing soymilk bottles against the patchwork of recycled cardboard boxes, with the shopping cart thrown in for the 'hobo' look. The cart happened out of necessity when Sasha, our institute's admin lady, carted architecture books from her car. PAMSC, the local chapter for architect's institute, hosted this installation and for the launch, they invited the city mayor with architecture books to be donated to the city council library.

Min coordinated some of his students to build the 'Cardboard City' after closing hours and through to 6am. The lights were installed by Alvin's guys the next morning in time for the launching. Since this was meant to be a work in progress, Joseph and I build a cardboard chair to add to the installation.

We cut up the cardboards into strips of 45x15cm, 30x15cm & 15x15cm pieces. We then stacked them up like puzzle pieces. (Cecilia took the photos of me slaving away)

I love the sides of the chair which exposes the corrugated sections of the cardboard pieces.

Here we are, testing the strength of the chair.

Sit on it like a 'taukey' or a 'Thinker'.

Irene helped me transport it to the 'Cardboard City' installation and Sasha's now sitting on it like a 'taukeynio' (ladyboss), next to the high table Melvin & I constructed.

The installation will be there until this Friday, 7 Oct 2011. Do drop in and have a look this week. Also, ask for a pen/marker from Sasha and show your support.

I Finally Spat It Out

2011-09-17T01:52:00.000+08:00

I spent today's public holiday at home tidying up my crafting stash and found more stuff I need to decide what to to with them. I stumble on some of my unfinished steampunk ensemble; i.e. the one sided spats (as mentioned in this blog entry). So I decided to push myself to complete these spats...

... just to realised that I lost the pattern (pfft!), so I decided to start from scratch.

I pinned 2 pieces of fabric to fit my ankle & traced on 1 side only. Then, I cut up the outline for the spats.

I retraced the high spats pattern for a lower pair, this time. The vertical lines are where the fabric overlaps, for the button or other fasteners. So the same pattern can be used for all 3 pieces on each side of the spats.

I traced the pattern on the denim fabric I have from previous projects (without seam allowance).

I only cut the pieces with seam allowance along the vertical joints, because I was going to use bias tape for the edges.

Above is when the vertical joints are done with double top stitch seam, looking kind of warped; and below is when the front flap is closed.

So, I did one continual length of bias tape for the edge...

... found out that I didn't have enough of the same bias tape for the other side of the denim spats, because I had used them before. Determined to finish a pair of spats, I used some more left over fabric from the steampunk costuming of The General's outfit. I hacked off the sleeves off some pinstripe jacket we bought from a thrift store, back then. I opened up the side stitching and spread it out to cut up some more spats pieces.

After the process went the same like what I did with the denim pair, I added embellishments & buttons. This time I used a brand new roll of cotton bias tape, and had just the right amount to go around both sides of this pair of pinstripe spats.

I added the brass studs on the corners and made 3 buttonholes.

Adding these brass buttons for denims, by puncturing through the pin from behind ...

... and after I have inserted all the pins, I moved on ...

... to hammering it into the button.

It's actually quite easy, but I still need to do it slowly by aligning it top to bottom, or else you'll just end up with skewed pins ...

There! All done!

I'm kind of happy with this pair, but I think I might modify the pattern a bit more ... next time.

Meanwhile, this pair works well with flats ...

... and heels too.

Tribal Princess

2011-09-14T22:48:00.001+08:00

I enjoy doing costumes and what more to help a friend. Irene was to make her own hair accessories for her tribal belly dance costume. And, I quickly jumped at the chance to help put this together.

Irene showed me some pictures of how her hair piece was supposed to look like. And with those crafting stuff she bought, we were soon on the way ...

There were basically a lot of synthetic braided hair that came in a spool; in black & in brown. We cut them up to varying length of approximately 16" long. We tied the braids along a comb headband.

At first, we just opened up the braids to have the loose ends, like long flowing waves. Later we figured that the black was too black, and the brown was too brown; meaning it looked very (ironically) unnatural.

So, we opened up the whole length of the braids and mixed up the strands and re-braided them. Notice the ones on the left against the ones on the right. It looked better with the blend. We finished the braids with beads & shells.

The other embellishments, like shells, colored cords & feathers, were added later along the top of the braids.

You would noticed that the comb hairband was worn horizontally along the back, and not on top of her head, like hair extensions.

We continued adding braids and embellishments to cover the whole headband (left to right).

Here, finished and tested out on Irene's hair. We did a quick hair bun & wrapped the rest the feathers around it, too. Other versions we saw included flowers too.

Back Then When

2011-09-04T13:37:00.001+08:00

Dug out a skeleton from my closet of non-sewing past ... check out the cute little tote I made with the braided handles.

And the bottom of the tote bag, with a straw board base, lined from inside. There is a very embarrassing how-to back story for this bag which I made when I was in my early 20s.

The unglamorous funny part next ... ;P

See the straw board base, with some dried up masking tape ...

I used masking tape to stick the braided handle made from strings used for plumb line at construction site. And ends held together by staplers. Instead of stitching, I used UHU glue. Gosh, those were the days.

Felt Collar with Ruffle Bouquet

2011-09-01T20:38:00.000+08:00

Over these couple of days, I been experimenting a lot with felt, seeing that I'm piling up so much of felt in my stash. After browsing online for ideas, I decided to try my own version of a felt collar in deep cyan, lined with champagne colored tulle. I made a matching felt flower brooch to hold the felt collar in place.

I cut 2 pieces of about 1m length of felt, in tapered width of 15cm at the widest, to 11cm at the narrowest.

After stitching both the 15cm wide ends together in zig-zag stitch, I trimmed off the extra fabric (well, I did not exactly measure before cutting up the pieces).

I sewed on a 2m length grosgrain ribbon to middle of the felt, lengthwise.

After that, I stretched the felt fabric to get some ruffly edges. I found it easier to stretch when pulled along the bias.

It can get quite thin and almost see-through, so be careful not to overstretch. So I completed one side, and here it is, compared to the 'un-stretched' side. I repeated the same for all sides.

I added the tulle on the reverse side.

Now, for the garnishing ... I did the 'ruffled bouquet' with randomly trimmed petals along the edge.

With the clouded edges, the bouquet appeared to have more petals.

I wrapped the felt collar around the neck, with the ruffled tulle inside. I turned the felt edges down to expose more of the tulle and pinned the felt brooch to hold the end of the collar in place.

With the collar turned up at the back, it exposed the black grosgrain ribbon with the contrasting stitching.

This collar can be worn with the tulle on the outside, too. And with the felt collar flipped outward, the tulle is almost sandwiched in between the felt, ...

... leaving more of the felt exposed. I styled it with the ends hanging out.

The 2 ways of wearing it ... or more, I guess, depending on how you style it.

Ruffled Pink in Hair

2011-08-31T22:41:00.001+08:00

I never really did ruffles before, but remember that Gette and I tried out some felt bouquets 3 years ago, so I decided to try it out again with some pink felt I had from my stash.

Decided that adding some champagne colored tulle to the felt will soften the bright hot pink.

Based on a 6.5cm diameter circle template, I cut out about 8 pieces of circular felt pieces.

And 8 more pieces of the tulle, by using the felts as template by sandwiching the tulle in between.

Matching all 8 circular felt to one circular tulle each ...

... by lining the inside with tulle ...

... and fold it in half and half again.

I did a stitch at the tip to hold the fold ...

... and added more felt ruffles.

View from the topside.

After stringing all 8 together, it became a bouquet.

On the reverse side, I glued the base tips of all the ruffles to a felt piece. From here on, you can either attach ruffles to a hairclip ...

... or pin it into your hair with hairpins; from the top of the hairbun, or wear it below a low hairbun.

Alternative Wallets

2011-08-27T19:39:00.002+08:00

I was at Bloom Bazaar this morning. This is one of the first, if not, few craft & second-hand goods bazaar in Kuching. At least I hope it will grow into a fair eventually. I didn't have enough materials to set up a stall but I still went to check out the bazaar. I bought a vinyl-coated canvas wallet similar to the Mighty Wallet®.

Let's talk a bit more about my worn-out Mighty Wallet®, which now looked like this ...

Since it is made of microfiber Tyvek® material, it had gone a bit 'furry' with use, but still tough & without tear. (I have more new ones stashed for the future, muahaha ... )
I'm going to make a comparison between the Mighty Wallet® & the vinyl-coated canvas wallet. Here's my Mighty Wallet®, outside & inside.

And here's the vinyl-coated canvas wallet, outside & inside.

Mighty Wallet® has 2 large pockets for cash & receipts, 2 card pockets on the inside and 2 quick-access card pockets between both later mentioned pockets (accessible when wallet is closed). While the vinyl-coated canvas has only 1 large pocket, it also has 2 card pockets on the inside and 2 quick-access card pockets, accessed just like the Mighty Wallet®.

The 2 large pockets of the Mighty Wallet® ...

... and the only large pocket of the vinyl-coated canvas wallet.

Here's a comparison between the thickness of both without contents.

I figured that this is mainly because of the material choice. And the canvas wallet has a thicker edge (noticeable at the side quick-access pockets) because of the folds.

Nonetheless, I kinda like the canvas wallet too. There were some with very interesting prints too. And not to mention, so much cheaper. An original Mighty Wallet® is available USD15 online, while I bought the vinyl-coated canvas wallet from the Bazaar at MYR25 (~USD8).

Spring Frame Pouch

2011-08-21T11:28:00.003+08:00

Digging through my pile of crafting stock, I found that leftover microfiber fabric from my Couch Makeover project, some felt and spring frames I bought from Daiso. So, I decided to put it all together for a pouch. I was supposed to make pouches/containers for all the small loose items on my desk anyways.

I measured onto the microfiber fabric and cut it with some seam allowance on all sides. I allowed the bottom of the pouch to be wider, so I can sew up the bottom corners allowing the pouch for a thicker base. The pouch opening is measured to size of the spring frame. In this case it is a 12cm(L) frame, and so, I allowed 11.5cm(W) for the rim of the pouch.

I sewed on 2 strips of brown felt as casings* on each sides of the pouch, to insert the spring frame.

(*Casings are created as tunnels through which elastics or in this case, spring frame, is threaded.)

The spring frame was quite easy to insert if the space allowance within the casing was adequate. I used a pair of pliers to pressed in all the loose metal corners & flaps, in case they get caught within the casing.

On the otherside of the casing, it should come through just nice, without too much of the spring frame exposed. I assumed gathers are still acceptable on the spring frame is the casing is too long, but it might allow gaps at the opening and it is not good for keeping things that might fall through.

With the pin provided in the pack, I inserted it through both the metal hinges.

I used the pliers to fold the metal flap that encased the pin into the hinges.

Quick and simple. A pouch I now used to my little stamp pad & the loose alphabet rubber stamps.

Veil for a Little Girl

2011-08-02T14:32:00.004+08:00

This is another quick project for a friend who approached me to help with her niece's veil for her First Holy Communion. It was basically putting 2 existing items together; a recycled flower girls headband, and about 1m x 1m of soft white tulle.

The tulle was folded almost in half with one extending longer by 60cm. Here's a close-up of the completed pleating at the fold. Next, I sewed on the tulle to the headband, under the little rose ribbons, along the pleat stitching.

The extra pleat gave a fuller front to the veil. Final touches included trimming the veil ends with tapered & longer middle, & rounded corners at the sides.

Goodbye ... Hello!

2011-04-23T13:03:00.012+08:00

I said goodbye to my 17" Compaq laptop & my backup harddisk (along with 5 years of my digital life), when my Loewe laptop bag was stolen from my car last Tuesday 12 April 2011 ... :'( sadness to the max!

It's a fresh start now, with my 15" MacBook Pro ... :) ... time to build new memories & projects!

I made a new jacket for my new appendage in an auspicious color ... RED!

What started out as conventional Chanel-like squares, quickly turned into a roadmap ... when I ran rampage with the stitches on the sewing machine. It's mainly red felt on the outside & black felt on the inside. So to strengthen both felt, I stitched both together with pattern in black thread.
I used black grosgrain ribbons for the edge trims.
To contrast the red, I used black felt on the outside & line with black jersey internally, for the flap ... with red stitches.
And with closing flap attached, I sewed the buttons on ... and there! we are packed & ready to go for a new adventure together!

Memories from Hanoi & Halong Bay

2010-11-20T23:49:00.009+08:00

It's been almost a month since I came back from the Hanoi trip with Gette & Maggie. Making the fresh spring rolls from the rice paper I brought back from Hanoi recently, got me reminiscing about my trip. It was a fun weekend away, getting stuffed and inspired, with lots of sharing and laughs ... (not to mention, braving the honking street traffic)

Thinking back, I can summerise our trip in two main words; eat & sketch. And of course, we did breath in some Vietnamese culture with some sight-seeing and heritage trails, mainly navigated by me based on reliable travel guide books & phone applications. For photos, they are HERE ... and below, a brief tour of my memories from Hanoi & Halong Bay on my trusty Moleskine sketchbook, which I use only for travels. Enjoy ;)

Heart You Long Time

2010-11-12T20:24:00.003+08:00

Audrey & Fred had been dating for 10 years! Finally, they tied the knot last Tuesday ... Congratulations to the two greatest people I know ;)

Previously, I blogged about the pink veil I made for her hen's night here. Now, here's the gorgeous bride wearing it with a pink tutu which I made later. (photo by Jessie Wong Yii Ling)

What's In Your Bag?

2010-11-12T20:08:00.003+08:00

Finally, after much procrastinating, I submitted my entry for "What's in your bag?" competition @ Kinokuniya Singapore and Malaysia.

Had lotsa fun with friends putting the shoot together. Thanks, Lili, WanHow & Celine ;)

This is my entry ...

Recognise some of the hand-crafted goodness there??

Rubber Stamping Fun

2010-11-05T23:34:00.006+08:00

Recently, I was toying with the thought of getting some rubber stamps made for Cloth.withPegs. I even thought about carving it out of erasers or some cork-based material, like this guy from my recent Hanoi trip. (Maggie & Gette got some traditionally hand-carved stamps made for friends.)

Until, I finally found these plug-in system alphabet set ... like Lego! and therefore, that means FUN!

I was having so much fun fitting the alphabets around and stamping it on everything. I even thought about stamping it onto ribbons for labels.
Soon, I need to get a second set of each size I got earlier because each alphabet comes in a piece only. A second set would allow more possibilities. ;) FUN stamped in capital letters!