My Measuring Tape

Personally Yours Art Folio

2012-01-26T00:35:00.000+08:00

I'm usually at a loss when it comes to birthday gift giving. Other people's children are especially hard to shop for, in my opinion. Children aren't likely to get excited over receiving clothing and photo frames wallets er...What does one give a child who seems to 'have it all', without spending a bomb on the latest Disney-Fisher Price-Mattel-Hasbro whatever? Faced with this dilemma not too

Drafting Part IV - Necklines ,Facings and the Sleeveless Armscye

2010-09-03T12:12:00.000+08:00

Continued from here, originally published here.To me, necklines are the unsung heroes in drafting and clothing design. A neckline is a very simple thing to change up, and each modification can very dramatically, or subtly, create a whole new look to the same dress/blouse pattern. As I said, a neckline is a very easy thing to change. You just draw a new style line, literally. Following from

Drafting Part III - Adapting a Basic Sleeve for Other Styles

2010-08-27T10:22:00.004+08:00

Originally published on Ikat Bag as part of a series on drafting a sloper. This is my final installment in the series on drafting sleeves.Now that you've learned how to draft and fit a basic sleeve block, you can use it to draft all types of sleeves! In this post, I'm going to show you how to adapt the sleeve block to create 4 different styles of sleeves; roll-up, gathered, puff, and bell. In

Drafting Part II - Fitting a Basic Sleeve Block

2010-08-26T01:13:00.004+08:00

Here's my second installment on drafting a sleeve block. The original post is here as part of the ongoing series on drafting featured on Ikat Bag.When I trace out my sleeve block onto fabric, I like to include the centre and bicep lines, as points of reference when I check for fit. A good fit on the sleeves should locate these 2 lines where you'd like them to lie, following the line of the upper

Drafting a Basic Sleeve Block - Part I

2010-08-22T00:00:00.003+08:00

The fifth installment in the drafting series is all about drafting the basic sleeve block. And it is written by me(!) as a guest blogger for the series. I've reproduced the post below (with kind permission) for you my very own readers :)There are many seemingly different methods to draft a basic sleeve block. Although the practical aspects (steps, procedures) may differ, the objectives of each

Drafting the Back Bodice Sloper and Checking Against the Front

2010-08-21T10:06:00.004+08:00

The third and fourth installments in the drafting series are now out! The third one is all about drafting the back sloper/block and the fourth one is on how to check that the front block and back block correspond to each other in all the right places.I must say again how very thorough LiEr is in explaining the hows and even the whys in drafting...all in non-technical language (with some

Drafting the Front Bodice Sloper

2010-08-16T19:57:00.002+08:00

The second installment in the sloper drafting series is out. And it's all about drafting the front bodice sloper/block.It's long but thorough...idiot-proof, if you don't mind my saying so :D

And We're Off!

2010-08-02T23:30:00.003+08:00

The Series on Drafting which I posted about a little while ago has officially started!The first post is an overview of drafting; recommended tools, how to measure small children and some general tips on measuring and drafting. It also conveniently includes a downloadable measurement sheet for your convenience! LiEr thinks of EVERYTHING.Do go look NOW!

Aarrgh!

2010-07-30T13:11:00.003+08:00

I just HAD to go and mess with my blog template...!I even remembered to save my original template before messing about with it, but something must have gone wrong while saving and then it wouldn't load up properly after that. This is what comes of Mucking About instead of Getting On With Work.Luckily I had a really old (I mean really!) template saved in the pc and that's what you're looking at.I

Little Chi Pao - PDF Sewing Pattern

2010-07-21T16:22:00.015+08:00

Little Chi Pao - PDF Sewing Pattern USD 10.00 The Little Chi Pao is a sweet little summery dress with a touch of the orient. It has a narrow mandarin collar and is fastened in the traditional Chinese way, with buttons running diagonally down one side of the front bodice. It is a slightly flared, A-line type, 3-quarter length, half-wrap dress for girls and is un-lined to suit warmer

A Series on Drafting

2010-07-21T01:38:00.004+08:00

My friend LiEr over on ikat bag is going to do a series of posts on how to draft slopers / basic blocks on her blog. She has graciously invited me to write a few posts on various related topics and I'm so excited to be working with her on this!LiEr and I have been friends since attending primary school, in Singapore where we are both from. Our life paths have diverged quite dramatically - she now

A Little Chi Pao

2010-04-25T17:59:00.009+08:00

Keeping to my habit of posting belatedly (and then pitifully sporadically), let me show you the dress my daughter wore for Chinese New Year in Feb of this year. I really love the print on this fabric; reminiscent of pinwheels (both the flower and the toy) and so non-cheena (ok, only Singaporeans will understand that last term...won't explain it cos no one else will unless you grew up there),

A Little Dress For Felicity

2010-01-30T16:53:00.009+08:00

Who's Felicity, you are asking?She is the little girl who loves to dress up.She is the tom-boy who unhappily dons a dress for her big-girl-cousin's wedding.She is the little lady who enjoys serving tea to her stuffed animals in plastic 'chinaware'.She is the daughter of that lady who insists that her children are always immaculately groomed.Most of all,she is the girl who runs free in the garden

Christmas Clothes 2009

2010-01-29T12:18:00.016+08:00

This year didn't start off very well for us unfortunately. We were plagued with illness and, therefore, general miserable-ness. As any of you mothers out there know, nursing a sick child while sick yourself is not fun.The good news (for me, that is) is that when I finally recovered, I felt like a phoenix rising out of the ashes. I have a renewed sense of purpose and energy and overall, feel in

New Pricing for Marilyn's LBD - PDF Pattern

2010-01-21T16:40:00.003+08:00

I've decided that it is not very convenient for the customer nor very efficient for me to sell the digital pattern in single-size downloads. And this despite the discount provided for buying additional sizes.So I've restructured the download so that buyers will get 4 sizes delivered in one file. The downloads are bundled into 3 separate sets.Size Set 1 will include sizes from A to D.Size Set 2

Custom-sized Corset Pattern Sale

2009-12-13T10:54:00.003+08:00

I'm having a very short-term half-off sale on my custom-sized corset patterns for the next 4 days, from today 9 DEC to 15 DEC midnight (GMT+8). Thereafter, the sale will be for 25% off for the rest of DEC 09 (which will be made available in my Etsy shop).The Overbust Pattern is now at only $37.50 and the Underbust Pattern is now at only $27.50! (USD)This sale is only for a PDF version of the

Cable Ties Are My Friends

2009-12-08T01:13:00.008+08:00

I have alterations to make, clothes to sew and patterns to complete...but what did I choose to do instead over the weekend?Deck my halls and put up the tree.I have lived in my house for nearly 6 years and I have never put up any Christmas decorations until THIS year. Maybe it's because I have a 2-year-old who might now begin to appreciate the celebrating of Christmas and what that entails. Maybe

A Versatile Blouse - extending the pattern for a dress (Part 3)

2009-11-28T13:38:00.009+08:00

Part 3 has been a long time coming, I know. My apologies and thanks for your patience (and sticking with me thus far!). This tutorial shows how to extend the blouse pattern for a dress (of your own preferred length).For reference, see Part 1 and Part 2. Let's start.1. From the nape of your neck at back, measure down to your desired length for a dress. For the sake of this tutorial, let's say

Look Where I Showed Up!

2009-11-18T17:48:00.008+08:00

In 'Just Dance' magazine (Oct-Nov issue)!I made the bra and the belt in the outfit on the right (and that's Sherlyn, my client!) Actually, I beaded a ready-made bra of hers and made the belt from interfacing and cotton fabric. And THEN I beaded it. I don't know who made the actual skirt but it's a perfect match, don't you think?This was the very last thing I made before I gave birth. So, of

Marilyn's LBD - PDF Sewing Patterns - Now Available for SALE!

2009-11-13T14:36:00.009+08:00

Remember this dress?Well it took some weeks writing and revising the instructions and patterns, but it is now ready for sale here!The Marilyn's LBD is so named because I can absolutely see Ms Monroe sashaying about town in high black-suede heels and this dress (and it would have looked about a hundred times better on her than on the model pictured above)!This is the first of a collection of

Halloween 'Costumes'...

2009-11-03T23:11:00.007+08:00

...in parenthesis because you can hardly call them costumes. More like an ordinary dress and long-sleeved vest. 5 points if you can guess what/who we were supposed to be. Here be clues: I wouldn't blame you if you missed it completely. Nobody at Nikhita's playgroup (where the Halloween party was) knew either. Only after they were told did they have the "oh ya!" moment.Anti-climactic.The

Black Sheath (aka 'I am still here' post)

2009-10-03T17:05:00.011+08:00

No, I haven't dropped off the face of the earth. Just the usual things getting in the way of blogging...you know, work, family, living. It seems like every time I think I have some space to breathe, I get a new commission or someone falls sick. The former is good, I shouldn't complain about that, but the latter - not so pleasant at all.I finally found some time to actually sit down and sift

A Versatile Blouse - adding a narrow banded collar (Part 2)

2009-06-07T21:29:00.016+08:00

Following up with the tutorial posted here, this post shows you how to add a narrow banded collar to the basic blouse pattern (see side-bar for download links). This post also includes a full tutorial on how to make up the entire blouse, with the collar. Please see the previous post for information on the size chart, materials, and pattern cutting.Because the tutorial runs a little long (what

How to divide serger thread into smaller spools - a silly kind of tutorial

2009-06-01T23:59:00.007+08:00

Make no mistake - I hate serger thread! They shred and split and fly here and there when one is trying to thread the serger. BLACK serger thread is the worst! Black attracts a lot of static cling and the thread shreds and splits even more than the other colours :(That said, I still use it for some projects that really require it...like sewing up seams on jersey knits.The problem, as many of you

Fabric Covered Journal - Giveaway Winner!

2009-06-01T10:03:00.012+08:00

Thank you EVERYONE who participated in the giveaway! Your comments were so appreciative and encouraging that I wished I had more journals to give away :)Without further ado, the winner is...... Wood Violet from Ontario, Canada!CONGRATULATIONS!I shall be contacting you soon for your mailing address.If anyone does try the tutorial and make one - a fabric covered journal, I mean - I'd love to see it