bitten by the sewing bug...

yeap. i've been bitten by the sewing bug. ok so technically i've always liked sewing somehow. when i was in primary school i got excited with hand stitching. a whole lot of trials and errors during the learning process (from a home ecs book no less). then of course there was the cross stitching phase which after awhile i kinda got tired of. heheh. it's such tedious work but i'm happy to know that i know how to do it. LOL!!! oooo and i did learn a lil bit of crocheting from my late grandma and great grandma. i've never actually completed a project on that though. just basics. hehehe. i've got sweaty palms so it didn't really work for me.

when we did home ecs in form 1 through 3, i loved the sewing parts. not that i was any good at the time but it was just something i found interesting to do. there was the skirt project, the kitchen hand towel project and of course the pmr box cover project. that involved a bit of quilting (well, kinda).

my mum had gone for sewing lessons before at her work place. so she knows a thing or two about sewing. so we have a sewing machine at home because of it. that was almost 20 years ago!!!! but i totally love the machine she has cos you don't even have to take the bobbin out of the arm to wind it. hehehe. this particular model/line winds the bobbin in the arm itself. hehehe. anyways, the machine has done a lot of good for us. my mum and i usually do the curtains for our home. in fact we've just finished the dining and kitchen curtains during ramadhan. now we're planning on the huge front door panels' curtains. thank goodness kamdar is finally here!!!! i heart kamdar for all the beautiful fabric they have. LOL!!!! but seriously, the sewing machine is mainly used for clothes repair and pants hemming. hehehe.

after realizing how enormous i've ballooned (i can't fit into ANY of my baju kurungs' skirts), i got the idea of sewing my baju kurungs myself. with a superb online tutorial from myGFL. unfortunately it didn't come out as i'd like mainly due to my overambitious nature (no clothes sewing experience and i had to choose a difficult and slippery fabric to work with). good thing i managed to salvage my raya wardrobe panic with a couple shopping expeditions a few days before we left for my grandma's house. LOL!!!!! to think i'd wanted to help sew my lil bro's raya costume as well. hehehe.

anyways, from then on everything built up. my passion for sewing that is. hehehe. i found an absolutely awesome site that has downloadable and adjustable patterns.my next project is to sew a pair of pants and a simple basic pencil skirt for work... i've already printed the patterns (seam allowances included) but haven't patched them up yet. hehehe. this should be fun. weeeee!!!!!!

another sewing project i've been addicted to somewhat is t-shirt surgery. my mum borrowed a book for me from the library a few months back cos she thought i'd like it (and i LOVE it by the way) called Generation T. this is a fantastic book i'm telling ya.. this book has a gazillion (more like 108) ways of transforming the average tee. it's truly inspiring and from the rave reviews i've been reading about it, it's one of the best out there!!

then there's a community site on LJ dedicated to t-shirt surgery (here). now there used to be a member there that makes the most gorgeous pieces called ninjatoshiba but somehow she's been wiped off from cyberspace all of a sudden. her site/blog on piczo is non-existent too. i wonder what happened to her?!?!?

another reason for my sudden obssession for sewing is because although i'm not exactly super duper double whammy incredibly huge in size or anything, mot stores, boutiques and outlets don't have stuff that fits me and a lot of which don't have the kinda designs that i like. i'm a very simple person and i play around with a lot of basic pieces when it comes to my sense of style. the fashion scene where i live is dominated by hong kong, korean and japanese fashion cultures which unfortunately cater to more boney frames. dresses are mostly in free size (or as they call it in indonesia "all size") that generally fits sizes xs to m. t-shirts are littered with nonesense sentences and spelling errors that i'd be too embarrassed to wear in public. just the other day i was looking for some new pair of work pants. and guess what?!?!? the store only had up to size L. how pathetic is that?!?!?! although they insisted that they have a size xl but it comes as a blazer-pants set and needless to say, i don't need a blazer. this is why i do a lot of my shopping at fos. nichii's pretty good too for basic stuff. me likey!!!

anyways, some clothes are cheaper sewn than bought. heheh. at least i've got a hobby again. :) yay!!!!