Child Yukata

This mommy is so into Japanese attire these days.  After sewing the summer kimono, aka yukata, the other day, I have decided to try my hand on the child version, which comes with a top and a short pants.   This 2 piece version is more children friendly as they can run wild without the restriction from the long robe.  It is unisex too, meaning boys and girls' pattern is the same.  Only the choice of prints is different.

When sewing the yukata, one has to always bear in mind that the top should follows the rule - left over right.  The japanese wears the kimono or yukata with the left side over the right side.  Only during mourning that they wear it right over left.  A tip that I got about this is to think of 'leftover rice'.  Leftover rice sounds just like 'left over right'. 

This time round, I have sewn 3 of this child yukata.  One for my boy, one for a friend's son and another with printed kitty in pink for a little girl whose mummy lend me the bouncer for my boy.  All three of them... Now, this makes me think of the song 'Baa baa black sheep have you any wool? Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full'.  Only now it is 3 yukatas instead...

Serging With Brother NV50

When I bought the Brother NV50 nearly a year ago, I was already tempted to get a serger as well.  However, I hold back,  telling myself that spending so much on a hobby is not worth it.  Plus, I can always send the cloth to the shop for serging, which doesn't cost much really.

Recently, I find that sending the cloth to the shop is a bit of a hassle as the shop assistants are always busy and I had to wait a long time to get my cloth serged.  Sometimes, I even have to come back at a later time to collect my cloth as they were just too busy to get mine done.  Seems like I will have to make do with using the NV50 to do the serging.

The NV50 comes with an edge finishing function. The down side is that it takes a long time to get the finishing done which is why I did not like to use it in the first place.  I have since, come out with a solution to this.  That is, to first sew the garment and do the finishing later, combining both pieces of cloth, thus saving time in finishing only once and not both the pieces.

There are a few types of edge finishing that can be chosen from the NV50.  For this particular piece, I chose the function no. 10.  Upon entering the stitch type at the sewing machine, it prompted automatically for the type of sewing foot needed, that is the G foot. 

Stitches 05 to 12 are for edge finishing



Screen panel of NV50 showing the sewing foot to use



Sewing Foot for Edge Finishing

To sew the finishing, the edge of the cloth needs to be aligned to the centre bar of the sewing foot.  Thereafter, one just need to start sewing.  The finishing is not as good as the conventional 3 or 4 threads serger, but it serves its function and that is good enough.



Raw Edge before Finishing



Edge after Finishing

Cheese Bread

Have not been baking bread lately, all because I devoted my time in practising my cake baking and decorating skill in preparation for the girls birthday next month.  However, my hands were itching to try a new recipe that I adapted from the book 'The World of Bread' by Alex Goh.  It seems to be a pretty easy recipe and the plus point is that there is no need to prepare the water roux beforehand.  Sometimes my bread baking mood is dampened by not having the water roux prepared well in advanced and since this recipe does not call for it, thus, I can start baking anytime I want.  

Ingredients :

A
150g   bread flour
250g   plain flour
20g    sugar
1tsp   salt
2tsp   instant yeast


B
220ml   cold milk
1           egg

C
30g   butter

D
30g   cheese, cut into cubes
30g   roasted almonds flakes

E
20g  almonds flakes
20g  cheese, cut into cubes

F
Cheese slices (as desired)



Method :

1) Mix A till well blended and add B.  Knead to form a dough.
2) Add C and knead till the dough becomes smooth and elastic.  Divide into 2 portions and let rest for 10 mins.
3) Roll the dough flat and spread with butter.  Sprinkle D on top and roll like a Swiss roll.
4) Cut each dough pieces into 3 and place in sandwich moulds, with the cut sides facing up.
5) Cover and let it proof for 1.5 hours.
6) Egg wash the surface and sprinkle with E.
7) Bake in preheated oven at 190 deg C for 20 mins.
8) Take the bread out of the oven and quickly place F on top.
9)  Bake for another 5 mins. Unmould immediately and let cool.


The bread is delightfully soft and taste good.  The original recipe calls for the use of oregano, which I omitted as my girls do not find the taste of the oregano palatable.  It is nevertheless, delicious and kids love the taste of the cheese embedded within and on the surface of the bread.

DIY Blanket for Little One

The downside for a boy in having two elder sisters is that everything that is being passed down tend to be pink in color.  Blanket, bolsters, cloth diaper, clothes, etc, etc…..Not exactly a macho color, especially for a little boy who is trying hard to impress.  I guess such is the dilemma faced by my boy.  So, in order to let my little boy to have something that he can call his own, I sewn him a little blue blanket. 

Materials needed are :

1 pc         Flannel      (80cm x 80cm)

4 strips    Printed cotton                (3cm x 82cm each)

Steps :

1)      Snip a little of the all four corners of the flannel.

2)      Place 1 strip of printed cotton on to the edge of the flannel (with right sides facing each other).  Fold about 2cm of one end of the printed cotton.  Sew along the edges.

3)      When the 1^st strip of printed cotton is coming to the end, fold one end of the 2^nd strip of printed cotton, arrange at the edge of the flannel and place the end of the 1^st printed cotton over it.  Sew along the edges.  Repeat until the perimeter of the flannel has been sewn with the printed cotton.

4)      With the wrong side of the printed cotton facing up, fold to cover the raw edges of the flannel.  Pin in place if necessary.

5)      Sew along the inner edge of the folded printed cotton.

6)      The blanket is now done.

Since all the raw edges of both flannel and printed cotton will be covered, thus, there is no need  to do any serging beforehand.   I prefer to have rounded corners as they look softer and to prevent the sharp corner from injuring the eyes of the little one.

The blanket is very easy to make and took less than half an hour to be completed.    Now my boy has something to call his own.  His very own, and not something that is being passed down by his sisters.  But then, come to think about it, mummy also made him a bolster the other day…

Drool Pads for SSC

A teething baby is really no joke.  One wonders where gone the happy, smiley face?  That little one has gone cranky; screaming and crying all day long.  How do we comfort a baby who cannot be comforted?  At times like this, babywearing seems to be the only solution, providing peace and silence to the ears.

Comfortable as it is, wearing my boy with moby wrap in this hot weather is unimaginable.  The SSC is God sent in this.  The little one seems to be contented with staying near mummy and being carried everywhere, hence, the crying stopped.  However, the teething pain is never forgotten.  The shoulder straps of the SSC is now the new target for the little one to bite.  The shoulder straps are soaked through with saliva in no time at all.  It is out of question to wash the serviceable SSC everyday. Thus, in order to protect the shoulder straps from further drenched with saliva, I came out with my own DIY drool pads.

The little one is supposed to bite and drools on the pads instead of the shoulder straps.  Thus, one need only to wash and replace the drool pads, instead of having to wash the whole SSC. 

My DIY drool pads is basically a handkerchief sandwiched with two pieces of printed cottons.  Snaps are put in place to hold the pads at the shoulder straps.  Velcro can be used as well but I prefer snaps as velcro tend to get dirty with time.

The completed drool pads fit both my DIY SSC and the Pognae SSC.  My boy doesn't know any better between biting the shoulder straps and the drool pads. 

The Completed Drool Pads

Label at the Drool Pad

Drool Pads fitted at the Pognae SSC

Drool Pads Fitted at my DIY SSC

DIY Bag for Little Girls

Parents with babies or toddlers will understand just how many things we need to pack whenever we go out with our little ones.   Diapers, change of clothes, handkerchief, milk powder (for those not breastfeeding), thermos flask, teething biscuits, etc, etc.  Having toddlers who already can eat on their own is not much better, what more with a pair of twins.

I can't recall just how many times we had to ask for extra bowls, plates, cups, spoons or forks whenever we eat out with our girls.  I bet we were too difficult to serve when the waiter frowned at our mere presence at their restaurants.  So, in order to save ourselves from further embarassment, I think it is a good idea to bring our own eating utensils.  So I equipped our girls with a lunch box and a box containing spoon, fork and chopstick.  One set for each of them.  Got all these from Daiso and I bought a canvas bag for them to put the utensils in too, cos as usual, we also let the girls bring along a handkerchief and a book to keep them entertained. 

The Daiso canvas bag is rather plain.  Thus, when a friend suggested that I make a tutu bag out of it, I jumped into the idea immediately.  Only that I used fabrics instead of tulle as I already have few drawers full of fabrics. 

Sewing the fabrics onto the bag was challenging as the canvas is very hard and stiff.  Plus, the bag is small, making it difficult to turn it around.  Sewing the first bag is challenging. However, even with the experience gained from sewing the first bag, sewing the second one proved to be even more challenging.  This is because I need to make them identical to avoid the girls fighting with each other for the 'nicer' ones.  I guess this is the problem faced by those who draw their eyebrows everyday.  One need to draw both brows to be identical and balanced.

The bags looked so different after the fabrics were sewn, resembling a dress.  I personally prefer the two layers version.  However, the extra layer adds weight and bulk to the bag, which is too much for the girls to handle.  Thus, I stick to the single layer version, which is rather dainty on its own.

The girls were so excited when they saw the bags and what it contained.  Not sure though, whether they were excited to see the pretty bags or knowing that they have new lunch boxes and eating utensils which are all in pink color.  Their favourite color.  They even requested to have pink colored orange!

Top : Bag with one layer fabric

Bottom :  Bag with two layers fabrics