Wear Your Creation

Was browsing in the stationery shop and came across the Fabric Crayons.  An idea suddenly struck :  let the kids doodle on cloth and make a dress out of it.  Or rather, sew the dress first before letting the kids doodle.  It would be a pity if I will have to cut off some of their drawings when cutting the dress pattern.

Made a very simple skirt out of the grey bridal satin that I bought some time ago.  Beats me why I bought the satin in the first place.  But the skirts turned out nice as the satin gave it a 'pom pom' feel.  

The girls doodled on the plain skirts excitedly and before long, they get to wear their own creations.  Just remember to follow the instructions of the fabric crayons, that is, to wash the fabric beforehand and to fix the crayons by heat setting.

 

 

2015 Cinderella Dress

My girls have been looking forward for the new Cinderella movie with much anticipation. Not really sure if they are looking forward for the Cinderella show itself or the Frozen Fever short film that is aired before the start of the movie.  We enjoyed the Frozen Fever short film very much. Olaf is highly entertaining as usual while the sisterhood between Elsa and Anna is just as great.

The Cinderella movie itself is good but I don't think it is as good as Frozen.  It will take a lot to topple Frozen from the fans' hearts. Perhaps cos we grew up very familiar with the Cinderella story and there is no element of surprise. The storyline is well known and we knew what is going to happen next. Anyway, the animation in the movie is good. I particularly like the castle and Cinderella's house. Really like a page from the fairytale.

Shortly after watching the movie, I knew what my girls will ask for next, the dress! So here it is.  

I tried to stay true to the dress in the movie as much as I could but of course a little modification is needed here and there to suit children's bodies more.  

The girls were thrilled with the dress and urged me to finish the 2nd one as soon as possible cos they just wouldn't share. But lucky me that since they are twins, the size will be the same and the 2nd dress will be just a duplicate. The patterns are all already in place 😀

A Manchu Chinese New Year

Dressing in traditional Chinese costumes during Chinese New Year (CNY) has made a come back in recent years.  Usually parents dressed their little girls in cheongsam or modernised cheongsam.  I myself have sewn a few for my girls in previous.  This year, I decided to make something out of the norm, the Manchu court costumes.

The Manchus is the tribe who ruled China from 1644 to 1912.   The era of their ruling is called the Qing dynasty, the last dynasty in China.  The Qing dynasty was succeeded by the Republic of China

The Manchu court costumes consist of a long robe, which is not as figure hugging as cheongsam.  During cold months, a sleeveless jacket is worn in addition to the long robe.   An elaborate head dress complete the look.  In the Manchu prime era, the head dress is an indication of the rank of the wearer.  Servants wear it very simple and bare.  Higher rank servants may decorate it with some flowers or cheap jewelry.  Women with rank wore very elaborate head dress, decorated heavily with jade and jewelries.  The style of the head dress however, differ from each reign of the Qing emperors.

Empress Cixi of Qing Dynasty

The Manchus, unlike the Han Chinese, did not bind the feet of their women.  The Manchu women wore elevated shoes instead.  Together with the heavy head dress, the Manchu women stood tall and poised.

Elevated shoes of the Manchu Women

I made some modifications to the costume, to cater for the tropical weather that we have here.  The girls look absolutely adorable in their costumes.  The head dress made them look very tall indeed, which was just what the Manchus set to accomplished with the head dress and elevated shoes.

DIY Rapunzel Costume

After completing the Flynn Rider's costume, I set to work on the Rapunzel's dress next.  One of my girl will dress up as Rapunzel while my boy will be Flynn Rider this Halloween. 

The Rapunzel's costume consists of a purple dress, complete with the lace at the neckline, puffy sleeves and pink lace in front.  The white lacey petticoat shows from the hem of the dress but instead of wearing a petticoat, I just sewn the lace to the hem.  Attaching the grommets to the bodice was a bit of a challenge though.    After much difficulties,  I managed to finally sourced for the grommets and the tools to attach them in the right size.  I didn't know how to attach them and had to Googled for the instructions.  Didn't know that hammer goes along with dresses!

The dress was done in a day and it is a beautiful one.  I worked on the wig next.  The wig was fairly easy to make.  First, I cut the yarn of desired length, attached them to another piece of yarn and braided them in place.  I attached several flowers to the braids next and it is done!

The girls were delighted with the dress and wig!  I personally feel that the dress is beautiful and it has since become my favourite piece of work.  :)

DIY Flynn Rider Costume

I had an 'Oh my God!' moment when I received the notification from the kids kindergarten on the Halloween party that is to be held in one week's time.  Didn't know that the kindergarten will be having a celebration and I have let out all the costumes that I have.  Thus, I have to quickly sew another three costumes, in addition to the two that I planned to let the girls wear to the Disney Live show.  All in one week!

I have chosen the Flynn Rider from Tangled costume for my little boy.  The color of Flynn's vest is supposed to be of a green hue but since I have lots of blue fabric, I decided to give it a little twist.

It was fun sewing this costume though I wish I am not so pressed for time.  Anyway, it was done in just one night of labour.  Also sewn a leather-like bag as well as attach a pan and knife to go with the costume, just like Flynn in the movie.   The little Flynn is very curious of his pan and knife  :)

DIY Princess Anna's Party Gown

The movie 'Frozen' has been released for almost one year and yet, the craze just goes on and on.   Merchandise bearing the pictures and the words 'Frozen' takes form of everything imaginable : clothes, water bottles, eating utensils, bags, pencils, and even, swimwear!

I have sewn a 'mini' Princess Anna's party dress months ago, the green dress that Anna wore when she met Prince Hahn's for the first time. It is also the same dress that she wore to her sister, Queen Elsa's coronation ceremony and ball.  It is a beautiful and elegant gown, adorned with motif at the bodice and thoughout the dress.  And to go with it, a beautiful braided head of hair.

So many moons have passed since I feel like sewing the same dress in bigger size for my 5 years old daughters.  It was done with a little modification : the motif at the dress is sewn on using gauze ribbons, rather than drawn.   The motif at the bodice, however, were drawn using cloth dyes and heat treated. 

It looked doomed to fail at first and I nearly gave up half way. The skirt just wouldn't straightened, probably due to all the tugging and pulling when I sew the ribbons on.  However, after some 'serious' ironing, the gown started to fall in place.  Once the motif at the bodice is drawn, I fell in love with it.

And.. when my girl wore it for the first time, I fell in love with it all over again....

There are many similar 'Princess Anna's dress' out there in the market.  But nothing beats the DIY.

DIY - Transformation of T-Shirts

There is a picture of the kids wearing Frozen costumes which I particularly.  It was a very simple picture taken at the garden of my house.  Then, a friend changed the background and the effect is just... WOW!!

I like the picture a lot and had it printed on T-shirts for the kids.  The T-shirts turned out to be quite large, which looked untidy for the girls. So I sewn a skirt at the hem and turned it into a T-shirt dress.

Original T-Shirt

 

 

 

T-Shirt with skirt attached

Finished dress

The girls wearing the Shirt Dress

 

 

 

 

The girls wearing the Shirt Dress

Kids Craft : Felt Bag

A lazy Sunday afternoon is filled with coaching the girls on making a felt bag. 

 

This is the first time they do some sewing and to start with, I felt that it is best to let them handle a blunt needle.  They can work using the usual, sharp needles when they have some experience in sewing and able to handle a needle better later.  The DIY kits were obtained from Mr. DIY for RM2.50 each.  There is a variety of kids crafts available in Mr. DIY for very reasonable prices.  These felt sewing kits is one of them.  Also available are EVA foam crafts in the form of crown, spectacles, pencil holders, etc.  Each of the girls worked on a bag on their own.

 

 

 

DIY Kit from Mr. DIY

 

 

 

 

Sewing in progress


 

Sewing in progress

 

 

 

 

It took some time for the girls to grasp the idea of the kind of stitches that are able to hold 2 pieces together.  Nevertheless, it was a breeze after they have worked it out.  The girls were excited once the bags are done and couldn't wait to show it to their daddy and grandmother.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The finished products

DIY Children's Belts

My daughters' swimming class is cancelled today due to the rain.  So I decided to stay at home and do some sewing. 

Got some webbings and rings from the local Daiso yesterday and decided to make some belts for the children.  Btw, isn't Daiso a magical place?  You can find almost anything there.

First, measure how long do you want the belt to be.  The webbing is enough to make 2 belts, just perfect for my 2 girls, so I cut it into two. As easy as that.  Then run through both ends of the webbings through fire to seal the ends, preventing them from fraying.



Next, take 2 rings and insert them into one end of the webbing. 

 

 

 

 

Fold over and sew across it.  Sew through the webbings at least twice to secure them.  As the webbings are thick, I used needle number 14 for this purpose.

 

 

 

 

 

And voila!  The belts are done!  Easy isn't it? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Showing off the belt

There are many beautiful webbings available in Daiso.  A packet of the rings can be made into seven such belts.  Nice, easy and cheap. 

Happy sewing!

My Happy (Frozen) Kids

Seems like I am on a 'Frozen' craze lately.   And so are my kids.  They happily donned on the costumes despite the tropical heat.  I felt sweaty just looking at their long sleeves, cape, gloves and boots.  But then, who cares?  As long as they are happy.

A friend who saw the pictures commented that I will just need Sven to complete the picture.  Oh dear!  Where do I find a reindeer?

DIY Kristoff Costume

Nowadays my girls enjoy ransacking the costumes wardrobe and put on the Elsa and Anna's costumes (from Frozen) and sing 'Let it Go' to their hearts' desire.   There is just something in this movie that captured the hearts of folks of all ages.

It is not fair for the girls to have all the fun though.  My little boy who has yet to speak a full sentence follows his che che and went 'let go...let go...'   It wouldn't be a bad idea to let him dress up as Kristoff and join the girls in their 'concert'.

The boy Kristoff is really cute.  I love my boy and I like the boy Kristoff.  Now I can have both. 

Boy Kristoff

 

 

 

DIY Queen Elsa's Coronation Dress

When we were watching the movie 'Frozen' together, my brother in law casually said that it wouldn't be long before I come out with all the costumes in the movie.  I told him that it is impossible.  The dresses are too complicated and have too many details that I couldn't reproduce.  However, as time goes by, I thought, 'why not?'  It has since, become my challenge.  

So far, I have sewn the Elsa's blue dress as well as the folk dress that Anna wore in the latter part of the movie.   And now, I am proud to present the dress that Queen Elsa wore at her coronation.  Elsa looked regal in the dress, which came complete with a cape.  The details at the bodice and the hem of the dress made it a classy piece.


Doesn't my girl look as regal a queen as Elsa? 

Details at the hem