Lonny Magazine

Through other blogs, I came across this great online magazine, Lonny Magazine and they just released their second issue. It is such a neat magazine, I had to blog about it in this blog and my other one so that you do not miss it! Here is the link. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

I Need A Blog Makeover!

I am entering into a giveaway - a chance to win a blog makeover here by Bloggy Blog Designz - I hope I win. I am so bad at making my blog look nicer, I am also hopeless when it comes to the simple things like formatting paragraphs and such.

Enter it for a chance to win!

Fleece Blanket.

Ok, I have been so busy lately, but still found the time to make a fleece blanket for Cameron. James' one is coming up next.

I went to the Black Friday sales - to Joann's the fabric and craft shop, where else, LOL? I spent the whole morning there after church, I skipped lunch and just wanted to buy the right things, not to overspend (if that is possible, me in a fabric shop!)

The quilt fabric was already priced at $3.99 and then there was another $1 off.  Notions were all at 50% off and because I started quilting again, I found out that my huge cutting board was warped from the trip from Singapore to here. I bought the biggest one priced at US$49 and got it for $24.50. Ace man, ace!

As I was done, I queued up at the cutting counter when two ladies, a mum and her teenage daughter had bales and bales of fleeced stacked up in their trolley. They had with them a snuggly blanket and it looked so cute. They were talking loudly about how much to price it at to sell to people and she said something like "$30". It was so cute that I wanted to buy it from them but then I stopped short and took a good look at it to see if I could make it myself. Fleece was on sale, slashed from $9.99 to $2.99.

I then thought, there must be an article on the internet that teaches you how to make fleece blankets and I was right!

I bought these and got down to work.

For James as he loves space

For Cameron.

First, I placed the two fabrics, wrong sides together. Then I trim the edges so that they are all the same. I used 2 yards but now I think I should have bought 2.5 yards because my kids are tall.

Then I trim off the corners. I used about 4" for the side against the grain and 5" for along the grain.

Then I cut the fringes an inch apart. They are then tied into double knots to secure them. Repeat all until the very end and voila! Nice and warm blanket. I used it last night as the boys found it too hot.

Top of the blanket.

Reverse side of the blanket. Note, the room is very sparse, like the rest of our house. My reasoning is that we are going to move out in a year and don't really want to hang things up the walls and fix it up after we leave.

Cam pleased with his new blanket. Actually, he was a little cross because I stopped him mid-play to make him take the photo!

Total cost $12. Not bad, eh? Now to start on James' blanket!

Yoga Mat Holder

It was Reva’s birthday in October and I wanted to make her something practical. When I found out she does yoga, I decided to make her a yoga mat bag. I used Amy Butler’s free pattern and it was really easy to follow. I am not too sure about the fabric though but the pattern called for heavier home decor fabric so my choices were rather limited. What do you think? Should I have gone for something more neutral?

It feels great to start sewing again after a break. I think I will be making a quilt next…

Book Shelf

Ok here is my first woodworking project. As I mentioned before, it is something so small but I never imagined I had to use so many tools to get it done. I thought it was just a saw some nails and perhaps a drill. Shows how much I know about woodworking.

I love the natural colours of the wood. I did not paint it, it was oak (the lighter one on the outside) and walnut. I just put oil and polyurethane on it to seal it.

Love the grain of the wood. Fine woodworking apparently involves no nails. I wanted to sign up for the furniture making course which was the next event but it starts at night, just before Matt gets back from work and I have no one to help babysit the kids. See the top left hand corner with the faint burn mark?

These pegs and the curved part of the bookshelf were sanded down with a disc sanding machine - not your normal random orbit sander and I had to move fast because when I lingered, it caught fire! It got so hot that the wood just burned. I was also scared to go too fast lest my fingers get caught in the machine and break my fingers! That was why we had so many to make, just in case one did not work out.

So anyway, I bought a single bed, totally raw and unfinished so that I could do my own staining. I appreciated the lesson that I learnt in order to use some of the tools in the right way. I gained enough confidence to buy myself a Dewalt Random Orbit Sander at Home Depot! I got to use it today but the whole place was filled with yucky sawdust.

Autographed Toys

J came back two days ago with an autographed fish - all the students in his class had one and they were given a fabric marker to sign with. Isn’t that just a fabulous idea? The fish represents the Primary School, gecko represents the Intermediate, etc..

So C is also interested, he wants to write on the fish but big brother says “No! It is for friends who are leaving or people whom I won’t see again - I will still see you!” C then asked me to make one for him as it is also his last week at school. So last night, in a panic, I looked around on the internet for some ideas of cat pictures and saw one which seemed easy to sew. So I drafted up my own pattern and made this in a few hours. I would have liked black buttons for eyes but I didn’t have any. I also did not put in a tail until everyone complained that it seemed like a naked cat so I had to unpick it to sew in a tail. Let’s see what it looks like tomorrow after everyone has written on it!

Recycled Scarf

As we are clearing out most of our things, Matt had to throw a few of his suits as he could not fit into them. It just seemed like a shame to throw away good quality wool suits but no one wears them here in Singapore as it is too hot.

So I cut up his suits and made them into a scarf, using accent fabrics - batik. I followed Denise Schmidt’s pattern but I could not understand the instructions in her book (my English is not good), so I just followed the idea and did it my own way. I had to put a quilt batting inside because I figured it was too thin for a scarf. Now it is kind of like a pillow…yikes. One thing is for sure, Matt’s neck will be kept warm when we move to Washington DC.

After doing this scarf, I made another one, without the batting.

This is the finished scarf.

I am not too sure if Matt would wear it as it is very different, as in weird.