Great craft finds at Daiso!

Daiso is a shop from Japan which sells everything at only S$2. I love to go hunting for crafting materials at Daiso because sometimes you can really get to find great deals for certain items in the shop! Apparently they have a USA online store!


Plastic knitting spool with a detachable head that comes in small, medium and large sizes! Make the changes according to your yarn and project requirement! Better than the one I got from Spotlight a year ago which cost me S$10 and only comes in one size. (=.=)



Magnetic spring frame for making little purses!




And my favourite, cover buttons! Make your very own buttons with the fabric to match your blouse! But of course I'm not using it for a blouse.



I used the scrap fabric that I had left from making my first blouse.


(^_^)v

Serendipity Bag

Did I mention that I was busy making a crochet bag?

Yeah, that's what I have been busy with for the past 2 weeks.

I was working on this crochet bag for a friend of mine, Susie, who had left the work at the clinic for another job. I thought a crochet bag will be the best gift that I can give her since she's also my crochet and knitting friend!

Before I reveal the finished product, let me talk a little about how the entire idea of the bag came about. In the beginning, I wanted to make this Fat Purple Bag that I saw on Ravelry. But as I went along with it, I realised that it's really small and not the kind of bag that I want to make for her. So I modified the pattern suing the concepts of increasing stitches for the puffy-look in the Fat Purple Bag. I didn't understand the last part on the basting and the handles, so I made it my own way. The result really wasn't too bad, but it didn't look good enough. Then I tried salvaging it by sewing up the bottom to create the look I wanted to achieve from the very beginning. I altered the bottom of the bag 3 times before I was satisfied with the way it looks. I crochet a scallop edging at the top, attached knitted straps, embellished it with buttons of a contrasting colour, stitched a lining, and this is what I got in the end.

*drum rolls...*

the bag with my noticeboard as background...


And for all that I went through, I think this bag is truly worth the name of Serendipity Bag.
I really like the way the buttons matches the bag


I'm so glad that my mini sewing machine was working! I sewed the sides of the lining using the machine but had to hand stitch the lining itself to the bag.

And the zip...

Ahhh, really proud of this very first bag that I crochet. My hands are itching to make more and more!!!

Crochet Therapy

I've been sick for the past few days with a bout of tonsillitis. It's really bad infection that gives me painful sore throats and bloody nasal discharge. To make matters worse, I developed an allergic reaction to the antibiotic that I was given initially and ended up with peeling, bleeding lips and red itchy patches on my face. 'Nuff said.

Well, staying at home to recuperate can get really boring, so I finally got down to teach myself how to crochet after many failed attempts previously. Learning and practise come hand-in-hand, therefore I hooked on my remaining amount of yarn from making Vickie Howell's Lana & Clark Ascot (for a friend's birthday) to make this really tiny bag.

I found the pattern here. As there weren't any measurements of the finished project stated in the pattern, I was quite surprised to find that it turned out this tiny! I thought "itty bitty" was just a description of the bag being one that allows you to put your "itties bitties", but I didn't know that it was THIS TINY. And it even felt like a little bun to me as I held it in my hand to take this picture.

OH WELL. But I guess the size of the bag made it look cute. (^_^)

I'm giving this Itty Bitty bag to a friend of mine. (^_^)

Other than this, I've also been trying my hook on different yarns for different projects but I always got dissatisfied and then ripped it all out again. This crochet therapy really made me feel better. Perhaps all the sc, dc, hdc and then the final ripping was a way to vent frustrations while in a comfortable, resting position.

Mad about sewing zips!

I have completed knitting a sweet lilac purse with lace patterns a few months back. It is was intended to be given to a colleague of mine who was leaving. Well, she has already left for a few months but the purse is still incomplete.

Actually the only thing that was left to be done is to sew zips to the openings of the what I have already knitted. But it's really a torture to sew the zips. I mean REALLY. I never had that stamina and patience to sew the zips on, stitch by stitch, taking care that the stitches don't show on the right side of my knitted work.

It all started with this blue purse, the maiden project completed by my knitting "student", a friend of mine who is working in the same clinic as me. So as a "teacher", I had to encourage her to continue to knit by allowing her to have her very first, completed knitted project. It was also the first time I tried sewing zips onto a knitted piece of work, so I finished up pretty fast with my enthusiasm. I even added a teddy backing into the purse! Yes it was A LOT of work.

I think it looked really neat!

So, for a while I had a phobia towards sewing zips by hand.

But looking back, I think I'm now ready to get back to the work. Moreover, I think I should be meeting up with that colleague of mine soon. (^_^)