We Finally Met - Kak Diah and I

When I entered into this new world of crafting and sewing, I thought I would be alone .... (sob sob) but then Allah, always, has plans for us .. when HE shows you a path for you to take HE would always make sure there ll be somebody to walk along with you ... nothing is coincidence in this life .. we are all part of this big and large scale of plans .. every little things that we decide would open up many many other doors, and the thing is, not only our decision will open a new door for us, it will also lead up to many other doors and windows to be opened by others .. and when I opened my new door into the craft world, I saw Ayu and then Kak Diah ..... They are no stranger to me. Ayu met me for the first time when I was still wearing that dark blue pinafore and Kak Diah, when I was wearing a swim suit ....


Hahaha ... ya ya thats how we met. Well no, actually I think we first met during an aerobic session ! I followed another friend of mine to the class and she introduced me to Kak Diah .. in those tight elastic sexy aerobic suit .... (forgive me Kak Diah .. but you looked hot .. I mean you still are ) sweating all over. I tried a few sessions with the aerobic group .... but me with my two left feet .. i had no knack at all with dancing .. I failed miserably at it ...... I just gave up. But I somehow managed to still keep in touch with Kak Diah. Its all because of swimming. We love the water very much and from then on we always meet up at the swimming pool. She would always bring her son "Boy" with her and I got along very well with Boy. Boy was only ten at that time .....

We spent our times chatting and I learned a lot from Kak Diah how she manages to keep her marriage alive and full of romance and how she really takes good care of her two daughters and that athletic boy Boy !


After some time we just drifted apart .. i think not because of anything, its just that Kak Diah i think was spending more of her time in KL and I in Alor Star. But we did meet occasionally, and at one time I even went to her house in BK3 and the main reason, apart from paying her a visit ... was to play basketball with Boy ... hahaha....

Kak Diah was already showing me her quilts during those our time together but me being me, I just looked at them with blank expression ... I was busy with my gym, my roller blade (yeah I even went out roller blading with Boy) my swimming, ..... hmmm. But I did notice Kak Diah , that they (your quilts) were all lovely; even when I had no inclination towards them, I still have great eyes for beauty ... :-D

I found Kak Diah again when I stumbled her blog. To my surprise she is already a famous quilter ! Almost everybody I know in the quilt world know of Kak Diah.

Kak Diah indeed is an amazing lady. I know that some are so surprised to know that I can get along with her that well, athletically, especially with the age gap of about 15 years. She is now pestering me to go swimming again after seeing my bulgy hip and I think i better follow her suggestion. I have no qualms about swimming but please no aerobic anymore ... (sakit lutut) sometimes I feel older than her physically

Oh ya I went to her house last nite and managed to get some shot. She was in spaghetti strap so no photos of her (hahahahaha .. kidding (the spaghetti strap))

Isnt she amazing
silly me i forgot to take more like the cross stitch project
and more of her ribbons and many other quilts
hand sewn quilts!!!!!!!!
tikar mengkuang saja dia tak anyam lagi
next month kot

Ohh its so good to able to re connect again with you again Kak Diah after all these years and now it should be livelier since we can talk and chit chat while sewing ....

:-)

p/s: Kak Diah is coming over to my house next week insya Allah .. mati la nak kena sapu sawang lap tingkap mop lantai ...... dan kot ... hahaha

;-D

Jangan Harap Pada Kucing Kesayangan Bila Kecemasan

Apalagi kalau kucing BOROI seperti ini

Have I ever told you, that before I started learning to sew and make all these crafty things, I was (and perhaps still am) an adrenaline junkie. Not that I had tried bungee jumping or anything like that, but you could say I am not the typical your girl next door who lipat kain sambil bersimpuh. So those who knew me before craftyanique find it amusing to learn that I can now know how to use a sewing machine and to some like Kak Diah its something hard to fathom ... (hehe betul kan Kak Diah)

And another thing about me is that I am a very clumsy lady too ... plus a bit of a careless side ... I bump into things when I walk and nobody, I assume, has broken my records of destroying things ... those who are close to me are always a bit wary when I hold their valuable items ....

Ahh ..ok enough about the history .. actually what I am trying to tell you is that .... well .. I was involved with an accident today ... with ... errrrrr .. my sewing machine. No I was not doing the easy stitch-minus-the-foot thing, in fact it happened when I was about to change the foot ... when I accidentally pushed the pedal ....

It wasnt that bad ............ the needle just went straight into my right thumb and came out the other side with the thread still attached to it and it broke (the needle NOT my thumb) into two .... I was a bit panic trying to lift the needle and when I managed to lift it then only I saw the needle and the thread dangling from my thumb with a few splash of blood ....

This is what happened when a perempuan kurang sejati used the sewing machine
"Its doomed to happen" kata perempuan AYU

I quickly cut the thread and pulled it out and then ran into the kitchen to get the paper towel trying to stop the blood from gushing out more! Alhamdulillah ... amazingly the blood stopped !!! and I did not feel any pain at all ... and as you could see I can even still type this entry ... but I am still cautious though, should the pain strike at any time.

heres the proof
.. and mind you, the thread you see is not a dual color thread
its MY BLOOD
and look at the needle

enough reason not to let your kids play around your machine
(print it out ladies and scare your kids off)

Wow ... thats my story for today. I m glad that it happened to me and not you ladies who are still trying to figure out how to easy stitch without using the foot and later blame me when your needle went into your fingers ... matila kena saman ...

and this happened a few hours before the needle incident

kena belanga lepas goreng telur


:-|


I rest my case, My Lord !

I Am Into Plain Cotton Linen

I hope you re having a wonderful long weekend


:-)



No I dont have issues with long weekend

Something You Might Like To Watch

My inspiration






I think shes very very cool !

Look at her Singer machine

same like my grandmas'

:-)

I Seriuosly Sometimes Leave My Brain At The Door Before I Step Into My Craft Room

Last weekend I thought that its about time I try making something else other than the cushion cover. I have more than enough of the covers. And so I flipped some pages from Poppy's book and finally decided I should try this purse, the Called-Off-The-Search Purse.

It looks very simple and should be easy

Front

Back

Very very easy .... peanuts ... kacang lah .... I cut everything ... I applique ... I sewed .... humming with the sound of the birds outside .... tra la la la la la la la ... happy to be working and sewing without having to think of anything ... (remember I left the brain at the door).

I managed to finish it and here I present to you my very own Called-The-Search-Off purse :-

Just nice ... but not that neat
(Sorry I cant seem to rotate this photo to the correct position.
This particular photo seems to have issues
degil gila !)

with the nice yellow button and all

anyways just look at this next pic

Hey the bunting is supposed to be at the back not underneath the flap in front

hmmmm


silly me !

silly silly silly me

Ladies, this is the reason why you should always carry your brains around. If not you ll be just like one of those Malaysian politicians .... thats why the country is in the mess .. some just leave the brains at home and most dont even have one in the first place .... hahahaha (jahatnya gelaka)

:-D

Jahitan Senang Yang Katanya Payah Darah Memancut

Anda marah ?

kecewa ?

sakit hati ?

derita ?

sayu ?

hiba ?

sebak ?

gara-gara ajaran saya dalam entry yang lepas tentang tapak sulaiman (jangan bimbang saya juga sayangkan alam)

atau gara-gara masih tidak dapat menjahit easy stitch itu ..?

Saya tidak pasti berapa ramai yang telah cuba dan berapa ramai yang memancut-mancut darah mengalir demi mahu mencuba easy stitch tanpa tapak .

Ok. Hari ini sekali lagi puan-puan sekelian saya akan tunjukkan caranya langkah demi langkah.

Ehemm.... Sila ambil perhatian. Tumpu betul-betul jangan bising dalam kelas. Kalau yang sedang baca blog ni time pejabat ... abaikan semua tugas .. tolak tepi fail semua ... kalau boss panggil cakap :-

"Shooohh... ni si anique nak bagi tutorial lagi ..
bukan terrer pun dia tu .. tapi ada hati nak ajar orang ..
tapi tak pa boss saya tengok tutorial dia dulu".

Kalau nak beli cucur pisang pun sila beli sekarang, entry ni mungkin panjang ... nanti lapar.

Ok

Ini mesin jahit

hahahaha




ok ok serius



Ini adalah keadaan mesin dengan tapak yang biasa
(di sini dog foot telah berada di bawah)



ini adalah tapak free motion



ok sekarang apa yang perlu kamu buat ialah buang semua tapak-tapak tu semua sehingga telanjang

Astagfirullah

ya telanjang seperti ini

beginilah keadaan jarum tanpa tapak

Masukkan jarum dan benang dan bobbin seperti biasa.


Bergantung kepada jenis mesin , sekarang kita boleh turunkan dog foot yang disebut-sebut itu. Untuk mesin Bernette seperti saya suisnya terletak di belakang mesin .

Ini adalah keadaan biasa bila dog foot berada di atas

Kita hanya perlu tolak ke kanan untuk menurunkan dog foot

menjadikan ia terus turun takhta

begini

Sekarang kita sudah boleh mula menjahit. Saya tidak pasti dengan mesin yang lain, tapi kita perlu melakukan sesuatu agar benang di atas akan dapat "menangkap" benang di bawah .... dengan Bernette saya hanya menukar kedudukan jarum ke paling tepi ... sebab benang bawah bila tanpa tapak dia akan berada di tepi sekali .

Lihat kedudukan jarum yang kini sudah berada di tepi mengikut kata skrin.
Kalau mesin tak ada skrin ubah kedudukan jarum agar dia ke tepi.



Ok sekarang dengan penuh hati dan berhati-hati mulalah menekan pedal untuk menjahit




Jangan panik bila mula menekan pedal

bayangkan macam bawa kereta

cuba seimbangkan kelajuan mesin dengan benang dan kain

untuk pertama kali cuba lukis dulu sesuatu di atas kain dan cuba ikut lukisan tersebut


Orang yang penuh kasih sayang akan menjahit menulis

"Love"

Cuba cari kesesuaian benang dan kain serta tekanan. Bermain-mainlah di situ hingga kamu dapat rasakan "feel"nya. Kalau kamu jenis rugged rock mcm saya ... jahitan herot petot pun akan masih nampak cool. Kalau kami jenis sopan detail dan kemas macam Maya, pun boleh juga. Hanya perlu pandai menggerakkan jarum dan benang mengikut kemahuan. Ada juga ketikannya saya tidak menurunkan dog foot untuk garisan lurus tapi rock(apa tu) ...tak apa kamu cuba saja !

Nanti kalau dah cuba blog kan lah boleh kita tengok

Ok

Sekian untuk kali ini. Hingga bertemu lagi di lain rancangan


Salam Sayang

(ewwwwwwww)


Ann

Easy Stitch : Tanpa Tapak Free Motion

Puan-puan sekelian .... sebenarnya kalau nak buat easy stitch .. tak perlu ada pun tapak free motion tu ..... Gambar kat atas ialah tapak free motion mesin jahit saya.

Rahsianya yang sebenar adalah pada :-

kaki anjing

Serius

... dog foot nama diberi dan ia ada pada setiap mesin jahit. Yang No:2 tu lah dog foot . No 1 tapak .. No:3 skru ... (habak pi lah yg No:1 dan 3 tu hehehe.. ).

Tapak free motion tu sebenarnya sekadar nak jaga tangan dan jari puan sahaja .. so ... kalau siapa yang tak ada tapak free motion tu .... puan boleh saja tak pakai tapak langsung ..... kosong ... biar jarum sahaja tanpa tapak ... tapi kaki anjing tu wajiblah diturunkan .... Puan-puan akan berasa sangat bebas bergerak bila kaki anjing telah diturunkan. Yang tinggal hanyalah kreativiti dan semangat puan-puan sahaja untuk mengarah jarum dan mencorakkan jahitan puan-puan.

Poppy Treffry menggunakan embroidery hoop bila menjahit easy stitch .. tapi saya agak tidak selesa begitu .. jadi terpulang pada selera masing-masing. Mungkin bila tak pakai tapak .. hoop dapat membantu ..

Cara untuk menurunkan kaki anjing terpulanglah kepada jenis mesin .... sila belek kembali mesin puan betul2 dan cari jalan untuk menurunkan kaki anjing tersebut ..... kalau perlu pakai skru ..pakai lah ... kalau perlu pakai suami pakailah .. (ya la suami habuan nak buka skru tu) ....

Tapi haruslah puan-puan semua berhati-hati bila dah tak ada tapak .. silap haribulan ... jari-jari puan-puan akan menjadi habuan mesin tersebut ....


Kalau puan-puan nak pakai juga tapak .... sila pakai "tapak sulaiman" ...ya tapak sulaiman bukan tapak sulaman ... hahahahaha

tapi rasanya tak ada mesin yang pakai tapak nih....

:-P

Tok Guru saya Poppy pakai mesin atas saja .... tak ada tapak langsung

tapi jari dia ok saja rasanya


:-D

Selamat Mencoba !

kalau jari kena jarum .. pakai plaster ok

Bantal Pantun

 Bantal Pantun 'n' Frens

(sibuk saja kan bunga belakang tu tersengih tumpang glamer)

:-D

I Have To And I Must Write This

I m dedicating this entry especially to Sri

and to  all my dear friends and pen-pals out there

should there be any outstanding letters you re supposed to write to me 

I m going to leave you with this ...

Harap terasa !

:-|

p/s: Sri sudah-sudah la tu bergolek atas lantai ... I am sure you are now rolling on the floor laughing .... sebab aku pun sambil dok jait tu pun dok bergolek gelak juga ... hahahahahaha !

Its not finished yet .. but I just cannot help it

hehe

Doakan Selamat Semuanya

Doakan saya selamat buat projek di atas dengan jayanya ...!


kadang-kadang keajaiban boleh berlaku

kadang-kadang malapetaka pun boleh jadi


kita doakan yang terbaik ya


- |-
-

tafakkur gaya Ironman

How To Make Your Cushion A Happy Cushion

 applique it with a smiley flower

hmm...

 a tad drab

but a comfy one

hes coming with me to bed tonight !

oh well ....

;-)

Tanda Insaf

Terus vacum carpet dan simpan-simpan

tin spray nyamuk bawah meja kemarin tu pun dan angkat


T_T

My Messy Room

You should see my room

But when you do please bring along a broom

Because its really a struggle

When you feel like you re in a jungle

and please

Make sure your slipper is not thin

Cause you might walk on some quilting pins

Pentulis

a.n.i.Q.u.e

Matila kan kalau Kak Diah mai tengok

Morale of the Story:-

-Yes, I am a messy person. You wont want to be with me in one room when doing any projects;

-Its a mistake to have a carpet in your craft room. All the scraps get stuck to it ;

-I dont have that much money to buy an embroidery machine ....; and

-wear a slipper when in my room !

Have A Productive Weekend Everybody !

Crafters Juga Ada Hati Dan Perasaan

During my primary years, my mother sent me to an all girls school. One of the syllabus that we had was 'sewing'. We were taught all the basic embroidery stitches which also included cross stitch. We made simple projects like tote bag, pillow case and even a skirt.

We learned the basic embroidery when we had to make the pillow case in Standard 5. The photo above was part of the pillow case made more than 25 years ago !!! and it still looks flawless .... The writing of the word "Anne" was designed by me ... and the embroidery was actually done by ..errrrrr... my mother. She had to keep it simple to give the impression it was sewn by a 10 year old .. haha.

My mother was such an angel to have kept that piece of the pillow case for remembrance ... (I suspect the other part of the pillow case was turned into a 'kain buruk lap periuk' for her kitchen)


Though the embroidery of my name was spelled "Anne", I want to stress here that my name should be addressed and written as "ANN" .. not "ANNE". You see back in those days ... some silly friends of mine kept calling me "ANNE" as "Annneyy". ... Gilalah kan ingat aku pakai sari pi sekolah !



I have liver and feelings you know !!!! HUH !

:-(

Bila Tension Dengan Tekanan Entry Yang Serius ..

Aku lari

bawa hati 

bawa beg merah besar berseri

menari boogey

 

dengan penuh aksi

dan gaya berani

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

tengok aku begini

teksi pun takut nak berhenti

hahahaha

:-P

Atas Satu Nota Yang Serius - Siri Kedua

Definitions of craft on the Web:

• trade: the skilled practice of a practical occupation; "he learned his trade as an apprentice"
• a vehicle designed for navigation in or on water or air or through outer space
• people who perform a particular kind of skilled work; "he represented the craft of brewers"; "as they say in the trade"
• skill in an occupation or trade
• make by hand and with much skill; "The artisan crafted a complicated tool"
• shrewdness as demonstrated by being skilled in deception 

Source

I am glad to receive all the comments in my previous entry regarding the value and standard we should all adhere to when it comes to our handicrafts.

While some maintain that the price should be affordable and with due respect Kak Diah even mentioned that her pricing is her treasured gifts to the Customer, the others believe that the Customer should be ready to accept the high value the crafters put in their work and that we must be proud of what we have  created with our own hands. This opinion however can sometimes be translated that the price would surely then be above average, but I m sure many of you were shocked to find that Ayu 's quilt could cost RM1,200-00 and that the more amazing part was that she managed to SELL them.

I hate to ramble and so I will only list down some of the points raised by my fellows crafters:-

. your work can be priceless because you made it yourself with your own hands

. a nice cross stitch cushion cover of RM50 was already considered expensive (when a simple one at Ikea is already RM79 ...)

. caring is sharing. ... by selling at a good affordable price

. we should be proud with what we do and really believe in our passions and abilities

. upgrade your skills first  babe ... 

. materials used can make a difference on the pricing and that you should get a good machine kalau nak jahit kain tebal 3 inchi (hehe)

. Good pricing can be a gift too

. babies dont run when they come into the world .. they take steps  and that boleh keluar air mata kadang tengok crafters punya hasil kerja yang kurang bermutu.

Unanimously all agree that our work should be valued accordingly

Ok. 

this is my conclusion.

The pricing depends on your NIAT .

You can choose either one .

Are you a crafter because 

1. you love making crafts; or

2. you want to make money out of it.

and hmmm ... I am sure most probably  all  of you would pick BOTH of the answers because while it is true that we wont venture into this craft world if we dont love it, but since we are in it ... why not make the most of it and get some cash in return.

ahaaa ... you are caught here ... I agree that both are of equal importance but the next question is :-

Which one is MORE important?

dah sudahhhh .... sebab aku sendiri pun confuse nak jawab..... hahahaha 

but I do agree with Botang that your pricing can also depends on your target audience/customer/and the surrounding society .... 

Gila apa kan nak pi jual quilt RM1,200-00 kat makcik kat bendang .... daripada beli quilt baik dia beli gelang sampai ke siku.... (Sri aku pun bukan target hang ok ...) hehehe

Ini antara hasil kraf negara jiran

p/s:  berbalik pada perenggan pertama di atas kalau kamu pikir definisi kraf tu adalah yang no:2 tu ... silalah berundur dari arena Craftzone ini dan pergi belajar bawa kapal selam yg Malaysia beli tak boleh selam hari tu.

Peace.

;-)

On A Serious Note

When I made that bright-yellow-fabric-with-a-house-on-it (what a name) cushion cover, I copied the design by Poppy Treffry from her book Free and Easy Stitch Style .

The first time I held the book in my hands I was already falling in love with everything about Poppy and her style. I knew right away that its the concept and style which have been inside of me all along, like the time I made the felty crafts and the time I sewed the cover for my sewing machine and during that time I hadnt found and discovered about Poppy and her book yet.

Poppy showed me the way to do it better using a sewing machine and I love her for that.

I know its going to be along way for me now from this first few steps in free styling and I also know that I would have to find the creations and designs of my OWN soon before I can proceed further ; but InsyaAllah I know I will reach there and I know I can.

Actually we all can. We the Malaysian crafters, we should be able to believe in our own talents and our own efforts. We have to think and create something that is outside the box. We have to learn to put more values in ourselves. If only we can be together and have the same vision with high standard of work without undervaluing ourselves .. we can make a difference.

Let me just highlight to you these photos of the cushion covers with the value the designers put in their creations in terms of price and compare to the value we all put in ours. 

I am not asking that we too should put our products at exorbitant price ... but then if we really value our work, talent and time ..  we should surely know where our price should be.

It ll be great if you can come back to me with your thoughts and lets just have a healthy and clean discussion on this.

and yes I know one of you will say that these cushion covers are based on the already expensive fabrics used and that they are all Bangsar's price  ...  but still ...

we dont have to agree on everything ... and you dont have to agree with me but at the very most we should at least agree to disagree....

Thank you

:-)