Batik Passport Holder

Hello,

I finished this family passport holder last month. It was a custom order and she wanted it in Batik. Off course I was delighted. I've kept several bundle of bali batiks that I am selling in the shops for my future project. 

Don't you love those bundles?

The new bundles are all so pretty and so inspiring. She chose one from the green bundle in my Fabric Shop and I really enjoyed creating this Family Passport Wallet. 

I decided to combine it with a matching green poplin and going with softer color on the inside. It matched beautifully. I hope she will love it. 

For this wallet, she chose to add long zipper on one side and 2 clear pocket. Instead of the small zipper pocket like in the original pattern. 

I've been planning to make tutorial on the long zipper pocket, but still have not got the time to do it. Insha Allah when I make the next wallet, I will take  proper pictures.

Until then,

Happy Sewing

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2018 is HERE

Hello,

Yes, 2018 is here and I hope you all had a great New Year Party and got your resolutions written down. Me? I'm not into writing resolution. I gave up long time back. It never worked out for me. So I settle to take everything one day at a time. Be better everyday. 

I didn't get time to write in December, in spite of having a few things done.

We started 2018 with a good note!! Yesterday my younger son completed his first taekwondo competition where he secured his first gold medal!! It was really a proud moment. 

My elder son will have his first piano/music concert with his music school in 2 weeks. He's been practicing a lot. (he won't let me record the video -_-)

Practice makes Perfect

And look who visited us! 

Zahra & Zoya visited us and I made sling bags for them as I promised
on their last visit a couple of months ago

Our New Year's feast
Chicken BBQ  and Indonesian Chicken Satay by yours truly.

Like they say, All's well that ends well. I hope 2018 will bring more joy and happiness to everyone. 

Until then,

Happy 2018!

Wallet Pouch Story

Hello,

I have not done any sewing since I came back from my trip to Delhi last week. I have not been well these last few days due to my usual winter rash problem and had a diarrhea for a few days. My friend, mbak Sari in Japan who owned the pretty Kanzashi shop in Etsy, told me that during winter it's better to consume food that grow under the ground. Well, I am not a fan of potato, but upon reading her suggestion, suddenly I was craving for boiled potato and have been eating potato for the last few days. I feel much better today and hopefully tomorrow I can finish my custom order due on Monday.

Anyway, I think have not shared this wallet pouch I made in October. I needed a pouch-cum-wallet which can fit it my phone, a couple of cards and a zipper compartments for cash/change.

This is my 5th wallet that turned out perfectly. There was a few ideas I tried with the previous wallets for the card slots but didn't work out as I would like it to be. Esp. the card slots. 

But I love the flower print. It's so feminine :)

My first idea is to use wristlet that the picture above. But on second thought, the detachable one would be better.

Then decided how many cards should I incorporated. Some people carry a few cards but some carry many. So, I thought 6 cards should be good enough. I am quite minimalist, I carry 2 cards and 4 cards when I travel. We don't have so many shops which offer membership cards here, and if they do, it is enough to tell them my phone number to avail the points. 

Anchor Wallet Pouch 

The blue anchor and the orange patchwork one are made slightly bigger than the floral one. As I was working on these wallets, I thought this will be a good travel wallet too. Especially for those who loves practicality and often going for solo trip.

 and if one want to go for a quick coffee with friends, a detachable medium short strap can always be added. 

Patchwork Wallet Pouch

 I am making the pattern for this Wallet Pouch, but still finalizing for a few details and need to make a couple more to try out which material combination and technique that will work best/easiest even for beginner sewist. I love wallet that is light and sturdy but easy to make.  What about you?

Until then,

Happy Sewing!

Mini Family Trip

Hello,

Last week I went to Delhi for my passport renewal work. It was a nice mini trip with my small family. Of course the boys got more excited. The younger one was a little upset because he had to miss his high jump final round in the inter house competition at school. Anyway, he was later quite happy after he got a new running shoes. 

Here are a few photos from the trip: 

#1. Travel Organizers

Of course we never have enough pouches and wallets. The passport wallet was really handy to keep all my family passports and the necessary documents as live in a foreign land. 

My Travel Must-Have organizer:   small pencil pouch, shoe lipstick pouch,  tissue pouch and the small pouch to keep urgent medicines. 

The patchwork pouch for my phone and hotel keys as we go for breakfast. The red one was for my make up bag. 

Travel Must-Have 

2. Spices and Teas

The House of Tea in Central Mall Delhi Aerocity

Dry Fruits

Pink salt and spices

Arqa at Central Mall

For Tea lovers like me, it's difficult to choose :)

#3 The Delhi Road

Spotted near the Indonesian Embassy

Equal Rights 

Horn Please:)

quick fix 

Embroidered bags and clutches. My boys didn't let me go closer :(
They surely knew my weakness for anything ethnic ^^

We met my hubby's friend for Indian dinner at Karim's in Gurgaon. There were so many grand weddings going on while we were on our way to Karim's. The white horses, the singing and dancing et al really amazed me. I wish I could just take photos. I tried but one could not get decent photo while riding Indian taxi, right? 

We also went to visit hubby's aunt and had a great time chatting and catching up on family gossips. While coming back to the hotel (we stayed in Novotel in Aerocity), the uber driver was really bad. He drove very carelessly, if not dangerously :(

Novotel Green Garden 

two of my favorite things :D

Until Next Time, New Delhi

It was fun trip ( although sans fabric shopping), though the traffic was really bad. Even at almost midnight there was traffic jam!! Maybe next time we should try the Delhi Metro. 

Now all the dirty clothes are taken care of, it's time to get back to (sewing) work. 

Happy Sewing,

Holiday Shopping Coupon Code for you

Hello again,

This week has been crazily busy for me. Sewing wise not much is happening this week except a couple of custom orders that I managed to finish in time. 

Alright, now let's get down to business. In my previous post, I mentioned about coupon codes for my Indian readers and customers! As a token of appreciation for your continued support, please find 2 coupons for your holiday shopping. The coupon valid through Dec 1, 2017. 

Here are the coupons details: 

1. PATTERNS - 20% off 

Eligible for all patterns - You can shop form the link on the right panel of this blog too!! 

2. FABRICS & HANDMADE 

10% off on minimum INR 2500 total order.

For Fabrics - Except BALI BATIK - all are eligible for the sale. 

Once again thank you so much and I'm looking forward to your continuous support! 

Happy Shopping,

It's a cyber week sale in Etsy

Hello, 

Just a quick shop updates! 

Yes, the cyber week sale on Etsy is up and running through Dec 1st.  With Etsy's new sale feature, it is now easier to run a sale without creating a coupon code.

here are the details

All PATTERNS are on 20% off 

you can visit CHEZVIES or CHEZVIESPATTERNS

(both are on etsy)

SHOP PATTERNS

All READY to SHIP items are on 10% off  (no minimum order!) yay!!

SHOP HANDMADE

and for FABRICS  20% off on total order USD 25 or more!

SHOP FABRICS

Thank you so much for supporting small business!!

I hope you enjoy your shopping experience in my small shops!!

PS: If you are in INDIA, wait for my next post on Friday! I'm preparing coupon codes for you! Subscribe to my blog so you won't miss the chance!

Have a good day,

From Bundle to Quilt

Hello,

I hope you had a wonderful weekend. On Saturday, my boys had a music competition in their school. It's a rock band competition. Both the boys performed with their own group and too bad parents were not allowed to see. So I had to rely on their information. The younger one was busy practicing with his friend for the last few days before the D-Day. He played guitar and just started to learn for the last few months. When I showed my mom  his practice video, she asked: "what song is that?" LOL.

The boys also got new pets - a pair of rabbits- my BIL brought back from the village. They were excited but I hope this is a short-term thing, though they are really cute.

And from my sewing room, I finally finished this mini quilt. The quilt sandwich was done one year ago or so. I meant to do hand quilting, but I used the wrong batting. I did few diagonal lines of hand quilting, but because the batting is thick and uneven cotton, it was too tough.

After chatting with Mbak Belly - my quilting friend, I decided to just go ahead and finish it by machine. After all, finish is always better than perfect, right?

I used Indian fabric for this quilt. IMHO, Indian fabric has gorgeous colors and prints that even a simple quilt will look attractive.

This quilt size is around 34' x 34" square. I quilted using straight line quilting 3/8" apart. I just kind of eyeballed it. I really love a dense line quilting. It sort of pop the quilt up easily.

Straight line quilting on my Usha Stitch Queen

Don't you love the backing? :D

 Many Indian quilters hesitate to use Indian mulmul fabric, like the one I use here. They are lightweight but have the coolest color shade and prints. The trick is to always starch it. Normally I will prewash the fabrics and dip in a starch solution water. Just like my MIL did with her sarees. That will give just enough stiffness. 

After cutting and after each piecing, whenever I iron the seam, I spray a little bit starch too. You can buy spray starch or make your own solution using starch powder. Nowadays we even get liquid starch! 

After finishing this quilt, I want to make a bigger version. May not be the same design but using the Indian Fabrics. Since I love Indian Kantha Quilt, I thought making my own quilt will be fun. Let me. If the batting is right I might do the hand quilting too. 

As usual, when I am not sure what binding to use, I always use black and white! The binding fabric, I got from Namrata. It was a diagonally print stripe fabric. Simply love it!! Just cross cut it and you get a bias-look binding!!

here are the rabbits

So, what are you working on this week? Whatever that is, I hope you enjoy working on it! 

Happy Sewing,

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