Trip to Hong Kong

Few days ago, a facebook friend Sunita posted about taking unpaid leave  to travel. Well, I certainly would do it. Life is too short to spend in one place, right? 

After marriage and kids, travel seems to be a distant dream, but believe me, we need to go out there, take the kids off their gadgets and start looking around you instead of glued to the HD screen. 

My 13 and 11 years old boys are just like any other boys who prefer  lounging around and play games  in their gadgets during holidays.

Hong Kong 

Last summer we went to Hong Kong, which they enjoyed.  We still laugh at how my younger son kept disappearing to explore the stalls in the Temple street night market or any other places we visited. 

The boys enjoyed reading GPS map to find our Big bus stop. The younger one was fascinated by double decker busses and always made us sit in the upper deck.  

How we were all  so worried during our day trip to Shenzhen when one couple in our group was detained in the immigration because he forgot to bring their return air ticket. 

ShenZhen Window of the world

{this is why you need a travel wallet, esp if you travel with family }

Family Travel Wallet 

 Even though they were tired of walking around in Hong Kong summer heat, they still enjoyed street shows and looking around. 

Big Bubble street show 

street show

They learned that there are  more interesting and exciting things to see and to do out there then looking at their gadgets.

Cable car ride in Ocean Park Hong Kong

Travelling indeed is life lesson : learn to be away from the comfort of the home, to be discipline, to be aware of what's happening around you, to be alert, and most importantly to enjoy yourself. 

Yes, travel will definitely enrich you as a person, as a family. Give your children memories to treasure.   

What about you? Where are you heading this winter?

Until then, 

What is your favorite fabric?

Mine is cotton but whenever I go to fabric shop, I literally buying all kind of fabrics. I love everything!

Like this Rayon fabric. The Indigo color with splash of rustic and contract orange red was so unique. 

Indigo Red Shibori Print Rayon

When I see fabric, I will have a lot of ideas in my head , should I make a skirt, a dress, tunic or quilt or bag.

The texture is so soft and the shibori print is so pretty. I will usually parade it in front of my sons and both of them will roll their eyes "Mama, please that's enough" sort of expression. 

and here is another one

Dual Color Rayon

This is such gorgeous fabric. The patchwork-y style and the black/dark grey has the look of denim. 

What will you make with this fabric? 

Until then,

Happy Weekends

{SHOP UPDATE} Marching Elephant and SALE

Who doesn't love elephant. I think elephant is the cutest animal.From my last trip to Indonesia I bought 4 elephant print fabrics, they were just too cute to pass.

One of them is this navy blue marching elephant. 

and this is just perfect for this family passport wallet.

what's more? I got a perfect match navy blue polkadots

oh yes, I love polkadots, whenever I see one I must buy. My DH was furious when he saw me buying 2 dozen shades of polkadots ^_^ 

but  isn't this perfect combo? 

This will be perfect christmas gift for elephant lover. I know my younger son would love this. 

The wallet is available is my ETSY shop and if you are in India you can check my WEBSHOP 

and if you want to make the passport wallet, the pattern is available in CRAFTSY

ah by the way, I am having SALE In my Etsy shop

Rush to the shop  and get your handmade gifts done for Christmas. 

Don't forget to add the code :

Thank you for stopping by

Happy Sewing

This post is linking to :

Show Off Saturday 

Finish it up Friday

Confession of a fabric addict

Women's Slim Wallet and Card Organizer

I like slim wallet that can fit in a lot of things. I made another slim wallet which was popular with young girls. 

Some of customers asked me if I can make slim wallet with more card slots. After playing with many designs I came up with this Women's wallet & Card Organizer

This pretty floral wallet can fit it 12 cards and even your phone. This is a perfect wallet to grab & go for a quick errand. 

what's more, it has hidden zipper pocket. Which I find quite handy to keep small things. 

I also added exterior zipper pocket!

The wallet is finished with machine binding on one side and hand stitch on the other side to give a perfect finish. I really prefer this method, because it made the wallet more sturdy and you don't have to worry if the stitch will give away even if the wallet is over loaded. 

The wallet is available here :

ETSY

CHEZVIES

Custom order with different print is available upon request.

So, start your christmas shopping early. 

pssst...I will have 10% off throughout November. Favorite the shop so you won't miss the announcement! 

Thank you for checking out my blog

Happy Sewing

{Mini Tutorial} - Passport Wallet Lanyard

I just released my first PdF Pattern in Etsy "The family passport Wallet". I made my first Family Passport Wallet 2013 and it was an instant hit in my Etsy shop. The wallet has been going through a lot of redesign. It's my friend Namrata of Bagstock who encouraged me to write the pattern. 

and yes, I was nervous and excited. I will post here in my blog if there is any changes or updates or what improvisation you can do with the pattern. 

And this first post is about the lanyard. I did not include the lanyard tutorial in my pattern as nowadays many people prefer to use leather strap which is really cute and can give a vintage-y look about your wallet. I did few for my etsy customers and they loved it. 

But personally I still like making fabric lanyard for my handmade wallet. So, here's how : 

What you need {this is Lanyard for Passport Wallet}

2.5" x 16" fabric strip

1.5" x 15" woven interfacing

3/4" swivel hook

Let's get started 

 Iron the woven interfacing on the wrong side of the fabric strip. 

I have this 1.5" woven interfacing strips which I simply LOVE. It's my favorite for making bag handles/strap. There is a 3/4" one too. 

Fold the side seam and iron nicely

insert the strip into 3/4" swivel hook

now, fold the strip so the short ends meet and sew with 1/2" seam allowance(like in the picture)

make sure you put it correctly / not twisted ^_^  

Now, fold and clip and sew along the both edges with 1/8" seam allowance

and you can use your decorative stitch too. That will make your strap unique. I love using different kind of decorative stitch but this serpentine is my favorite. 

Now, finish your lanyard by sewing 1/2" under the hook. 

Voila! You have a pretty handmade lanyard to go with your passport wallet.

The Family Passport Wallet Pdf Pattern is available here :

CRAFTSY

ETSY

CHEZVIES 

Thank you for stopping by today

Happy Sewing

{NEW PATTERN} Family Passport Wallet PdF Pattern

I'm so happy to announce my new Pattern, Family Passport Wallet PdF Pattern now on Sale in Etsy and my Shop

The past 3 months have been a huge learning experience for me. 

Thank you for my wonderful friends who helped me testing the patterns. I am really grateful for their feedback and their beautiful creations. 

here are some photos from the testers :

Chera from the famous Phipody made this lovely wallet. Chera is favorite with many bag designers. Her works showed how much love she puts into each creation. I was  very grateful when she said she will test for me. 

 She used leather for strap which make the wallet stands out and looks very smart.

This cute multi color elephant passport holder is made by Prabha Matthew of Quiltaholics. She told me even her son said it's very cute :). Prabha made beautiful quilts. I was very grateful when she was readily said yes to test my pattern.

 I love the blue and grey combination. She used mesh for the ID Card slot which is very clever choice.

This beautiful pink Passport Wallet was made by my dear friend Hernik of Ninu' Handmade.

Mbak Hernik was very excited when I asked her to test for my first pattern in spite of her busy schedule, she managed to make this pretty pink wallet. Thank you so much!!

And this pretty Lavender wallet was made by my bestie, Agnes. She's a sewing enthusiast  who's busy raising her cute daughter. 

When I told her that I wanted her to test my first pattern, she was happily agreed. Thank you so much for putting up with my crazy ideas and for being my sounding board. 

This Family Passport Wallet pattern is a quick sew and will be a great handmade gift for your family and friends, especially for family who loves to travel or moving abroad. 

My family of 4 loves to travel and whenever we travel, we have to carry a lot of documents and passports. And since I'm Indonesian living in India, I have to carry more documents. This travel wallet help us to be organized and not to worry about misplacing any travel documents. 

The pattern is now ON 10% SALE in ETSY 

or you can buy directly from my Shop using the link below: 

(Currency conversion will happen during the check out with PayPal)

Orange is the new black

That's what I read the other day and maybe it's the season that I seem to work with a lot of orange in the past few weeks. 

I was cutting fabric for a client  and  I suddenly had this 'AHA" moment. I wanted to make this cute bag from Sewsweetness free pattern "Baker Street Bag". So after sending my orders of the day, I went ahead and sewed away. 

And look how cute is this bag?

Ikat & Denim Bag

The pattern is surprisingly very easy to follow. It's a good size for you who love to go "minimalist" . Ehm I tend to carry many stuff  like doraemon ^^. 

See, it fits my notebook, kindle, and wallet. It also has small zipper pocket and quite spacious slip pocket for your phone, pen and maybe tissue or your specs. 

Isn't it smart? I think it's going to be a perfect gift for your mom, girlfriend, niece or daughter..or your self?? :D

I know I am going to make more in the future, I am thinking of quilted one. What do you think?

Until then,

Happy Sewing

The bag is available for purchase in my ETSY shop as of now.