Sewing Project #8 - Flannelette Cardigan

This is my last flannelette project before winter... (since the fabric was on sale) This is stay-home wear for the cold winter mornings and nights and I got hold of an existing cardigan that I have to measure and cut out the fabric. The result? A fairly good work of a masterpiece :)

This was the first time I sewed a buttonhole and really, it is quite simple to do it with the manual's instructions. It was not a perfect job but a good-enough one. My mum was pretty impressed that I am able to sew =) stating that I probably inherited this from my grandpa who can cook, tailor and do carpentry work (I cannot and probably will never do the latter).

I designed this to only have 2 buttons so that it is easier and quicker for me to put it on. The sleeves are also a tad shorter than it should have been so that they will not be in the way when I prepare food and washing hands (getting the sleeves wet).

Sufficiently pleased with this project even though it is not perfect. There is definitely room for improvement...

Beautifully Imperfect

Last month, I shared a video on my blog. From that theme of "beautifully imperfect", the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) in Singapore organised a contest to look for 10 'beautifully imperfect' couples.

This is an excerpt of what was written on Straits Times yesterday: (The original article here)

BY HIS own admission, Mr De Beers Wong, 28, is short, tubby and all business - even aloof - while at work. For the past nine months, he has been romancing Miss Megan Kong, 25. She is willowy next to him, and also the 'angel' liked by everyone in the same office for her warmth and friendliness. The couple admit they are like chalk and cheese.

As Miss Kong said: 'Our colleagues were very shocked when we first got together as we are so different, but we can really communicate.'

The insurance agents are 'beautifully imperfect' - exactly the type of couple the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) is looking for in an online contest. It is no ordinary contest, though.

Behind it is the serious business of persuading Singaporeans to get married and have children. So what does being 'beautifully imperfect' have to do with anything?

Everything, said Mr Richard Tan, MCYS' director of communications and international relations. He cited a 2007 study's finding that most young Singaporeans did want to get married, but were not doing so, they said, because they had yet to meet their Mr or Miss Right. But what, exactly, is 'right'?

Enter 'beautifully imperfect': The drive aims to inspire marriage-minded singles to find that special person based on character and personality, instead of applying society's checklist of beauty, wealth, education and family background.

'The person who is not perfect as defined by the world around us may turn out to be the perfect husband or wife,' he said.

Reach them it did. In just over a month, more than 14,000 people joined the group, and more than 370 couples signed up for the contest.

How true is it that single men and women generally go through their checklist of "Mr Right" or "Miss Right" before they get married, only to find out that there is never a perfect "Mr/Miss Right" in the world. Dreams are dashed which lead to divorce down the road when your spouse fail to meet your expectations. When will people really truly realise that there is not a perfect person for you?

I think every married couple is beautifully imperfect in their own ways... ways that when you see a certain 'imperfection' in your spouse and despite that, you accept him/her for who he/she is and able to smile about it.

I like how wedding couples' wedding vows are asked "WILL you, xxx, take xxx as your lawfully wedded husband/wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish/obey until death do us part or the Lord Jesus Christ returns" (this was my marriage vow). When the person answered "I will", it means that he/she will (try to) honour this vow/promise/covenant, now and future. In some instances (and often in movies), the celebrant ask "DO you....?" And when you say "I do", it seems that it only applies the now and not the future. "I will" implies that you will commit to be in a loving marital relationship with this person in all circumstances - for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health. Isn't that really sweet?

In God's eyes, I am also a 'beautifully imperfect' person. In fact, I am made perfect in and through Jesus Christ's death and resurrection because He did that for me (and you too!). My physical body is still not perfected as I live on earth but I await for Jesus' return to see my Lord in my perfect body :)

Curtaining Efforts

At this time of the year, there is short daylight and longer nights - bright sunshine about 6.20am in the morning and the sky gets dark about 5.30pm. Since my folks are visiting us next week (and later on, my bro and his friend), we figure that it would be good to install some curtain/blinds that will block out the sunlight. We already have sunout curtains in our bedroom (facilitates our occasional sleeping-in) in addition to the venetian blinds that we have throughout the entire house.

Initially, I thought of sewing curtains but later thought it will be too cumbersome and the cost of buying sunout holland blinds (25% off at Spotlight) is only a bit more than the curtain fabric material. However later on, we discovered an easy way to sew the curtain so that it stays where it is. Except that we have to think of a way to draw it when we need to draw. The curtains can be removed easily and kept away for storage until you need them for guests.

The smaller window just above the bed in the guestroom. I sewed this curtain :)

However, since we opened one of the holland blind (and unable to get it refunded), we thought we will install it anyhow.

Hubby installing the holland blinds which will go over our current venetian blinds

The end result: a darker room, best for sleeping... only thing is, the sunlight shines on the bed where it will be shining on the person's face!

I dislike how the walls in the room are in 2 different colours... that was left behind by the previous owner and we did not want to spend money to paint them (many walls in the house are painted in various colours!) for now... Maybe when we have the money, we will do that... Hope to paint the walls cream/white so that they will look bigger and I reckon these mocha blinds would go well with it!

Tomatoes and Rockmelon

Some time back, I bought some fresh truss tomatoes from Aldi and harvested the seeds to experiment growing the plant from seeds. I managed to grow them into big and healthy tomato plants and gave some plants away too!

The 4 plants that I have in my garden are doing very well and producing beautiful tomatoes... waiting for them to ripen. Meanwhile, there are also random cherry tomato plants that sprouted out from the ground too... probably from the tomatoes that fell to the ground.

The biggest tomato is that size (as my hand held it) at this moment. I am quite pleased with any size so long as they are good and best of all, they are organic!

A friend also gave us some mystery? watermelon/rock melon seedlings a while ago. I planted them into the ground and had to throw away some as they were growing and overtaking my tomato plants (they are crawlers and spreaders). A month ago, we saw some fruit growing out that looked like a watermelon and recently, we noticed that the skin was turning rough, indicating that it is more likely to be a rock melon. The plant suddenly died (all leaves went dry) and we figure we will clear the ground for more space. The unripened fruit has to be thrown away too. But before we do that, we took a photo of the fruit!

The unripened rock melon, slightly bigger than the size of my hand but it is rather heavy

Winter's approaching (my favourite season) and it is time then, to prune back most plants in my garden and prepare them (and the soil) for spring and summer veggies/fruits!

Home for Ministry

One of the most exciting thing in life is to be able to live in your own home which you can do anything you want in it. My dream was to have a cosy home and welcoming to guests. I am not great on interior design and even though I like to see homes that are tastefully done up, I know that it will never be my home... I think because I am generally a practical person.

Anyway, now that hubby and I have our own place (we started out marriage with this current place), we hope to and have been putting on our hospitality hats to use our place, not just for ourselves and our family, but also a place to minister to people. We have had quite some people over for meals, hang out, catch up and we aimed to do this at least once a month (sometimes we 'entertain' 3-4 times a month!). We are most glad to see how such gatherings foster relationships and gives opportunity for people to be part of our lives by knowing us at our own home. Other than cooking for people, we also recently had our bible study group meet at our place for those who live in the south of Brisbane. An average of 6 of us would gather together to pray and study the Bible weekly.

Other than 'opening' our place for fellowship and people, there are also other areas which we need to think about when we have people over. One recent and good example was our dining table. We were blessed by a whole lot of second-hand furniture and kitchenware that we bought for a really cheap price. One of the items was a round glass top dining table which sits 6-8 people (we once tried to squeeze 9). From the time we opened our place for bible study, it seems that table is too small for our dinner fellowship and definitely it is too small for us to just host our close family of 9 adults and 1 toddler to sit on the one table. Hence we decided to see if we could sell our round glass top dining table and buy a cheap/second-hand rectangular expandable table, so that we can expand seating capacity when required...

Round glass dining table

After about 4 months of posting up for sale, we finally sold our round glass top dining table for $100 :) We had to sell that table before we bought a new table as our place has no space for 2 tables at one time. Thankfully we had the use of a really small round 4-seater dining table to use (which was used and given to us and we have been putting it in our patio). In the meantime, searching for a good-priced, long lasting, expandable table was not easy. I went to Ikea for about 3-4 weeks consecutively to look for a certain Bjursta table if they went on sale at the discount corner. Most times, those tables on sale are in a fairly good condition with just a couple of scratches. My trips were in vain... not until last Friday, there was a Bjursta selling for $167 (U.P. $279) and also found another good contender, the Leksvik of which all of them (not just 1 or 2) were on sale for $199 (U.P. $399)! After some deliberation on the phone with hubby, we decided that the Leksvik would be a wiser choice (even though we have been kinda eyeing the Bjursta for some time) as it comes in a flat pack, brand new and best of all, it is made of solid wood throughout. The only little problem I had was resolved when the friendly Ikea staff helped me to load the 42kg box onto my car. We were really excited and thankful for this good bargain that we managed to find (after my frequent weekly visits to Ikea), and we only missed a proper dining table for one week exactly. God answered our prayers on this as we prayed for us to be able to get a suitable table in time before our next family gathering for 12 people in about 2 weeks' time.

Bjursta table at its smallest. This seats up to about 10-12 people when expandable (2 extensions are kept below the table.

The Leksvik that we bought! Both sides open up to be able to fit 10 and squeeze 12 persons. This is a much easier mechanism to expand and close up the table.

My thoughtful hubby also thought of buying a portable airconditioner (we cannot afford the proper reverse type) for ourselves to use in summer (last summer was really hot!). We managed to get one off ebay for $200+... and some time later, hubby won another bid on ebay for a similar portable airconditioner for just $100+. So now, we have one portable airconditioner downstairs for guests and we can put in the other one to cool our living room and dining room for larger gatherings.

Today, I saw someone who have been selling her used but cleaned toddler toys on scoodi. 1-2 of them caught my attention and I thought it would be nice if we could have some kids toys made available at home so that when my nieces or friends' kids come over, there is something to keep them entertained. Currently I have only got my toy-like mini cooper car to keep up to 2 kids happy. Thankfully the owner offered me $10 for the 10 items (instead of $12 initially posted).

We deliberately bought a 3 bedroom place so that we could have a guestroom to have people (overseas or not) to stay over. Hopefully even when we have children later, that room can still be kept for guests (and our books :p) only. Many months ago, we managed to get a student desk for free (only a few scratches) so that the guestroom has a decent desk for guests to use.

Hmm, any more ministry suggestions that won't cost a bomb? We are hoping and seeing if we could get hold of a cheaper or 2nd-hand Wii set and also hoping to buy the new Big Taboo so that we can have people over for games and fellowship... *hint hint*

Praise God for providing us a home that we can share with others. It is such a blessing! :)

More Flannelette Pillow Cases

I made 2 flannelette pillow cases last week and I thought I will go back to Spotlight to buy their flannelette fabric (which was on sale), before the sale ends. We bought 2 flat flannelette sheets a month back and I figure that I would make another 2 matching pillow cases for the other sheet.

I was probably not concentrating and cut the fabric a little wrongly. Anyway I managed to sort it out and here is the end product!

A bit of a different look as compared to the previous 2 cases that I made

Sewing Project #7 - Flannelette Sleeping Pants

Daddy and mummy will soon be coming to visit us. Since it would be cold during the nights here, I thought I will sew a flanelette drawstring sleeping pants which will be big enough for mummy and something which I can wear after she leaves (She does not need it in Singapore). I bought a pair for A$10 towards the end of winter last year (I could not justify spending more than $10 for it. Right now, the cheapest is A$13), which I could use as a prototype to make a larger one. And of course, I had some valuable advice from Aunty YL.

The fabric only cost $7.98 ($3.99/m sale price). I stuffed up this project quite a bit as the cutting of the shape and size was not easy. I had to patch up on some areas (mostly the back of it). Decided to add in the purple trimming at the end of the pants to have something different. In the end, I hope my mum can fit into this... I was quite happy with how it looks even though this was probably the worst project I have done! Nevertheless, I reckon it is good enough to wear at home but not out of the house! I still have got much to learn about dressmaking...

Purple trimming with a bit more fanciful stitches with my Sew Fun.

April: Highest Blog Entries

Just realised that ever since I started my blog in 2005, the last month was when I posted the most number of entries - 23! Most of them were about food or sewing or homemaking... Now, what does that mean??

Encouraged by Y

I wrote about my discipleship with Y about a week ago. Today, I received an email from her which really made my day and I am so touched by the way God is working in her life... I know that it is not my discipleship with her that makes the difference but the fact that the Holy Spirit in Y is working in her life and growing her relationship and understanding of God.

"I have gone through two BSF classes so far and it is really helping me to understand the bible more now. Before I started BSF, I have to admit, in the past I do not read the bible everyday and I really feel guilty for it because I was drawn away from Him from time to time. BSF homework is intensive and simply allows me not have a good reason not to read the bible every day. No more excuses now! Hee..

The most amazing thing is that we are studying “Life of Moses” in BSF now and having to go through BE with you, it’s still fresh in my memory and not to mention that DVD (prince of Egypt) which you lent it to me few months ago, gave me a good grasp of Exodus. Thank you so much for it! Doing it all over again in BSF now, certainly helps me to “drill” deeper into Exodus! I had always been a big reader of Exodus amazed at how Israelites constantly betraying Him, all the grumblings etc and that He is still such a forgiving father in the end. Something that I must really confess being a somehow new Christian, I am still asking myself, “Wow! is god really that wonderful???” And yes I know He is. I can really feel that He is watching over me every single minute especially when I am going through such a hard time of my life now!"

Amen!

The Singleness Issue

Been thinking about the issue of singleness lately since I read what C said in her blog about her being conscious not to bring up about her pregnancy for the sake of her friends who might be struggling with falling pregnant (both single and married women).

I recall that when I was single and as the years went by, my struggle of being single and wanting to get married and have children increased, even more when almost all my friends around me were getting married and having children. I tried to recall how I struggled when I learnt about another friend having a boyfriend, gotten engaged, getting married and pregnant. As much as I wish to get married, I think I still enjoyed and want to know the changes and updates in my friends' lives. I don't think I have ever blamed God nor any one else "Why is she getting married and I am not?". I think some of the greatest struggles was when I attend friends' weddings, but sometimes I don't struggle as much at weddings (and to think I have even coordinate quite a number of weddings, the highest being 3 in the same year). Of course there were times that I pitied myself and enjoyed wallowing in it... but other times I marvel at God's timing and know that He will prepare me for my future spouse.

Reading this recent article "Making Singleness Better" on this month's Briefing, reminded me and made me think further about our (hubby and I) ministry to singles in our midst. I think we can do more to encourage singles and be sensitive to make them feel loved and acceptable. This means a mindset change and changes in our attitudes, our actions and the words we speak, so that we reflect the love of Jesus.

Relating to that same article above, I particularly like the author's seemingly-contradicting encouragements for single people to (1) not take the advantages of all the freedoms of being single and (2) do take advantages of the freedoms of being single. Definitely, if I were single and unmarried now, I would rethink the way that I lived my life, e.g. I could have been more frugal and prudent with the money God gave me. But anyhow for now, I am thankful for God's providence which also makes me (us) more dependent on Him.

Read other related articles/blog:

Why the singles and married got it all wrong

Single Christian Woman, 30+

Sewing Project #6 - Flannelette Pillow Cases

People commented that I am creative to sew things around the house. I always deny it because the truth is I am not creative. I am just better with copying ideas and copying sample/template that is given to me ;)

Hence the first of it all was a nursing apron that I copied with my SIL's apron, then a pedestal fan cover which was inspired and copied from my MIL's fan cover. From there, I had the idea of making covers for another fan, my portable aiconditioners and heater. The airplane head rest cover inspired my making chair head rest cover.

From facebook, I learnt that one of my friends is sewing pillow cases. That gave me an idea to sew pillow cases for the flat flannelette sheet that I got for my bed to be used for winter. The sheet did not come with pillow cases. And since Spotlight is having a sale for some printed flannelette fabrics ($A$3.99/m), I figure that I shall attempt to make pillow cases for my 'incomplete' flannelette manchester. The plain coloured flannelette pillow cases were on sale for A$3.50 each. With buying my own fabric and make them, I only paid A$6 for the 2 cases, saving A$1 and I could have printed (instead of plain) pillow cases and also could satisfy my interest for sewing.

It was not too difficult to sew. I took a current pillow case to look and see how I can replicate it. It was quite simple but I just needed to think a bit into it and decide which part I should begin sewing and which part to sew last. Here is the final product!

I tried to sew some interesting stitches on the side of the front of the pillow (those chris-cross looking stitches) to differentiate it. And as I run a bit short of fabric, I used remants of a light pink fabric and used it as a 'pocket' inside the case to tuck the pillow out of sight.

I probably would make another 2 with another fabric to match my 2nd flannelette sheet (meant for guestroom or alternating with the 1st one). Flannelette fabric would continue to go on sale as winter is approaching. Yay!

Sewing Project #5 - The Big Cover Up (Part II)

Following a successful project to make covers for my fans, I now made covers for my 2 portable airconditioners (which we bought it online 2nd hand in early autumn, i.e. they won't be used until next summer) and my heater.

Now you see it, now you don't!

Sweet floral prints, on sale $4/m! I used 3m worth to make covers for both air conditioners

Heater and its cover to protect it from dust in summer

Its quite fun and very satisfying to be able to do something like that. It is simple as well! Did this up, cutting, planning and all, in 1 hour. Okay, time to sleep now...