Pointy Sleeve Dress

Assalamualaikum!

Bismillah...
 

Two weeks ago I tried to customize a pattern.

Really, I did envy all ladies out there who have made cute things with their own drafted pattern.

So... I pushed my self a little harder to work it out. My girl should be able to wear this dress on Sunday.

It was simplicity pattern that I have been used in making dress for my girl all this time. I used its bodice pattern as a guide to draw my own one.

The main idea was I wanted a simple A line dress with a small cap sleeve and a big pocket on the front (I always have problem with sleeve, though...sigh)

Okay, I went like this for the upper bodice:

1. I traced the bodice onto a paper.
2. For the cap sleeve, I drew a straight line extending the shoulder line about 1.5 inches
3. I marked the arm hole about an inch up from the bottom arm, and then I connected this to the end of the first line I drew. And I smoothed its corner by curving it a little bit. (I missed something out here, the dress would speak)
4. I cut down the length of the bodice to an inch from the bottom arm hole.

Front bodice: on the left was the original pattern

Back bodice

Sleeve

For the skirt I just make a slight A line. I wanted it as a top so it's about 8 inches in length.

Skirt: slight A line

I picked this love yellowish fabric for the skirt and red polka dot for the bodice.

The sewing was taken on Sunday...after I prepared meals for the whole family. Perhaps this was the fastest dress sewing I ever did, after the peasant dress. (Well it's took few hours work though....hahaha)

And here it is

Front view

Back view

For the closure I used 3 buttons with elastic loops. At first I planned using regular button holes, but time's ticking. (The original pattern called for zipper for closure) and I also skipped the pocket idea.

Did you notice something odd with this dress? I did.

1. The sleeves. If you took a look from the top you'd see it. It's pointy rather than curved

2. The up side down pattern on the front skirt.

I did not plan on that.  Lesson learned.

Anyway the dress was nicely fit on my girl. And we're having a great afternoon that day with a new dress fresh from the sewing table :)

Have a great day everyone
Wassalamualaikum.

Pretty Clutch

Assalamualaikum!

I have a new clutch...Errrr...What so special with that?
Remember this wallet? It's THE ONLY everyday wallet I have. Can't you believe that???
Well, I was planing to use only my handmade for my things, but poor me, I didn't have time was too lazy to make things. Most of the time I make thing when I need it. And yes, I need it now. This wallet really need some wash. On top of everything, I need to practice what I have learned from books and from great people out there who have willingly and kindly shared their knowledge.

For this clutch I used the tutorial from this book. For the fabric I used local canvas fabric for the outer and cotton for the lining. I was (still) experimenting on the interfacing. I used several types of interfacing for this clutch.

Two buttons?? Well...I did not plan on that. It was my hubb brilliant idea. He found me crying, screaming desperately knowing I mistakenly measured when installed the button after a long 3 hours working. He gave me the idea to install new button instead of replace the main body and used the old one for an accent. Brilliant!!

This clutch has 3 card slots, zippered pocket and 2 roomy compartment for cash, bills, and my cell phone. And my own label ;)

 Though it was not perfect, I was pretty pleased with the result as it was my first trial.
 And definitely will sew more. Practice makes perfect, right?!

Have a nice day
Wassalamualaikum!

Karena Wanita Ingin Dimengerti

Assalamualaikum!

Absen beberapa lama dan kembali dengan judul seperti lagu...
Anyway...ceritanya seperti ini, beberapa waktu lalu saya menerima pesan dari seorang kawan.
Isinya seperti ini (judulnya sama dengan di atas itu)

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Karena Wanita Ingin Dimengerti

Saat istri marah, ia belum tentu kesal.
Ia hanya butuh pengertian.

Saat istri menangis, ia belum tentu bersedih
Ia hanya butuh pelukan

Saat istri cemberut, ia belum tentu kecewa
Ia hanya butuh perhatian

Saat istri cemburu, ia belum tentu iri
Ia hanya butuh pujian

Saat istri menolak, ia belum tentu tak mau
Ia hanya butuh rayuan dan bujukan

Saat istri lelah, ia belum tentu merasa capek
Ia hanya butuh diajak jalan-jalan

Saat istri sakit hati, ia belum tentu terluka
Ia hanya butuh belaian

Namun

Saat istri tersenyum, ia belum tentu setuju
Bisa jadi ia sedang berusaha mengerti

Saat istri tertawa, ia belum tentu bahagia
Bisa jadi ia sedang berusaha membahagiakan suaminya

Saat istri diberi hadiah, ia belum tentu senang
Bisa jadi ia sedang berusaha menghargai

Saat istri terlihat tegar, ia belum tentu kuat
Bisa jadi ia sedang mencoba bertahan menghadapi ujian

Saat istri mengerjakan perintah suami, belum tentu sesuai keinginannya
Bisa jadi ia sedang berusaha untuk menjadi istri yang taat

Wahai para suami atau calon suami, selami lebih dalam psikologi pasanganmu. Karena bisa jadi ada makna di balik setiap kata dan ekspresinya.
Ini bukan masalah tiak adanya ketulusan dan keikhlasan. Namun belajarlah memahami tabiat seorang wanita yang rela mengorbankan sisa umurnya bersamamu.

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Setelah baca pesan (yang harusnya ditujukan ke laki-laki) itu, saya pun manggut-manggut, dalam  hati berkata "iya, kadang seperti itu"
Saya pun teringat seminar yang disampaikan oleh Dr. Aisyah Dahlan (Kepala Unit Narkoba RS Bhayangkara, Staff Ahli BNN).
Seminar yang menurut saya supppeeeeer sekali. Seminar yang bisa membuat pesertanya (saya terutama) menangis dan tertawa sekaligus. Ooooh ternyata gitu to (otak) perempuan dan laki-laki.

Beliau menjelaskan bahwa otak wanita dan laki-laki itu berbeda. Pembentukan otakpun dipengaruhi oleh hormon "wanita/laki-laki" (kok saya lupa ya istilahnya...testosteron dan progesteron???)
Hal itu telah dibuktikan dengan penelitian ilmiah tentang otak wanita dan laki-laki.
Mudahnya seperti ini...otak wanita yang pertama berkembang adalah otak kiri alias penuh dengan analisis, selalu serius...sedangkan otak laki-laki yang pertama berkembang adalah otak kanan yang penuh dengan permainan, bersenang-senang dan sebagainya.

Volume otak tengah pun berbeda. Otak tengah wanita itu lebih tebal dari pada otak laki-laki.

Wujud dari perbedaan tersebut misalnya:

Wanita itu multitasking, dapat mengerjakan beberapa kegiatan sekaligus. Sedangkan pria tidak.

Wanita butuh mengeluarkan setidaknya 20.000 kata perhari sedangkan pria (hanya) butuh 7.000 kata perhari. Makanya wanita itu "lebih cerewet". Bahkan untuk wanita yang pendiam pun butuh 18.000 kata per hari.
Kalau kebutuhan "bicara wanita" itu tidak terpenuhi maka  bisa bahaya misal "ngambek".
Sebaliknya bila pria telah mengeluarkan  7.000 kata dalam sehari maka dia akan jadi "pendiam".

Ketika wanita "curhat" belum tentu ia minta solusi...ia hanya ingin didengarkan.

Masih banyak lagi contoh yang diberikan oleh beliau. Jadi dari hal seperti itu masalah dapat muncul dalam hubungan antara pria dan wanita atau rumah tangga.
Beliau berharap dengan mengetahui perbedaan "otak" tersebut peserta diharapkan dapat lebih memahami pasangannya.

Cara Bu Aisyah saat menyampaikan seminar ini sungguh sangat menarik...beliau berikan contoh kejadian nyata dalam kehidupan sehari-hari, dan dengan cara yang sangat baik sekali. Fun tapi kena.

Oia saat itu peserta diberikan tes visual untuk mengetahui seberapa besar sifat maskulin/feminin masing-masing. Dan ternyata saya termasuk yang "tidak perempuan banget" alias ada sifat maskulinnya hehehehe

Yang belum pernah ikut seminar beliau ini, coba deh. Bagus lagi kalau bersama pasangannya. :)

Anyway...kok ngelantur gini ya jadinya....tak apalah pengingat diri... semoga bermanfaat

Wassalamualaikum

Have a nice day all...

Back and Still Alive!!

Assalamualaikum!


Whoaaaa...setelah sekian lama absen akhirnya ditekadkan hari ini untuk kembali. Setelah menjalani minggu-minggu yang melelahkan dengan berbagai uji ketahanan fisik dan mental dan tetap bisa bertahan... Yay for me! (dan sepertinya minggu-minggu ke depan pun masih akan menyita energi)
Inilah yang terjadi beberapa waktu lalu:

1. ke kantor jalan kaki karena jalanan lumpuh oleh banjir. 5 kilo mak! dah kayak hiking kemana tuh.
2. pulang kantor jalan kaki karena muacet minta ampun...daripada berdiri empet2an di bis, akhirnya turun di halte terdekat dan lanjut jalan kaki.
3. kecelakaan di dapur...(kecipratan air panas di dahi) gosong deh. Bioplacenton does help.
4. pingsan dengan sukses di apotek yang bikin panik para pegawainya (thanks to mba Deby sudah nungguin saya sampai benar-benar sadar...semoga magangnya lancar yah mba...)
5. kena flu berat yang berlanjut ke sinus...dan komen dokter 'kalau nanti ga bisa sembuh dengan obat ya kita operasi' (langsung mau pingsan).
6. putri kecilku demam selama 3 hari tanpa ada gejala batuk pilek...hari ke-4 demam hilang dan muncul bintik-bintik merah (kesimpulan setelah googling: Roseola Infantum)
7. si kakak yang tiba-tiba sakit perut jejeritan...hasil periksa dokter karena kontraksi di usus besar akibat menunda buang air besar.
8. nunggu antrian dokter dari jam 17.30 sampai jam 21.00 dan pulangnya disambut hujan badai.

What a month...and I'm grateful that I'm still alive and my babies are okay.

What do you have recently?

Wassalamualaikum.

New Year, New Hope, New Curtain....Why Not?

Assalamualaikum,

Wow...it's 2014 already ...I've been gone for so long I guess.

Happy (be lated) New Year everyone...

At the end of 2013 I got a special delivery from my father in law. My own sewing table he made for me. Yay...It's a 'real' sewing table and perfect. Now my sewing machine has its own place. All this time I was sharing table with my 7 yo boy (Well, I'm petite, so I have no problem with that... yet.)

Yay...

 So, in order to 'celebrate' the new workspace and welcoming new year, I decided to make a new curtain for my kids room. And lucky me...I found a beautiful linen with theme I wanted all this time. It's the festival flag theme...just perfect for decorating kids room.

I never sew a curtain before and I didn't know how, actually. So I just 'do it'.

I did not make a lot of cutting nor sewing on the fabric. I just hemmed the both side, added trim on the top and straps.

The sewing did not take a lot of time, but sewing on buttons was so time consuming. Button?

Yes, 2 snap buttons on every strap. Sound unusual? I don't know. I just 'do it'.

We have regular curtain rod in the house (the one that has rail on it and need little hook to hang the curtain). I don't want to take it down, so I have to improvise on the strap.

Adding snap button on the strap was the perfect solution. I used a 1/2'' snap button.

After an on and off days here it is.....my very first curtain

Before

After

And this is the strap detail

My first finished project in 2014 and lesson learnt.

What do you have recently?

Wassalamualaikum.