Sewing Project B: Simple Pants for My Little Boy

Finally, I have completed the first pants for my little boy! I certainly hope he will like this. As I was making the pants he had asked me twice if he can wear his new pants already :)

Here's the outcome, looking neat?

It's a simple cutting, really. However being a newbie I made too many mistakes so there were many redos. I guess the one thing I did well is that all lines are straight and are properly aligned. *phew*

This is the pants I used as reference, I extended the length to be slightly below his knees.

I used elastic band with adjustable button holes for the waist band, so as Ethan grows I just have to re-buckle accordingly. Love this design, in fact I would think that all kids wear should adopt this concept as little fellas really grow too fast..

Now that I have learnt how to make this pants, I shall make a few more with different design variations. I just can't wait!

Ethan loving his new pants.. In fact, he was so proud of it that he requested if he can wear it to sleep for the night. *happy*

Interested to try this out yourself? Just visit this site for the step by step guide.

http://www.made-by-rae.com/2010/10/free-raes-basic-newborn-pant-sewing-pattern/

Or this

http://www.make-baby-stuff.com/baby-pants-baby-pattern.html

Happy sewing :)

Copyrights © Pui Hua and Fun With Little Ones, 2012 - present. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of any materials/photos within this website without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pui Hua and Fun With Little Ones with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

My First Baby Dress! Confession of a Newbie

Two years ago, we had a neighbor who made beautiful pieces for her little girls, from simple floral print blouse to playful round skirt and full length dress, all in vibrant and attractive textiles that she collected during her overseas trips. I really admired her ability to sew as I was a total idiot in sewing. All I knew was sewing buttons and fixing loose ends on our clothes using needle and thread. Period. Nothing more, nothing less. Even the blouse which I got a good grade for my school project, was done by my "substitute" - my sister. :)

So, with the mindset that sewing is an impossible task for an IT professional like me, making a dress for my own kids remain a dream that I kept to myself. Until, a week ago.

I came across a website with wonderful handmade kids wear, from simple tops to dazzling summer dresses, I was just so impressed beyond words. Those are the EXACT pieces that I wish my baby girl could be wearing and that was the main push factor that got me thinking -- Perhaps I can try to tailor baby dress for my little ones too. If I failed it only cost me some monies and time, but if I do succeed that is a nice skill to acquire and both my kiddo will benefit from it.

Feeling bedazzled, I spent the next few hours browsing websites after websites that night, from midnight until 4am only I fell asleep with a big plan in my heart.

The next day, I started asking around if anyone has a sewing machine for loan. My sweet sister in law borrowed me her Singer Featherweight II, with a box of sewing kits and a manual, my journey to making my baby's first dress started. I spent the first night learning the basic on operating the machine for a few hours. The following day, I bought some fabrics and at night when my duo were asleep, I spent 5 hours to complete the following dress for my baby girl from scratch.

My friends and family were all amazed when they saw this dress, especially my mama who found it hard to believe that I made this, fully self taught. she never expected her little girl (who's not so little now), is actually able to sew something decent. It was priceless to see that surprise expression on her face :)

No doubt the dress has many flaws, need improvements here and there, but I find my little girl looking really sweet in it.

I altered the dress later by making it shorter and added buttons on the shoulder straps as pattern. This dress can now be worn both ways with different designs. I kept the shoulder straps flexible by using buttons instead of sewing them up, so as baby grows taller I can just adjust the buttons to fit her height. Smart idea? Learnt it from the website too :) The original design I saw was using tie up knots at the shoulders, but I though this design is more comfortable. 

On the same night, I made a pillow case for my elder boy too. He really loved it as he was the one who picked the fabric design, he actually kissed the hearts on the pillow when yelling "I like this mommy!". All the late hours I spent on the sewing machine were fully paid off with his smiles and kisses.

These are the websites that truly inspired me and gave me the clear ideas what I want to make for my duo. Hope you find them useful too.

Made By Rae
http://www.made-by-rae.com/
Rae produced the most wonderful children clothes that made me drool. She provides some patterns for free on her website so if you are keen, do download, print it and you can start sewing right away.

No Big Dill
http://www.nobigdill.com/
This mother of 6 shares a lot inspiring and creative designs for her kids. Her website has a lot more interesting reads than just about sewing and she took great pictures of her kids.

Lizzie House
http://lizzyhouse.typepad.com/
Lizzie has such beautiful fabric collections that are delightful to the eyes, if only we have such fabrics in Malaysia too.

Owly Baby
http://owlybaby.blogspot.com/
Her works are mainly for sale, I spent the night browsing and admiring the designs although the they are not as extensive as the above sites.

Sew Mama Sew
http://www.sewmamasew.com/
Sew Mama Sew! Is a really resourceful site that provides a lot of free tutorials, patterns from clothing to accessories to fabric. Simply resourceful!


What Next?
If you are a newbie in sewing just like me and would like to try out your crafty genes, here are some advises that I can think off:

1. Have the design in mind before you begin. Unless you have learnt the technique of pattern cutting, it's probably easiest if you have an exact piece of clothes with you, you can then use it as a prototype to cut out your pattern. Open up your kiddo's wardrobe and pick a piece as sample. Below was my pick, a gift from our dearest aunty from Down Under.

2. Don't start working on the dress right away. Have some patience and practice sewing lines on a piece of old cloths first. It's important to ensure you know how to handle straight lines, curve lines, can confidently load thread and wind the bobbin when it's empty.

This was my first piece of "beginner's sewing trial" that I used for practice on first night, it's cut out from one of my maternity top that I was about to throw away. Recycled for good purpose now.

Need to understand more? Just refer to some of these YouTube videos. I basically relied on these video and the Singer's operation manual to complete the dress.

Sewing Basics 1: How to thread your machine
View video here

How to Use your Sewing Machine (for Beginners)
View video here

3. When cutting the fabric, pay attention to detail, mark with pencil if you need to. For example:

ensure pattern is facing up. Unless you intentionally want an upside down bunny, do check to ensure it's facing up before you out the needle down.

when using lined prints, ensure lines are properly aligned and in same direction.

cut the fabric so pattern on the fabric are well positioned in the end result. For example, it will definitely look nicer to have the flower in the middle of the chest rather than below the armpit.

Refer to Made By Rae website for pictorial guide on cutting the pattern


4. Work only when your LO is asleep so you can stay focused and undisturbed. I tried making a pair of beach pant for my boy while baby C was playing next to me, she kept crying for attention that I wrongly stitched the lap pieces together. I had to spend a good 15 minutes undoing my mistake after putting my cranky baby to bed.


5. Make sure you have a big, flat surface to cut the fabric, about the size of a normal office worktop.


Ending Note
Where I live, beautiful children dresses with fine finishing only available in major shopping malls and easily cost between RM100-RM200, most of the time baby outgrow these dresses within 2-3 months. Some clothes I bought only wore no more than 3 times before I have to shelve them up. So learning to sew may have the benefit of saving us a few bucks, but what really matter to me is the satisfaction when seeing my little ones looking oh-so-pretty or oh-so-happy in my handmade creation. It's simply happiness that money can't buy.

Here are some of the fabrics I bought which cost me around RM120, if I'm lucky I can probably churn at least 10 pieces of creations for my duo (note: sewing project B already started but temporary on hold as I'm up to something else).

That's the end of my story on how I started sewing and made the first dress. Hope you find your passion and put it into action too. Like Tony Fernandes said - "Impossible is Nothing" or the old Chinese saying, "有志者事竟成＂, I couldn't agree more.


Just one last thing...
I'm writing this post merely from my viewpoint as a novice newbie with absolutely no foundation in sewing. So I will advice you to read this only as a sharing and not as a source of learning reference if you are considering sewing as a profession or serious hobby.



Copyrights © Pui Hua and Fun With Little Ones, 2012 - present. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of any materials/photos within this website without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pui Hua and Fun With Little Ones with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Tutorial: Simple Paper Cut - Little Bunnies

I am sure most of us had done paper cutting as part our school art project back in our younger days, there are a couples of the special ones that I remember, like making face mask (I stuck feathers on mine to make it a red Indian mask and that got me a star), water color stamping with vegetables (lady's finger made really nice pattern) and some others that I can still vividly recall.

Amongst all, paper cut of little people is one of them that I remember making. So I attempted a few little bunnies cut out with my boy and we had good fun coloring the bunnies together.

Here are the steps in pictures. All you need are some scrap papers, a pair of scissor and some color pencils. With the same concept, you can make paper cut of Mickeys, trees, apples and little people too (or anything else of symmetrical shape)

1. Cut out a long rectangular strip from scrapped paper or clean white sheet. Here, I recycled the color palette from Ethan's water painting sheet.

2. Fold them like a fan, with equal width.

3. Outline the shape of your cutting using a pencil. Make sure the connecting point (in this case, the hands and legs) touches the edge.

4. Cut out according to your outline.

5. Tag dah, it's done! Easy bitsy...

a

6. On the plain white side, decorate the paper cut using yours or little one's imagination..

Psss.. With a little modification, you can changed the bunny to little mickeys too ;)


This activity is suitable for preschooler who is starting to learn coloring or constantly exploring colors and paper cutting skills.


Safety Precaution:
Be careful when allowing young toddlers to use scissor, must make it clear to him/her that scissor is allowed only under your supervision. Use only scissor with round tip or in my case, I bought a pair of stationery scissor with plastic blades and round tip for my little boy to do his artwork.


Copyrights © Pui Hua and Fun With Little Ones, 2012 - present. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of any materials/photos  within this website without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pui Hua and Fun With Little Ones with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Kid Talk with Little One 童言童语

I love the private chat time with Ethan, he often surprised me with some unexpected answers that made me wonder where he learn to think or speak that way. I'm sure all parents have such moments too, I just want to record some of these conversation as they bring happy memories.

Mother & Son
Modified from original picture at www.donnabellas.com

This post will be constantly updated with the interesting conversations with my 3yo Ethan. Updated with latest posting on top.


Adaptive Problem Solving
Right before bedtime, I was spending sometimes with my duo in their room and was stealing sometime to chat with friends.

Ethan: mommy, i want Neng Neng (milk).
Me: Hmm.. (Eyes on screen)

Ethan: mommy, i want Neng Neng please..
Me: OK.. (Eyes still on screen)


After a few minutes.
Ethan: mommy, my heart is no good.
Me: Huh? Why? (Looked up finally)

Ethan: Its beating very fast..
Me: how could that be? (Starting to feel concerned)
Ethan: because I don't get to drink my Neng Neng Lo...
Me: OK, Neng Neng right away!

It's amazing to see my little boy being so creative and adaptive in handling the situation. Can't decide I should feel happy or worry with such creative mind...




The Sweetest Words
Bedtime, my eyes were half closed. Little Ethan suddenly whispered to me in his sleepy tone,

"Good night, my beautiful mommy".
He then turned over and fell asleep.
Aww, how he made my day, I was in cloud nine for quite a long while. :)


Animals that Live in The Farm
Was singing a song about animal that lives on the farm with Ethan..

E: "You are my chicken"
Me: "you are my cow"
E: "you are my rooster"
Me: "you are my duckling..."

He corrected me.. "No! duckling lives in the bath tub!"

What a typical city kid.. He was referring to his bath time duckling. *speechless*


Sharing is Caring
Baby Claire was making fuss during car ride. Ethan pulled out a quarter of his chocolate pancake and passed to baby, "nah, Mei Mei, you can have this".

I like that sharing spirit..


Don't be scared, I am here
Baby Claire was woke up by the thunder while taking her nap, crying. After calming her down I went to get her a long sleeve shirt.

When back in the room, I saw Ethan in the room, hugging his little sister and telling her "不用怕怕，哥哥在" (don't be scared, I'm here).

I was so touched.. Despite they always fight for toys, he still remember he has to protect his Mei Mei.


When I'm 18
Having our usually mommy-son conversation while on our way home after work.

Ethan: mommy, when I'm 18 years old I can drive a car hoh?

Me: Yes, you can. But do you have enough money to buy a car then?

Ethan: hmm... Don't need money. I can drive your car, and you can sit at the back.

Pretty smart answer I must say, lol.



Chit Chat Time 2
Chatting with Ethan again while on the way home.

Me: when you want to cut your hair, you go to hair saloon. When you want to buy a book?

Ethan: go to book shop!

Me: good. When you want to have some fun?

Ethan: I go to the playground! (luckily he didn't answered iPad..)

Me: when mommy wants to drink coffee? (I was expecting him to say coffee shop...)

Ethan: we... go... to... Coffee Bean!

Lol, I must have been going CB too often :)


Chit Chat Time
Chatting with Ethan while on the way home..

Me: when you want to eat something, you go to restaurant.. When you want to wee wee?
Ethan: go to toilet!

Me: yes. When you need petrol?
Ethan: go to petrol station.

Me: good. Want to watch a movie?
E: go to cinema!

Me: want to sleep?
Ethan: go to our house! (not bad...)

Me: want to eat ice cream?
Ethan: go to ice scream shop!

Me: want to buy a toy?
Ethan: go to Toy 'R Us!

Haha, he is definitely a loyal Toy 'R Us supporter! :)


“她是我的妹妹”
妹妹不断打扰正在上水彩的哥哥，我把她抱开几次后忍不住说：“你再吵哥哥我就打你屁股！”

哥哥立刻大声说：“妈咪，你不可以打她，她是我的妹妹！”

挺有哥哥风范嘛...


Lullaby Time
I was trying to get baby Claire to sleep while Ethan asked for his milk.

He offered, "mommy, I can sing the song for Mei Mei, now can you please make a milk for me?".

So I left the baby and him in the room while I stepped outside to make the milk. As I was preparing, I heard him singing..

"Rock-a-by baby, on the tree top,
When the wind blows, the cradle will rock,
When the bow breaks, the cradle will fall,
But baby won't come down, coz Ethan is here"

He changed my modified lullaby song by replacing 'mommy' with 'Ethan' and he sang the song repetitively until i got back into the room. What a sweet brother he is... :)


It's OK
Was sharing a hash brown with Ethan this morning and I accidentally dropped a piece on the floor.

He quickly got down his chair, came over to me, hugged me and told me this:

"Mommy, it's ok." Looked over to his daddy.

"See, daddy is not angry with you. Don't worry ok?"

He then gave me an assuring look and went back to his seat.

Hub and I looked at each other, didn't know what to say but just laughed. I love my little boy, really.


Caterpillar Talk
I was chatting with Ethan while waiting for my coffee for take away.

Ethan: Mommy, the caterpillar loves to eat yellow leaves!
Me: Are you sure it's not green leaves?
Ethan: No, it's yellow leaves!
Me: I see. What about Ethan? Does Ethan's likes to eat green or yellow leaves?
Ethan: hmmm... I like vegetables (with a grin on his face)

Haha, and I though I can trick him!


My Little Bodyguard
Late night shopping with my little boy after work.

Seeing me with 3 bags of groceries, he asked "mommy, can I help?" So he did, carried a bag of fruits.

He then walked with me, operated the lift, put the bag into boot and opened the car door for me.

Daddy, waited in the car, asked "did you protected mommy?". He replied, "ya, I am double super strong boy!", while showing off his arm muscles like a Mr Universe.

LOL. How can I not feel proud of him huh?


Morning Call Again
Sunday. Was trying to catch an afternoon nap after baby fell asleep, Ethan came to me.

Ethan: "Mommy, you cannot sleep now."
Then he pulled the curtain,
"Look, it's day time, the sun so bright!"
Me: "..."

He sounded just like me when I wake him up every weekday morning... What goes around, comes around! :)


哥哥的两只老虎

一大早，整顿好了两个小瓜我就开始梳洗更衣，由得他们俩在房间各自耍乐。

才过一阵子就听到妹妹哭声，我赶紧把脸霜搽好。刚踏出洗手间，哭声已止，隐约间听到儿童歌声。

走进房间探个究竟，原来小哥哥在床上层手舞足蹈地对着妹妹唱＂两只老虎＂，躺在床下层的妹妹迷起双眼带笑的看着哥哥，眼角还挂着一颗颗泪珠。看到我，哥哥邀我一起唱歌，唱到＂没有尾巴＂那一段他还要屁股晃晃。在洒满阳光充满欢笑的房间里，那一刻感觉，幸福可以如此简单。

我只期望这份哥妹情能一直持续下去。


I Can Do This
Little Ethan and I were in the living hall while baby started crying in the room upstair. As my hands were dusty I went into washroom to wash up before attending to her.

Then I saw my little boy dashing upstair while saying: "It's OK mommy, I can do this!"

Not sure what exactly he meant, I quickly wiped my hands and rushed up the stairs too.

I was so surprised with what I saw - he was pouring water from the glass jug into baby's milk bottle, cap opened. and he told me "Mommy, its OK, I am making milk for mei mei".

He was barely 3 years old... I was really touched by his strong sense of responsibility at such young age. :)


Because You Are Pretty
Little Ethan stared at me as I was brushing my hair.

Me: Baby, why are you staring at mommy like that?
Ethan: because you are pretty, you know?

LOL, I didn't expect him to say that! he sure knows how to make a girl happy... Then again, I'm sure all mommies are fairest in the LO's eyes until they enter teenage stage and their hormones kicks in..


Morning Call
Woke up by 2 pretentious birds this morning (Little Ethan's hands)..

Bird 1: hello mommy, I love you!
Bird 2: Hi mommy, I kiss you ah.. (kiss pretendedly)
Bird 1: mommy, look! I bring you papaya. It's so sweet.. (Eat pretendedly)
Bird 2: mommy, I buy you lemon, wait huh, I squeeze lemon juice for you (squeezed pretendedly)
Me: Thanks birdies, mommy must get ready for work now.
Ethan: wait mommy, I massage for you. (5 seconds back massage)
Ethan: OK already. You feel better?

Of course i feel great! I thoroughly enjoyed this"priority service"... Although it's mostly pretentious :)


Ethan's Bedtime Prayer
"Dear Lord, Jesus, happy new year and happy valentines day. We got heart in the house, and peacock, muffin, pao. I played in grandma house today, I didn't cry, but Mei Mei cried in the room, then she quiet already. Thank you Jesus. Amen"

I just love his prayer. Simple and sweet.

*note: heart, peacock and pau were his artwork :)



Copyrights © Pui Hua and Fun With Little Ones, 2012 - present. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of any materials/photos within this website without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pui Hua and Fun With Little Ones with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Go, Baby Go! 宝贝加油！

Baby Claire learnt to crawl when she was 8 months old. Well, she started crawling in reverse direction at 7.5 months old but that would not quite count, would it? :)

Although she is pretty good at crawling now, she still preferred to be carried most of the time. With her L size weight, carrying her for even just 10 minutes can be quite a hefty chore. So, one way to make her want to crawl is to attract her with somethings interesting, where sometimes she will charge towards the object at surprising speed and I could not even stop her in time..

Curious baby Claire at 8 month 3 weeks old

Here are some of the toys that I used to encourage her to crawl. All you need is something noisy or rattling toys that can roll fast, baby will get all excited over them. Most importantly, ensure there is no tiny / sharp objects on the floor or within baby's reachable height, even a small wrapper can be a chocking hazard, so do inspect the surrounding.

Baby Claire chasing after a bottle of beans

Some of Claire's crawling buddies

We got this Go Baby Go ball for Ethan when he was 6mo and he loved to chase after this noisy music ball, now this ball was passed on to baby Claire and she enjoyed pulling it too.

Go Baby Go ball by Fisher Price, a noisy music ball that will attempt to roll away whenever senses a touch

Tips for DIY Toy
Red beans in a clear plastic container is a cheap and quick DIY toy. It can also be used to teach baby the concept of inside and outside (for safety reason, replace the beans with a ping pong ball or bigger objects that won't cause to chocking)


Copyrights © Pui Hua and Fun With Little Ones, 2012 - present. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of any materials/photos within this website without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Pui Hua and Fun With Little Ones with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.