Sewing with Jersey - The Secret

Pretty cotton and viscose jersey fabrics are coming out by the bolts right now, and I'm so totally in love with them. But have to admit, sewing jersey is a nightmare, they keep puckering. Then I keep reading in Ottobre and Burda the tip of using a bias facing. So I asked the sewing notions stall and yippee they had it, a thin strip of bias facing that you iron on the shoulders and armholes to stop the fabric from stretching when sewing, it worked like a dreamm:) 

Here's my first project of sewing with jersey, really loved how it turned out

Can you see the white strips on the shoulders and armholes? Thats the bias facing which needs to be ironed on the stitching lines. 

The completed dress and I adore that matroshka applique 

The dress in action, has a really swingging skirt and is so comfortable, its now her 'go to' dress :) If you notice the neck binding is a bit wide, after intense studying of Ottobre tips, when using stretch binding, the length of binding is only 0.75% x the length on the pattern. So I did it again and turned out really well.

The original model from this book

Tip when sewing with jersey ; prewash is a must! I didn't and after the first wash the length shrank by 2 inches!! Wash at 30C max and line dry. The bias facing gets softer with every wash. I used a straight stitch but stretch the fabric as I sew and slightly loosen the upper thread tension, so in its relaxed mode the fabric will be a bit elastic and the stitches won't break. The pattern has a really dropped shoulder and is a bit larger than usual but the skirt is beautiful.

Hope you'll share some tips with me of sewing with jersey, so love it because now I don't need to iron Shasha's dresses :)

Pochee Crazy !

Hello everyone. Its been a very wet and cloudy December in KL. Yesterday went balik kampung in Bukit Merah to visit in-laws for the last time. It was a gorgeous sun shiny day with clear blue skys , but by the time we made the return trip home at 6.30pm it was raining torrents and the heavens were split by thunder and lightning. We finally made it home at 10.45 and headed straight for the Mamak stall :-)

I made these dresses a few weeks ago. It started as a birthday dress for my dear niece Fitrah, but after seeing how cute it was I ended up making one for Shasha and Fina, so here they are !

Made in Yellow Buds by Hunky Dory. 1 Yard was a bit short for her so added a lower frill.

Here she is at I-City with her mom and baby brother on her birthday.

Fina's in Chocolate Lollipop and Shasha's in Remix by Ann Kelly. I sort of fell in love with the added ruffles. The original used a bias tie around the neck or buttoned all the way down, a bit too tedious for me, so I improvised by making a placket on the back skirt and made button bands only on the back yoke.

Here they are, best of friends at 8 years old. I sometimes wish my girls will stay like this just a little bit longer! Pretty soon they'll not want dresses any longer :-(  Well, the circle of life must go on.

I first saw this pattern made by the talented Zura here and knew I just had to get the book. I believe I browsed thru it on 4 separate occasions and each time convincing myself that NO I do not need another pattern book! On the 5th visit, I finally decided that YES I was going to buy it and suddenly this young couple picked it up and seemed so interested! OMG, I was nearly in tears, my heart was racing. They put it down, I picked it up and ran to the counter for my life, they looked flabbergasted haha, yup this is a true story.

Sizes in here are for 90cm to 130cm and they are gorgeous. A MUST !

One more week till I leave Malaysia, not much looking forward to it especially going from 32C to a -6C, brrrr , I hope the kids can take it. Have been shopping for winter clothing since it is a bit cheaper here compared to Europe.

My IMac is leaving with Mr J on his flight tomorrow night, so that means this will be my last post from Bukit Antarabangsa, Malaysia. I'll see you next from cold, wet and cloudy Rotterdam.

Adios and keep on crafting.

ps. I couldn't help it, I bought books on crochet and knitting, have high hopes of making pretty sweaters once there! Lord, I'm gonna have excess baggage moannnn.

1 Yard of Heather Bailey :)

Hi again, hope everyone has been well. I feel happier today because at long last hubby is back! He was actually on work in Amsterdam (hmmm?) which was originally planned for 3 weeks ended up being 6! The last week was due to the ash cloud. He actually had to take a bus ride over 2 days to reach Rome and fly home from there! So here I was running around going a bit beserk with the kids. To relieve the stress I actually managed to get a few stitching things done, but with my usual professional photographer gone, could not take any pictures, sigh.

Ok ok, back to the topic on hand, 1yard of Heather Bailey. I kept thinking how unfair it was that my girl gets designer fabrics and I dont! So I attempted to make a skirt for myself. 1 yard in length however was way too short, so I added a bias hem of 3.5 in. I wanted a bit of interest to the skirt so added an inverted pleat in the middle and the matched band, part elasticated. Then I discovered in terms of width, I still had roughly 10in x 1yd in length. That was when I decided to try out the multi panel skirt from Sew Beautiful Issue 129 2010. I had more fun doing up this dress for Shasha than my skirt! So here they are , from 1 yard of Nicey Jane, Dream Dot in Clementine. I do particularly love the green check cotton, perfect shade. I actually did go around walking in KLCC with this skirt and Shasha in that dress and man, most people were doing a double take, even the shopkeepers! They must be wondering which shop I got it from, quite fun actually :)


Hmmm yes, I'm sure you're all wondering if thats me and how come Shasha looks different! I decided that these legs of mine were just too sexy for that cute skirt! So I ended giving it away as a bday gift to my neighbour's 15 yr old daughter, Nadhira. It suits her much better I must say. And so I got the 8 year old Fina to pose in Shasha's dress . Let me tell you, Shasha was right there at the edge keeping a close eye on her dress!

I love this pattern, so simple but so many possibilities. The panels are 2in wide at the top and flairs out at the bottom, so thats how you achieve the fitted structured top. I wanted an easy dress so I added the green tube and straps that button in front. I added elastic under the arms so the bodice fitted snugly. I hate how dresses can gape and you can see right down them! Hem is finished with matching bias piping. The pattern is easy to adapt to any size, even adult ones i guess. This is one issue which is a keepsake, go and get it if you haven't , a lot of other fantastic ideas there too. I made matching pants too :)

Check out Sew Beautiful site and their blog . The latest issue , Blue, is out and I just got mine from Kinokuniya last night, beautiful. Bye for now and happy stitching.

ps. I still don't own a designer item, sob!
pps Hoping to get the new Canon IXUS210!

Flower Power!

I got the red fabric from Zura, thanks dear and was so totally in LOVE just had to create. It ended up being another dress for shasha inspired from ivey's blog and decided to take the basic A-line pattern, cut wee bit under armhole added inverted pleats in the middle. Sleeves, neck and hem are finished using bias coordinated piping. See the pretty sunflower buttons at the back. I like buttons compared to zips ,not only are they much less of a hassle but prettier too :) My little touch of whimsy, a pretty button on her shoulder. The dress reminded me of the swinging 60's in Austin Powers hence the name!

Made a matching elasticated headband from the same two material.

Anyone interested , RM45 for workmanship with buttons and i'll throw in the headband for FREE!! Contact me for fabric requirement. Shasha is 123cm height and this dress uses 1yard/ 1mtr in total. Length can be varied

A Feliz dress for my my shasha!

Hello hello everyone, yes its been 2 months since my last posting! Have been tied up with kids schooling and everyday stuff, sigh! But yes have been stitching too. Introducing my girl Shasha! Here she is, really happy with her Feliz dress. This was an experiment, the pattern seemed so complicated. But it turned out so beautifully. The main fabric is from my stash but I matched the frills from of course my fav place Cottage Patch. Got lots of praises for this one and she's happy twirling around . Am making her a matching hat, nearly done. Already planning another in a green and pink combo, will definitely be pretty, can't wait! Problem is, the boys are now making noise, maybe will make them matching shorts!

Its a full 2 layer dress, princess cut style with elastic at the waist and back so can expand quite a bit.Please email me for details if interested for custom made for your princess. Soft cotton material is best for this dress so she can twirl away!! For a size 120 -130cm height, requires 2.75 metres including the ruffles. Please enquire for other sizes.

Hmm not sure how much to charge for workmanship, aching shoulders adding all those ruffles and ribbons! :)