Ballerina Shoes Bags 芭蕾舞鞋袋

I'm making new batch of shoes bags. This time the design is simpler, less is more! 

I made the shoes bag in three colours, pink, lilac and mustard yellow. Actually, I like baby blue too, but I noticed that blue is not so favourable among the little girls at the ballet centre, so I didn't make the bag in blue colour. I love this ballerina prints fabric a lot, those little ballerinas are so cute! I added some laces, ribbon and cute bunny button, I just love them. 

Cute bunny button and lilac ribbon

Mustard yellow

All time favourite among the little girls - pink

Pink lace, ribbon & wooden button

Handmade with love by Lin Craft House :)

Ballerina shoes bags

Which one is your favourite colour?

Let's Go Holiday ~ Overnight and Weekend Bag 走,旅行去吧！

I'm very delighted to know that a young mother at my daughter's ballet centre like the ballet bags I made and told me that she found them very interesting. That's such a sweet and encouraging comment! :) She asked if I could make an overnight or a weekend bag for her. Her favourite colour is purple. 

This is the second purple bag that I'm making in a row haha..Looks like purple is quite popular among the young mothers :) 

This overnight/weekend bag with measurement L16.5"xW9"xH13.5" is the largest bag I have ever sewn so far. It's spacious enough to pack in a few sets of clothes for a short breaks and weekend getaways. I have added an elasticated pocket inside the bag as the compartment to keep smaller items. There are also three outside pockets sewn to the bag, one in front and two at the side. 

I myself am really pleased with the outcome of this project. I hope the young mother will like it too.

A large pocket attached in front of the bag

The other side of the bag

Side pocket

The other side pocket

Elasticated pocket

Lace ribbon with DIY fabric covered button

Metal zipper closure

Handmade Diary for Little Ballerina 芭蕾舞女孩日记本

My daughter was invited to her friend's birthday party. It's a friend from her ballet class. This girl despite rather petite for her age, can dance very well. She loves to dance very much just like my daughter. 

I made her a special diary with ballerina as the cover. I'm sure she would like it.

Happy birthday Angel!

Little bookmark

Ballerina's favourite

Sweet colour french stitch

Marine Blue Tote Bag 海军风托特包

I made myself another bag. This time it's a squarish bag, more roomy for me to carry lots of stuff in it. Very handy for girls day out shopping. :)

I used navy blue polka dot and stripe fabric to match with the marine sign fabric. It turned out pretty well.

Marine blue

Inside the bag

Marine sign cotton tape, perfect match for the bag

Another marine sign cotton tape attached at the other side of the bag

Side view of the bag

Coptic Stitch Bookbinding 古老式手缝书

I have learned Kettle stitch and French stitch bookbinding techniques. Both stitches are beautiful. This time I'm learning another bookbinding technique, Coptic binding, a very old bookbinding technique which was used from as early as 2nd century AD by the early Christians in ancient Egypt. The stitches look like connected chain. Hence, some called it Chain stitch binding. 

The original method of Coptic stitch binds all the signatures and the book cover together with a connected stitch. Hence, Coptic binding can hold the signatures and the cover together tightly compare to Kettle stitch and French stitch binding which only bind the signatures together but not the cover. 

At the recent bookbinding workshop that I attended, I learned two methods of Coptic stitch binding; one is the original method, the other one is the modified method which only binds the signatures together but not the cover. I find the modified method is more convenient to prepare as I can bind the signatures first and then decide on the design of the book cover later on.

Original method of Coptic binding

Binding all signatures and book cover together with a connected stitch

Modified Coptic binding method

Beautiful Coptic stitch

Bookmark

Apple Farm 苹果园

I haven't been doing clay craft for a long while. Afraid that my resin clay stock might turn dry and harden (since I have bought them some time ago), I took them out to make decoration for a photo frame. Sad to find out that a few blocks of my clay stock have dried up a little bit. It makes molding rather difficult when the clay is dry. I have to soften it by adding some mineral oil and knead it for a few times. 

After an afternoon of hard work, here is my latest piece of clay craft ~ Apple Farm. I used checked fabric from my stash to make the hair scarf and apron for the young lady. The rest of the piece are made using resin clay.

When I finished the piece, I felt like having an apple for tea. Haha..

Have a great day and do have an apple, which might keep the doctor away :)

Young lady with a bucket of apples

A wooden cart filled with apples

Apple farm

Young lady with apples from a different angle

I just love the smile on her face

Strawberries Skirt 草莓裙子

After the success of my first pair of summer pants for my boy. I tried making a skirt for my girl. Well, I thought sewing a skirt should be much easier than a pair of pants. Well, I was not entirely right.

Following the same steps for making the summer pants, I took my girl's existing skirt, traced and cut out the fabric. Big mistake! I forgot to make extra measurement for the skirt to flare. Too tight at the hip. So I removed the stitches and patched it with extra fabric. I also patched it with a different fabric to add a new dimension to the skirt.
Thank goodness that the skirt out turned out fine after the "restoration". 

I am so happy that I have learned another skill, to make a skirt. Looking forward to making more skirts!

Strawberries skirt

A little velvet ribbon to add style

Strawberries prints with tiny polka dot

Yey, a new skirt!