Tips menjahit barut bayi

Akhirnya berjaya jugak menyiapkan barut bayi hujung minggu lepas. Sebenarnya nak menjahit barut tu taklah susah pun, bab nak pasang tali tu je yang agak remeh. Saya nak kongsi sikit tips untuk sesiapa yang nak menjahit barut bayi. Tips untuk orang yang bukan pakar menjahit. Kalau tukang jahit yang dah advance tu tips ini dah dihujung jari mereka je. Sebelum tu, pattern barut ni saya ambil dari blog Puan Azima.

Tips:

1- Lakar pattern pada kertas. Saya gunakan kertas surat khabar je. Untuk bahagian lengkuk pada barut tu, saya gunakan cawan sebagai acuan memandangkan saya tak ada pembaris bengkok.



Lakarkan mulut cawan untuk mendapatkan garis lengkuk.

2 - Gunakan rotary cutter untuk memotong kain dalam jumlah yang banyak sekaligus. Boleh je guna gunting kain yang tajam tapi rasanya sekali gunting hanya boleh gunting 2-3 helai.

Bahagian lengkuk tu pun saya potong guna rotary cutter.

3 - Saya tak tahu dalam Bahasa Melayu nak panggil apa benda ni. Dalam Bahasa Inggeris, dipanggil notches. Untuk bahagian lengkuk tu, selepas dah dijahit 3 dari 4 sisi barut tu, potong notches kat bahagian lengkuk tu. Kalau tak mahu potong notches tu, potong mcm yang saya tunjuk dalm gambar pun dah OK. Tujuan kita potong ni ialah supaya bila kita terbalikkan barut tu dari sebelah dalam (bahagian dalam kain) ke sebelah luar (bahagian betul kain), bahagian lengkuk tu licin je, takde tersembul atau berkedut.

4 - Untuk tali barut, saya gunakan tali putih yang kita boleh beli secara meter atau satu roll tu. Saya kurang rajin nak potong kain dan jahit jadikan tali.

Rumah Beg Plastik & Bantal Pelangi

Dari pagi sampai ke malam hari Sabtu saya memotong kain. Cadangnya nak buat burp cloth, barut dan bantal. Dah kebetulan memotong kain tu, saya potong juga kain untuk buat bekas isi plastik-plastik. Dah siap potong-potong semua, tengah asyik menjahit, jarum mesin patah. Patah pulak dah malam-malam hari. Mana ada kedai buka jam 10 malam. Ahad memang sah-sah la kedai yang menjual jarum tu tak buka. Sebelum jarum mesin tu patah, sempatlah saya menjahit bekas letak plastik beg ni. Saya dah buat dulu, yang saya recycle kemeja tu (ada cite kat sini) tapi entah mana perginya masa pindah hari tuh. Saya ikut tutorial kat sini sikit-sikit. Selebihnya pandai-pandai sendiri jahit.

 Sekarang beg-beg plastik ASDA ke, Tesco ke, apa saja beg plastik dah ada rumah mereka sendiri :)

Pastu sempat juga siapkan bantal untuk mainan baby. Saya sengaja buat dua biji. Saya ikut tutorial kat sini. Tapi saiz bantal saya tu, saya tekap guna saiz pinggan je.

Good night baby. I love you.

 

Good night. I love you too... Mmmmmuuuaahhh...

Pretty Happy

Am pretty happy today. I bought a brown corduroy skirt at the charity shop. I plan to make a bag with it. May be a hobo bag or a tote or a sling bag. We'll see. Can just imagine how beautifully that bag will turn out to be :) Well, if I manage to sew a corduroy fabric using my tiny little machine without breaking the needle. I'll probably use the pattern I found here. Pretty thing huh? So yummy!

credit

Oh! I also managed to get hold of a king size duvet cover at the car boot sales last two weeks. Love the itty bitty print. I've washed it although I'm pretty sure the seller have washed it before she sells it. It's a habit of mine. I will wash every garment I buy, be it new ones or used ones. I plan to make a laundry basket cover with this fabric. Or if I can find a basket to put our magazines in, I'll whip one basket liner like the one here.

credit

Kek Lobak Merah & Nanas

 Happy Birthday To Abang & Myself :)

Kek ni saya buat bersempena dengan ulang tahun hari lahir saya dan suami. Suami yang tengok resepi ni kat TV, langsung mencadangkan supaya saya buat. Saya suka buat kek tapi kalau yang suami tak suka makan, saya malas nak buat. Sebab nanti saya kena makan sorang. Saya sekarang cuba untuk err.. mengurangkan berat badan :'( Sadis!

Resepi ni saya tiru dari Ina Garten dalam rancangan Barefoot Contessa. Kek ni sewaktu baru sejuk, memang manis rasanya. Jadi cadangan saya, perlu biarkan seharian dulu, baru rasanya OK. Untuk cream cheese frosting, saya hanya gunakan 1/2 cawan confectioners' sugar sebab saya tak suka terlalu manis. Saya masih mencari resepi cream cheese frosting yang 'can hold its shape but not so sweet'. Resepi yang ini, bila dah dibiarkan semalaman, barulah agak keras cream cheese frosting tu.

Bahan:

Untuk Kek:

2 cawan gula pasir
1 1/3 minyak sayuran
3 biji telur saiz besar, pada suhu bilik
1 st esen vanila
2 1/2 cawan tepung serbaguna + 1 sb, asingkan (saya guna tepung naik sendiri)
2 st serbuk kulit kayu manis
2 st baking soda
1 1/2 st garam halus
1 cawan kismis
1 cawan kacang walnut, dipotong
1 pound/ 450gm lobak merah, disagat
1/2 cawan nanas, dipotong dadu

Untuk Frosting:
*(ada sesiapa boleh bagi saya perkatan Bahasa Melayu untuk frosting? Menyalut kek? Atau apa ye?)
3/4 pound cream cheese, pada suhu bilik
1/2 menterga tanpa garam, pada suhu bilik
1 st esen vanila
1/2  pound (225gm) gula confectioners, diayak (resepi asal 1 pound/450gm gula confectioners)

Untuk Hiasan:
1/2 cawan nanas dipotong dadu

Cara
Panaskan oven pada suhu 350 F.
Griskan 2 tin pembakar bersaiz 8 inci. Alas dengan kerta minyak, gris kertas minyak dan taburkan tepung. Ketuk-ketuk tin pembakar supaya tepung tu sekata.

Untuk Kek:
1. Pukul, gula, minyak, dan telur dalam mangkuk sampai kekuningan. Masukkan esen vanila.
2. Dalam mangkuk lain, ayak 2 1/2 cawan tepung, serbuk kulit kayu manis, baking soda dan garam.
3. Masukkan adunan bahan kering ke dalam adunan bahan basah.
4. Gaulkan kismis dan walnut dengan 1sb tepung. Masukkan lobak merah dan nanas ke dalam campuran ini. Kemudian masukkan campuran ini ke dalam adunan. Gaul sebati.
5. Bahagikan adunan sama banyak ke dalam dua tin pembakar. Bakar adunan selama 55-60 minit, atau sehingga bila dicucuk dengan lidi, lidi tu keluar bersih je. Biarkan kek yang telah masak sejuk di dalam tin pembakar.
**Tips: Elakkan dari membakar kesemua adunan di dalam satu tin pembakar. Nanti kek jadi tebal sangat dan lambat masak.

Untuk Frosting:
1. Campurkan cream cheese, mentega dan esen vanila dalam mangkuk dan pukul sehingga bergaul. Dalam resepi kata "just combined".
2. Masukkan gula dan pukul hingga sebati.
3. Letakkan sebiji kek di atas pinggan atau dulang hidangan, sisi rata menghadap ke atas. Sapukan frosting dengan menggunakan pisau roti atau spatula. Letakkan sebiji kek lagi di atas kek pertama, sisi rata menghala ke bawah, sapurkan frosting di atas dan semua sisi kek. Hias dengan potongan nanas.

Malas Tak sempat nak hias dengan potongan nanas.

Baby shoes links

An ex-student of mine, Leyha is impatiently waiting for her firstborn. As expected, a first time mommy will have difficulty to restrain herself from ogling and constantly gawking at cute baby stuff. Leyha, you know I'm just kidding right ;)

Anyway, I've promised to share with her some links about making your own baby shoes that I've in my Google Reader. So here they are. Hopefully, these links will be useful to anyone who wants to give a shot at handmade baby shoes.I'll definitely give one of these tutorials a shot sometime this year.

DIY Baby Shoes (recycled from old jeans)
Cloth Baby Shoes
Kimono Baby Bootie Shoes Pattern
Soft Baby Shoes Pattern and Tutorial

Happy sewing :))

Thank you for reading.

Tutorial Menghias Kek

Saya tau ramai kawan-kawan saya yang memang berminat buat kek & minat menghias kek. Kebetulan sekarang ni dalam salah satu blog yang saya subscribe melalui Google Reader ada menyiarkan topik mingguan berkaitan menghias kek, saya kongsikan link kat sini. Saya juga akan kongsi posting-posting berkenaan di ruangan Google Reader saya OK (bahagian bawah kanan blog ni).

You can either go direct to the blog by saving the link or you can just check out my Google Reader. :)

Ini bukan Tutorial yang dimaksudkan.

Sekadar gambar hiasan dari album masakan saya :)

Err.. lagi gambar hiasan ;)

Blossoms of Our Love

If this look very familiar to you, look no further. I like my blog template so much that I used it as a basic idea for my stitches. I stitched those stitches onto our fleece blanket. It is supposed to be a present from me to us for our anniversary. But then I changed my mind and got us a print of our picture with our love song on it, using the idea here.

My husband and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary this month, Alhamdulillah. Funny thing is I always feel like we have just got married. Most of the times when people ask when did we get married, my instant answer is 'last year'.


I am not a marriage expert but through the three years so far, I have learned few things which I believe keep the flame, romance whatever you want to call it alive.

1- Perform salat in jamaah (this include reading the Quran together as well)
~After the salat, hug each other. Let's say I'm somehow in one of my sulking moods (merajuk), the salat itself and of course the hugging help to resolve things.

2- Hugs (& kiss) each other before going out to work.

3- If there is any disagreement, I try to cool it down first before talking to him about it. You know how irrational we can be when we are angry, right? I am sort of proud to say that we've never raised our voice towards each other. 90% of the credits must go to my husband; he is very patient and collected. Myself too has become a patient person.

Anyway, if you have other tips on marriage, I would like to know it. I would love to hear it from others who have been married far longer than we are.

I'm linking this post to Tea Rose Home link party. Pay a visit to her blog and I'm very sure you'll fal in love with things she makes :)

Kantung serbaguna & Beg dari seluar terpakai

Masa cuti hujung tahun baru ni, saya sempat menjahit beberapa kraftangan untuk digunakan dalam rumah. Satunya, saya jahit kantung serbaguna sebagai tempat untuk suami & saya meletakkan sarung kepala (winter hat) dan sarung tangan.

Keduanya, saya jahit beg kecik untuk tempat simpanan beg-beg yang saya gunakan bila pergi kedai untuk membeli barang keperluan rumah (groceries shopping).

Boleh nampakkan beg-beg pakai semula yg saya lipat dan masukkan dalam ke dalamnya :)

Cara-cara nak buat karung dan beg di atas ada dlm gambar di bawah ni. Klik pada gambar untuk besarkannya.

Ketiganya, saya buat karung untuk sumbatkan beg-beg plastik. Yang ini tak ada tutorial. Secara asasnya, nak buat karung ni sama macam jahit sarung bantal golek. Idea ni saya dapat dari blog Make It and Love It. Kalau nak lebih senang, gunakan kaki seluar yg dah tak mahu dipakai lagi, dan masukkan getah seperti dalam tutorial kat blog tu. Jimat masa & tenaga untuk menjahit ;)

Pandangan atas karung, lubang ni kita gunakan untuk menyumbat semua plastik.

Pandangan bawah karung, lubang ni kita gunakan untuk mengeluarkan plastik.

Inilah rupa karung tu.

Doodle Stiching -Gila Kraf II

my 1st try, no tracing whatsoever, just do as I go. ~ tengoklah senget benget tu

my 2nd try ~luruslah sikit sebab lukis paten sebelum stitch.
doodle stitch 1: @ both bottom corners of my fleece curtain~this is my own idea, no pattern at all :)
*click on the picture to see the type of stitch used*

I don't know what's gotten into me lately. I'm wasting my time looking at sewing blogs. Then I start planning in my head. Yeah! List of things I wanna sew. The list goes on and on. I want to make:
- tote bag& groceries bag.

- diaper bag from oil cloth(just in case if I do get pregnant next year)

- some dress for me ( I've bought a really nice shirt-dress & I like the way it feels when I wore it. I had my sister sent it to me from Malaysia. The postage costs more than the dress itself! So annoying! Thing is I can't seem to find a decent shirt-dress with a decent price here in UK. And that's like super duper annoying! Hence I think I better copy my favorite dress pattern and try to make one for myself. )

-baby changing mat, baby bib & other baby things (they look so cute & I do want to be a hip mummy so I kind of neeeed those things. Crazy me!)


I can't really jot down the list you see -Oh! I already have- because I don't even have a sewing machine. My hands are itching to sew something. Anything. Not that I am a sewist but I like sewing actually, hand sewing more like it. What I don't like is the list in my head won't go away.


I've already discussed with my husband that I plan to buy a used and cheap sewing machine. Cheap is the operative word here. I've searched E-bay and found none to my liking. My husband, a wise man he is, asks me to wait and save for a better sewing machine. Sure I can save but I don't know when I am going to be able to buy the kind of sewing machine he is talking about. The one which can do embroidery and has that little computer thing attached to it so you can download a pattern straight into the sewing machine. Hmmm....


So for now, to appease my cravings for sewing, I have to resort to doodle stitching and some other hand needle works/craft. I'm currently doodle stitching on our fleece curtain. I also have strings of crochet which I want to turn into a bag. And I have meters of vinyl cloth which I plan to make dinner set bags out of it. Made one before but my measurements screwed up somewhere so the bag does not close properly. I promised a friend I'll put up my dinner set bag picture here but I have to say 'NO' now as it doesn't turn out the way I picture it should.

doodle stitch 2: @ the middle of our fleece curtain.

~I saw a cross sticth picture in the internet, like it, so I sort of using that picture as guideline. But all the stitches used here are my own idea.
close up on the windows
*click on the picture to see the type of stitch used*

Oh! The house is not 100% done. I have yet to put some lingering plants on the brown fences (not seen in this picture) and probably couple of butterflies.

happy stitching!

Gila Kraf

Kelmarin hari Sabtu, suami dan saya pergi ke Boundary Mill Shiremoor. Kononnya kami nak check out harga pinggan mangkuk keluaran Portmeirion, tapi bila tiba kat situ, salesgirl tu cakap diorg dah tak jual Portmeirion. Aiseh... terpaksalah kami pergi ke Stoke-On-Trent yg jauh itu kalau nak beli serving dishes Portmeirion yg cantik meletop tu. Itupun kalau ada sales, kalau tak 'Portmeirion Dalam Anganku' sajalah jawabnya.
Note: Stoke-On-Trent: kawasan perindustrian pinggan-mangkuk (pottery) di UK.


Satu perkara yang sangat best kat Boundary Mill Shiremoor ni ialah harga barang-barang kraftangannya. BEST SANGAT-SANGAT!!! Dengan designer papernya, designer ribbonnya, stickers, kerta-kertas yg bermacam gaya; ada kertas yg ada effect baldu, kertas yang boleh dihaluskan macam kita gosok papan dengan kertas pasir tu. Memang bermacam-macam. Oh! By designer paper I mean Laura Ashley's papers, Amy Butler's Papers & other top designers. Kebiasaannya kertas-kertas yg didesign oleh mereka ni sangat mahal. Jadi kalau saja-saja nak keronyok-keronyok, minta ampun maaf. Kalau sesiapa yang suka buat kad, kotak & kraf-kraf menggunakan kertas, Arts&Crafts section kat sini memang heaven.


Melambak pilihan, sampai tak terpilih. Cuma duit je batasannya.

Yummylicious designers' papers.

How I wish I can have all these stickers...

Hah! Kertas khas untuk boys pun ada :P

The Laura Ashely Collection (yg kat atas tu yg ada velvet effect tu)... delicious!

Saya betul-betul tak keruan memilih. Kalau ikut hati memang saya nak borong kertas-kertas yang cantik-cantik tu. Tengok kertas pun saya dah rasa bahagia. Tapi memandangkan 2 minggu lepas kami dah ke kedai bernama Hobbycraft dan saya pun beli sejilid designer paper, saya terpaksa menahan nafsu bershopping ini. Sadis! Demi untuk memuaskan hati, saya beli jugak stikers yg sangat comel, ada guli-guli kecil dalam stikers tu. Yummy!

Stickers that I bought. Sooo cute...

FEAR being the NEXT PREY?

Back in 1990s, there was this film titled Jurassics Park (JP). At that time I don't know what's the hype is all about. I can't remember whether I watched JP at the movie theater or through TV tube. The only thing I remember is I don't understand why the fuss over JP. I mean no disrespect to Steven Spielberg directing talent but I don't feel JP is a great movie.

Then late last year, I discover Michael Crichton's novels. I was browsing through the novels at IIUM library and out of curiosity I picked his book, Disclosure. It is about:

A brutal struggle in the cutthroat computer industry; a shattering psychological game of cat and mouse; an accusation of sexual harassment that threatens to derail a brilliant career...this is the electrifying core of Disclosure. At the center: Tom Sanders, an up-and-coming executive with DigiCom in Seattle, a man whose corporate future is certain. Until: after a closed-door meeting with his new boss -- a woman who was his lover ten years before, a woman who has been promoted to the position he expected to have -- he is accused of sexually harassing her. Now he finds himself trapped between what he knows to be true and what he knows others will assume to be the truth. And, as he uncovers an electronic trail into the company's secrets, he begins to grasp just how cynical and manipulative an abuse of truth has actually occurred...

Then I got to know that he is the writer of the JP novel. Plus he is also the scriptwriter of ER, the most popular TV series back in late 1990s which I was one of its millions fans. His in depth knowledge about science and the way he interweave it with his storyline plus his style of writing get me hooked. Since then I've been searching and reading his novels.

The latest in my collection are Next, State Of Fear and Prey. I'm reading the latter at the moment, I've finished the previous two novels few months ago. I encourage you to read these novels. If you are interested in biotechnology, Next is a must read. Not just these novels offer us new perspectives about what's going on in our world but much more. As a researcher, I'm at awe Michael Crichton's extensive research for each of his novels.

However, through his novel Next, I have a feeling that he views human being as part of the animals clan. I might be wrong but if I'm right it is an unacceptable view. Anyway, if you have a chance, try to get hold of his novels. If you love science, I believe you'll fall in love with his novels.

A Final Goodbye to Prison Break :(

I have to admit that I cried while watching the final 2 hours episode of Prison Break last night. Not the 2 hours season finale where the bunch were gathering at Michael Scoffield grave but the final episode after its season finale. How can they have an episode after a season finale episode huh?!

I was sad but no tears when I watched the season finale last 2 weeks. I've read spoilers at my favorite Prison Break website so I kind of know that Michael will eventually die. I assume he died because of his brain tumor. I didn't expect him to die while breaking Sara out of prison. Arrgghh!!! Using the big power line to surge power to the door meanwhile get himself electrocuted ??? It must be awful. Yeah! Of course he'll die soon due to his active brain tumor but can he at least die peacefully after every single good thing he did for Sara, Lincoln, Sucre, Mahone,C-Note & the world~he did get Scylla into the right hand didn't he?

Can't Michael& Sara at least have some happy moments together? All they have were run-from-villain moments. Even their wedding day has to be interrupted by some stupid polices making an arrest on Sara. It's so unfair!

BUT, Michael might not die at all. There is no shot of his dead body, just a shot of his grave during the season finale. Well, Michael might be back after all. Hahaha.. what a wish!

I know I'm just ranting here. It's one of the greatest series I 've ever watched. Sure there were some flaws in the script but nevertheless its one of a kind series where you see people actually put their brain to work. Almost in every episode I can see Michael put his 'engineer brain' to work. If he's not using his engineer brain, he'll use his you-think-you-out move-me-but-I'm-two-step-ahead brain.

I don't know when Malaysia can have at least one series, just one like this. I don't mean breaking out of prison series but you know what I mean. I'm tired of watching Malay series. I was Rosham Nor's fan once upon a time but not anymore. His series don't come up with good storyline anymore. Then there are Yusof Haslam's series. Yikess. I don't watch them much now but there were time when I HAVE TO watch them just because. Like when I was visiting relatives, both mine and my husband, not many of them like to watch series like Prison Break or CSI. They were hooked with the Malay/Indonesian series.

Anyway, I'll quit ranting. To kak ema, my ex-housemate (whom in love with Michael Scoffield.. hehehe) we did have a good time watching Prison Break back while we were housemate. I miss that moment as much as I'll miss this series.

Kebun Kami II

Sayur-sayur kami baru disemai. Belum dapat challenge sayur Che'a yg dah montok2 tu.

Ketumbar



Oregano/Marjoram
Spring Onion/Daun Bawang

Daun Kesum
Red Currant

Semaian lili of the valley...

Tak ingat bunga apa. Rasanya mcm bunga keladi kot...

Kebun Kami

Semuanya bermula dengan sepokok 'hyacinth'. Tapi ubi pokok telah dimakan serangga tanpa saya sedari. Sekarang bunga ni dah mati. Sedih jugak. Tapi setiap yg hidup pasti akan mati. Itu pasti.

Sekarang rumah kami dah penuh dengan pokok bunga & sayur. Sepatutnya sekarang dah musim bunga (spring) tp cuaca ni di Newcastle ni kadang-kdang TERsejuk pulak. Waktu siang bolehlah mencapai hingga 17C. Tapi bila malam adakalanya turun sehingga 3C. Makanya terpaksalah pokok-pokok kami duduk dalam rumah ala-ala 'MEM BESAR' gitu. Nasib baik Amran rajin mengangkut pokok-pokok tu ke luar rumah pada waktu siang. Dapatlah depa merasa cahaya matahari.


Kemudian ini. Lupa nama apa.

Kat Malaysia pun ada pokok bunga ni. Kesukaan nenek saya. Bunga Tiga Bulan namanya.

Pokok setawar. Kat Malaysia pun ada tp tak pasti spesis yg sama atau lain.

Pokok ni comel walaupun agak manja. tak boleh terlupa siram, mesti layu. Salah satu cirinya yg saya suka, dia hidup sepanjang tahun.

Pokok campuran.

Tiga puteri yg menunggu masa untuk dipindahkan ke pasu besar.