Lisette Passport Dress

Hi peeps,

Wow, some more sewing for me.  Yes, I finally made the Lisette Passport Dress for myself, I have had the pattern since early March.  I love this one so much more than the Lisette Continental Dress that I made last month.  To be honest, I have hardly worn my Continental Dress.

The sizing, for me, was again all over the place.  I adjusted as I went along, taking some length off the bodice and tapering the armholes, as they were gaping.  Next time, and I am sure there will be a next time, I will remove 1cm from the bodice horizontally, as the bodice is still a little too big on me.  I noted all my changes on my pattern pieces so next time it will be much quicker and easier to make.

 

I used a light weight, denim-like fabric that I found at the fabric street market in Sham Shui Po.  It is a great fabric to dress up, I knew I wanted to add a pocket and use a different fabric for the armhole.  It is nice and light, perfect for the warmer weather in Hong Kong now it is summer.  I can add a skivvy and tights and wear it in winter too.

Here's all of me, feeling like a dork posing for photos.

I'll definitely be making this dress again.  First, I have these two other patterns I want to try.  When I decide which dress I like the most, I'll be making some out of these fabrics that I love.

Happy Creative Space Day to you.  What are you making/baking/crafting today?

Cat.

* Flower brooch made by Cam from CurlyPops.
** Necklace made by Lauren Williams.

My (temperamental) Creative Space

Hi peeps,

Are you temperamental when it comes to your creating?  I am.  I have to be in the right mood.  I usually am in that right mood. But some days, well, I am not in the right mood.  Then there is the not finishing some (too many?) sewing projects.  The UFO's (un-finished objects) We all have some, right?

When we moved to this lovely new apartment in February, I found a great many UFO's.  I found so many more than I thought I had.  There are many that I started when we still lived in Australia.......we have been in Hong Kong now for 11 months....so, these UFO's have been hanging around for way, way too long.

 

This week, I am tackling some of these UFO's.  Very pretty UFO's.  I can't tell you what they are, as they are presents for friends and family.  I am embarrassed to say, one of these UFO's is almost 2 years old.  It really is about time I finished them.

When I get my sewjo back (as Cam calls it), I will be finishing these pretties off.  I have to finish them now I have told the interwebs, right?

Have a great Creative Space day.

Cat.

*The toddler foot is not part of these creations.  She was "helping"*

Pac-Man and Xiao Long Bao

Hi peeps,

We recently went out to dinner to a restaurant we have never been to before in Hong Kong, called DinTaiFung. They have restaurants all over the world, including one in Sydney.  They are apparently world famous for their steamed dumplings. The menu had a huge selection of different dumplings to choose from (many more that are listed on their website), we ordered two different types, the usual pork dumplings (Xiao Long Bao) and spinach dumplings.  Both types were delicious.  We had to order a second serving of the pork dumplings as Abbey ate 6 or 7 of them all by herself!  The noodles with the peanut soup were also scrummy, we ordered a second serving of that too!

The toilets in the building had these fabulous Pac-Man tiled murals. Do you like Pac-Man?  I do.  It was part of my childhood.  I was like an excited child, taking photos out the front of the toilets. I did get a few strange looks, I can tell you.  Pac-Man in a wheelchair too.  The door handles in the toilets were ghost shaped, pity I was not able to get a photo of them.

We will definitely be eating at DinTaiFung again, not just for the delicious food, but to see these fabulous Pac-Man murals again.

While I am still talking about Pac-Man, how cool are these cookie cutters I bought?

A few months ago I was eating my lunch, and saw this Pac-Man in my partially eaten avocado rice cracker.

Yes, I love Pac-Man.  Almost as much as I love Space Invaders.

Cheers.  Cat. 

After the rain

Hi peeps,

We had some rain yesterday morning and this morning.  I was hoping the rain would make it feel cooler, but alas, no.

 It is still so hot. Stinking hot and humid.

The heat is exhausting and draining, most days last week were around 30 degrees Celsius.  The temperature at night only goes down a few degrees. There is no evening cool change.

The whole Hong Kong summer is ahead of us, with months of this hot weather.    I hope I can survive my first full Hong Kong summer.

After the rain yesterday and today, I found these lovelies on the ground.  All so pretty.  They took my mind off the heat, and reminded me why I am loving living here - small wonders are always close by, ready to be found (and photographed)

Have a great week.

Cat.

My (guitar and space invader) Creative Space

Hi peeps,

Last week, I was secret squirrel sewing.  I knew the Shropshire boys birthday was coming up, and I wanted to make him something. It was his turn for some home made goodness.  He has had a kindle for almost a year now, and it really needed a cover to protect it.  I was determined to make that cover.

So last week, in the one sitting, in between toddler demands for food and cuddles, I finally made the Shropshire boy a cover for his kindle.  I was so chuffed at how great it turned out, I was buzzing.  I was on a sewing high.  But I could not tell anyone or show any photos on Instagram, Facebook, Flickr, Twitter or this blog. It had to remain a secret for almost a week.  That was really hard.

I did show the kids, I had to show some one.  Abbey, at 6 years old, was gorgeous and told me it was good and that daddy would love it.  Gosh I love her.

Cam from CurlyPops has a fabulous tutorial How to make a Pouch for an Electronic Gadget that I used.  I have had this tutorial printed out for a long time, waiting for just the right moment.  I can make fabric zippered pouches with my eyes closed, but I have never made anything like this before.

Cam's tutorial is very easy to follow.  Since making the kindle cover, I have made some wet-bags with the same method (minus the quilting and the padding, and I added a velcro closure)  I will definitely be making more of these for our other electronic gadgets.  Thanks Cam for a great tute!

Have a great Creative Space day.  Or a Space Invader day.

Cat.