A friend sent me a photo on FB of a bag which she wanted me to make. It's not a pattern that I have done before but I took up the challenge anyway.

I could not make an exact copy in case I might get sued for copyright, not that I am that good to make an exact replica! LOL! But I showed her the Maisie Bowler Bag which I made earlier, which my sister-in-law Eina is now the proud owner, and asked her if that design appealed to her, I will make it in a size big enough to fit in her laptop as that is what she intends to use the bag for.

As soon as she gave me the confirmation on the design based on the Maisie Bowler bag and the choice of colours and fabrics, I immediately started work on it, using my newly bought Abang Sado Singer Heavy Duty sewing machine.

Abang Sado had no problems going through the thickness, but I could not stitch as close to the buckle as I would like it to be. The position of the needle on the Singer could not be moved as close as possible to the buckle as I wanted it to. The postion of the needle on my Janome can be moved very close to the buckle without the feet hitting the buckle.

Since the Singer is more of a mechanical sewing machine where you can't precisely move the needle position, I went ahead to just stitch as close to the buckle as I could get, and added rivets to further secure the handle connectors.

For the handles, I used faux leather which I sewed using the Singer. It has no problem at all handling the thick layers of faux leather. I didn't even need to use a Teflon feet.

I had fun sewing the rows of brightly coloured fabrics together. I wouldn't mix them together if I didn't have a sample to follow, but after seeing the photo my friend sent, I was amazed at how beautiful all the contrasting colours came together!

This bag fits a 15" laptop with still plenty of space for other things. Just don't add too many heavy stuff as the bag is not made to carry tonnes of heavy things except a laptop and maybe stationary, and a book or 2.

I hope my friend likes it even though it isn't an exact replica of the bag she wanted but it is almost exactly like the Maisie Bowler bag but in a bigger size.

Latest Sejabah Bag (prayer mat bag) completed!

A bag sejadah (praying mat bag) completed!!

I just love the motif of this fabric, if I may say so myself! LOL! ;)

Love the purple colour too!

This is the 2nd item that is carrying my new metal tag label!

If anyone is interested to put in a custom order for this bag, do PM me. Please state your colour preference and let me know if you prefer flower motifs or abstract.

No emergency orders, please, as it takes about 2 - 4 weeks to get one done.

Yeah! I work full time and travel a lot for work. I can only work on my crafts at night and on weekends.

Do put in your order now though, so that I can list you in the queue.

I hope I had made the right decision.....

How fast time flies. It was only yesterday that I was busy preparing my son for boarding school life.

He didn't want to go. I didn't know. He was too polite or too scared to tell me. But every time I asked him to help me get things ready, he would make excuses. I thought he was just being him - always making excuses not to do the things I tell him to do.

We travel so much for work, leaving him with my in-laws on most days. He complained to his counselor that mummy and Abah are always busy. It makes me feel sad. We work hard because we want to give him a good future, insyaAllah.

It was much later that I found out that he didn't want to go but adjusted himself to boarding school life because it's what mummy and Abah wants. That made me even sadder. 

I wanted it for his future. I thought sending him to boarding school will give him more opportunities for a better life.

I didn't want him to feel abandoned whenever we had to go outstation.

I pray that we had made the right decision.

I cried every night after sending him off. I still do, even till now, especially on days when he doesn't call to tell me that he is ok.

I worry about him all the time.

I want him to come back and stay with us but I don't want to regret making that decision either.

It's an ongoing conflict within myself.

He seems so distant now, being a teenager. He doesn't like us to remind him of things to do. I don't want to argue with him when he comes home for short holidays. I want him to remember the good times.

I hope that one day he will learn to appreciate us.

I hope that he knows that we love him very much, and only want what's best for him!

He will always be my baby, no matter what age he is, today, tomorrow and forever.

Modified Maisie Bowler bag by Swoon

So here it is.....the first bag carrying my UNIQUELY AZNIQUE metal label on it!!

It is a modified version of the Maisie Bowler bag by Swoon.

I modified it by omitting the front vinyl accents which were part of the original design because I wanted the lovely bohemian-like fabric design to take center stage.

What's even more exciting is that, this unique bag got snapped up real fast!!

My SIL, Marina, is now the proud owner of this one of a kind bag! 

Thanks, Eina, for your support!

This bag has a zipper at the top, and 2 side pockets on the outside.

The inside has one zippered pocket.

The short orange handle is genuine leather, but the long sling handle is handmade from pvc leather. It is not part of the original design, but I added that in as a bonus to the bag.

I hope my SIL will enjoy using it and showing it off to her friends!

I see myself doing for of this bag, but, for now I have a few other orders to fill in!

NCW Sewing Workshop

Come! Join us to make this classy clutch from Madam Zee!

More than a year had past since I last blogged??

OK. I just realised that I haven't updated my blog in the last one year or so. Been busy. Busy with what? Hmm......

But I have been updating my FB status though!

I have been busy with work, travelling for work here and there.

I have been busy crafting too!

The year 2016 has seen me venturing into quite a number of new things, work wise and craft wise.

Work wise might bore you, so I'll start with craft wise first. ;)

I finally got to set up my own craft studio in December 2016!!

Yippee! It was like a dream come true!

Though not yet fully equipped but it can already start taking students for small classes.

I managed t o arrange for 2 classes in December 2016 with the Wave Bag by Ruzila Kassim, and the Backpack class by Razatie.

It was a very small class, but it was a good start.

I hope to organize more classes in the future.

Come back here and I'll try to keep this blog updated as much as possible!

Till then, HAPPY NEW YEAR 2017!

May this be a blessed year for me and my family and friends and everyone else!