Sea Animals Quilt

I’m so loving how this Sea Animals quilt came about. The customer at first wanted to use teddy bears but she changed her mind (before the actual work on the EQ started).

I designed this particular quilt to include the purple 16 patch block which I have been eyeing for a long time. The arrangement is also from my want-to-do list: instead of Sudoku, I used 10 different KenKen 4-grid puzzles to form the blocks.

The sea animals (chosen by the customer) are machine appliquéd except for the eyes which I hand stitched.

And these are also my favourites (blue and green because they are my favourite colors.

I wished more orders like this come in. Almost all my quilt orders are memory quilts using baby clothes.

In the midst of COVID-19

I have been contacted by a customer via my blog so it’s about time that I start being present here.

Many things have happened since the last post and if you want to see what I have been up to, on a weekly basis you can follow my FB page or Instagram.

In the midst of the pandemic COVID-19 (need to be mentioned here for record keeping), I have been busy with custom orders of lingerie and memory quilts.

To start with, here are a few of my orders for custom fit brassiere.

This Marie the cat is a nursing bra for my first ever customer. It is a heavily altered of Pin-up-girls Shelley pattern.

This one, hands down is my prettiest that I have ever made so far. I used Scuba fabric for the cup.

Contact me if you want your own or learn how to make your own (bra and/or panties). At the moment, I cater for small classes.

 

Watson Bra for A Teenage Niece

I have loved the look of Cloth Habit‘s Watson bra but hesitant to purchase the pattern. A potential customer loved the look of it but she had found the bra style she wanted sold in a shopping complex. Most likely she does not want me to make one.

Knowing that my 15 year old niece prefer this style, I made one for her. She is a size 32B and it fit her perfectly.

For the first bra, I used Spotlight cotton jersey knit.

Since I finally got the blades for the rotary cutter, I now use the cutter for cutting all the pieces.

This is my second bra for her. I got this fabric from an online seller, Ulatkain.

The stopping block to make more for her is that she wants anything with black print. And my stash only have these two prints that meet her requirement.

Time to go shopping.

Bramaking – my new venture

Late 2017, a local online lingerie shop owner approached me to make custom bralette. A lot of Googling was made and I saw that it was ‘easy’ to make one. In addition, here in Malaysia it is not common to sew our own brassieres.

After purchasing the most basic Craftsy online classes, patterns, and the hardware required I had a trial class on Dec 23 at Spotlight Mytown. 

After tweaking the approach and methods to conduct the classes, a second class was held at the same venue yesterday. It was successful. Here are some of the handiwork of the students. 

In addition, I have received a few queries for custom made brassieres. Some are from those who are well endowed and have difficulty finding the right size here. A few came during the workshop to try out the forms I have made in their sizes.

Contact me (zarina.craft@gmail.com) for more information on

• upcoming bra making workshops
• online bra making workshops
• requesting for custom order brassieres.

A quilted baby basket order

I had received a request from a new grandmother for her new grandchild. It involves a basket, fabric (of course) and lace. 

A little bit of crosshatch quilting goes a long way in any product.

The baby basket awaiting for the delivery of the new grandchild.  The mattress was also part of the order so that she will be comfortable in her new bedding.

Another angle of the quilted baby basket cover as a made to order. I just love the wall deco.

Joining the #mayisformakers bandwagon

I have stumbled upon this #mayisformakers by LR Stitched from one of my favourite quilting blog. Even though we are halfway through May, I shall just jump in.

In my Etsy store ZarinaCraft, I will slowly relist my hand dyed threads (HDTs) – I have rewind the thread into proper skeins but I made a mistake of using a different prop in winding the final skein. So I need to take photos of the actual skein you will get.

Support 5 independent makers in 5 weeks (well the remaining weeks). Play along and and comment here that you have made a purchase from my Etsy store,  and on Friday I’ll pick a winner to get a giveaway goodie from me. The goodie will be sent together with your purchase. For Malaysians who wants to purchase directly, is entitled for a chance to win the goodies.

For more details, you can read it here.

Sewing and Quilting Beginner Classes

I will be running two classes (with limited spaces) at Spotlight The Mines on Saturday, Apr 29.

Dedicated to beginners and those with zero basics.

Best part, you do NOT have to bring a sewing machine. Spotlight has generously offered the use of their machines.

Keepsake baby quilt and tortoise set

I have been commissioned to make a baby quilt out of a customer’s baby clothes.

It all starts with a pile of baby clothes.She wanted a smooth quilt but I recommended to add small parts of the clothes such as pockets and bows. There is a piece with a 3-dimensional flower and two strings of beads missing in the photo. [Edited: the flower is at the left bottom corner.]

Since there were big pieces left, we continued by making a stuffed tortoise.

And here is a photo of the set.

Japanese Flavoured Lap Quilt

Again, I was contacted by a Malaysian who is residing away from Malaysia.

She started this lap quilt three years ago when one of her friend guided her in the process. All the pieces for the top was even cut up.

She chose all the fabrics with the Japanese designs which I love too. There were a few seams I had to repair of the quilt top but it went real fast.

The squares were 10 inches finished.

From the back of the quilt, you can see the free motion quilting I did.

Here is a close up of my favourite fabric and the corners. I have now almost perfected my machine sewn binding.

If you need help in finishing your quilt, you can contact me.

A blooming bonsai

I completely forgot about this post until https://africanbirding.wordpress.com/ reblogged two of my posts on bonsai.

Zarina Craft

This bonsai was created at least five (less than ten) years ago. It has bloomed once but only several flowers.

This time round, it was quite a handful. I love it when the flowers should come out.

The palm  tree on the left was moved to the pot a few months back and the root is not big enough to show above the soil.

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