Made Rags from Old Garments

You probably have an old shirt or pantulog that you couldn't let go of. You want to wear it until it's down to its last thread. We do have those in our home and if it's a pair I usually replace the garter to extend it's life. We all have this and usually at the end of its life it has nowhere to go, but the trash can. It would be too embarrassing to donate. 

We have been decluttering and sending our pre-loved items to NGOs. There are items though that are just not useful anymore. Most are old garments that are not meant to be worn anymore. My Mom used to cut up old towels to become rags, so I thought I could do the same for "over loved" garments. 

I needed to improve my sewing machine skills, so I thought I'd make round rags (trapo/basahan). I used a small round biscuit tin can to draw circles on the garments. Some were so thin already they were hard to cut (haha)! Luckily I got strips of shirts from a fragile item I ordered. I used it as a filling for the rags. It was really easy to make, i made 10 pieces over the weekend.

Here's how I made it:

#BeKind #StaySafe

Made a Cute Wonder Woman Tote Bag

Started this year's crafting activities by making a cute Wonder Woman tote bag. It was inspired from a jute bag a friend used to send a gift. I super liked the size of the jute bag. In fact, I use it everyday to transport my stuff from room to room. I carry a lot of stuff whenever I leave our bedroom, so it's worked perfectly for me. 

I've had the jute bag for awhile now, so thought I'd make a similar one, but with a twist. I still have some Wonder Woman fabric, so I thought I'd start strong this year with an iconic character. I also want to give the piece as a gift to a friend who loves Wonder Woman. 

I immediately cut the fabric after I figured out the sizes of the pieces. Piecing them together was easy. I learned a lot through the years and made sure to use fusible interfacing to stabilize the fabric. What I didn't count on was not finding my stash of bag handles. I brought home some from Singapore and was counting on using it for this project. 

Ahh, another learning moment for me. Did some research on how to make bag handles, so I just made a basic one. Next time I'll try making it rounded. I'm actually surprised I got some good views on my post on "how to make bag straps". I guess I was just on the same boat as many other people. (Go watch it yes?). 

I love how it turned out. Holding onto this until I finish two more for my food train crew. I'll make something different for the other two. I'm sure my friend will see this when I post this! Haha! No worries! It will be with you soon! 

More info about this project: https://www.needleadventures.com/2024/01/wonder-woman-tote-bag.html

Happy crafting everyone! 

Retaso Project 2: DIY Small Wallet

Going through the scrap fabric I've collected for a few years now made me think about how my Mom was very creative. She could turn anything into something useful. She turned my old magazines into useful desk containers and boxes. She did the same for the yellow pages, newspapers and other types of scrap paper. So I thought I'd test my creative skills and make some of my scraps into something useful. 

Last week I turned the leftover denim-like fabric I used for the blender cover into a potholder. The second piece of scrap fabric was a bit challenging. It was quite small, but after measuring it I thought I could make it into a small wallet. I just added additional fabric which I found in the scrap pile. 

Here's how it turned out -

And how I made it -

I have a few more "leftovers" which I want to "flip" (as they call it in real estate) to something useful. Let's see what I can come up with before I move on to my next project :)

#BeKind #StaySafe

Tried Ready to Cook Gyoza

I'm so glad Shirni taught me how to cook gyoza. I tried making it on my own, but her mixture is so much better so I gave up making my own. I just normally buy ready to cook from the supermarket. It tastes so much better than what I make. Maybe someday I'll try making it from scratch again, haha.

Anyway, we got some ready to cook chicken gyoza made by Tokyo Tokyo. We just chanced upon it at the grocery and thought we'd try it. Buying ready to cook stuff is a hit and miss, but we were willing to try since it's tedious to make gyoza from scratch. 

The package didn't come with instructions and I couldn't find any online. I decided to use the technique Shirni taught me many years ago when we lived in Singapore. Shirni is a Malaysian friend and she makes the most amazing gyoza (and gyoza sauce) on earth. She taught me how to cook and how to make the mixture. I never managed to get the mixture correctly, so I just wait whenever she sends me a tupperware of prepared meat. It will probably take a long time before I could sample her gyoza again, so have to make do for now with ready to cook ones available in the supermarket. 

Since I couldn't find any instructions on how to cook the Tokyo Tokyo pack, I decided to just use Shirni's technique. I asked Miggy to help document it since it might be useful for others who want to try. I don't remember if we were taught how to make dumplings in foods class and Daddy only made siomai at home. Gyoza isn't really a staple in our culture, so thought this video would be useful. Here ya go :)

The Tokyo Tokyo chicken gyoza was pretty tasty. We only realized later on that we should have halved the package. We finished all 24 pieces for dinner and we felt so full even after bedtime (hahaha). Also, probably need to find how to prepare the sauce. We just used black vinegar. Recos for other ready to cook gyoza is welcome!

#BeKind #StaySafe

Creative Happy Tuesdays: My New KitchenAid Mixer Quilted Cover

My summer project is to make new covers for my kitchen appliances. Thought I'd make it a bit quirky and my plan is to use Pinterest inspired cat quilts. I'm not allowed to have pets, but we've been feeding some cats who have been dropping by our house. It's been a good compromise. I call them my socially distant cats. We'll cross the bridge when they finally trust us enough to be brought to the vet. 

Anyway, I haven't had a pet for more than a decade now, that's why I thought a cat themed project would be cute. I finally finished the KitchenAid mixer cover. I thought I'd finish it within a week. As usual my timing has been off and I'm still recovering from flu. The project helped me to calm down in between napping on our tiny couch.

What I like about making my own kitchen covers is I can customize it for my needs. I put a pocket at the back, although I realized the mixer accessories aren't flat and better kept inside the bowl. Anyway, I can always switch the front and back when I feel like it. 

Now that this is done, I have to think about what to do next. I might make one for the blender, then the food processor. I'm still thinking whether I should make one for our grinder. We don't have proper furniture yet, so I'm holding off making throw pillow cases.  

Thank you Mom for teaching me how to quilt. <3

#BeKind #StaySafe