fat-connection

Customised pouches

2011-11-11T13:22:00.001+08:00

Made these for a regular customer. Used the fabric ink pad and alphabet stamps bought quite some time ago. I like how well the customised name tape and the fabric blend, as if they are part of each other.

Fabric used: Cotton candy stripes(orange)

When I cut into the fabrics, little did I know how much I have miss sewing. Hope to gain more energy soon so that I can sew more.

My 5 year old

2011-11-10T00:40:00.001+08:00

Hanhan just celebrated her 5 years old birthday. It was a really simple celebration. Daddy is busy with his course assignment, while I'm too tired to do much. Yes, I'm pregnant and felt much more tired than it was in my first pregnancy. I didn't even sew her a birthday dress, which I kind of promised her.Instead of celebrating in school, like last year, we brought her to Pasir Ris Kid's Kampong during the weekend. Her school brought her there this year for school excursion, and she is really excited about going there again. She didn't get to do the "longkang"(small drain) fishing when she went with the school, so she got to try it this time round.
It wasn't easy to catch these little fishes. I managed to catch a few. Hanhan almost gave up trying, but after some persuasion and persevere, she also managed to catch a few. As for Daddy, he did it with ease. It really amazed me when he just swing the net blindly under the little bridge where the fishes hid and caught several of them with just one scoop. What good luck!

Hanhan was very happy to know that we could bring that the fishes home. We went to get fish tank and air pump from her grandpa, and bought the fishes some food too. But by the next day, all the fishes are dead. Although Daddy had told us that these fishes are usually bought as food for bigger fishes, and they don't live long, and we have got Hanhan prepared for it, but I'm still sad and surprised that they are all wiped out by the next day. Hanhan didn't make a fuss about it, but I know that she was sad about it too.

And one week after this incident, her grandpa bought her a packet of "longkang" fishes, but they met with the same fate. Hanhan was really sad this time and kept asking why did all the fishes die, we can't answer her as we had done what we know and I wonder why too. Hanhan wanted to keep a pet, and since "Puppy" and "Power" had died around June after living to a ripe old age, we told her that we might get her something else but we had made it clear to her that we are not keeping fishes again, at least not "longkang" fish. When grandpa knew what happened to the fishes, he wanted to buy another batch for Hanhan, but Daddy told him that we don't intend to keep fishes, maybe we will get a terrapin instead and her grandpa said that he will buy it for Hanhan. :P We will see about it then. My 5 year old

likes to hold our hands and swing like a monkey after the count of 3

walks faster than her mummy and likes to say "walk faster"

likes to imitate her Daddy

likes to talk a lot

likes to watch VCD again and again

likes to say "how long is this going to take"

is growing more and more independent.

scored full marks for all her English spelling and makes her mummy proud.

promised to teach and play with her baby brother/sister :)

Photography Session

2011-10-05T23:22:00.005+08:00

Daddy is recently back to school as a student for a short course. One of the modules that he has to take is photography. And he is certainly glad that he got me a DSLR as birthday present.

This man finally has to discard his habit of using the auto mode where sometimes the hateful flash create horrible effect and start playing with my his camera. Yeah, have to cancel "my" and change to "his", because my DSLR has now unofficially became his. *sob**sob*
For the past one month plus, I have followed him to several places to take photos. The idea of doing all the time consuming assignments is killing him but he found some joys in it nevertheless. One of his assignments is studio shoots. And we are really lucky that one of his friends who owns a studio is kind enough to lend it to us. Our little model wasn't really cooperative since the photos are taken after her school and she was a little tired. But with me as assistant, we finally managed to get some decent shoots. :)

I love the photos and hopefully we can take a four person family photo shoots in a studio soon.

Eiffel of Paris - Big Tote Bag

2011-09-08T23:50:00.000+08:00

To me, planning to make a dress or bag always takes up more time then the actual sewing itself. However, there are also many times that I have to sew and make changes along the way. I spent several days just planning how to make use of this fabric. And when I finally cut into it, I have to take a photo :P It's one big step forward, away from mind playing and procrastination.
Making the interior. First time making hidden zippered pocket, not that difficult, but workmanship still has room for improvement. Side A of the bag. Side B of the bag, with both ends tucked in.
This gives the bag a different look from the previous photo. And did you realised that the fabric on all 4 sides are different? :) I love how versatile this bag can be. Details at the side pocket. The fold at bottom of the side pockets is one of the change as I sew and I'm glad that make this change, as it makes the bag sweeter.
Make use of the fabric, all the way to the fabric edge, and add a bit of uniqueness to the bag.
Interior of the bag. One hidden zipper pocket, 2 big pockets, key latch and 2 snap buttons.

When I completed this big bag, a customer of mine, happened to use the Eiffel of Paris(B) to make these.

I'm still left with 1 big (the floral one that she made into the tote bag) and 1 small piece. I'm tempted to make something similar to hers, but I hope that I can think of something else to make. But most probably I will get myself into doing other projects before I can think of any :P

My first MAAD experience

2011-08-15T21:06:00.001+08:00

Thank you all who had came over to give me your support! :)

Being a first time seller at Art Market, it was a really good exposure. Getting ready for it was like preparing for exam. I was really nervous about it, always double check that I have brought all the things needed. And I'm glad that everything went well.

Getting out of cocoon - Going to MAAD

2011-08-11T22:39:00.008+08:00

Did I mention that I'm going to MAAD (Market of Artists And Designers)?!

Date: 12 Aug, Friday (that's tomorrow!!)

Time: 5pm - 12 midnight

Venue: Red Dot Design Museum

(nearest MRT station: Tanjong Pagar)

Have been wanting to go for Art market for a long long time, now I'm finally going...... I realised that I have so few items to sell, so I have been really busy sewing for the past few weeks.

These are some of the items that I will be bringing to MAAD.
Finally cut into the fabric panel and made this bag, spent lots of time on the planning part therefore only managed to make one. Have taken more photos of it, will do an individual blog post for it.
This is my first time going to an Art market, wish me luck! :) And do join me if you are free!

Pants for Pants

2011-08-04T17:00:00.001+08:00

I was never good at clearing things, or maybe I should say that I prefer to create than clear. And that includes create mess :P

Well.... , what I really want to say is that I finally harden my heart to clear away a big piles of clothes from my wardrobe. I have many clothes that are worn out, too old(according to Daddy) or too small (hm.... maybe something else should just stop growing) and they are sitting in the wardrobe for way too long. When they are finally gone, I realised that I need some pants badly.
And sometimes, it easier to make a pair for myself than shopping for a suitable one. This is made during the June holiday. I'm really behind time in blogging my handmade, have made several more things that I have not blogged.

And this is what happened to one pair of pants that no longer fit. I'm cutting it into 2, so that I can make a pair of shorts for Hanhan.
Hanhan's shorts is done. Intend to make the other half into a bag, but was distracted by other things, and it is still laying there.

Drawstring Lunch Bag

2011-07-28T23:00:00.001+08:00

Made this with my old stashes for my sister. She has been waiting for it for months.I still have quite a bit of my old stashes which are bought before I started to import Japanese fabrics. And with more and more new fabrics come in, my piles of fabrics are getting higher and higher. I think I need to sew more.

Park Hopper and Kranji Dam

2011-07-27T23:01:00.001+08:00

We bought Park Hopper tickets some week ago, so for the past few weekends, we had been bringing Hanhan out to the Zoo, Night Safari and Bird Park.

It's the first time Hanhan has been to the Night Safari, she likes it, but I think it's actually the cool night breeze that she likes. For Zoo and Bird Park, we are regulars. We can roam round the park without a map and know what animals are ahead of us. I think we have been there too often, specially the Zoo, such that it is just a touch and go thing for Hanhan. The next time we go there, I might create a worksheet so that she has some tasks to do, so that the trip will be more meaningful.

At the Zoo. First time riding the pony. Too nervous to smile.

At the Bird Park. Feeding the lories in Lory Loft.
At Night Safari..... no photo to show... all photos taken are pitch dark. :P

Kranji Dam. Daddy and I had been here onced before we got married, this is the second time we are there, with Hanhan. At one side of the dam is a marsh, where you can see people digging for some shell like thing (mussel, I think) near evening time.

It's a very scenic place, but this place can be dangerous too. Many years ago, a mother and her son are killed when the dam released water back to the sea. For us, we got stuck in the mud when we wandered into the muddy area in the marsh. I really mean stuck, my legs are about 15cm into the mud. We couldn't lift our feet out of the mud, no matter how hard we tried. I felt that my sandals are strapped to the mud and holding me down, and it's only when I decided to leave my sandals in the mud that I'm able to lift my feet up. And I had to dig my hand deep into the mud to pull out my sandals. Hanhan was scared, she kept shouting for help, her legs are deep in the mud too. When we were making our way out, an uncle saw us and said that we should go by the other way, where it's less muddy. And we realised that the muddy area seems to be much darker in colour. I think we looked really silly stuck in the mud, while others around us are okay and enjoying themselves.

The first thing we did after leaving the muddy area, was to wash our legs and footwears. Onced we were back on safe ground, Hanhan seems to forget about what had just happened and wanted to dig the ground like the others.

Besides shells and earthworms, we found lots of horseshoe crabs too, you just have to look carefully. With the wrong info I had, I told Hanhan to be careful and not to be too near them, thinking they might sting people. When Daddy pushed Hanhan nearer to see the horseshoe crab, Hanhan was so scared that she burst out crying.

Googled about horseshoe crab on the way home. Horseshoe crab are actually very harmless creatures. They don't sting or bite people. Their dangerous looking long pointed tails are actually very brittle, and they don't use it to sting people but to flip themselves over if they are upside down.

Onced I knew about this, I quickly updated Hanhan with it. But she still insisted that she doesn't want to come to this muddy place again :P I think she had enough scares for the day.

Our Holidays

2011-06-29T13:42:00.005+08:00

The school holidays are gone in a puff. Can't really remember what I have done, as I have a poor memory but I do know that I have enjoyed myself.

School holiday is always a good time for family bonding. Daddy is working as a teacher, he is usually really busy during the school terms, it's only during school holidays that he has the time for us. And usually this is the time that Hanhan sticks to him more than she sticks to me.

Good time spent in photos.

Long time since I last went out with my mum and sisters.

We should really do this more often.

My sister asking Hanhan to smile.

Hahaha.... she's so naughty!

Japanese knot bag

2011-06-01T01:12:00.005+08:00

Japanese style knot bag, made from Whimsical Sakura(pink) and Kyo Yasai Dots (Red) .

Will be teaching you how to sew this knot bag, join me for the sewing lesson on 18 June.

My latest sewing project

2011-05-26T01:21:00.003+08:00

Car child seat cover.

We finally got a car :)

Although it's a 2nd hand car, it still bring us the convenient that any car would.

Where has all the time gone

2011-05-17T01:28:00.004+08:00

Sewing
Beside sewing these customised pouches for a customer, all I have done is mending and alterating. Hanhan has outgrown some of her dresses and I have to alter the hem so that she can wear them for a few more months. Need to make some pants and pajamas for her, but yet to find the time.Home coaching

Besides the regular weekly worksheets given by school, Hanhan has spelling (both English and Chinese) starting from this term. From last year's whinning when it comes to homework, to now taking it with more ease, the homework given by school seems to have set a pace for her learning at home.

I'm now trying to give her a bit more of what is expected of her to know and reinforce in area that she is weak in. I wasn't very diligent in this area but I think doing a little is better than none.

Paper setting

I fell into the same predicament again. I should have said no when I was asked. Although it didn't take me long to do when all ideas settle in but it's an adds on to the many other things that I have to do or want to do.

Maybe subconciously, I do not want to lose the link. I still want to have something to do with teaching. I actually have the idea of going back to teaching after Hanhan goes to Primary school, maybe not formal teaching with full load, maybe just relief teaching or tuition. This will help to ease Daddy's financial load.

I used to tell my friends what are my plans for future. I will have plan A, B, C and etc. And every few years I will review my plan. But seems like I'm getting too busy nowadays to focus on what I actually want, or is it that I have actually lose control of my life, or maybe I have been too greedy to want too many things and it's time to let go of some.....

Genting Highland trip (30Apr-2May)

2011-05-16T00:20:00.001+08:00

We went to Genting Highland for a short trip on one of the many long weekends that had past. I will consider this to be my 1st trip there, as I was too little to know or enjoy when my parents brought me there donkey years ago. We thought that this will be a good break from all the hustle and bustle.

Apparantly we are not the only one thinking so, and the way to Malaysia custom was jammed. And the Malaysia custom seems to be testing out some new system, which isn't working well, making the wait even longer. The usually 6 hrs journey turned out to be 11 hrs long. Hanhan was feeling a little unwell before the journey, although she had taken motion sickness medication, the long bus ride still made she vomitted all the way. And she clinged on to Daddy most of the time. All of us were tired out when we finally reached the hotel. We had a little rest in the room, before we finally decided to bring her to the hotel clinic. It was mid night then, and the medical fee we were charged was 120RM :P we just hope that she will feel better by morning.

Something ~~funny~~ (err.... how should I put it) happened about going to the Clinic. Daddy told me that when he was out looking for a clinic, someone approached him and asked in Chinese "Sir, do you need a lady?" =.= At first he was like "Hah? What are you saying?" And when he finally understood, he quickly walked away. It happened not only once but several times, even when I'm walking behind Daddy, carrying Hanhan to the clinic. I guessed the man didn't know that his wife(me) is actually following behind him. Hohoho....

Didn't really expect such thing to happen, as I thought Genting is quite family orientated.After taking the medication, Hanhan felt much better, and the next morning we can proceed with our plan-to the strawberry farm. Where Hanhan got to pick strawberry, or should I say cut, as she was given a pair of scissor for this purpose.

These are some of the strawberries that the farmers grow for their own picking. They have set an area just for tourists to pick strawberries and they come in pots.

There wasn't many ripe strawberries, and Hanhan was still a little grouchy but overall she still had fun at the strawberry farm.

After this, we went to the small mushroom farm just next to the strawberry farm.

Different types of mushroom growing out from rolls of compost. Daddy thinks that they look like rolls of fabrics.
If they were, I would definately bring a few rolls home ;>
There wasn't much information at the strawberry and mushroom farm, or we would have learnt much more. It's sad that it's just a place to earn money from tourists. The strawberries picked by Hanhan. The strawberries aren't really sweet, but Hanhan enjoyed eating them, and kept saying they are really sweet and yummy. I guess fruit of labour is always sweet :>

After the farm trip, we went back to Genting Theme Park for some rides at the big indoor amusement. We spent most of our time queuing for our turn and didn't take many rides. We didn't miss out much fun though, as usual we only take the low element rides.

We will probably spend our next long weekend at various Singapore tourist attractions. 11 hours of journey there isn't really worth it.

Heart throbbing fabrics

2011-04-21T00:22:00.003+08:00

A new batch of Japanese fabrics just flew from Japan to my house last week, so I had been busy taking photos and listing them in shop.

This lot is a heart throbbing one, my heart beat went faster and faster as I opened up boxes after boxes to check the stock. Looking at the catalogue and sample is enough for me to go "wow" about them, checking them out rolls after rolls of them is crazy.

Here are some that really capture my heart. They are what I used to admire from magazine and weren't able to get.

I think I have strong preference towards this type of fabric, I'm so in love with them.

How can I don't love this fabric?! It's so super sweet........

Don't forget to visit Fat Connection to see more of our new Japanese fabrics.

Hanhan's first sewing project: Bag completed

2011-04-19T14:38:00.004+08:00

Lagged in blogging....

Hanhan had completed her bag a few weeks ago, and has been using it now and then. Her next project in mind is a dress for her toy penguin. Maybe we will start making it this evening. :)

The best way to know your sewing machine better is ...

2011-04-11T00:27:00.007+08:00

to take it apart..... This is my brother BM2600, remember that I onced tried to fix it because the bobbin winder isn't working?! That time I didn't manage to open it, but this time I did! Well..., didn't really take it apart just to know how the sewing machine work, but I really got to know better how a sewing machine works after opening it. I was actually trying to fix the tension of my machine. I tried to many ways to fix it including adjust using the tension dial and the bobbin casing, but none work, so the last thing I can try is to take out the tension dial and adjust the internal part. And I think I have fixed it ...... somehow.... after many many tries.... countless....

See the amount of lint near the bobbin case? Yucks! This is the area that I can clean only if I take the casing apart.

And so I spent my whole Sunday afternoon trying to take the machine apart, fix the tension, clean the machine and put it back. And I even change the small blades embedded in the sewing machine.

Customised drawstring bag

2011-04-03T13:43:00.002+08:00

Latest customised drawstring bag for a customer.

Love the sweet bambi deer (pink) fabric more and more....

Learning

2011-03-29T23:54:00.002+08:00

Learning to sew

Hanhan has shown great interest in sewing with sewing machine. We had a try when she asked again a few days ago.

She sat on my lap and I guided her hands and controlled the foot pedal. It's not easy to sew with her sitting on my lap and blocking my view now and then (not to mention dangerous too). We shifted and shifted till we finally found a more comfortable position, and when she was more familiar with the sewing machine, she was given control of the top operation, I remained in charge of the foot pedal. Her interest or should I say her attention, didn't last long, she soon got tired and wanted to rest or play with her toys. We sewed bit by bit for the past few days, whenever she is interested in doing it. Today I let her have full control of the machine. With cushion and box under her butt and feet, she is able to have a better view of the sewing area and reach the foot pedal. Using my Innovis 4000D, with the speed set to medium, she managed to sew a few more lines entirely on her own. She is very excited about it, she said "sewing is fun". But she soon got tired and wanted to stop, because "sewing is tiring" :P

Learning to use my new camera

Got myself (sponsored by Daddy) a DSLR as birthday present :) because I want to take "controlled blur blur" photos. Sorry, I forgot the term for it, although my friend taught me that, so it's still known as "controlled blur blur" photos for me. Hahaha...

Still not familiar with it. There are several times that I tried to take photos with the len cover on.... hehehehe.... and I wondered why the viewfinder is all black :P Yeah... I managed to take blur blur photos but sadly not so "controlled" ones. Hope that you all won't feel giddy after looking at my photos.

A photo taken using my new camera, trying to create the blur blur effect.

Surprise finding

2011-03-21T23:59:00.003+08:00

See what Hanhan and I found on the way back from school? It's baby bird, not one but two.

We found them near a tree just next to our block. Initially we just found one laying weakly on the floor, and doesn't move much. There was much chirping noise coming from the top of the tree, and we saw several birds flying around. They seems to be fighting or arguing (if only I know bird language, then I will be able to tell you what exactly happened) and soon another baby bird flew unsturdily down the tree and landed on the another of the walkway. This one was able to hop a little but couldn't seems to fly.
We were watching the birds with earnest and we saw a cat coming our way. The cat was wary of our present and without much shoo-ing, the cat walked away. We stayed on, not sure of what to do, till our neighbours cum Hanhan's school mate passed by. She took down some worms and we tried to feed them, but they are too young to know how to eat it. We can't feed the birds, we can't put it back in the tree (the tree is about 2 storey high). It doesn't seems right to bring them out of their natural habitat but it also doesn't seems right to leave it there, especially after seeing a cat eyeing them.

We don't know what to do. More people passed by, but none of them wants to take care of the birds. Hanhan and her school mate were eager to take care of the baby birds and wanted to bring them home, but both of us parents don't want to do so. For me, I really don't know how to take care of a bird, and don't intend to keep one. However as the first person to find the bird, it seems that I should take care of them, and eventually I ended taking them back.
After taking them back home, I asked my other neighbours how to take care of them, and one actually offered to take care of them, but when Hanhan heard about it, she started to tear. She wants to keep them as pet, but my intention is only to keep them till they know how to fly. Saw that Hanhan was all in tears, my neighbour offered to give us a hamster cage and let Hanhan (or rather I) keep the birds.
Both baby birds are now in the cage, and we managed to buy some food suitable for them. They are really tiny, only about 3-4cm big. I wonder what type of birds they are.

After reading this, I'm think of bringing them back to their parents as soon as possible. I wonder how will Hanhan response to it.

Cheeky Bits

2011-03-17T02:41:00.001+08:00

1) During sewing lesson.

Hanhan: 我肚子饿了。[I'm hungry.]
Me: Go and look for Daddy, I'm busy now. (Hoping that Daddy can help me to settle her.)

After some time.

Hanhan:我快饿死了！[I'm going to die of hunger soon!]
Me: ................ *_*"

Not sure when it started but Hanhan has became quite a drama queen.

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2) Hanhan whispered to me in the morning: Last night I tiptoed to the toilet. I don't want to let Daddy Mummy know.

And truthly she did, as I saw her sneaked back into her room :P

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Recently she likes to clip her hair up with Ikea bag sealer clips....

This post is initially created on 11 March morning, but I didn't get to finally it till today. Hope this can bring you a little smile amid the sad News about Japan.

My last 2 PIF gifts

2011-03-08T22:32:00.000+08:00

Sent out my last 2 PIF gifts some time ago, to Rebecca and Gracie.

Gracie still have vacancies for her PIF, join her if you are interested.

Super big boxy zipper pouch and some ribbons and trims, hope they like them.

The super big boxy zipper pouch is approx. 2-3 times bigger than what I usually sew :P

Embroidery: Great to be ONE

2011-03-07T12:33:00.000+08:00

For a group of moms from Singapore Motherhood.

While we are celebrating being 2 years old, they are celebrating their babies turning 1 year old. :)

Sewing lesson on 6 March

2011-03-05T01:04:00.005+08:00

Hanhan is really excited that I start teaching sewing again. This means that there will be many aunties coming to our house, and this really makes her happy as she will have many people to talk to :P

Some photos of yesterday's sewing lesson- reversible tote bag and learn about sewing machine basic function and operation :

We will have another lesson on "Reversible Tote Bag and learn about sewing machine basic function and operation" on 15 March (tue) for those who can't make it on weekend.

And this coming Saturday (12 March), I will be teaching 2 tiers twirl skirt. If you are interested, please see here for more details.

Fat Connection is 2 years old!! ; Anniversary sale

2011-03-04T08:30:00.001+08:00

Although I have been using the name Fat Connection since I started to sew for others, sometime in 2005. Fat Connection is only officially registered in 2009 March, so legally speaking, she is considered as only 2 years old.

I have a friend who told me something like this, "You are really brave to start your own business, aren't you worried that it might not work out the way you want?" Well... my answer to her, "At worst, I will use up all the fabrics, since I will be spending lots of money buying fabrics anyway." LOL....

I guess at then I was totally crazy about fabrics and sewing. If I have considered the number of people who sew in Singapore (all friends around me don't sew :P) and the no. of people who will buy fabric/handmade from me (well... not all who know how to sew is sure to buy fabric from me) etc... I don't think I will start Fat Connection as a registered business.

I'm glad to say along the way, I have many great friends and customers who have given me lots of support. And of course I have also met people who don't know how to appreciate handmade or look at me weirdly when I tell them that I sell "cloth".

I still remembered when I was studying in SP, one of our school project is to do alteration and amendment to a shop space. I designed it into a craft shop with a workshop area. I have dreamt of having my own craft shop, unsure of what type of craft it will be and I think subconciously I'm working towards it as I grow older.

I'm happy with what I'm doing now, doing anything about crafts :), I won't mind if I ~~have~~ can do this till the end of my days. Hope we can celebrate many more birthdays for Fat Connection :>

Long Wallet

2011-02-22T14:57:00.001+08:00

I have lots of craft books which gave me lots of inspiration. I love to browse through them and admire the handmade items others have made. I love to go through the steps on how the items are made in my mind, but I seldom follow the instructions in the craft books and make something :P It's more of brain work and procrastination. Partly it's because I have too many choices to choose from (the bad thing of having too many choices) and most of the time I like part of this and part of that, but seldom the whole thing. The great thing about having so many craft books is that I can copy some here and copy some there....err.... ok..... let's use a better term, I "innovate" from others work.

After browsing through some craft books on wallet and purse, I decided to made this for myself. Made from Kokka fabric, strawberry shortcake (black).

Card slots on the inside, for up to 12 cards.

2 zipper compartments, one for my money, one for my mobile phone. Might decide to put other things in it, since it quite big, I can put almost anything I want to.

Our Saturday; Sentosa Boardwalk

2011-02-20T15:11:00.006+08:00

After shopping with Daddy for his school stuffs, Hanhan and I went to VivoCity to meet my girl friends for steamboat on Saturaday, not yesterday, it's last Saturaday... a late post again. It's an all girl affair, so Daddy prefers to stay home :P

Hanhan and I were there early, so we went shopping first. Hanhan loves to follow me wherever I go, even when go out with my girl friends. We were surprised to see that the Sentosa Boardwalk is completed and so we went to have a look.
The walkway is really spacious and beautifully decorated with flowers, so we went clicking on the camera. Learnt from previous experiences, now I tend to arm myself with camera whenever I go :>

:))) photo of me taken by Hanhan. I'm glad that she knows how to take photo.
One of the wire scultpure along the boardwalk.

Lollipop tree!!! Like the ones in Strawberry Land.

If only our land is covered with candies, cakes, chocolates and breads.

We walked all the way to the end of the boardwalk and Hanhan insisted that we enter Sentosa. Thinking that my friends had yet to reach and there might be more to see, I paid entry fee. After entering, I started to regret. There isn't much to see near the entrance beside the bunnies and the big "RW" flower sculpture, and it's crowded. And soon, my friend called to say they have reached, which means we need to go back to main land soon. We visited the visitor centre to ask for direction to the sky train station (thinking that will be the fastest and most comfortable way to get back), as the place is completely new to me after all the renovation. When we are finally near the sky train station, we saw long lines of people waiting. Are they queueing for movie tickets or ...??? Nope, they are all waiting to take the sky train. It's ridiculous!!! We ended up walking back to the main land again, luckily there is travellator at some stretch of the boardwalk.

It's a long wait to enter the restuarant, but I'm just glad that we have reached Vivocity to meet up with my girl friends.

Our sumptious steamboat dinner.

Back at Sentosa Boardwalk after dinner for a stroll, Hanhan's idea.

Reversible Pinafore

2011-02-11T13:25:00.002+08:00

Something that I thought I will never sew for Hanhan, because she perspires a lot and doesn't like to wear in layers. However, there has been request for me to teach pinafore, so I thought maybe I should give it a try, sew one for Hanhan, maybe she can wear it when we go somewhere cooler for holiday this year end.

Can you see that she loves it?!

This side uses "happy chihuahua (pink)"
And she is in good mood to model it, but too bad.... bad lighting. I can't find a corner in my house that is not cluttered and bright enough to take photos. Wish I have the time to bring her out on a good weather to take nicer photos. Highly impossible.... this really needs 天时地利人和 ( 天时:fine weather; 地利:hm..... not sure if there's any nice and nearby place for photo taking; 人和:time when she doesn't have to go to school and I'm free, and of course she must be in good mood :P)
I asked her not to stand still and smile, because she will keep showing her "rabbit" hand sign and smile awkwardly. This is one of the rare stand still yet nice smile photo. :)

"Can I sit down?"

Hehehe.... she is tired after all the moving around.

This side uses " November Books Mermaid(pink)"

I'm taller and bigger!!

Growing up

2011-02-10T00:29:00.002+08:00

These few days Hanhan has been emphasizing that she has grown big already, she will says that she can do this..... because she has grown bigger.

Indeed, she is getting more and more independent. Before CNY I had to help her to wear her socks, and she didn't want to try wearing it, but on CNY eve she suddenly said that she wanted to wear her socks and shoes all by herself, and she amazed me by doing it all correctly and neatly.She even helped me to hang the clothes and prepare lunch. Yesterday, she was willing to try peeling the shells of hard boiled egg, which she didn't want to try last time, worrying that she could't do it probably. And today she helped me to chop some mushrooms.

She said that we are having cooking lesson and next time she wants sewing lesson. She doesn't want to do hand sewing, she wants to use the sewing machine. Erm......

Here's a few photos of Hanhan in her CNY new dress, for those who like to look at photos when blog hopping :P I do that too.

Happy Rabbit Year!!

2011-02-08T01:58:00.002+08:00

New Year Clothes for Hanhan

2011-02-02T01:10:00.002+08:00

Making clothes for Hanhan has always been a pleasure for me. I love to see how cute anh sweet she looks in the new clothes I made for her, it gives me lots of satisfaction. The best thing is, she loves what I made for her ....erm..... for most of the time. There are times that she refused to wear the clothes that I made for her and when I threatened that I won't make anymore clothes for her, she will say that she doesn't want me to make clothes for her, ok...... since you don't want to wear, then I won't make for you. Since she never bother to look at the clothes we show her during shopping, we didn't get her any new clothes from the store too.

Hanhan knows that Chinese New Year is coming and everyone is supposed to wear new clothes on the first day of the CNY, and last week she actually requested me to make new clothes for her (hoho... Mummy win! :D) She pulled out the following 2 fabrics that she had chosen long time ago and requested me to make something for her.

Daddy said the fabric combination is weird and it looks like sleep wear but Hanhan loves the fabrics and keep saying the dress is very nice....hoho... she is very encouraging :))
She loves the dress, but not in the mood to take photo.

"No, I don't want to take photo!"

Tried letting her take photo with her toy.

However that doesn't last long enough for me to take photo of her in the second dress :P

Pattern for both dresses are from Cucito Summer 2010.

Cucito, my favorite children dress making pattern book :)

More embroidery: Princess Amanda

2011-01-31T01:56:00.004+08:00

A customer requested for a personalised top and send me a graphic file of what she wants. And this gives more chance to explore my embroidery machine further, learning to convert graphic into embroidery patterns.

Although I did this before, but this time I learnt a faster method to do the conversion, it still takes hours but it's consider much faster than last time, which I took days to convert. :)

New Discovery: Embroidering Chinese Characters

2011-01-24T22:58:00.003+08:00

Recently just learnt that I can embroider Chinese characters with my machine! :>

Making better use of my embroidery machine

2011-01-16T16:20:00.001+08:00

I got several plain t-shirts months ago, wanted to some embroidery, but didn't get to do so till few days ago.
Got these cheap t-shirts from Hang Ten, 3 for $10. They only come in black, otherwise I will buy loads of them :> The Piglet and Tigger embroidery patterns are original in the form of outline, and the one on the left is actually coloured, but I only embroidered the outline. I actually prefer the end result of the one on the left.
Hanhan wanted one too, and of course she got to select the design and t-shirt colour. I happened to have a pink plain polo T, so I made a matching mother and daughter set :) I'm now thinking of getting Daddy a plain top too, so that next time we can have a family set :))
More embroidering. Playing with using colour threads to filled up the pic and just using outline.

Loving my embroidery machine, more and more. It's so fun!

Drawing

2011-01-15T01:45:00.001+08:00

She loves to draw. I love to see her draw.
And of course, I love her drawings.

That is Mummy and Hanhan blowing bubbles :))

Our weekend

2011-01-13T02:10:00.001+08:00

Brought Hanhan to Esplanade last Sunday for "The Music of John Williams". It's a free concert performanced by the Singapore Wind Symphony. She was excited about it when she knew that she is going for a concert. We were supposed to meet my friends but we were late, hence we did not enter the concert hall together, and were seated separately.

Hanhan seated upright and probably in her own seat, and clapped her hands when she is supposed to. I was really glad to see that, but right after the first song ended, she wanted to get out of the concert hall. When I asked her does she like it, she answered yes but she had enough already *_* I managed to let her stay for a few more songs but eventually left before the concert ended. This is also my first time in the Esplanade concert hall, it's really grand, when Hanhan looked up at the ceiling, she said, it looked like watermelon *_*

Hahaha.... not so bad for a start I supposed. Might bring her there more often as there's a free concert every month! :)

We roamed around the area while we waited for my friends. I have not been to Marina for a long time. About 4-5 years, since Hanhan is borned? The view infront of me is totally different from 4-5 years ago, there's so much changes and I suddenly felt that I'm a mountain turtle :P It's like I'm in a foreign land. I was taken aback by the changes I saw but somehow enjoying myself too.

Gloomy sky, incooperative model and a poor little camera phone gives you only 1 poor little photo :P

Later that day, we walked from Esplanade to Marina Bay Sand, to Raffles Place, to Boat Quay, then to Central. Hadn't walked so much for a long long time and Hanhan was with me all the while, walking on her own. When we asked her is she tired, she said "Very comfortable." Hahaha..... great!

Busy busy, lazy lazy

2011-01-05T23:51:00.004+08:00

Oh no...., realised that I'm lagged in blogging these few months.

Ok, here's a few updates:

(About Fat Connection 1st)

1. Realised that my blog has somehow slowly filled with more and more shop updates and stuffs like that. I would like to invite you to join me in Facebook and Twitter for these information. And I will update my blog with only posts about my girl and crafts...... I think somehow Fat Connection will pop up in this blog again as it's part of my life after all. But officially, Facebook and Twitter willl be the main space for store information. I will periodically giving out promotional voucher code over there too, so do join me!

2. More Japanese fabrics have arrived. I'm still loading them up in Fat Connection, by tomorrow they should be available for purchase.

3. Fat Connection is now offering wholesale pricing for our Japananese fabrics!! :) If you are ordering in bulk, please contact us about wholesale matters.

4. Had been conducting sewing lessons for the past few months. I'm very happy that I have finally found someone who loves to sew too.... and it's not only one but more than that! It's really great to know people who love to sew like me ^_^

However, my house seriously need to be cleaned up, since CNY is coming really really soon.... and there are still piles of things here and there :P After this cycle of sewing lessons, I will stop for a while. Planning to have more sewing lessons sometime in March again. If you are interested, please email me and I will keep you informed.

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Now back to my craft and girl....

Crafty side wise really nothing much to say, I haven't really been sewing.... :(
But since CNY is coming soon, I think I will at least sew something for my girl, hope that I will have the determination to do it, had been a little lazy in this aspect these days.

During the holidays, I had been trying to teach Hanhan to recognise Chinese characters (her report for word recognition isn't really fantastic), but she is slow and steady, I have faith in her. Yet to finish her whole set of 10 books, hope that I can find the time to continue as school term has just started, and it will be back to rushing to and fro school.

Can't leave a post with a photo, here's my little reindeer infront of our WIP Christmas tree (on the 25 Dec, it's still WIP :P)

2010-12-24T04:08:00.004+08:00

Merry Christmas to all! 25th Dec is the last day of sale for 20% off supplies!!

Our trip to Sunway Lagoon

2010-12-17T22:38:00.001+08:00

Back dated post :P
We were at Sunway Lagoon last week. Although it's a short 3D2N trip, I always appreciate such trip for a family get together, when we don't have to worry about this and that.

At the Sunway Wildlife park, a place where Hanhan won't want to miss.

First time at the amusement park with Hanhan. Was rather surprise with Hanhan's willingness in trying the games. We tried the spinning cup, horse wagon fairywheel and carousal. All low risk/not risk :P element games.... hahaha...
I considered crossing this bridge the "sacriest" part. Deliberately choose this photo to show that we aren't just posing for photo, we really crossed the longest pedestrian suspension bridge in the world. At the medium of the bridge, they have metal grating instead of wooden planks, so you can have a good view of the people swimming under your feet. LOL!

Can you find Hanhan and me in the photo?!

Hanhan crossed the bridge too!

Hanhan surprised us in many ways, including her willingness or rather her request to go to the wave pool. We used to encourage her to play with water, but she doesn't want to. Even when she did play in the water playground onced in a while, we still have to encourage her. Now that we seldom have the chance for her to play with water, she actually request for it.

A rare encounter. We saw the zoo keeper and several others shaking hand with the white-handed gibbon before we dare to do so. I think the white handed gibbon loves to shake hand with people, or rather he/she wants to be holded. Think of it now, he/she looks kind of lonely in the cage.

A week in a post

2010-11-30T12:36:00.000+08:00

Last week, I was a little busy, a little lazy, hence the long pause in blogging.

Busy with sewing lessons and busy with sewing these:

Spreading them out on the table like this, makes me feel like I'm displaying them for sale in a craft market. How I wish that I could go to one..... especially after I have read so much on blog, heard so many people "tweet" about it.

In Singapore, we don't really have a craft market (or is there one? If there is, please let me know. Thank you), just flea market and bazaar. Besides that I think I will need to build up my handmade items.... I have so few, how to go to the market? :P Will people buy fabrics from the market too?!

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Something tasty and easy that I have tried in the kitchen:

Deep fried lotus root chips.

Just slice them real thin and deep fried till golden brown and serve. No salt or sugar need, and it's really yummy. A good alternative to potato chips.

Peasant dresses and hats

2010-11-29T18:33:00.006+08:00

Some of the peasant dresses and hats made during the sewing lessons.
Photos courtesy of Vannie, Justina, Shirlynn, Vivian and Fiona. :)

Pillowcase dress and twirl skirt!!

2010-11-18T22:42:00.001+08:00

Photos courtesy of Vannie, Justina, Shirlynn, Michelle and Fiona. :)

These are what they have learnt to sew on last lesson.

The girls are so cute in their dresses. :)

Can you see that you can actually modify pillowcase dress into different designs?!

My Brother

2010-11-09T00:37:00.003+08:00

I think I can say that I have known him a little better.

Recently we have worked together rather well.

Hope that we can created more fantastic work together.

Hm? Who am I talking about?

I'm talking about my Brother ;>

More sewing lessons during Decemeber; Our sewing lesson on 6 Nov

2010-11-08T00:30:00.001+08:00

More sewing lessons during Decemeber!!
Please see here for more details.

Would love to teach sewing other projects as well, so after the December lessons there will be more sewing lessons coming up and I will be teaching something new! If you like to learn what is being taught now, try not to miss it. Email me early to confirm your booking.

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Our sewing lesson on 6 Nov

Fabrics used: Cherry Blossom (left) and Animal in Hot Air Balloon (right)

Simple cushion cover with button closure.

Less is more.

I just love their simplicity, without any ruffles.

Zipper pencil cases. Names yet to be sewn.

Snap shoot of the ladies working :)

Our Sewing Lesson-Lesson 3

2010-11-04T00:50:00.002+08:00

Added an extra lesson on Nov 6- learn to sewing cushion cover with button closure and this pencil case:

Any last minute taker? Please email me for more details, or see here.
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These lovely boxy zipper pouches and hp cozy are so cute, right?!
They are all done by the ladies who took up our sewing lesson-lesson 3.

Interested in learning to sew them too?

Will be conducting more sewing lessons during December, we will be learning to sew similar projects. So if you have missed out this lesson, don't missed out the next one. Just email me and I will provide you with the lesson details soon.

The Princess Flamingo Dress

2010-11-02T19:00:00.001+08:00

Well... that's what Hanhan called it, because it's pink.

Made this dress for her birthday. She is really happy about it, no hesitation in trying. I'm really happy too, succeed in my 1st try sewing satin and organza.

Initially made a 100cm size for her, but it was way too big, did a lot of cutting to make it fit her. Finished it on the very day she wore it to school for her birthday celebration. Determined to make a princess dress for her, instead of just buying one for her. It's more of a challenge for me than just a dress for her.

Actually right after I bought the satin and organza, I happened to bypass a shop selling little girls' dress, the princess type...... also using satin and organza. Secretly, I'm telling my self that I don't want to come here to get one for Hanhan, it will be my last resort.

Pattern is from the older version of Cucito, which is then known as Child Boutique. Made modification to the back panel, hoping that Hanhan will not out grow from the dress too fast.

Happy 4th Birthday!

2010-11-02T01:10:00.000+08:00

My little girl is getting bigger and bigger. She is now 4 years old. She used to walk slowly next to me, now I have to run after her. She used to need my help in almost everything, now she can do so many things on her own. I'm happy to see that she is getting more and more independent, but at the same time there's a bit of fear that she will need me lesser and lesser as she gets older. But neither do I want her to be too sticky nor too dependent on me............. kind of complicated.

On Sunday putting on her "Zoo dress" and off we go.......

to the Zoo, of course!
This little darling is not used to the cap sleeves, had been giving me all sort of reason/excuses not to wear it (now then I know). Telling me that this is a "Zoo dress", she will only wear it if we are going to the Zoo. Now she had no reason/excuses to reject it :P

Super happy to be in a wagon again.

Once again, Daddy got to train his arm muscles :P

On Monday, we had a simple celebration for her in her school, where she got to share her joy with her friends.

Happy, happy, happy, happy :)

Pillowcase Dress

2010-10-29T09:23:00.001+08:00

Made this just before Hanhan's performance, so that she take it out easily and changed into her swan costume without ruining her make up and hair.

Fabric used: Polky and Ribbons (pink) - Japanese cotton fabric

I added some elastic from the underside of the dress at the waist, hoping the gathers will give some "shape" to the dress, but it's doesn't look obvious.

I like to see Hanhan's hair neatly tied up like this, it makes her so much cuter and sweeter.

The elastic added waist line looks slightly more obvious in this photo. And oh..... her hair is back in mess again after the performance. :P

Our Little Swan

2010-10-25T23:55:00.000+08:00

Last Friday, little Hanhan bravely went up the stage and performed fearlessly :) We are really proud of her.

She had been practising hard for this performance. You can frequently hear her saying "jump jump right, jump jump left" and see her dancing here and there.

Can you spot our little swan?
Isn't she cute in her performance costume?!

Our lesson 2

2010-10-25T02:54:00.001+08:00

I had lots of fun conducting the second sewing lesson. We had been chatting through out the lesson and the lesson was filled with laughter. :)

Cute little drawstring bags for their children.

And here we have a cute little model posing with Mummy's creation.

Our lesson 1- Eco bag

2010-10-19T18:37:00.001+08:00

Was very happy that the response for the sewing lessons was great, there's a total of 8 students for lesson 1 from 3 different sessions. It was way better than what I expected.

Eco bags done by them :)) Photos are from them, because I only remember to bring out the camera near the end of the lesson. :P

More Personalised Pouches

2010-10-11T23:55:00.004+08:00

Personalised pouches ordered by a friend.

Fabric used: Beige and Black Stripes and Musical Decoupage (Neutral)

Nothing says more than a reorder

2010-10-06T00:09:00.000+08:00

Sewing for Children's Day

2010-10-02T20:45:00.001+08:00

A regular customer order for her kids for Children's Day.

7 sweet pinky customised pencil cases. All of similar style, yet not exactly the same.

Hanhan loves the "bambi deer (pink)" fabric, she kept asking were the pouches for her. When I told her that the name shown on the pouches are not hers, so it's not hers, she actually obligated to change her name, so that she can have the pouch :P

And one for a boy. Love this Kokka fabric even though I still use lots of pink girlish fabric :)

After much sewing for others, I onced again feel like sewing for Hanhan. She has been asking me to sew skirt and dresses for her, but I have been busy then.

Hanhan is allowed to wear party clothes to school for Children's Day celebrate, so I sewed this for her, hoping that she can wear it to school...... but she didn't. She had her mind set on wearing her Raspberry Torte t-shirt to school, she had told me that the day before. I sewed through the night thinking that she might change her mind, since the fabric was picked by her and it's a new dress for her but I was wrong :P

When I try to persuade her to wear it, she told me she will wear the dress to the zoo, it's a zoo dress. We have been putting off our trip to the zoo, and this sound like a threat to me : To the zoo we go or your effort for the dress will be wasted :P

Whether the girl wins her trip to the zoo with the dress on or Mummy wins in coaxing the girl to wear the dress without a trip to the zoo, and get some photos taken. Hm.... we'll see how.

Oh... what do you think about the ribbon infront? Should I remove it to keep it simple?

Dress pattern modified from Cucito Summer 2010. I added some elastic to the botton of the bodice. This is the original pattern.

Dates for Sewing Lesson

2010-09-30T14:42:00.004+08:00

Anyone interested? Besides bags and pouches, I have also added some lessons on making simple dresses for girls.

Please see here for more details.

Our Mid Autumn Festival

2010-09-24T16:00:00.000+08:00

Hanhan playing with her light stick and battery operated lantern.
Daddy and I played with sparklers.

Hanhan was very scared of sparklers, so scared that she forbidded us to play last year. This year we managed to lurk her downstair with light stick, while she played with her light stick, we played with our sparklers, we are actually playing with last year's sparklers :P

Surprise! Hanhan ended playing with sparklers too.

We met one of her classmate who is brave enough to play with sparklers, we provide her with sparklers and she had fun with them, I encouraged Hanhan to join her but she refused. After watching for a while, our little Hanhan actually agreed to try and now she loves it. Our little girl is getting braver and braver. :))

Have you heard of fake Japanese fabrics?

2010-09-17T21:41:00.001+08:00

It just came to my awareness that there are sellers selling Fake Japanese fabrics, even on Etsy. I'm really surprised about it as I've never thought that will ever happen, and there's really nothing the Japanese manufacturers can do to stop them. Therefore, I think it's good for buyers, especially those really who loves genuine Japanese fabrics to know how to differentiate them.

How to spot fake Japanese fabrics:

1.The selvedge doesn't have the designer name on it! All you see is the little color dots. However, there are some genuine Japanese fabrics which don't have designer name on them, so do take note of the other details.

2.The fabric is of low quality. The basecloth has very rough texture and easy to fray. It has a low threadcount and feels much thinner and coarser.

3.The colors are slightly different/off.

4.There are less details than in the original pattern!

Personally I have not bought any fake Japanese fabrics, as I have been importing all my Japanese fabrics directly from the Japan manufacturers. The above are collated from the following, you might be interested to see the whole discussion:

http://germandolls.blogspot.com/2010/09/fake-fabric.html

http://www.flickr.com/photos/49182185@N02/4919089049/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/amygunson/4865417988/

http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6626581&page=1

The above discussions mentioned about Kokka fabric, and recently I have just imported some Kokka fabrics, so here is how some of the selvedges look like:

There's wording such as "created by Kokka", "designed by Kokka", there are also some new fabrics with "created by Push Pin* x Kokka" on the selvedges.

To protect yourself from fake Japanese fabrics, buy only from reputable sellers. Paying through a system that offers buyer protection, such as Paypal, might help you too. If the seller did mentioned about "Japanese fabric", "made in Japan" etc. , there might be a chance that you can proof that the seller is selling an item that is significantly not as described.

If you have heard of anything about fake Japanese fabrics, please feel free to share over here.

Christmas is coming! SALE is here!

2010-09-17T18:53:00.002+08:00

Ok ok, to say that Christmas is coming, it might be a bit too early, but if you intend to create some handmade gifts for your friends, now it's a good time to start planning and of course buy some supplies!

Fat Connection is offering 20% off all supplies, to give you a boost on your Christmas sewing, and that includes our new stocks ( 54 new Japanese fabrics)!!! Just enter the voucher code "FC-CHRISTMAS" during checkout.

New in shop Drawstring Tote Bag

2010-09-15T20:20:00.001+08:00

Just listed these in Fat Connection.

Available in 2 colours.

Use it as a tote bag, a drawstring bag, a lunch box bag.......

I just love how cute they are.

Sewing Lesson in Plan

2010-09-13T22:02:00.001+08:00

Dear fellow crafters in Singapore,

I'm planning some sewing lessons, it will most probably start in mid Oct (earliest) or early November. Lessons will be almost the same as last year, learning to make bags and pouches. If you are interested (no obligation) , please email me the following:

Name:

Email:

Preferred timing for lesson:

Weekday/Weekend ?

Morning/Afternoon/Evening?

Do you have any sewing experience? Yes/No

Do you own a sewing machine? Yes/No

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Confirmed date for lessons will be released later.

If you have any other questions, please feel free to email me:
fat_connection(at)yahoo(dot)com(dot)sg

Our One Week Holiday

2010-09-13T00:40:00.001+08:00

Our one week of school break is over. We didn't make big plan for this holiday, but it was quite a relax and enjoyable week.

We did went to the Science Centre for some exploration, but it was really crowded which none of us really like.
For me, most of the time was spent on setting question papers..... which I dread to start as I was in the mood for sewing, but the bad feeling of owing someone surpassed the urge for sewing. And the bonus is, when I'm half done with the papers and can't continue due to lack of information, I managed to do some sewing too. :)

These will be up in Fat Connection onced I get the time to take some proper pictures.

Teachers' Day Gift

2010-09-01T11:12:00.000+08:00

Our first time preparing Teachers' Day gifts.

Hanhan's drawings for her teachers.

And I sewed some pencil cases for her teachers.
Made from left over scraps after making buttons, so nothing is wasted.

More new Japanese fabrics

2010-08-31T17:50:00.002+08:00

More fabrics added to shop.

There's everyone's favorite Russian Dolls and fairytale characters like Mermaid and Little Red Riding Hood too.

There's also the latest "Hello my friends" prints by Push Pin for Kokka, these (top 3) are great for boys' projects.

I love the bottom 6 repeated animal pattern print, they are simple, nice and cute.
A total of 54 new fabrics added into shop in a week. *Phew*

Now I need to start working on my question papers before I can sew again : I think I should learn to concentrate more on sewing so that I can have more handmade stuffs in shop, rather than divert my attention and energy on too many things. Oh... still need to get these on Etsy shop too.... :P

Heather Ross's Far Far Away 2

2010-08-29T15:35:00.003+08:00

They are now available in Fat Connection.

New Fabrics in Shop!

2010-08-27T14:10:00.005+08:00

Been busy with these. They are now available in Fat Connection.

Sweet and cute fabrics for the young and the young at heart.

Floral prints on oxford and canvas fabric. These fabrics are great for home decor and crafting. The top 4 are cotton linen blend, they are perfect for zakka style sewing.

I'm Featured!

2010-08-19T09:00:00.002+08:00

I have to say that I'm really happy and honored to be featured on other blogs and websites. Keeping quiet about it (although I have "personally" thank them through email) as in not mentioning it in my blog could be due to my Chinese upbringing of one should be humble (well.... now that I mentioned it, it doesn't sound humble anymore, hahaha), but now thinking about it, I should really mention about it and give thanks to them through here.
My reversible summer hat for girl - Ribbon and Lace (red) was recently featured by Sew Picture Perfect. Coincidently, Rosie also featured the same hat over at her website, Fabric Online Shopper. She has also featured my reversible Strawberry Shortcake hat sometime ago.

Last year, Kathleen featured my zipper pouch and cosmetic pouch in Grosgrain Fabulous in her flickr favs blog post.

Later I was really lucky to be featured again. This time it's my mini clutch frame purses(at the bottom left hand corner). And my mini clutch frame purse - ribbon and lace (pink) is again featured in Fabric Online Shopper.

Rosie is really nice to have also feature my zipper pouch and Summer shirring dress in her Sunday Inspiration post.

Their mentions have brought me motivation (so are your comments ;>), and I sincerely hope my sewing will provide you with inspiration.

Buttons, buttons & more buttons

2010-08-15T16:33:00.005+08:00

After weeks of cough, flu came and now it is the on and off headache plus a bit of this and that *sign* Not in the mood for sewing, but still would like to create something. Something easy such as fabric covered buttons..... a little addiction started after making the little treasure bag.

Japanese Fabric Special Promotion

2010-08-13T01:59:00.004+08:00

We are having a Japanese fabric special promotion! Buy more to save more now!

Promotion ends on 23 Aug. Help us to make room for new fabrics that will arrive in Fat Connection near end of August.

P.S. All amount spent and discounts given are solely base on fabrics.

How do you keep your sewing tools Part 2

2010-08-10T12:02:00.000+08:00

This is how I keep my needles. It looks like how the Chinese doctor will keep their acupuncture needles, hehehehe ;P

One day, I was at my mum's place doing some sewing and I wanted to bring the needle(took from mum's sewing box, not sure why I'm so cheapskate :S) home. I found a cut off legging from my mum's pants and I just pinned my needle there with the remaining thread tucked in the tube. The needle and thread stay there so well, it's so convenient to bring them around and not to say save thread that is still long enough for use, which I will usually throw away as it seems so troublesome to keep.
Threads in plastic container. I don't have the leisurely of big spaces to store my sewing stuffs, my area get dusty easy too, so I like to keep them in container. However I think it would be great to be able to keep them in thread spool holder.

Used to keep the bobbin threads in a metal container but they ended up all entangled after sometimes. So now I'm keep them seperately in another container like this. Currently this is the best solution I can think of. How do you keep your threads?

Celebration

2010-08-09T13:53:00.003+08:00

One of the best part of schooling for Hanhan will be the celebration of different occasions.

Racial Harmony Day

She went to school in her little Qi Pao, she got to eat goodies and even have more to bring home.
National Day
Her school celebrated the nation's birthday on last Friday. Most of the children and teacher worn red and white (the colour of our flag) to school and it's so fun to see.

Happy Birthday Singapore!!

How do you keep your sewing tools? Part 1

2010-08-02T21:54:00.006+08:00

Things are moving very slow for the past few weeks. I have been coughing for more than 2 weeks. It's so bad that it kept me from wake in the night and this in turn made me feeling tired and lethargic in the day. Been to the doctor, much better but still coughing (when is it going to stop??!!)

Despite the large amount of awake hours, I didn't get much done. Mangaged to clear a bit of my sewing stuffs during one of the sleepless night.
Sewing pins in a small cute biscuit container (with pin cushion inside). I like how the pins can be easily kept away (just closed the tin) when it is not in use and I never get pricked when I reach out for the pins since I started using this.

To make this, all you have to do is make a big fat pin cushion and stuff it in a container (you can even use gluegun to fix it permanently, for me I just stuff it in). Just make sure that your pin cushion is slightly bigger than the container so that it won't shift when it's inside. And not to forget that your completed cushion will actually turn out smaller than the size of your cut out fabric when it is fatten/stuffed.

Too complicated? Need a tutorial? Just leave me a comment and let me know. Would love to know how you keep your pins too.

Will share more in the later posts.

Shop update

2010-07-27T18:54:00.004+08:00

Some newly added items over the week.

Decorative iron on felt.

Latest issue of Cucito, Summer 2010

I have also added some other Japanese sewing pattern books.

Hot on the shelves. Little treasure bags, only USD$9 /SGD $13.50 each.

Zooming away

2010-07-25T22:05:00.003+08:00

on my sewing machine and made a bundle of little bags. Hanhan got one, 2 were given away as birthday presents, 1 as gift.
I was having fun and had made far more than what I needed. I still have cut out fabrics for more bags, intend to sell them in shop but at the same time, I have taken pictures intending to make a tutorial for it. Hm.... the dilemma: will people still buy from me if they already have a tutorial :P

Haha.... was telling myself, if they can sew, even if I don't provide tutorial they still won't buy from me. If they don't sew and need one, even with the tutorial they will still buy from me. Am I right? Please tell me that I'm right and I will write the tutorial. :))

Little Animal; Little Princess

2010-07-17T23:59:00.000+08:00

All little girls want to be princesses, but my little girl wants to be an animal. Usually she pretends to be an animal a day. Depending on her mood, sometimes she can be a bear for a day or 2, sometimes she can change into another animal in the next minute. We onced asked her, "You want to be princess or animal?" Her answer was animal :P
Maybe that was because bad Mummy has been delaying in making her a tutu. She onced had one, she loved running and dancing in it. But now it was too small for her, and she has been waiting for a new one for a year or 2 :P

Yesterday we spent our evening at the Changi Airport. No we are not flying again, we are just there for dinner, we love to go there once in a while. Hanhan thought that we are going oversea again, she reminded us to bring our passports. We had to explain and clarify that we are not going to take the plane, worried that she will cry if she didn't get to take the plane. She loves to go overseas. Well.... what all these Changi Airport thing about.... we got her a tutu from there.
Today she wore her tutu and started dancing to the music again. :) Hohoho.... she danced for about an hour or 2.

And at night, she drew a "Hanhan fairy". I think fairy and princess somehow related. They are all pretty little things :)

Selfish Sewing

2010-07-15T00:32:00.003+08:00

Have been sewing for Hanhan and others for most of the time, now it's time to sew for myself.

Made a top during the weekend. Not very successful, but after alteration still wearable. This is the second top that I have made for myself. My 1st attempt in making a top for myself a long while ago (haha... just checked my blog, that's 2 yrs ago :P), I made it too small and in the end I altered it and give it to my sis. So this time I use a bigger size without considering the cutting of the top design :P and it ended way too big. Daddy thought that I had made a sleep wear when I show him.*faint*

Determined to make it my own (don't want to let it go to waste or give it to my sis again) I start to alter it. To make it smaller, I cut quite a bit out from the sleeves, sides and bottom. The neckline is also way too big, but I'm too lazy to rip it, so I did a fold at the middle front.

And Ta-Dah!!

Ok... not fantastic... but very comfortable, which is my 1st priority in choosing clothes :) Made with Atelier Akiko polka dots with doodle (pink), a double gauze cotton, very soft and comfortable.

More selfishness came along after the top.

Fabric used: Kyo Yasai Radish (blue)

A wristless for myself.
Have been wanting to make one for myself but I just don't know why I didn't, and I really need one badly. I have never been one who know how to shop( not very women.... I know, oh.... forgot to mention that exclude shopping for fabrics and crafting supplies ) and knowing how to sew just give me more reasons to say "I can sew it myself, why buy?" even though I can't really sew all stuffs HAHA... and that's why I really need it badly.

This wristlet is triggering more of my selfishness........

Reversible Summer Hats now in Fat Connection!

2010-07-07T18:09:00.003+08:00

I'm really slow in uploading new items in shop. These reversible hats are done about a month or so.....

Anyway, now they are available in Fat Connection:

Reversible Summer Hat for Girl - Strawberry Shortcake

Reversible Summer Hat for Girl - Ribbon and Lace (red)

Reversible Summer Hat for Girl - Heart Song (purple)

New items in shop: Printed Felt and Ribbons

2010-07-03T23:48:00.003+08:00

Just loaded more new items in shop, these are just some of them.

Printed Grosgrain

Printed Felt

Remember Strawberry Shortcake Hat? I have completed more of these hats, yet to list them. Most probably will list them in the shop by next week.

Cheeky Bits

2010-07-01T22:45:00.002+08:00

Hanhan:"Today I'm a bear."
Sometime later ......
Hanhan:"I'm a penguin!"
Me:"I thought you said that you are a bear?!"
Hanhan:"Bear in a penguin costume."

Was washing the old bicycle, Hanhan sat on a stool next to the bicycle and said:" I'm milking the cow." :S

Watching national geographic with Hanhan. I told her "a school of fish". When she saw fishes again, she said "fish go to school!" -.-

Japanese fabric sale!! 20% - 30% OFF

2010-06-28T01:44:00.002+08:00

Japanese fabrics on SALE!!
Over 50 selected designs
Price reduced by 20%-30%

Visit Fat Connection now!

Link to Us

2010-06-27T01:05:00.001+08:00

There has been quite a bit of changes on Fat Connection website, have you visit it recently?

If you like our website and would like to link to us, please copy the code below and insert to your blog or website. Thank you.

<a href="http://www.fatconnection.com.sg/" target="_blank"></a>

<a href="http://www.fatconnection.com.sg/" target="_blank"></a>
If you would like us to link to your site, you may contact me at fat_connection[at]yahoo[dot]com[dot]sg

New Japanese Magazine in store - Cucito and Cotton Friend

2010-06-25T00:01:00.001+08:00

New in Fat Connection! I know I'm late with Cucito "winter & early spring" issue, but these magazines are too great to miss.

Both Cucito and Cotton Friend are some of my favourite Japanese Sewing Magazines. If you have been reading my blog, you will know that I have used many patterns from Cucito for sewing Hanhan's clothings. I chanced upon Cucito a few years back, when it was named "Child Boutique" and I happened to have a pass down issue printed in 1996. It's really interesting to see the changes in the magazine, maybe one day I should do a post on this. :)

And this issue of Cotton Friend is loaded with lovely patterns of Mum and girl clothings, pretty hats and bags! Maybe I should take a break from sewing Hanhan's clothings and make something for myself. :)

I have loaded more than 20 pages for each magazine, happy browsing!

Ready for the Road

2010-06-22T12:52:00.000+08:00

Biggest accomplishment of the day: Got my bike ready to send Hanhan to school.

We have been walking to school, as the school is quite near. The walk to school takes only about 10-15min (toddler's speed), and most part is sheltered from the hot afternoon sun. But by the time we reached school, she is always covered with sweat, her hair will be all wet. Don't forget she is a hot babe! Hehehe.....

Have been wanting to cycle her to school (no $$ no license to drive :P), but have been putting off the idea. Today, I finally washed my old bicycle (too dirty, haven't been cycling for years) and brought it to the shop for repair and upgrade. When I pushed it there, the man recommended me to get a new bike instead, because after all the necessary additions and repairs (child seat, basket, new tyres etc..) it costs almost the same as a new one with all the stuffs I need.
It took me a long time to consider to get a new one or go with the repair and upgrade, I even went for a walk before making the decision. And Hanhan said "You walk very slow." ya, because my whole brain is on the bicycle.

Final decision: go with the repair and upgrade!
Just can't bear to part with my old bicycle. It's my very 1st bike, bought with my 1st salary by giving tuition. Hoho.... it's really old, about 15 yrs old or more.

I had been wanting to get a bicycle when I was about 11+ but my parents had been putting it off, saying that it's too dangerous to cycle on the road, there's no proper cycling track around the neighbourhood etc ..... When I knew that my Dad finally decided to get one for me, you can't imagine how excited I was. But it turned out to be a big disappointment to me too. He did bought me a bike! A bike with stand, a bike that can't run....... it's a stationary exercise bicycle *sigh*

So this bike is really precious to me. My long awaiting bike. Hope that I can get used to riding it with Hanhan soon.

A Thank You Gift

2010-06-21T23:40:00.000+08:00

Last Sunday morning was Hanhan's last supplementary lesson. We have decided to stop the lesson as it has been disrupting our weekend plans. Hanhan was always too tired for the lesson if we spent the day out before and she was also always too tired after the lesson to enjoy herself if we brought her out after that. Wondering if she really needs tonic or any special food? What do you give to your kid to keep their energy up?

Anyway....
I decided to sew a thank you gift for Hanhan's very first teacher, teacher ZA. (It's was in school then I realised that her Name in short is spelled as "ZA" not "ZAI" :P luckily I managed to snap off the "I" before we gave the gift to her....hehehe... ) Hanhan was slightly less than 2 yrs old when she first met teacher ZA, and teacher ZA was really patient to guide her through the lesson.

Snap shots of Melbourne Trip

2010-06-20T23:35:00.000+08:00

:)) Had a happy holiday! Here's some snap shots:

Hanhan's first air plane experience. I was worried that she might be scared, but she took it very well and enjoyed it very much. Her favourite part is watching the cartoons.
We didn't sleep well in the plane, so we are really happy to be out for some cool fresh air after the long plane ride and bus ride.

Love the Yarra River. This place is so serene and beautiful in the Sunday morning.

Hanhan was really happy to see all the animals in the Warrock Farm, but she was too frightened to do the feeding or pet them.

We visited the Chocolate Factory in Phillip Island, but we didn't get to see how the chocolates are made. I think the reason is that it wasn't part of the package, so disappointing :(

The "Amaze'N Things" has many fun elements that involved Science, just like our Singapore Science Centre, but in a slightly larger scale. Both Daddy and I had fun there, but Hanhan had no interest in most of the things there.

At the Nobbies. We didn't get to see any seal at the seal rocks but we had a surprise finding.

We spotted some Little Penguins.

Kiss kiss. Hanhan brought along her baby Emperor Penguin all the way from Singapore to Phillip Island to see the Little Penguins.

Photo taken along Great Ocean Road. No smile from Hanhan because her baby penguin was so happy to see the waves coming in that it had jumped into the ocean for a little swim.

One of the resting point along Great Ocean Road, another breath taking scenic place.

Feeding the many varieties of parrots and Cuckatoos at the Dandenong Range. These birds aren't afraid of humans and they seems to be more daring than the ones I saw 2 years ago. They would fly right to you at the sight of food, landing on your arm, shoulder and even heads; they don't just aim at the food in your hand but also the whole paper bag of food, which can be quite scary.

On Puffing Billy. This was Hanhan's expression throughout most of the journey on the train. We asked her if she was scared, she said no. Later, we found out that she was actually scared, but what is she scared of, we don't really know, maybe just because it was a new experience for her. On the train ride, she insisted that we are not supposed to sit on the window ledge (which is what most people do and it is actually really safe), because it is dangerous and people will scold us if we do that :P

Finally got off her seat and looked out of the train when she felt more secured.

Buffet lunch at the warm friendly Cuckoo Restaurant.

Hanhan became super happy and excited when we reached the winery. Our nature loving girl said that she loves the wind, the colourful trees and the grass. She used to hate stepping on the grass after she saw the sand flies during kite flying, I wonder whether she will still feel the same when she sees the sand flies again :P

Nice warm cuddles from Daddy in the winery. She was drunk by love.

Watching sunset from a different view on the plane back to Singapore. It was the most beautiful sunset I had even seen.

Shop Vacation Notice ; Sewing before the journey

2010-06-10T22:55:00.000+08:00

Shop Vacation Notice
I will be away for a week from 13 June to 19 June. You can purchase from my shops as usual but order made after 12 June 12noon will only be shipped on 21 June.

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Finished sewing a total of 2 pants and 1 jacket in less than a week, a record for me! They were all washed, just not totally dried. These few days the sun wasn't cooperating with me. The days had been gloomy. Hanhan had recovered from fever, but still has runny nose. Hope that she will be totally recovered really really soon, I really look forward to the trip.

The pants I made for her.

Elastic tape threaded. I did some elastic stitch on top to secure the elastic tape, I think I pulled a little too much and top part went a little wonky. I used elastic on the bottom of the leggings too, hoping to cut down the amount of cold air flowing in.

Another pair of pants for her. The one shown on top is a little baggy, this one is straight cut.

Front

Back
I chose several fabrics for Hanhan to match with the solid brown. In the end, she chose the Chihuahua fabric, she always like cute stuffs, like her Mummy ;P I showed Daddy the completed pants and he gave me a weird look, he thinks that I have over done with the Chihuahua fabric, what do you think?

The patterns for both pants are modified from past issues of Cucito. I can't find a satisfy long pants pattern for girl, so I used the basic shape for boys pants and modified their pockets and such, to make them looked a little more girlish.

Refashion my fleece sweater bought years ago. I only wore it once I think, now it's way too small for me.

Before: sweater for me

After: Jacket for Hanhan

I guess I'm not good with fabric that moves a lot, the zipper part went wonky too. However, at least the sweater got to see the outside world again, I'm sure Teddy will be happy too.

Oh.... Teddy had went to the back.

Long pants in progress

2010-06-05T18:18:00.004+08:00

We are going to Melbourne, Australia in about a week time. To make up what she had missed the last time. I'm now sewing some clothings for her, so that she can be kept warm through the trip.A pair of long pants almost done, just short of a wide elastic for the waist. Can't go out to get it, she is sick and Daddy is out of Singapore, left with just me and her *sigh* Hope that she can get well soon so that we won't miss the trip.

Fat Connection Store Opening Promotion Winner

2010-06-02T01:14:00.000+08:00

Our store opening promotion winner is out!

Congratulation to Ms Katie Nygh, from Australia!
She will be getting a $30USD/$45SGD shopping voucher from Fat Connection.

Now a bit more on shop update!

Thanks again to all the great suggestions given during the giveaway, we have already made several changes to the website and we are still working on some.

One of the great suggestions is to have project inspiration. Currently, there's only my projects and I'll be very happy to include yours too. If you have completed any projects using the materials available in Fat Connection, please send a clear picture of your completed project to me. Credits will be given to you and if you have a shop, I'll be happy to link to your shop too.

Last day for shop promotion

2010-05-31T00:01:00.001+08:00

Last day for Fat Connection shop promotion!

Grab your chance to win a $30USD/$45SGD voucher by shopping with us now!

There is 5% off for Books and Magazines and 20% off for Japanese fabrics and all other items!

After half a year in Nursery

2010-05-29T12:32:00.001+08:00

It's holiday again, half a year has pasted since Hanhan first went to Nursery. From crying, not wanting to go to school, to missing going to school even when she is sick. :) From acting like a little baby to doing things more independently. She has grown up a lot, even though she still has a lot more room for improvement.

She took back all her worksheets from school and started to read (or should I say more of memorize) the songs and rhymes learnt in school.

And I'm glad now sometimes she will take the initative to speak to me in Mandarin and bring out Chinese story books for me to read to her :)

Me and Fat Connection

2010-05-27T23:32:00.001+08:00

If you have been wondering why did I use the so uncool, not so lovely name Fat Connection, here's the story.......

My first lino craving, can't find the print out.

It all started out when the creator of Fat Connection ( incase you don't know, well....that's me ) was just a wee little girl. She had excess fat here and there, and her elder sister nicknamed her Ahfat (basically means fat, so naughty of my sister :P). She grew up in a time when getting into the world wide net was still quite a fresh thing. A time when there's icq, msn and forum, and you are required to have a nickname as your identity. It's also a time when people are still not comfortable about revealing their true identity to the world unseen to them/ to the unknown.

Being a girl who's uninnovative and increative with wordings, she started to use the nickname given by her sister, so she is then known as Ahfat in the virtual world.
Although Ahfat isn't good with words, she is rather good with her hands. She loves to draw and do all things crafty. After years of doodling, she eventually created her 1st very own piggy characters.

Besides drawing, she loves to sew too. Her very 1st sewing project is a cross stitch that she did in Primary 6 (12 years old), since then she is addicted to sewing. She started with lots of cross stitch projects and later moved on to other sewing project to make further use of the cross stitch projects that she has completed.

When she started to sew and sell her handmade stuffs to her friends and colleagues, she knew that it's time to have a name for the things she made. With the nickname Ahfat and her 1st self created piggies in mind, Fat Connection is what she could thought of (well... being not so creative with wordings....)

So Fat Connection first started out in selling only handmade pouches. While venturing in the craft world, Ahfat saw lots of cute craft materials and heard lots of compliments about Japanese fabrics. She longed for some Japanese fabrics, and when she finally got her very first piece, she immediately fell in love with it. It's not just the prints, texture and quality, it's also the feeling of it running so smoothly under the sewing machine. It's simply a pleasure to sew with Japanese fabrics. And that's why Fat Connection is now stocked with Japanese Fabrics and many other craft materials.

A Simple and Enjoyable Saturday

2010-05-23T00:21:00.003+08:00

What we did today.

Played with Strawberry Shortcake toys. The day before we borrowed an origami book from the library, and Hanhan asked for a tv set, so over here Raspberry was watching Hello Kitty on tv :)
Watched Avatar DVD. The best movie I have watched for years, watched it for the 3rd time. Hanhan was scared and needed Daddy Mummy's protection.

Hanhan was in the mood for photos. Sticking her tongue and making funny faces.

Ate cereal the satay way.

Went for evening walk/cycle. Hanhan hadn't been out for cycling for a long long time.

Looked at butterflies, dragonflies, kites, model/real planes, leaves..... this and that.

It was really fun :)

Giveaway Winner

2010-05-21T22:26:00.009+08:00

Thank you everyone for participating in the giveaway and help me to spread the news in blogland and facebook! I am very glad to receive so many lovely comments and I love the suggestions to improve my website. 2 heads are always better than 1, moreover now I have so many people to help me :)

Working on my own sometimes makes me feel like in my own cocoon, and I tend to overlook on some areas or run out of ideas. Now with all these great suggestions, I will have to work on them and hope that I can implement them soon.

By the way, I didn't built the website myself (incase you thought so). I engaged Sheilla of Made with Love inc. to help me. I love her graphics. She is the one who turned my doodles into the 3 cute piggies. Some wonder why the piggies and the shop name Fat Connection, I will explain that in another post.

Well.... after including the extra chances, the winner for this giveaway is:

No. 19

Martina of sunshine quilting

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You are not the winner? Here's another chance:

Purchase something from Fat Connection now, every $10USD/$15SGD spent will entitles you a chance to win a $30USD/$45SGD voucher.

Don't forget the store promotion sales is still on! (till 31 May)

5% off craft books and 20% off Japanese books and all other items!

SMS May Giveaway Day!

2010-05-17T09:29:00.007+08:00

Thank you for your participation and constructive suggestions on my new website.

The giveaway has closed. I will announce the winner soon.

It's giveaway time again! I will be giving away 4 half yards of the above Japanese fabrics, so it's a total of 2 yards!!! :)

To be eligible for the giveaway, you will need to take a look at my new website FatConnection.com.sg and give me a suggestion to improve it OR tell me what you like about it, in the comment section. This will gain you a chance to win.

To gain yourself another 5 more chances to win.
Tell your friends about this giveaway in your blog or facebook. Remember to post the above picture ( http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4013/4613491703_44b5017915_o.jpg ) in your blog or facebook too. Leave me a link to where you have mentioned about this giveaway, with the above suggestion in the comment section.

To gain yourself another 10 more chances to win.
Buy something from Fat Connection now, because we are now having store opening promotion!

5% off Books and Magazines

20% off Japanese fabrics and all other items

And every purchase of $10USD/$15SGD (exclude shipping) entitles you a chance to win a $30USD/$45SGD voucher! (Store promotion last through 31 May.)

Tell me the name you have used in this giveaway in the "note about your order" before you proceed to make payment OR just contact me using the contact form after payment.

Wish everyone good luck! And don't forget to check out SMS Blog for more giveaways!

Edit to add: Please leave your comment by 20 May, I will draw the winner on 21 May :) I ship internationally.

Fat Connection Store Opening Promotion

2010-05-15T09:47:00.004+08:00

To celebrate the opening of Fat Connection's new website, we are having a store opening promotion from now till 31 May 2010.

5% off Books and Magazines
20% off Japanese fabrics and all other items

During promotion period, every purchase of $10USD/$15SGD (exclude shipping) entitles you a chance to win a $30USD/$45SGD voucher! Buy more to save on your shipping and increase your chance of winning!

Winner will be announced and notified after the end of the promotion.

Besides the promotion, I'll be doing a giveaway on 17 May(edited to add: It's SMS giveaway, check out here if you intend to do a giveaway on this day too) , keep a look out and good luck to you!

我是华人我讲华语

2010-05-12T23:46:00.008+08:00

近日有关教育部有意降低PSLE母语比重的篇章我读了很多。在这里我想和大家分享一下自己的故事。

以前我家里只讲华语，和我们住在一起的侄女就很自然的只懂得华文华语。她上幼儿园的时候碰巧遇到了一位印度老师。印度老师只懂得讲英语，而侄女只听得懂华语，所以上幼儿园的前几个月侄女总是哭诉老师老是叽里咕噜地讲个不停，但她一句也听不懂。然而，侄女熬过来了，现在都已经在初院了。

自从女儿呱呱落地，我便有意识地以华语与英语和女儿讲话。当时女儿只是个婴儿，我就一句英语一句华语地重复同样的话。刚开始觉得很变扭，也觉得自己很可笑，但家里只有我和女儿没有其他人也就不管了。原先是和先生说好了他管“英文部”，我负责“华文部”，但先生甚少在家和女儿沟通的时间不多。有侄女的前车之鉴，我欣然的接受了“不管部长”的职务。

过后，女儿开始学讲话了。可能是因为Barney看得比较多，英文故事书读得比较多，她先学会了讲英语。新加坡不是没有好的、适合新加坡婴幼儿的华文教材，但以数量来说，和垂手可得的英文教材相比就逊色多了。女儿长得越大，讲的字句就越长，我就越来越难用一句英语一句华语的方式和她聊天了，尤其是当我想进一步向她说明一些事与物的时候。她用英语发问，我就很自然的用英语向她解释说明。不知不觉中，她使用华语字词的次数就越来越少了，对华文书籍也越来越没有兴趣了。

今年年初，女儿上幼儿园了。当问她在学校里学了什么，她只告诉我英文老师教了什么，在家也只唱英文儿歌。我突然意识到女儿对英文英语的兴趣大于华文华语。我有意地向女儿说华语，但她总是用英语回应。我问女儿为什么不和我讲华语，她闷声不回答，我就跟她说“我们是华文，应该懂得讲华语。”女儿竟然回答说“I am English.” 过后我向她解释了好几遍，即使我们的英文英语再好，我们也不是英国人（洋人），但她还是说“I am English. ” 女儿的脾气很犟，我的也好不了多少（她确实是我的女儿 :P），我就给她脸色看，不理她。女儿知道妈妈生气了，不理她了，就开始急了。过了一阵子，我再问她她是什么人时，她便改口说“I am Chinese.” 我知道女儿说这句话时是有口无心，但我想她那时应该知道我对于我们是华人，我们应该懂得华文华语的坚持。

现在我还在不断地提醒自己别总是用英语和女儿交流，要让女儿多接触华文华语，让她知道华文华语是有趣的文字和语言。女儿近日也开始多说华语了，虽然有时会参杂着一些英语，但是我知道她在尝试，在努力。:) 我想她应该是因为爱妈妈才开始努力学习华文华语的吧！（还是我太臭美了？！）

现在你再问她她是什么人时，我想她应该会回答“I am a Chinese/我是华人。”因为我相信除了教学法和大环境，父母对孩子的学习起着很大的影响。

FatConnection.com.sg is ready!

2010-05-08T14:13:00.004+08:00

FatConnection.com.sg is now ready for shopping! Please take a look at my new shop. If there's any need for improvement, please feel free to tell me. Thank you in advance.

I have also loaded something new in the shop!

Cute mini clutch frame purse.

These are done about a month or 2 ago, have been keeping them for my new shop. Go to my new shop to see more photos of them.

And I really have to thank Sheilla from Made With Love Inc. for helping me to design and set up the shop, I think she really did a great job!

It's been really quiet here

2010-05-04T00:23:00.002+08:00

Didn't craft a lot these few weeks. Just busy......

coughing and sneezing. Fell sick again, started to feel old already :P Now much much better, don't have the feeling that I will cough out my lung.

guiding my girl with her school work. Besides Nursery, Hanhan continues with her supplementary class on Sunday morning. We stopped her lesson for a term, and when asked whether to continue or not, she actually said "Yes" (with a "no" now and then, as she can be quite frickle-minded at times. ) We asked her several times, as class fee wasn't cheap, we want to make sure that she really wants to go for the lesson. Glad to see that she is now enjoying both her Nursery lesson and this supplementary lesson. Nothing beats learning with joy.

getting ready a home for Fat Connection. You will soon be able to shop at FatConnection.com.sg , a proper home for Fat Connection. Besides sewing craft materials, I'm trying to offer more handmade stuffs too. Hope that everything is ready in a week or sooner, keep a look out!

Strawberry hair clips

2010-04-13T22:52:00.002+08:00

Made these for Hanhan. Strawberry is still in my mind.

Anniversary Sale Last Day

2010-04-10T01:12:00.003+08:00

It's the last day of Fat Connection Anniversary Sale!
Don't miss the sale!

5% off Japanese craft books and magazine
15% off all other items (Japanese fabric, cotton tape and etc.)

How to: "Raspberry Torte" Applique

2010-04-08T22:24:00.009+08:00

Scan your desired picture or simply get one from the net, and do the necessary editing in photoshop. I scanned the picture of Raspberry Torte from a poster and erased the background. Next, we have to MIRROR THE IMAGE, this is very important if your picture contain wordings, as the final applique will be a mirror image of what you are going to print out. You will understand better as you read along.

I did a print on a piece of paper to confirm the actual size of my Raspberry Torte. After that, I printed it on an IMAGE/HEAT TRANSFER PAPER for fabric and cut it out.

As the t-shirt I'm using has multi-colours, my Raspberry Torte won't look nice if I iron it directly on the t-shirt, (if your t-shirt/bag/whatever is light in colour, you may want to iron the image directly on the t-shirt/bag & ....... ) so I ironed it on a piece of light colour cotton knit first.

Iron the fabric surface to remove any crease. Put your cut out image facing down on the fabric(as shown). Apply hot, dry iron at light pressure to fix the image in position, then press firmly for about 1-3 mins, making sure to keep the iron constantly moving.

When the fabric has cool down, gently peel away the backing.

Cut around the image, leaving a brim around it. And we are going to sew this on the t-shirt. Now you can see that the ironed image is actually a mirror image of what we have printed out.

Fix the fabric cut out image on the t-shirt with pins and sew along the edge.

As knit fabric doesn't fray, you do not have to worry about the edges at all. So it's done!

:)

fat-connection

Customised pouches

My 5 year old

Photography Session

Eiffel of Paris - Big Tote Bag

My first MAAD experience

Getting out of cocoon - Going to MAAD

Pants for Pants

Drawstring Lunch Bag

Park Hopper and Kranji Dam

Our Holidays

Japanese knot bag

My latest sewing project

Where has all the time gone

Genting Highland trip (30Apr-2May)

Heart throbbing fabrics

Hanhan's first sewing project: Bag completed

The best way to know your sewing machine better is ...

Customised drawstring bag

Learning

Surprise finding

Cheeky Bits

My last 2 PIF gifts

Embroidery: Great to be ONE

Sewing lesson on 6 March

Fat Connection is 2 years old!! ; Anniversary sale

Long Wallet

Our Saturday; Sentosa Boardwalk

Reversible Pinafore

Growing up

Happy Rabbit Year!!

New Year Clothes for Hanhan

More embroidery: Princess Amanda

New Discovery: Embroidering Chinese Characters

Making better use of my embroidery machine

Drawing

Our weekend

Busy busy, lazy lazy

Our trip to Sunway Lagoon

A week in a post

Peasant dresses and hats

Pillowcase dress and twirl skirt!!

My Brother

More sewing lessons during Decemeber; Our sewing lesson on 6 Nov

Our Sewing Lesson-Lesson 3

The Princess Flamingo Dress

Happy 4th Birthday!

Pillowcase Dress

Our Little Swan

Our lesson 2

Our lesson 1- Eco bag

More Personalised Pouches

Nothing says more than a reorder

Sewing for Children's Day

Dates for Sewing Lesson

Our Mid Autumn Festival

Have you heard of fake Japanese fabrics?

Christmas is coming! SALE is here!

*New in shop* Drawstring Tote Bag

Sewing Lesson in Plan

Our One Week Holiday

Teachers' Day Gift

More new Japanese fabrics

Heather Ross's Far Far Away 2

New Fabrics in Shop!

I'm Featured!

Buttons, buttons & more buttons

Japanese Fabric Special Promotion

How do you keep your sewing tools Part 2

Celebration

How do you keep your sewing tools? Part 1

Shop update

Zooming away

Little Animal; Little Princess

Selfish Sewing

Reversible Summer Hats now in Fat Connection!

New items in shop: Printed Felt and Ribbons

Cheeky Bits

Japanese fabric sale!! 20% - 30% OFF

Link to Us

New in shop Drawstring Tote Bag

我是华人我讲华语

Anniversary Sale Last Day