Little Red Riding Hood

My baby got me a sewing machine for my birthday this year. I have no real experience with sewing machines other than playing with my grandma's old school one when I was a little girl. So I really had no clue how to use the sewing machine... at all. I had to find youtube videos to learn how to set everything up and how to sew basics of the basics.

my new toy :)

Anyways, so I was planning to sew something very basic as my first sewing project. But with Halloween around the corner, I decided to sew part of my Halloween costume: Little Red Riding Hood's cape (thanks to Sarah for the idea). I got the pattern from fleecefun.com. It is a pretty simple pattern. All there is to do is just follow the instructions... (which I apparently sucks at... haha).

The pattern takes 30 pages. The gray border overlaps from one sheet to the next, so cut off the excess white border and put it together.

The pattern consists of 3 parts, 1 for the hood, 1 for back of the cape, and 1 for front/side of the cape. There are three choices for the length of the cape. I picked the middle length.
Now cut the outline from the assembled pattern and we have this:

Now use cloth pins and pin the paper to the cloth. Cut out two of the hood and front/side cape. For the back piece, fold the cloth in half and line the pattern against the fold according to the instruction. So I ended up with 2 hoods, 2 sides, and 1 big back piece.

So you see the little black triangles in the pattern in the picture above? Well, the instructions clearly says to cut little wedges OUT, as in away from the pattern, as in so there will be little triangles pointing OUT of the pattern. Well, yeah, I completely did not do that. I forgot all about it and just went straight through. HAHA. Those little wedges are meant to help me put the hood to the cape later on, but i managed to figure it out without them. So I guess it wasnt too bad lol.

Sewing the hood:
Line the two pieces of hood and pin the curved side. Sew with .5 inches seam allowance... says the instruction. Did I mention I am a sewing noob? Did I?? Well, my seam came out to be like... 2 inches... HAHA. But no worries, I just cut off the excess seam afterwards.

Fold the straight edge just a little bit and hem it using zig zag stitch. I had a bit of trouble at first because its such a narrow space to sew, but once I got it down it went pretty smoothly.

Now sew the cape:

Basically just line the two side pieces next to the main back piece and sew together. Then we get this:

Now just line the hood up with the cape. Pin down, sew together, add a cute button and its all done!

front

back

I am very pleased with how well it turned out, especially for my very first sewing project. I love the over sided hood and the big button that holds it all together. I used fleece like the instruction suggested, which will hopefully keep me warm when I am out walking around on Halloween night! Now I just need to find a dress to go with it (no I will not sew my own dress...)

Special thanks to qristie who helped me cut out my pattern <3 br="br" nbsp="nbsp"> || [ 雪子 ] ||

How can I tell you everything?

This is from when we first started dating, about 5 years ago. its been on my facebook favorite quotes section for a very long time, i had forgotten its there until someone pointed it out. haha. i'm moving it here because... its more appropriate here..? maybe?

Here it goes, from my sweetheart to me:

どうしたら君にすべてが伝えられる？

僕にとっての君の存在感、
君と過ごす毎日の幸せ、
僕にとっての君の輝き、
君を見つめる毎日。。。

恥ずかしくて伝えられない、
くさすぎて伝えられない、
傷つきそうで伝えられない。。。

時間が止まれば、
君が横にいれば、
そして僕を見てくれてれば、
どんなに幸せか。。。

自分勝手なのは知ってるけど、
君の全てを知り、
僕の全てを捧げたい、
君の全てになり、
一緒に全てを過ごしたい。

今なら分かる、
今なら書ける、
今なら言える、
何も恥ずかしくなく、
今まで伝えられなかった
君への愛。


|| [ 雪子 ] ||

Growing Green Onions

I recently discovered that green onion stalk (the white part with roots attached) will grow in just water. That. Is. Amazing. I use green onion irregularly in cooking. Sometimes I need it but I am out, but other times its just rotting in my fridge. Now imagine, always have fresh green onions and never have buy it again! 

Growing it is so simple:

1. Cut and use the green part, leave 3 inches of white stalk with root. 

2. Stick it in a cup of water

3. Watch it grow!

Growth in two days

4 days of growth! Amazing!

Never buy green onions again! Happy cooking!

|| [ 雪子 ] ||

Nails: Sunrise Sunset

I am still working with limited number of polishes (three colors to be exact). I came up with this simple gradient nails. The colors remind me of the color of the sky during dusk or dawn; I can't decide which.

Essie All in One Base Coat
OPI - Pink-ing of You
Essie - Illacism
Seche Vite Fast Dry Top Coat

Base coat, then OPI Pink-ing of You all over. Wait for it to dry (if you have the patience). Generously apply Essie Illacism to a beauty sponge and dab onto the nails, starting at the free edge. Finish with top coat.

|| [ 雪子 ] ||

Nails: pink and coral

Not sure if it is coral or orange... or a little bit of both. Love the color none the less.

Not too crazy, just alternating pink and coral orange.

Essie - All in One Base Coat
China Glaze - Peachy Keen
OPI - Pink-ing of You
Seche Vite - Dry Fast Top Coat

I am currently away from home and have limited number of polishes, so I came up with the simple nail-do. Since I have so little colors to work with, I was thinking the same color combo with gradient effect next time... not sure what else to do.

My nails keep peeling and breaking recently and I have to keep them short. Short isn't bad, but it really limits the things I can do with them. I wonder if I am lacking some essential nutrient/vitamin or something. Hmm..

|| [ 雪子 ] ||

i am on pinterest!

Thanks to my friend Sarah, I am now on pinterest!

I went a bit crazy pinning after I got it. But I will probably slow down a bit after my rush fades... haha.

Follow me if you like to stalk me, I don't mind.


|| [ 雪子 ] ||

P.S. Haul posts coming up...

Book Review: The Night Circus

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern: ★★★★★

 

This book took me a while to read, not because it's not good, but because I've been too distracted by Diablo 3 lately. Dragging a book over a extended period of time might be okay with certain books, but not so much this one because the story is so interwove and time frames are of utter importance. Time loops and laps back on itself as the story unfolds. I couldn't remember what year something had happened in the book and had to constantly go back to check. Good thing in the end everything came together, a very good read.

The story starts by introducing a circus, opening at dusk and closing at dawn, arriving in town. No character or time frame introduced. Then it goes back to a time before the circus, the start of a competition of magic and endurance that will be the beginning of a big rolling snow ball. The circus is the stage for the competition between a girl, Celia Bowen and a boy, Marco Alisdair, set up by their instructors, to see who the better magician is. There are little rules for the playing field, little do the competitors know that only one victor can be left standing by the end of the game. The competition goes on for years, involving more and more people. The competitors themselves becomes more entwined with each other than they or their instructors had planned. But the competition is bound by magic; it must go on until there is a victor.

I loved the style of the writing as much as I loved the story. It is whimsical and descriptive, never rushed. It fits the story perfectly and I wouldn't want it to be told any other way. Because there are so many people involved, each character is like a piece of the puzzle, making you wonder how they will fit in the grand scheme of things. The timeline jumps from year to year. One chapter might take you back a year, then the next will take you forward a decade. This is why reading this while extremely distracted by Diablo 3 confused me a bit. I would read a chapter, put down the book for almost a week before picking it back up again, and be completely confused because I don't remember what happened before or when it had happened. Towards the end of the book I would go back to the chapter before to compare the year the events took place (each chapter starts with a title and a date) since it started to go back and forth between 2 years quite frequently. It is not really a bad thing. The blurred timeline created almost a dreamlike effect, which I believe is exactly what the author was going for.

I loved the ending. I loved the way the Celia resolved the competition; I love the role the twins and Bailey played in the future of the circus; I pitied Hector even though he brought that fate upon himself; I especially loved it when all the pieces of the puzzle rested in their rightful places. The book is like a dream, charming and magical, just like the circus itself.

|| [ 雪子 ] ||