Tova Take Two!

I told you am gonna make another one! I still don't have the courage to cut into my precious voile, so am practicing on an equally slippery fabric, a linen blend + contrasting full moon polka dots from Amy Butler.

This pink linen had been in my stash for so many years. I just didn't know what to use it for. I bought it mainly because I love this blush color & I tend to wear a lot of muted dusty pink or brown. When picking fabrics for my 2nd Tova I saw it and thought ok, a top it is. Mainly because I have enough yardage for this pattern as all the others that I'd love for this top fall short. For this top length I need 2.5 yards.

This time, it took me around 2 hours to make the Tova top (previously I lost count as I carried the project over a few days). It is still not perfect to me because there are some tiny pleats on the sleeve caps. And you can see on the neckline stitching, my obvious mistake of using white threads (some wonky stitches there too). I am just too lazy to change the thread and I blame it on my impatient self. I rushed through this project very early in the morning so that I could wear it to the library! Lol!

Me in my 2nd take on this pattern. I just returned from the library and  typical of linen, it gets all crumpled up. But I love this crumpled look so it's ok to me. Sorry for the blurry pictures, my 10 yo Aisha took the picture & the lense I'm using is not on auto focus.

I just love this pattern, I think I could just use this one pattern over and over to fill up my wardrobe. Think of all the possible fabrics I could use! And the top length is great, not too short nor too long. The perfect length for me. I hope I will not bore you to death with my future posts of more Tovas! :D

A Weekend at Colmar

This will be a picture diary of our little family getaway to Colmar Tropicale awhile ago...hubby had a 2 days workshop there so we took the opportunity to have a little escapade. We didn't get to visit many of the attractions there such as the horse riding park. We only managed to go and see the Japanese Village which was really awesome. I love Colmar and its scenic highland view. And the chilly weather, made me forget that we are in a humid tropical country lol...enjoy the pics!

This is the face of a happy girl once we're settled in the hotel room lol!

At breakfast, my Aisha's portrait of mummy reading a magazine in front of her :D

At the resort. The girls felt like they are in a princess castle, complete with swan lake! Yes, on one end there's a pond with 2 white swans & colorful fish and on the other end there was a black swan, looking all regal yet lonely. I found it almost a disturbing take on some of life's cruelties, silly me....

At Japanese Village...such a beautiful, scenic place. I felt like we were in an old Japanese movie with a tiny hut deep in the forest lol...it was quite a climb getting there..we were a few thousand feet above sea level...

Some random tourist-y pics lol...the top pic is the hotel room, I simply love the vintage French decor. All in all, family time well spent & I'd love to go again and explore other places & activities there.

My First Tova

I have been so inspired to sew for myself lately, I found myself constantly looking for inspirations on Flickr. Last week as I was browsing in the current Made by Rae's Spring Top Sewalong entries, my eyes caught some very cool tops/dresses made using a pattern called Tova by Wiksten.  One thing led to another, I found that there is an ongoing sewalong over at verykerryberry, from there I found that the pattern is available as pdf download, yeay!

So, I made my first Tova. I wanted it longer and chose the dress length. I used a very cheap lightweight cotton from Kamdar which I think I bought to make baju kurung for my lil Hanan, thus explains the little flowers lol...but I need to test the pattern fit, knowing how adult patterns can be tricky and usually I need to modify them especially at the hip area. I was pleasantly surprised that the pattern fits me perfectly, no need to modify anything. So let's just say that this is my wearable muslin now :)

I absolutely LOVE the pattern styling and details, exactly the type of top/tunic style I love to wear and perfect for us covered girls :) Overall, the pattern is pretty easy to sew with the exception of the front placket/inset. I found that to be most difficult especially trying to get my sewing right at the corners. I had to unpick twice as the fabric tend to get caught and pulled in as I pivot the needle. I found Kerry's tips in her sew-a-long post very helpful in getting this part done. After that, everything else falls into place beautifully. I even found the set in sleeves a breeze to make! :)

I wore the tunic to the library yesterday. I absolutely love my Tova, am now already selecting fabric for my next one. I really wanna make it in a designer voile I've been hoarding. This time I will make one in shorter top length, I think it would look good paired with my other straight or boot cut jeans. Till later, have a great day friends! :)

Angels of Mine...

My lil Hanan Alia and Aisha Alia...April 2012....

They are growing up way....too....fast....

*sob*

Love them to bits, my life...my everything..is for them...

Thank you God for blessing me with these beautiful children. I learned a lot from them :)

Tunics : Made by Mommy
Fabrics : Robert Kaufman
Pattern : Audrey Tunic/Dress by Violette Field Threads, modified sleeves