Tuesday, June 3, 2014

CARIF Be Frank Pink Aprons




I took up the most of May to complete 30 pieces of aprons for CARIF (Cancer Research Initiatives Foundation) for their Be Frank Outreach Hairdressers Programme. This is the second year where I was given the honour to collaborate with them on this project. Do check out their list of hairdressers participating in this programme and improve public cancer literacy here: www.carif.com.my

Here’s some of the pictures I took throughout the process of making the aprons. Running a production line single handed is tough and you have to find creative ways not to bored. I break up the process in small steps so that I can handle things one day at a time. 

First, it was the embroidery process. This time, I appliquéd ‘Be Frank’ logo to the apron. A good friend of mine, Gee RMS digitised the logo for me. Visit her page on Facebook if you wish for some digitising work done: https://www.facebook.com/sulamandanlogo. Though the machine does most of the work, I had to be nearby to change the thread and cut off the excess material for the appliqué. To embroider one logo, it took me 20-25 minutes, that is if there’s no hiccups ie. run out of bobbin thread, top thread snapped etc. Thank God there was just 2 thread colours to change.



The finished embroidery process:


I made my own bias tape with Simplicity Bias Tape Maker. This nifty gadget is heaven sent when I have to make yards and yards of bias tape. It took me like seconds to make 10-12 yards of bias tape and on average one apron require approximately 1 yard of bias tape. That means I made 30 yards of tape for this whole project.




Close up of the finished product:



All set and ready to go:

If you go to CARIF website, you’d see the first batch of the aprons worn by the hairdressers. I did those too :)



Do check out their other programmes too. There’s one I had in mind to sign up after the school break: “More than a Mammo” programme where you get a mammogram done at a subsidised fee of RM50 at Sime Darby Medical Centre (normal fee RM230). 

Friday, May 2, 2014

Jalan Kenanga

Last March, taking the advise of friends on Facebook, I went down to Jalan Kenanga to get me a bolt of white fabric for my telekung projects. Mr. Hubster was kind to send me to Jalan Kenanga after we sent the children off to school. We reached Jalan Kenanga at about 9.30ish. Friends told me to look for the shops facing the LRT track. There was these three.



There was more as you turn the corner but I decided to just go back to the first shop and get my material. It was worth getting a whole bolt and after getting it, my orders came pouring in, Alhamdulillah. Good thing I didn’t send my husband off. He waited around so I can leave the bolt in the car and take the ERL back to Putrajaya.


It was nice taking the ERL back but I have to walk almost 2km from the station. It was a good 20-25 minutes walk for me.

I didn’t plan to make a second visit to Jalan Kenanga so soon but I did last Tuesday. I wanted to get a sturdy material for the apron project that I’m working on. I even went to Ikea to check on the home-deco weight fabric but their choice is quite limited. 

The second trip was a lot faster. Jumped into the shop, asked for the material. By now, I know which shop do let you buy in meters instead of the whole bolt. Pay for my goods and jump back into the car. Hubster sent me to KL Sentral where this time around I planned better. I took my bicycle with me. I wheeled it my Black Brommie into KL Sentral to the ERL ticket counter. The man behind the counter was hesitant to sell me a ticket looking at my bicycle. But after a hushed conversation with his colleague, he gave me a ticket.



It took me only 5 minutes from the station to reach home. Lovely ride on a slight downward slope. Next time, I think I’ll tackle Jalan Pudu on bicycle. 

Word of advise for those who wants to go to Jalan Kenanga, do it in the morning. You can even park in front of the shop. 

Friday, April 25, 2014

April Round Up


The biggest highlight in April was dealing with lice problem. Hahaha! Yes, Arwen had lice and I was horrified. I knew that it was just a matter of time before we face it but nothing prepared me for it. It was really bad. I shampooed her hair with a anti-lice treatment shampoo and combed her hair with fine tooth comb. The upside of this calamity is Arwen agreed to wear hijab to school. I've made several hijabs for her in the past so she's not short of hijabs. Here are some of her pics with hijab to school.




I love wearing batik sarung at home. Just the old school type I guess :) While it's OK to wear batik sarung around the house, I couldn't bring myself to go out in one. I hate the hassle of having to change even for a short trip to pick Arwen from school so I tinkered and made myself batik palazzo. It's seriously comfortable and decent enough to go out in.  


I am taking on a bulk project in May that I've decided to close my order book for the time being. 


Teacher's day is around the corner and I've been experimenting with some ideas:
Felt keychain

And I think I've found the winner; fridge magnets. 

I've tried some with Mod Podge's Dimensional Magic but somehow I think Malaysia weather just don't agree with it so I'm shelving that idea for now.  

 
Care to share your DIY Teacher's Day gift with me? 

Thursday, April 24, 2014

March 2014 Round Up

Wow! Time really flies. I was just thinking of doing a March Round up of events when I realise that April is about to end soon too... OK let’s keep that for the next post. Now for the round up:

I covered LKPIM WP Putrajaya’s 3rd Annual General Meeting as a photographer. This shot was taken with a tripod and a timer. Not too shabby for an amateur picture taker, huh? The sewing part was my LKPIM uniform that I sewed a few days before the meeting. Can you spot me in the picture?
By the way, LKPIM stands for Lembaga Kebajikan Perempuan Islam Malaysia. Do follow them on Facebook here. I help manage the page with other admins.



Then, we got our second folding bike. This is a splurge. A friend helped us get one back from Taipei. Here’s me and Hubster taking it on it’s maiden ride in Putrajaya. All 24km or so. We were caught in the act by some friends who stopped by the road side and took pictures as evidence :)




We lost MH370. To date, it is still missing...



I’ve made some more telekungs. I’ve been focusing on telekungs nowadays. Orders came pouring in, Alhamdulillah and I’ve decided to buy my white cotton fabric by the bolt. I went to Jalan Kenanga and got me a bolt. Here’s some of my little customers with their telekung. I’m into making posters with PicArt apps on iPhone and post them on my Instagram. Follow my Instagram: #madebyrozirahman, #iammomquote



There was also a birthday party that we attended. Zharif and Qistina. I made a personalised embroidered towel for Zharif and a smocked dress for his sis.



I cook more now :)

Sausage rolls and fried chickens in my air fryer

Chocolate chip cookies

Minestrone soup with garlic bread

Croutons

Macaroni & cheese

Caesar’s salad with croutons

Asian marinated chicken with vegetables

Celeries and carrots with home made dip
and trying to have a small herbs garden of a sort. I toyed with the self watering system as we didn’t get much rain in March. My chill plant was just sprouting and I didn’t want it to die out of dryness in case I forget to water them so at least the system could last for a few days. 



And to wrap up the month of March, the Hot Air Balloon festival was is town. I just took some shots with my iPhone before going for my Saturday morning ride with my buddies :)








That’s a wrap folks!


Friday, February 14, 2014

Telekung Kanak-Kanak Fatimah al-Zahra

It started beginning of this year where I made a telekung for Arwen to bring to her kindergarden as they teach children to pray there. This is a simple pattern that I learned with Cikgu Azian of Yan’s creation at Shah Alam Community College sometime last year. I like the simplicity of the design. I add a line of decorative stitch along the attaching line of the lining to the main telekung in matching thread colour to the lace.



After I posted the picture on my Facebook, another friend asked me to make a telekung and I made it to her specification. There was just enough left from the fabric to make a simple drawstring pouch for the telekung and I embroidered the name on the bag as well. Oh by the way, the telekung for little girls that I make comes with a free name embroidery on the telekung. I made this for Arwen, knowing that she may not know which ones is hers if her telekung ever get mixed up with ones of her friends. So at least, if her name is there, the teacher could help her find it.


Then more and more enquiries start pouring in for little girl’s telekung. So, I spent some time in front of the computer to lay out the specifications and makes it easier for interested parents, uncles, aunties, grandparents out there to order one for their daughter, niece, grand-daughter. I made reference to other sites that sells little girl’s telekung and tweaked the measurements here and there until I’m happy with it.



The price is:

For size S and M: RM60.00 per set
For size L: RM65.00 per set

The set includes:

1 piece of telekung
1 piece of kain sarung
1 drawstring pouch
Free name embroidery on the telekung and pouch.

I dubbed the little girl’s telekung as TELEKUNG KANAK-KANAK FATIMAH AL-ZAHRA; after Rasulullah’s youngest princess, Saidatina Fatimah Al-Zahra. May our children who wears this telekung and perform the ibadah of solat, follow her examples and become successful Muslimah here and the hereafter, Amin.

Have a wonderful weekend ahead.


Nuffnang