Baby Jhapla

I kept wondering what should i call these , sleeveless tops , sleeveless shirt, etc, umm , well then i realized, that it did have a name and very commonly used when we were kids, and yes these were called jhaplas, the most comfortable thing, in lines of the onesies, i have seen indian kids, and all my cousins wearing.

I remember my cousins dressed in this and those triangular diapers , well i guess it used to be the need of the hour in such hot and humid climates of north and east of india. The most comfortable thing a kid can get in winters.

I used the same baby kimono pattern as the previous post and just omitted the sleeve , and made the neckline a lil bit deeper. Thats it, quick and easy jhaplas... now i need to make speghetti tops for myself on the same lines :) Now that will be fun... it looks easy, guess will have to try it.

Baby Kimono

So there will be this whole lot of baby stuffs coming up in my posts... a small disclaimer, me making these  tiny ones coz 1. they are the easiest to start with, 2. yeah i have many good frens going thru that wonderful phase of their lives... i feel like making these tiny ones as they seem to be the best gift i can create now for them... and be part of their happiness...AND not coz iam expecting or planning for a baby or whatever... Well this disclaimer goes directly for my aunts and a few other crazy people with this crazy thought... :) so the first complicated sewing attempt of mine was.. this baby kimono . I followed the Martha Stewart Baby Kimono step to step , one doesn't need any other instructions, its the best tutorial one can get for Kimonos... 

Hey i totally  love the fabric and color combinations used in the martha stewart post, they are so much fun , and perfect for kids... iam not investing on fabrics right now, let me get myself easy on the machine first... 

The Sewing machine happened to me.

Its been a while that a few of my best buddies are all expecting their first kids at the same time. :) ... yeah its fun and at times an overload of information. So currently most of the discussions revolve around newborns, the preparations , etc. Well iam the eldest in the family after Anna... I have seen almost 8 pre and post childbirth periods very closely in my maternal side.

One of the oldest memories i have of the times when my aunts were expecting their kids, was the diapers, rugs, blankets and similar things were stitched at home. So yeah, with this best buddy i chit chat almost everyday, i started discussing what all can be made at home for the newborn , well given we indians have this tradition that newborns are supposed to be wearing home stitched or old clothes and not new stuffs bought straight from the store. Well there are many theories attached to it, but yeah , the crux is that it needs to be done, home sewing, for the newborns... In the process i landed into such beautiful blogs, with awesome ideas for kids, and it was all so tempting... i wanted to try out everything, one day i too a print of one of the bib patterns, and hey i realized , not everything can be stitched, you definitely needs a sewing machine if you want to try these. The patterns werte cut and set aside, to test myself, that lets see, will the urge be still there, should i really buy a sewing machine... will it be worth it. Garg , the husband was the victim to all the wrath, for the continuos pestering, of should i buy a machine or not.

In the end of Feb, Garg was going to go to his hometown for a week, then there was this Uk trip getting planned and i was getting paranoid that what will i do for two weeks behind him, all alone, well sewing was still there on my mind... oh yes in between i saw this besty buddy , well lets call her BB for now, she had stiched a cute owl and a cube .. hand stitched and super cute, one day i will post those pics here... they were super cute. ... and mumma continues with her stiching, stiching stuffs for Gargs cousins kiddo... he is Kiwi.. super cute.. so all along i was being tempted to try these things myself too...

So one day , well i guess the date was 1st of March 2012, Garg was fedup or maybe he simply understood that i really wanted to pursue this, so he took me to the Singer outlet and got me my first sewing machine, a cute looknig Singer Sewing machine , a Talent 3231. As usual , i was super excited, felt like making everything in a day, but had never used a sewing machine earlier, jsut once i had make these cotton inners, with the help of mumma, thats it!...

The machine has some cool features, the most intresting one to me till date is the picco one, so my first creating were these napkins, simple handkerchief sized napkins , piccoed at the corners with a contrast thread and they looked neat. :) totally loved playing with my new toy... :)

Dupatta to a Water Can Cover

Its been ages i havent written in my other two blogs Chatkhor and Cafe Talkies. Time constraints , lazyness, blah , but yes the fact remains all that iam doing is getting lost, restricting itself to my mailbox or my personal FB page, and no link back, no relink, and i cannot work quick on it again coz its a memory gone.

So here Iam , using this page as a scratchpad for all things sewing and knitting, so that its safe and intact and useful . Hope i continue. :)

I want this to be a place to display all the beauties my mother in law creates too, shes creative, works wonders with the sewing machine, but hey, where does it all go, lost! So The yarn bit, peeps, will be a contribution by Mumma.

As for sewing is concerned, as a kid i used to love making cross stich arts, had made 2 table cloths, a few handkerchiefs, but never thought i would like to pursue it as a hobby, a passion, coz as i was growing , i found it as the most time consuming , and not so satisfying a thing. I used to wonder where do these ladies get all the time and energy to put into such thing, one should go shop and buy the best fitting things, why stitch, why waste time doing it yourself. :D ... well well , i never knew i will grow up, not be a spendthrift for every petty thing, and even otherwise, there isn't everything one can buy, there are somethings you would really love creating it yourself :).... yeah the change of mind with age i guess... (Am i already sounding like a granny, 50 something... disclaimer: Iam not yet 30, well approaching :D)...

So, one day we shifted to an apartment, where we could no longer use the water straight from the tap for drinking purposes, we were still lazy to get a aquagaurd fixed, and it needs regular cleaning , who will do that :P... so we started getting these canned 20ltr bottles which suits are needs best till date. But the local vendor, has an art , to pick the W.OR.S.T looking bottles to our house, which makes my kitchen look no less than a roadside food outlet, or better, one of those Sagar restaurants... well both were not acceptable to me, my kitchen needs to look like my kitchen ! Period. I picked one of my old Dupattas, cut it into a rectangle, and round, used the braided corners of the dupatta as a decor joining the top and sides, it has a fabric fastener at the bottom, to tie it around the bottom. I hope someday i will make another, and then add more detailed instructions here. Till then. Ciao....

OH ok... one short note... before my dear Chatkhor, disowns me...

My Dear Chatkhor,

Please dont think that i have forgottten you or something, you are and will always be my first love, i will be back, sooner or later, but i will get back. Till then, ciao. You take care, i see people still referring you, and that feels good buddy, we are still remembered. Thats the beauty of the blogging world, you stay, you stay forever. :)

Yours,

Swati