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Crochet Picnic Basket

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Fall is for romantic, with this “mood swing”, I refashioned my hemp basket to become a lovely fall floral picnic basket by adding some crochet flowers and leaves. You can get the pattern for the flower and leaves here, it has a butterfly motif for you to crochet too. Be that you use this picnic basket to bring out your yarn to crochet or knit at outdoor, or hand sewing some fabric; you can even bring some breads, sandwiches, fruits and drinks for a small picnic; or use the basket to collect flowers from the garden; isn’t it a great life to enjoy such a lovely weather!!!!

You can adapt this method to decorate your existing hemp basket, or sisal basket, or any round base soft basket that you made or bought. Pinch the basket below the handle to imagine how it will turn out if you were to refashion it the way I did.

Happy Fall and enjoy your life to the fullest!

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Zipper Pencil Case

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To welcome you back to the craft room of Craft Passion, here is the zipper pencil case pattern and tutorial which I did before my recent weekend getaway. Honestly, this is not suitable for beginner sewer because of the piping and the way I lined it, but intermediate or advance sewer should have no problem in getting it done.

As you can see from the photos, this zipper pencil case has a zipper that opens all the way down from top to the sides. This enable a widely open view that make getting things from the pencil case straightforward. Also, there are internal gussets at the sides to prevent contents from falling out.

This pencil case would make perfect storage for many purpose, pencil case, cosmetic pouch, stationery, accessories, craft tools etc… you name it!!!

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Sew A Strawberry Reusable Grocery Bag

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I have developed a tutorial on sewing a strawberry reusable grocery bag to share with you. I know many of you would agree with me the great functional effect of the cute little strawberry drawstring bag attached to the reusable grocery bag.

I used nylon/polyester fabric which thin but strong bought from Daiso. You may use cotton or even old T-shirt to sew it. T-shirt or heavier fabrics will need a bigger strawberry bag to store, so please adjust the size a little bigger.

Keep one in your handbag or hang it as a charm, handy when you need to do some urgent grocery shopping. It is small and light, it won’t take up too much space and load

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Reversible Jumbo Tote Bag using Ikea Upholstery Fabrics

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With the global warming getting worst nowadays, major departmental and grocery stores responded to the government’s campaign on “Reuse, Reduce and Recycle”, they no longer giving out free grocery bags for the purchase. We either have to bring our own bag or donate a small charge to get the plastic grocery bag. A jumbo size tote is indeed one of the bags I need to bring along when I do shopping.

This jumbo reversible tote bag not only has 2 different designs for you to choose from, it also has 2 sets of handles, long handles for shoulder and short handles for hand. Now, you can choose how you want to style the bag, a black & white or a colorful “facebag”, on shoulder or on hand. When not in use, you may roll it up and keep inside your handbag or any convenient place for you to grab and go….. go shopping!!!!

This August is Ikea’s textile month. There are many great ways to restyle your home with the range of fabulous textiles available at Ikea. Love it, I always love Ikea’s fabrics!

Oh, by the way….. I forgot to mention that from now till 26 August, IKEA Damansara is having 15% off on all sewing services with the purchase of IKEA fabric! Check out your local Ikea store to see what other offer they have from time to time. I will be renovating my new condominium soon, I am planning for a few trips down to Ikea to get some furniture, more fabrics and decors too. How I wish that I stay next to Ikea… lol

[Find your nearest Ikea store, here.]

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Zipper Card Pouch

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I am not a big fan of big wallet, with the increasing numbers of cards that I have, my decent size wallet is no longer able to buckle up. Sometimes, I just temporary placing the card in my purse’s pocket but I forgot about it later. I need an additional card pouch where I know where all my cards should locate. So, here it is, my new zipper card pouch

This zipper pouch can hold up to 30 plastic cards (similar to credit cards), and more for thinner cards, business calling card for example. With the zipper open up to the side and couple with an internal gusset, this will make card finding easier and faster.

Get the pattern and tutorial to sew one yourself after the jump and don’t have to struggle with the cards anymore.

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Entrelac Messenger Bag

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At first, I just blindly made the entrelac piece without knowing what to do with it. A few options ran through my mind… I could make different kind of bags, cushion or throw pillow cover, may be join a few pieces to become a baby blanket…. but ended up with messenger bag.

I added a long straps which act as a gusset for the bag. Added a side pocket to house my giant smart phone. This time I don’t want to sew any zipper, instead I fold the bag down as a closure, so I needed another 2 smaller piece of gusset for the fold down. I always love to line my bag and this time I made a center divider plus a pocket in the bag. The divider is great for holding books and flat item like documents.

See… me carrying this bag during a photographing outing with friends. Thanks to Mandy who captured this beautiful moment, caught in the act of photo shooting… lol… love it!!!! *** mmmm… I think I need a hair cut soon… ***

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Pom Pom Brooch For Mother's Day

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I always wanted to come out with something quick and easy to make for Mother’s day craft so that kids can make it for their moms too. My little pom pom chick immediately came to my mind (remember I made a basket out of them?). This time I am converting the chicks into turkeys (I make another 2 smaller white turkey chicks) by adding pipe cleaners tail and make them into a mommy-baby turkey pom pom brooch, especially for this coming Mother’s Day celebration!!! You can get the pom pom and chenille pipe cleaner from Michaels.

Now, I am done with the Mother’s Day craft, I better start thinking of Father’s Day. Getting into panic mode is not fun and I don’t want to trigger a heart attack and can’t even say bye-bye to you all… lol… just kidding! Woopsss… looks like my annual body check-up has been overdue for years, let me ring up the medical center to schedule one soon. Hope you have a wonderful Mother’s Day, remember, a better life needs a good health!

Are you thinking what I am thinking after seeing the brooch? How about turning this turkey brooch into Thanksgiving Card Placeholder in November?

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African Flower Crochet Purse - Part 2

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The “insert” or the lining is essential to make the crochet purse more stable and won’t sag when you put your heavy belonging into it, coin purse and mobile phone for example. With it, the African Flower will maintain it’s beautiful shape of hexagons. In deed, this tutorial is about a complete sewn up purse with lining, and all you have to do is insert it to the crochet flowers purse(as shown in part 1) and stitch it up. In other words, you can take this part as an individual purse sewing tutorial, just change the plain fabric to something you like.

It seems like it took ages for me to prepare these 2 tutorials, which involved a Hong Kong trip, stay at home taking care of my 2 sick kids full time (though I managed to slip into my craft room to get it done bit by bit when there is an opportunity) and a hospital admission (not me but my daughter) in between the processes. What a relief… that things have settled down and I back in action finally… I promised, more crafts to come on the way… While I am writing this tutorial, my craft room table is now being covered by SOCKS…. guess what is coming up next!!!

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African Flower Crochet Purse - Part 1

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Finally, I have prepared the tutorial for this African Flower Purse, the one I wanted to make for the longest time. The one I planned to design and make since seeing Mia’s African Flower motifs a year ago. The moment I have it designed and started working, I already have the desire of wanting to share with you how beautiful this purse is going to be…. but I choose to save it until now (ohhhh… it is hard for me to keep this secret for that long). Now, I am so happy to splash your eyes with this beautiful baby that you would want to make and carry one

Be prepared, this is going to be another lengthy tutorial, with both crochet and sewing involved. I have to split it into 2 tutorials:

• Part 1 (this tutorial) – crochet and joining of the African Flowers motifs to make up the purse.
• Part 2 (coming soon)- sewing part of the lining and handles which stabilized the purse.

I modified a little on the white border of Mia’s pattern to make it into single crochet on back loops only. To cut the story short, get the pattern and tutorial after this jump.

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Knit pattern for Loose & Drapery Neck Top

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Hi there, I am at Hong Kong Disneyland now and I haven’t forgotten you and my craft blog. It is late at night, weather is nice at around 14°C (57°F), slightly chilling compare to my sunny hot homeland. Here in my cozy hotel room with a chargeable in-room internet service, writing and publishing my knitting pattern. No wonder someone called me workaholic, actually, I like to be named craftaholic instead

After a few festive celebrations since end of last year, with non-stop eating, zero exercise and long hour of sitting, I am regretful to say that I need something to cover my lower abdominal. Whenever, people look at me, even with a slightest angle to the lower part of me, I am nervous and need to find something to cover my bulging tummy… oh…. can you imagine how bad it is!!!

During working days, I can easily hide this ugly sight by wearing loose fitting clothes that not require any tuck-in. Now, I am at Disneyland on a semi-vacation, I am wearing jeans, pants, T-shirts and I don’t want to let the tummy outshine me in every photo, I need something decent to cover it up. So, I designed an easy to knit “loose & drapery neck top” that look casual yet trendy for this trip. I am so glad to have it completed just in time for the trip.

Unlike many knitting pattern for garments, this pattern doesn’t require arm and neck line shaping. Thus, there is no complicated shaping pattern to follow because everything here is done with straight line. To help in killing the dullness in working with only knit and purl sticthes, I added an optional beginner’s challenge at the back of the pattern – to knit a Stockinette Lace Ladders. You can skip this and replace with the normal Stockinette pattern if you prefer a simple one. The back piece is fast to complete but the front one might take you some times as it is bigger and you need to knit more than 250% of stitches compare to the back pattern.

Hope that you like this easy drapery neck top knitting pattern. I will continue with my vacation and shopping, as always, will gather some information for you on a crafter paradise shopping zone

By the way, Theresa Pulido, the popular book author of Locking Loops has some great giveaways happening in her blog this month, be sure to check it out, comment to win it. Wish whom who had participated best of luck!!!

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