change of heart...

ok... maybe its not change of heart...
I've just been "greeniefied" and "re-imagined", something that has been there in my mind for ages, but i intend to finally just do it.
its reducing want thus reducing waste and utilize better what i have in hand...
i suppose i have mentioned it in previous post, but i guess ill say it again...
i am finding pleasure on not merely having new shiny thing, but knowing the new & shining thing was something i already have in hand, re purposed or in some was "responsible"...
makes me feel good about making things, finding it to take creativity to a new level...

besides i already have a lot of stuff... i dont need to add more, but make the best out of what i have... yes. im pretty sure, thats the best thing to do.

while driving for the last 2 days (my personal brainstorming time) i thought about

• how to utilize water in my (dream) house,
• getting a hybrid car
• designing recycled material lamps & furniture
• working on my balcony garden
• taking apart mom's old clothes & making them new
• wearing dad's old ties as belts & scarves (ok, i HAVE been doing this, but just not so much lately; this is just a reminder to do it more often)
  
• whether to donate or garage sale my old clothes
• how to store the materials for re purposing crafts
  
• wallpapering a wall with old phone books using rice flour paste,...

well, im happy with my thoughts. its a good day & a good purpose :)
*note at 3:16pm... might just keep adding as the day progresses...

hanging garden of nala. pt 2.

so...
after a week...
the celery died...
i added some lemmongrass stalks i found at the grocery store, their roots are coming in. i plan to buy some compost, potting soil & pots and move them to the pots in a week or so. i also plan to pot and move some of my mom's pandan bushes and heliconias up to the balcony.... im still on the search of the perfect mini bamboos... thinking of being sneaky and cut a branch or two from the neighbours hahaha...
im going to convince bf to help carry some taller plants for the balcony over the weekend...
i hope mom wouldnt mind...

in other crafts:
i hope i finish my shrug/scarf office project today or tomorrow...

doodled bag...

so while watching random tv shows last night i took out my gold marker and started doodling on a knock off elle computer bag i found at a local market (at Rp. 50.000,- its very cheap, but i'll never wear it an pretend its real, bad bad bad).... so i had fun doodling... and used up all the gold in the pen... heeheeeheee... yes i was inspired by the pretty prada fairy bags...

ps: no i dont support fakes. i got the bag as a joke, and as a cheap canvas. i would not paint on a real branded bag, but i love to torture the hell out of a fake...

hanging garden of nala. pt 1.

at every event/concert i work for i get IDs (of course), the credit card ones made pretty planters like i mentioned on an older post, but that about the paper ones that comes with a plastic holder/pouch? these IDs go into my scrapbooks, but then i left with a stack of plastic pouches...
so i tried to see if they would make hanging planters or vases for my windows...
i put some hanging plants from mom's garden, cilantro & green onion that still has roots (these came from kitchen)... i add water, a drop of plant food, and hang...
im wondering what other plants i can grow in my room.
ill update again on the

gift giving...

so tomorrow is dad's birthday... and i promised an designing art student cousin (who's birthday WAS in april) a notebook, which i kept forgetting to send (he's in australia)...

therefore this post is about gifts! yay!

i suppose i should start with the older project. i designed a cover for my cousin. no actually i designed the cover for me, using some clip art i have (that i vectored & tweaked & organized into a neat lil pattern), but put in his initials. printed the design onto green paper and glued those on to a cardboard; i lined the inside part of the cover with old Japanese newspaper. cut up stacks of paper for the inside and organized it, so it has:

1. plain white paper
2. vellum
3. lined paper
4. graph paper
5. green paper
6. black paper
7. small envelope for random stuff
   

took the whole stack to Subur (a local copyshop) and had them wire bind it. i also sewed a little slip cover to keep it neat, then pinned the birdie from previous post onto it.

then i worked on making "packaging" for dad's gifts. he's getting golf flash disk, new golf shoes, & a golf trip to bali in august. yes, he loves golf that much. its the only thing that gets him out of the house... so i took the hiphiphippo pattern i made for miss hippocooks, took out the hippos, and added golfers & golf balls (plus the 18th hole, also a reference to the 18th as dad's birth date)... print on A3 paper with an ink jet printer and tadaaaa: a card, an envelopes & wrapping paper. yay!

that cap...

i said i will post my circular hat in the morning so here it is...

here is the cap to wear whenever i have to borrow brother's helmet. the bf rides the moto, so sometimes i do need to wear a helmet. im still waiting for the day the bf takes me on a scooter(vespa or that white yamaha to match the white gath helmet) to monas on a saturday and we have a picnic near the infamously expensive laser lit fountain...

pics: the unfinished knit, the cap finished, the cap under the helmet (yay! helmet stays in place now!)...

birdie birdie...

there was a wedding out of town this weekend, a big drum'n'bass event, and a day of taking mom shopping... so there was really no time to sew or make any big projects, even if my hand were reaaally itching...

but i did have time to make a little stuffed birdie out of left over fabric from my reversible jacket, using the pattern i found on spool sewing... i used the fabric from the head of the sarung, and used the smaller pieces of scraps for stuffing. no waste here... i believe i will make a few for galang (my second cousin's lil boy) and immy (my best friends' baby girl). hopefully its good teething toy...

oh, on the wedding trip i almost finished my circular knit (done whilst talking to aunts over ginger tea & cigarettes) which is going to be a cap to make my favorite helmet (in my brothers collection) fit me. ill do the finishing in the morning & post it then. i also started on a new "watching tv project", taking old tshirts and making the hook rug i talked about on the previous post...

so much i want 2 do... no time 4 me...

there is so much i want to do, yet, the time doesnt seem to be cooperating...

there's this pile of fabric in my room(i counted around 23 different kinds), that i have to reduce to half the size before im allowed to buy anymore fabric... yesterday a dear friend just gave me 2 pieces of traditional fabrics from the trip she took around indonesia, so thats 2 more to figure out what to do with...

not to mention the box of decent sized fabric scraps that begs to be used (instead of trashing)...

i just try to keep the ideas listed in a journal, so when i have free time i can go ahead and do something i wrote down instead of sitting wondering what i can do...

so heres some excerpts from the lists...

sewing:

• black silky kerchief edged kaftan
• black cotton bias cut halter
• reversible fitted jacked using a reversible jaquard in green/grey with contrast bias binding
  
• reversible long jacket using red fabric with pillow embroidery and light batik pekalongan

fabric scraps:

• hobo bag
• quilt (using old wornd down bali blankets as batting)
  
• sewing machine cover
• old tshirt hook rug
• stuffed toys for family & friends who has kids ;)
• box pillows (buy the filling from lokal walking merchants that pass by our house every so often. give back to community. feel good, look good)
  

"recycling" older garments(yes, inspired by the show i've go nothing to wear):

• mom's yellow embroidered jacket (smaller! more fitted! so cute!)
• an oversized shift; begging for pockets, belt or darts
• that paisley top that looks like pajamas; fixed the arms, but the body is still all wrong. what to do what to do...
  

other ideas:

• a light, bright lampshade for my work room (saranwrap over wire? cut out vellum?)
  
• recycling my ID cards into a cute hanging planter inspired by the credit card planter found here (i wont cut my IDs, instead just tape 5 together and use a clear tape so i can still see the colourful IDs; the loops from the ID will be the hangers)
  
• grafittied/doodled cheap bags (actually i've made 2 of these, and one is carried around as a computer bag by a Cosmopolitan Indonesia stylist; but i still want a white one hand doodled)

not to mention ideas how to make my balcony more green. its a big balcony, about the size of my room. currently it has a few pots with adeniums, and an old satelite dish as a vine plant planter. i want to add lemongrass, aloe, small pringodani bamboos, those tiny oranges plants...

so no more shopping for me. just use what i have :)

ok. maybe buy some plants. just a few. then again i can "steal" from mom & granmas' garden...

my first reversible jacket...

the idea for a reversible jacket has been in my sketch books for months, maybe even over a year...











originally it was for a beautiful 2 sided fabric from my aunt, but i didn't trust my sewing skills enough to work on it, or enough alone time to sit down and get on it...

then a few months ago i saw a gorgeous reversible batik jacket with my mom, and she told me that i should try it using the fabrics she got as gifts.

so i picked a batik i got from my grandmother, and matched it with a simple embroidered fabric thats actually for making muslim abayas.

last weekend i altered a tunic pattern for the body, and made a pattern for hood by tracing one of my favorite hoodies.







with prayer, i hoped that i didn't miscalculate anything and started cutting the fabric. i have to admit it wasn't easy working with batik sarung, as there is only so much fabric, and one must align and place the motif accordingly/aligned, as to keep the geometric pattern looking neat when done.

i decided to used the "head" of the sarung (small unique part; as opposed to the "body" which is usually 75% or more of the sarung that has the same motif) for the hood.


with the embroidered fabric i used the bottom embroidery for the back, so i don't have to cut or sew over any of the pretty embroidery, and use the pair of small embroidery parts for the sleeves instead of the front part of the jacket...

of course any "experimental" projects has it mishaps:

1. make sure the pattern is the size you want it to be. im good at enlarging patterns, but i find that sometimes i make them too big, and now i have to learn how to make a pattern smaller. i guess im not as fat as i think i am. or as tall as i think i am.
   
2. i mis-sewed the sleeves many many times. first was sewing the hard-to-control part of sewing the sleeve to the body. im not that good at "easing" fabric. i found out that making loose stitches like for gathering helps a lot. and using more than a few pins.
   
3. then i sewed the plain to the batik side wrong (note: sew main opening first, flip inside out, then stitch over the sleeve openings).
4. oh and make sure which ever side is inside, to be straight, not twisted. bad bad nala.
5. having pockets should be planned for in the beginning, not as an after thought. pulling out stitches and trying to make neat pockets fit in is not that easy. but its in, with flaps, so its all good.
6. mom suggested next time to add a stiffer fabric or a sort of interfacing to make the jacket stiffer
   

but all in all, it was a good job, nicely done... i get enough compliments, and i love that when i wear the batik side out, i can flip the sleeves and have a pretty embroidered cuff...






next reversible garment project? i still want to do that fabric i got from aunty, but i have to make sure i can make a fitted pattern. and mom gave me a red peachskin abaya fabric with white pillow embroidery; thinking of matching it with a dark purple or baby pink batik pekalongan. im thinking a longer coat with stand up collar. and maybe detacheable hood... still sketching it out...

projects on the side. june08

i usually have a few projects on the side, for those blank moments where i dont really have any big projects i need to be doing (work or personal), but need something to fill up time for say, rendering or watching tv...

so here's two,...

work, a double stitch crochet for scarf or shrug (undecided):










home, an attempt at circular knitting, for bag or hat:

shiny sandals with rhinestone

so i wanted some metallic flat sandals with huge rhinestones. its a big deal. its perfect for those maxi dresses i love to wear, for weddings (glam without the pain). i didnt want something flipflop-ey, gladiator-y, and definitely not expensive. that counts charles & keith, zara & mango out. not to mention nine west (they didnt have any nice sandals anyway) & linea (god forbid how those prices wreak havoc on my wallet)...

lucky me, i found the perfect sandals, not exactly gold, not really silver, minus the rhinestones at a steal for Rp 140.000,- (USD 15). so i went, got that.

got home and fished in my beads box, and found some rhinestones left from older projects & broken jewelry, and -TADAA!- perfect party shoes! perfect for a saturday night wedding at PuttPutt Golf...

more than just batik. pt. 1

here in Jakarta, i have noticed (more like blatantly pushed in my face) a trend that women are embracing: batik tops.

dont get me wrong, i love batik. in the past i have studied (mostly from granma) batik, collected books on it (well, mostly handed down from my granma again), and even used elements from it in my design (most notable the audition graphics for KDI 5). i am also saving some cash on Iwan Tirta's book on batik.
im very glad an indonesian traditional fabric is getting recognition and being worn daily now, instead only at weddings or other formal events... but its a trend that's overwhelmed by "sameness"; a-line babydoll & wrap javanese batik tops everyone is wearing. from my mother, great aunts, and younger cousins. its a bit too much.

besides, there are all kinds of fabrics in indonesia: batik prada from bali (with bold gold prints on bold solid background), silk ikat fabrics from sulawesi, jumputan/tritik (a type of tie-dye treatment), songket, batak tribe's ulos, not to mention their variants and all other types of weaves & dies that i cant recall at the moment...

to avoid drowning in this sea of batik motifs, and yet still feel "indonesian culture"-fied... i decided i should take one of the other fabrics and make a simple top; nice enough to wear to family events, and comfortable enough to wear out. last week i found the answer while rummaging through my mother's traditional fabric closet: a brand new green sarung samarinda, with white contrast weaving and gold threads. in 3 hours i finished the top, and wore it to my family gathering last sunday.

yay for variety!
next is the purple jumputan cotton. i think it will turn into a dress. yes.
plus im hoping my friend will have luck finding some bright ikat sarungs in makassar today :)
the one i have is too precious(sentimental value) to cut up...

ol project 4 a defunct label...

this is just an old necklace i made & photographed in 2006 for a friend...
i wonder if the necklace sold at all...
love the look, but it wasnt easily wearable...

maybe ill have time to make more soon...

right now im using my spare time making mini books & dresses...

First Post Eva!

hi hi... ooh, first post, what pressure...

just to get this started, i am an art director/graphic designer by profession, and a weekend/night crafter... my name is nala, but i also go by other names miz orange, miz o, nalski, and nalce(nala-cewe, indonesian for nala-girl).im sure people come up with other names for me as well...

in case you are curious Saraswati is a Hindu goddess, and the name of the street im living on (since 1990, till at least for the next year)... do check Saraswati on Wikipedia...

i intend to keep this as my "crafting" and "artsy" blog of things i've done... i have a separate blog for personal rants and that kind of emotional stuff... and a different blog for professional portfolio... and i can be found on facebook, friendster & myspace, although i admit i dont check the last two often at all...

now that i've typed that i guess i should move some of my sewing posts here...
oh well... maybe later today... or when my dear brother finally set up the wifi for my room...