how the life goes on

boo! my Leonidas is here now :)

36 days! 5 kg, 51cm n still growing :)

so I have some fascinating days lately! fascinating in managing things, actually. Thank Lord, instead of Leon's flu, he has no tantrum on late nights! even GC still can have his night trip with his friends.

anyway, I started tattooing already, haha. Short-sittings, of course. The shamrock is my 2nd after Leon's around, it belongs to Hello Bleu's Iid :)

stroberiHITAM has many up and downs lately - well, not so much 'downs', actually. I am getting used to people who claim my works as theirs - I do believe in karma, and that Lord always shows me some things I need to know.

So, this girl came to me one day n ask if she can resell some of my baby shoes. I said sure, but I can't supply much since lately I can't sew more than 3 pairs a week. Then I told her not to sell higher than my price - I even gave her discounts, etc. Shortly, this new customer of mine texted me n asked if I know that girl who resell Boney baby shoes and I said yes. My customer then told me that she bought a pair of boney baby shoes from that girl n paid TWICE from my tagged price, and the girl even said that it was SHE who made the baby shoes. geez. that girl was also my customer but I think I'm gonna black list her, sorry. Anyone who read this and feel that you know the person, please stay out of her. If she's an Etsy buyer, I'll give her a negative feedback (out of the claiming case), because she's not a good buyer either. Smooth transactions on 1st n 2nd ones but...no comments for the 3rd, 4th, etc.

Fortunately, the new customer is not a very new person, actually. She's a wife from our tattooing friend in Bandung! what a small world after all, ay? :) hope can see her soon!

the 'ups' are... so many :) thank you Lordie so much for everything He gave to me and the family. At least I can conclude now that stroberiHITAM's best selling items are:

the Head Hunter pendant.
cameo size 3x4 cm, on silver-plated setting

the Boney baby shoes.
I'm gonna run out of fabric soon! :)

the Skeleton Goddess pendants.
cameo size 3x4 cm, on brass settings.
now only the red on black, which is available.

Pirate baby shoes and bibs.
next week is the last batch I have!

Skully baby onesies!
for the black onesies, skull color available are:
white, red, blue, leaf green and light purple

the metal-framed purses!
these ones are medium sized, 18 x 12 x 3 cm

the reversible tote bags!
only made by order,
to check fabric's availability and choice, please contact me :)

Things are getting soo much exciting! I have pending requests for sewing order, geez. Thank God I quit my job four years ago :p

anyway, you can shop here, if you're in Indonesia. feel free to say hi! :)

preparing my days off

Peek a boo!
Haha yeah I've been busy finishing all stuff I had to finished, like arranging our tattoo studio's supplies, finish some drawings, updating/correcting studio's web n blog, finishing some custom orders from stroberiHITAM's lovely darlings, publishing 2nd edition of Magic Fingers' zine n keeping up its order, n blahblahblah...trust me you don't wanna know it all :p

One of the important thing is that now my lil daughter has grown up...n has to be ready as a big sister!

isn't she beeautiful! getting prepared for her dance show :)

I don't know if she grows faster than I expect, or it's just time flies. She often reminds me lately not to sew til midnight :)) She also request this bracelet just for her.

I got that dice supply few weeks ago, a colorful pack.
She said wearing this bracelet she feels like a princess :)

<3!
Home is where ever your sweetheart is :)

while Dimas is also trying hard to finish his Cranky, I try my best to keep up stocks for the upcoming local bazaar arranged by Magic Fingers Syndicate.

Baby bibs.
cotton on front and muslin on back.

the Rest in Peace bracelet

small coin purses.
top width 10cm, bottom 12 cm

Sylvia Ji's painting pendant series.
out of stock for this time.

Tattooed Lady pendant series.

Cosmetic purses, medium size
top width 12cm, bottom 18cm

all baby booties available in baby born size.

hairclip galore! :)

all items are available, if you're in Indonesia, please shop here. Otherwise, I keep my etsy shop open (there's a mini-etsy on my side bar :)).

Especially if you're in Yogyakarta, you can check my stuff on the upcoming local bazaar. I've included Magic Fingers Syndicate's link before, please check the info there, thank you :)

TODAY is supposed to be my due date, lol. Well, Bebe delivered 3 days after the supposed due date, so I'm not really worry about that. Wish me luck, anyway! See you anytime :) xo

Tutorial: metal-framed purse

Lol this must be a record in my blogging life, two posts in a day! :p

This purse is fun to make, just like any other purses/wallets/pouches.

Pake bahasa Indonesia dulu ah ya, biar cepet, hehehe :D
Bahan-bahan yang diperlukan:
- rangka dompet dari logam (atau metal-framed purse).
  ukurannya bervariasi, dari 8,5 cm sampe yang 25 cm juga ada. Kali ini aku pake yg panjangnya 10.5 cm
- 2 jenis kain, yang satu untuk bagian luar, yang satu untuk lining alias bagian dalam dompet.
- batting, atau pelapis; bisa pakai dakron lembaran, atau kali ini aku pake flanel yang agak tebal.
  fungsinya supaya konstruksi badan dompet agak berisi dan bisa masuk pas ke rangka dompetnya, yg punya ceruk sekitar 2-3mm. mau ditambahin fusible interfacing alias kain keras supaya tambah kaku juga makin oke.
- benang dan jarum (hea iyalah)
- lem - aku pake lem UHU.
- sumpit / tusuk gigi / penggaris besi, untuk bantu masukin badan dompet ke kerangkanya.

capcuscyin, langsung aja ya, keburu lupa ;)

frame-ku panjangnya 10,5 cm. Untuk bentuk purse yang standar, polanya seperti ini.
Sudutnya bisa diperkecil kalo mau bagian bawahnya agak 'gendut' alias lebar.
Ngomong2 itu tulisan sudutnya salah deh kayaknya, maksudnya 110 derajat dari sisi sebelah sana,
jadi sudut ini kira2 70 derajat :) ngga usah persis gapapa kok. Jangan lupa dilebihin kira2 setengah senti untuk 'seam allowance' alias ruang untuk jaitan.

Potong-potong deh itu kain sesuai pola yang kamu buat sebelumnya.
Aku pake scraps dari kain kesayanganku itu (hehe!) u bagian luar dan kain itemnya untuk lining/bagian dalem.
Untuk batting, aku lagi ga punya dakron lembaran, jadi make sisa flanel tebel dari workshop lalu.
Kebetulan warnanya gonjreng, dan warna-warna yang begini yang perlu segera disingkirkan dari tumpukan suplai saya, hohoho x))

sekarang kita bikin sandwich, ada 2:
(1) urutannya flanel-kain luar-kain luar-flanel. Untuk kain luar, jangan lupa untuk numpuk sisi yang bagusnya berhadapan (sisi yg jelek numpuk di flanel). 'Sandwich' yang ini nantinya bakal kita balik posisinya.
(2) sandwich untuk lining; karna punyaku 2 sisinya sama, jadi gak masalah. tapi kalo kamu pakai kain bercorak untuk lining, jangan lupa, sisi bagusnya ditata berhadapan. Kalo yang ini nanti gak usah dibalik.

Mulai jait deh, di sekeliling bagian bawah badan dompet. Jangan terlalu tinggi jait bagian pinggir atasnya, sisain ruang untuk engsel rangka dompetnya nanti. Kalo ketinggian jaitnya, nanti engselnya hanya bisa membuka sedikit.
Lakukan hal yang sama dengan 'sandwich' kain lapisan dalamnya.

Yang ini sedikit tricky. Bagian sudut dasarnya dilipat seperti ini, lalu dijait melintang.
Disini kujait dengan jarak kira-kira 2 cm dari titik yg paling ujung. Semakin jauh jaraknya, akan semakin tebal/lebar dompet yang kamu punya nantinya.

Terus digunting sedikit supaya nanti nggak mengganjal pas dibalik.
Hati-hati ya, jangan sampai jahitannya yang melintang itu kepotong.

Ayo dibalik 'sandwich'nya...
Ini hasil dari sudut segitiga yang dijahit tadi :)
Lakukan hal yang sama dengan 'sandwich' satunya, tapi nggak usah dibalik setelah dijahit.

Setelah jahitan kain lapisan dalamnya selesai, langsung dimasukin aja ke bagian dalam badan dompet satunya.
Nah, mari merapikan pinggir2 bagian atas dompetnya itu. Karna aku menjahit dengan tangan, aku pakai teknik hem-stitching. Sebenernya bagian atas ini yang nantinya masuk ke dalam rangka dompet, mungkin ada yang bilang kalo nggak usah dirapihin/ditutup jahitannya juga gakpapa, tapi nanti akan lebih sulit masukin badan dompet ke rangka/framenya.

Nah, mari memulai bagian yang menyenangkan. Tapi harus sabar juga loh :)
Maap gambarnya sedikit blurry, susah juga moto close up T_T
Kita mulai dari satu sisi yang bagian pinggir dulu, kasih lem di pinggir kain, segaris aja udah cukup.
Jangan kebanyakan ngasih lemnya, supaya nanti nggak ngotorin kain dan rangkanya.

Setelah satu sisi udah masuk dan nempel dengan baik, pindah ke sisi satunya.
Selalu kerjakan sisinya duluan, supaya nanti lebih mudah masukin bagian tengahnya :)

Menggunakan alat bantu, bisa sumpit, ujung kuas atau tusuk gigi; sodok-sodok deh itu kainnya supaya masuk ke rangka dompetnya :) jangan lupa untuk ngecek dan nyodok juga dari sisi satunya supaya badan dompet dan rangka bisa merekat dengan baik.

Asik kan, asik kan, hampir jadi :D tapi lemnya masih meler-meler tuh di rangkanya :(
Walaupun udah hati-hati, tapi ini sulit dihindari.
Untuk lem yang nempel di kain, tunggu dulu sampai kering, lalu bisa dikerik pakai kuku atau tusuk gigi.
Untuk lem yang nempel di rangka dompetnya, sesegera mungkin dibersihkan. Beberapa opsi pembersih adalah penghapus cat kuku, atau pembersih wajah instan. Jangan pakai yang kandungan alkoholnya terlalu tinggi ya, nanti rangkanya bisa ikut rusak.

Voila!!

I'm loving it so far :) n Christina, you owe me one, you got to make one for yourself after reading this tutorial! :)