Working With Felt - Blanket Stitching Through Ribbons

Hi everyone!

I know It's been awhile since my last 'Working With Felt' series! I'm slowly catching up with what I was suppose to post so bare with me! Now that school holidays are officially over tomorrow, Lara has been going to bed earlier thus I have more energy to linger through the night to work on my stuffs!

So today's topic will be learning how to attach ribbons on felt using the blanket stitch. A perfect little technique if you want to turn felt projects into hanging ornaments or if you have intentions of sliding a string through the ribbon hoop to create beautiful garlands, etc.

Step 1.

 First things first, I 'prep' my ribbon by applying a thin strip of glue onto the bottom hem then I fold in half.

Step 2.

Apply glue at the hem again.

Step 3.

Position your ribbon with the glued hem facing the felt. Then, place the other piece of felt on top, making sure corners or curves are aligned on both felts.

Step 3.

Insert the needle through the ribbon.

Step 4.

Pull needle leaving a small hoop.

Step 5.

Insert the needle from the back of the ribbon and over the felt hem. Also, make sure the needle (B) is aligned with the stitch (A).

Step 6.

Insert the needle underneath the little hoop and pull.

Step 7. 

And here you have it! Your first blanket stitch through felt! Now, to continue securing the ribbon, just repeat steps 3 -7 then continue your blanket stitch as usual after the ribbon.

Hope this helps!

Carol's Journal Week #5 + Life Updates After Typhoon Hato

Hello everyone! Hooray for 1 month of Kawaii Journaling!

Pardon the blurry pictures. I have no clue why they come out so smudgy if they looked perfectly fine doing editing. If you have tips on how to remove the blur please share it with me <3!

I'm not sure if you are aware of the mega typhoon that targeted Macau last 23rd August, 10:30am. If you follow me on Instagram, I shared a few clips on my story feed of this terrifying event. Just wanted to stop by here and tell you all that me and my family are OK and we are doing well, thank God! No damages were made on my windows that day but the destruction beyond the borders of my apartment were unimaginable. The event was frightening.. I've never in my life been through such scary moment. There was even a brief moment that I feared for daughter's, cats and my own life! Just imagine the blasting winds strong enough to cause my building to sway... A horrifying experience if you are living on the 18th floor! My husband wasn't around at that time as he was away for his monthly business trip, so I pretty much felt helpless and petrified to be there alone with my little one and cats  who were obviously all terrified. Not to mention the monstrous sounds around us... Doors slamming, windows crushed and smashed, the ghostly howling of winds...definitely a experience to always remember that's for sure! And not to make the situation that I was in any better, my phone battery went flat, I had no idea where my backup power bank was and the electricity and water supply had been cut off completely!

When the typhoon had slowly faded I still had no contact to the outside world. I have no idea how was the rest of my family members were and I still had no sort of communication until 9:30pm. No water and no light...my neighborhood was recovering in pitch black so I had no absolute idea how bad was the damage. All I could hear were the sirens of police cars, ambulances and fire trucks... so yeah... just the sound of that all together was enough to draw the picture. 

The night was still unsettled. My daughter was still traumatized of the scary event so it took her awhile to fall sleep... as for me, i'll not deny that I was still scared. It was still raining with occasional winds so the thought of another typhoon haunted me all night.

As the morning came, the first thing I did was peak through my window to find a neighborhood that was once lush green and clean to a horrifying war zone scenario. It was as if I landed in a totally different dimension in space, more like a script from 'The Wizard of Oz' where Dorothy landed in a strange land after the hurricane.

Generally, the whole city was pretty chaotic. I went down to Macau after a few days to find a jaw dropping scene of streets filled with hundreds of uprooted trees, apartments with shattered windows, local businesses who's doors have been blown away and never ending piling of stinking and rotten garbage... undoubtedly, a sad scene to watch where once a city full of life took place but I have no doubts that Macau will recover soon. 

My water supply came back a few days ago and we are now getting all back on track in life. Just last Sunday we went through another Typhoon but ,thankfully, it wasn't as strong as Hato. There was still lots of rain and strong winds but at least there were no more additional damages.

 I'm also back to my normal routine. As the new school year is already around the corner, me and Lara have been doing some school revisions and I'm back mailing my orders. I have already did some pattern tracing and free projects to post soon so keep an eye on my next shop and blog update!

Hope It's sunny and warm where you are! Much love to all.

Carol's Journal Week #4

Carol's Journal Week #3

New Etsy Pattern - Autumn In Woodlands

New Etsy pattern now listed in the shop!

I am so ready for the cool weather to come! But as usual, the colder days are only in effect around November/ December here in Macao. But so, I can't wait for this beautiful season to arrive... I'm not sure why but there's something special about Autumn that always finds its way to make me feel very nostalgic. I guess memories of the colder weather in Portugal still lingers inside me.. the scent of wet leaves and roasted chestnuts are still very much alive in my memory and It's just very hard to recreate that feeling in Macao. Luckily, I still have a few sachets left of Cidreira tea ( Lemon Balm Tea) ,gifted by my dear cousin from Portugal, to help me fill those cravings of Portuguese autumn. Cidreira Tea is one of my family's pantry's must-haves and beloved tea that never fails to fill in your mug on every afternoon tea time along side with ham and cheese croissants and Broas de Mel (Honey Bread). Oh my...this just makes me want to make one for myself now!

Pattern is included 5 little patterns of autumn inspired creatures, surroundings and colors and I hope you'll have fun sewing them!

W.I.P Autumn Cookies

A little piece of Autumn in my hands....Gosh! It's nearly Autumn?!

I'm finally making little progress on my upcoming new pattern that will, hopefully, be up by this week! I'm very pleased on how they are turning out but I still have a few pieces to sew and praying that my little one will cooperate by napping a few hours everyday so that I can quickly finish this tutorial on time! 

The weather have been unbearable hot and humid...and overall just unpleasant to go out for a stroll. I'm feeling quite guilty lately for not bringing Lara to go out and play at the playground more often but it's just soooo hot to leave the house! So It leaves us spending quality time at home in the comforts of our AC's on and my full attention on her of course! 

What about you? How are you spending your last month of Summer?

Carol's Journal Week #2

I'm in my second week of kawaii journaling and I'm loving the challenge so far! Looking back at all these days and all I can think is what a fun and busy week it had been!

It's been super fun having Lara at home since school holidays are in effect until September but it surely kept me away from my usually sewing routine. I'm finding hard to find time to sew and snap photos for the tutorial while having a very demanding child who needs my full attention 24/7. Home working mamas will know the struggle! Well, at least having her at home got me out the house for a long period of time and to finally use our apartment's pool for the very first time after a year living here!

I'll try to work on my patterns as soon as she falls asleep for her usual nap so wish me luck!

Wishing a lovely start of the week wherever you are <3

Carol's Journal Week #1

One of my biggest passions, besides working with felt, is writing/scribbling on notebooks and to collect stationary. I go to the stationary shop almost every weekend when I go to the city center just to check if any new stock would catch my eye. But honestly, I would always return home with a brand new sticker sheet even if it's from a old stock! #notsorry

I have tons of stickers and tapes that I have been collecting over the years and I would love to make good use of it before they 'turn bad' so has I was browsing for journaling inspiration on the web, I stumbled across Kaila's Instagram page a.k.a Rainbowholic. I immediately fell in love with her work and soon I saw myself writing once again and to finally have found an good excuse to use all those beautiful stickers without having to cringe and cry!

I've been writing on diaries since I was 10 years old ( I remember I had a Keroppi diary with a lock and key) until my late teens and I remember how nervous I would be when my parents would walk into my room while I was writing on them! #darksecrets. I'm all about keeping memories and capturing moments with my phone or camera and have them documented on paper..I love treasuring precious time then remembering them when I pick up my journal ( oh the Nostalgic feels!). Now that I have a family of my own, It becomes more less of me but rather our little family's adventure.

Together with capturing moments I've also included this fun Gratitude Journal Challenge. You should give it a try too, It's fun!

So, Thank you, Kaila for giving me and others this wonderful inspiration! Guys, please go and check out her Instagram page! She has a blog, Youtube channel and shop where she also sells super cute stickers!