Wifey's work in progress

R*-A**e's yet to finish smocked dress

Last Saturday our good friend, Ch** Y*n and her daughter dropped by to return the whole set of Sunshine books which we purchased for Missy K when she was about three (translated - 10 years ago when I was 29.5 years old).

Every time we meet Ch** Y*n, wifey will feel a bit guilty because she was to present to her two daughters, J*-A**e and R*-A**e, with a smocked dress (english roses printed on American Cotton) each for last year's Chinese New Year and she has only finished smocking for one of them. She decided to put the rubber to the road and went on a marathon of smocking last Sunday (this explained her disappearance some time on Saturday last, to purchase what's required for her to complete her project). All the pressies Ch** Y*n and hubby, C*ris have been giving us like the berlian (a hard wood indigenous to Sarawak) fruit platter they lugged from Kuching, the brass wall bell from Portobello Market and the list goes on and on give her the drive to finish them before this coming New Year! Good on ya, wifey!

Yes smocking is now one of wifey's passions of what initially was to save the dosh we had to spend on Missy K's dresses (way too expensive when you only don your child in dresses only) when she was the cute little one with Goldilock-curly-locks others envied.

Yup yours truly paractically threw her in to the deep end by registering her for a short smocking course at Cottage Patch in Ampang [Some trivia about Cottage Patch - belongs to a husband and wife team, Mr & Mrs Chan. Mr Chan was either an Architect/draughtsman (cant remember now) before whose passion is quilting. He teaches quilting now and his fave past time is breeding fighting fish] which was about RM150 then and invested in a Janome sewing machine (RM1,500) and an Amanda Jane pleater (RM500) - I think I broke even within two years!

What a fine investment I made and now she enjoys pleating and thinks it's therapeutic although she does not have the luxury of time to do it which explains why she has two boxful of American and Japanese cotton materials stashed some where in the house worth a couple of grand.

Wifey's first project - a bishop smocked dress

A yoke smocked dress (Missy K's as well)





Another bishop (from Missy K's wardrobe)