making a start

Basic Tee via

Gym Shorts, free pattern

I made a start. 

I've been excising since last month. No, its not that I want to lose weight but because I want to be healthy and fit. I am enjoying the comfort of the modern life - I drive a car that takes me from point A to B, arriving to a shopping mall minutes after its opening hours so I could park near to its entrance, use conveyor or elevator whenever possible and always grateful to those who always let me cut in line at the payment counter whenever I have 1 or 2 items with me.

So since last month, I started living a healthier lifestyle via exercising. I bought DVD and exercise every morning for 30-minutes, 5 days a week at my home. I prefer exercising at home - free from shaming (first discussed here)

I made a start.

Sewing-wise, these are the first shorts that I made. Regardless of how many years I've been sewing or garments I've sewn, making pants is a new territory for me. For sometime, I want to learn how to make pants yet I stayed away because of the technique required  intimidates me - installing fly-front zipper, sewing belt carrier, pockets, etc., - hence, I started to conquer my fear by making these. I do hope I will build up new skills as I move to more complicated project. I made 3 of these - blue (above), white and pink as seen here.

I've worked with woven fabrics A LOT (and rarely with lace) but knits scares me. And because a simple tee could sometimes costs a fortune, I decided to give it a try. So I signed up for this course and made my first tee and it made me confident enough to make this dress.


Until then,

insta-recap july, 2015

We're half way through the Holy Month of Ramadan and it's 45C outside. I stay indoors yet trying my best to bear the heat in the kitchen, literally. I lined up my sewing projects anticipating for the long Eid holiday, at the meantime, you can follow me via:

The scorching heat of the summer made me lazy to cook. I marinated these chicken thighs the night before, put in the oven late afternoon and voila! Mustard Chicken for dinner! Roasting didn't require me to be in the kitchen as my dish cooks - just let the oven do its job.

My dress made it to the Burdastyle homepage! 
Chicken Pastelle is a dish I learnt when I was in high school. No, it wasn't a part of home economic class but rather it was a packed lunch brought by one of my friends. I liked it so much that I was shameless to ask for the recipe. It's chicken sauteed in onion, garlic and celery, then add mushroom, waterchestnut, carrots and a can of condensed mushroom soup. It is still one of my favorites.

Though I am not a Muslim, I cook something light for Iftar for my family everyday during the Holy Month of Ramadan (since I only cook on weekends). So whenever the clock hits 5pm, my family asks me what I'm going to cook for them. This time however, I didn't plan my dishes - just raiding my cupboard and fridge and see what I could come up with. This one of the dishes I came up with: Shrimp Scampi.

I made alot of soups. Far too many that, my mom often teased me that if she'll visit me in my house someday, I'll be serving her nothing but soup. It was an irony that she actually asked for a soup the other day - HA! So I made a batch of lentil soup.

And finally, the dress I made recently. My second fushia (or magenta) dress in my closet - for this year, that is.


Thank your so much for reading...!