Makeover Dress I (T shirt & Shirt to Frock)

Nowadays, my mind doesn't concentrate on just one thing. It's roaming around. In the first week of January, we had a short visit to our hometown just for 11 days. After coming back to Muscat, there were lot of things to do.... Little ones missed one week classes after the winter vacation. On 24th January, my daughter  Helen celebrated her 6th birthday... January is passing so fast...... 

My daughter's two year old Tshirt became short in length. She is very fond of that red T shirt. Although she wears it at home, she is not ready to give it up. I was planning to do something with that T shirt. So I used an old shirt of my husband to makeover the red T shirt into a frock. 

The red T shirt &  shirt (sleeves and collar removed)

I cut the shirt below the armhole to get enough length, removed the pocket and then stitched the front portion (plackets) to close the opening without removing the buttons. Then attached  this piece to the bottom of the red T shirt as we do in normal pleated frocks. Took two heart shaped pieces from the shirt's material and tried to do some applique using my sewing machine. It ended up as a disaster. 

Anyway, the final outcome is shown below... Almost satisfactory.... Helen is very very happy for her mother saved her T shirt. And more than that, she is very fond of wearing her father's T shirts & shirts. That's another reason for her extra happiness........

T shirt + shirt = Frock....

See you next time...

Jisha

Welcome 2012

Crocheted Multipurpose Pouch

Here is my crocheted multipurpose pouch. We can use it for keeping essential things like mobile phone, keys and money. A cute little thing to carry with.

Crocheted multipurpose pouch

There are two compartments for this little pouch as shown in the bottom left corner. I got the idea from a video in youtube which I have seen long time back. Now I don't have the link. 

I made two crocheted pieces. First one with height needed for my pouch and the second one with its double height. Arranged the first piece inside the second and using a tapestry needle and crochet yarn, stitched it together to form the basic carrying structure. Then on top of one side, attached the flap using double crochet. Added single row of shells at the end, attached crocheted chain in the middle of this  row. And finally, added a button. 

See you next time....

Jisha

Glorious Pineapple Doily

I did a glorious pineapple doily this week. This is my  first pineapple doily.  An easy and interesting pattern. Pattern link is here. Used knitting thread size 20 with 2mm steel hook.

Glorious Pineapple Doily

My daughter 'helped' me a lot while  doing this pattern. She used to sit by my side and talk continuously about all those things happened in her school, about her teacher,  friends....  I have to give an ear to that and the  effect was I will be doing 3 rounds and will be going back to the first round again to correct the mistakes...Finally I finished this doily when she was in school... She is a wonderful naughty kid. 

I finished a larger hipster doily too.... It is an enlarged version of this Hipster Doilies which I have done earlier... One of my first attempts... I like doing hipster doily pattern.... Here is the pattern link.

Large Hipster Doily

See you next time.....

Jisha

Oval Placemat and Coasters

It was my long time wish to crochet something in Oval shape. When I went to Nima's flat few months back, her oval doily drew my attention. After that I started collecting oval crochet patterns....

Oval Placemat and Coasters

This pattern is from Red Heart website. I made one placemat and 6 coasters. Now I plan to crochet more and more ovals.... See you next time...

Jisha

Happy Diwali....

Barakt Al Harthy - the Hero...

Omani sprinter Barakat al Harthy won gold medal at the inaugural GCC Games in Manama on 17th October2011. He qualified for 2012 Olympic Games. 23 year old Barakat broke his own national record in 100m in 10.17seconds yesterday. He dedicated his victory to His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said. 

Barakat in Guangzhou, China - Novermber 2010

Barakat timed 10.28seconds in 100m event in 16th Asian Games held in November 2010, Guangzhou, China. There he won his prestigious bronze medal which he dedicated to His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said and the people of Oman during the 40th National Day Celebrations of Oman. Later in June 2011, he achieved the gold medal with 10.29seconds in the 100m event in Zgorzelec meet in Poland. 

Link : Barakat Al Harthy on IAAF webpage.

Wishing him all the very best for his wonderful career.....

Winter Breath and Spiral Simplicity Doilies

At last, I blocked my first set of doilies yesterday. I did both of them before the summer holidays. ie; in August.  I did this Winter Breath Doily first. The stitches are little loose for the first few rounds. I used Ecru/off-white for both of the doilies.

Winter Breath Doily

This is the second experiment with Ecru/off-white. The Spiral Simplicity Doily.

Spiral Simplicity Doily

Following is a scene from my first adventurous blocking trial.

Blocking...

Jisha

Fish Pickle with Gravy

Last week, we bought shark fish from the supermarket. It was fresh and I prepared pickle with it. Here is the finger licking recipe for that.

Ingradients
Step 1
Fish     - 1/2 kg (cut into small cubes)

Marinate the fish using Ginger-garlic paste - 1 tsp, Salt- to taste,  Chilly powder- 1 tbsp, Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp and  Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp. Keep aside for 20 minutes. Fry the fish in any vegetable oil.

Ingradients

Step 2
Ginger                 - 100 gms
Garilc                  - 100 gms
Green chilly         - 4
Curry leaves        - 2-3 springs (randomly chopped)
Take half of the ginger-garlic and finely chop. In gingely oil,  fry it with green chilly and curry leaves. When it is golden brown, transfer it into a plate.

Fried items for the pickle

Step 3

Take half of the ginger and garlic kept aside and grind it to a fine paste. In the remaining gingley oil, fry this paste till oil separates. Add chilly powder - 2-3 tbsp, fenugreek powder - 1/2 tsp. Fry for few seconds, add 1/2 to 3/4 cup of vinegar. Bring to boil. Add the fried items and enough salt into this mix. Simmer for few seconds and remove from the fire.

Fish pickle is ready...!

Note: According to your taste, you may change the quantity of chilly powder and vinegar. You may add 1/4-1/2 cup of boiled water to adjust the thickness of the gravy before removing the pickle from the fire. Store it in air tight container. The pickle tastes good after 2-3 days.

A trip to Misfat Al Abriyeen

During Eid Holidays, we went to Misfat Al Abriyeen. It is a must watch place in the Sultanate of Oman.  When we reached the city Al Hamrah, we all were really fascinated by the beauty of the old style buildings.

A scene from the city Al Hamra

A street in Al Hamra

Mind catching scene...

Can't resist clicking my camera...

Fascinated by these scenes, we continued our journey to Misfah, one of the oldest villages in Oman. A mountain village with plenty of palm trees - just amazing.

On the way to Misfah...

We parked our car and had a walk around the place.  We found an information board of Oman Tourism regarding the historical importance of the village. Now the villagers are enjoying modern facilities of roads, electricity and telecommunication. Even then they give special interest in preserving the valuable culture they inherited. 

Seems like in wonderland...

We heard the sound of a traditional Omani drum. We walked towards that direction and reached in front of the entrance of a multistoried builiding. 

Entrance...

We thought that it is a building. But when entered, we understood that we are in a narrow street with stones laid on the floor and houses on both sides of the street. Those buildings are built using stones, baked bricks, mud bricks, palm trees, mangrove poles and lime. Lime is mainly used for plaster and mortar.

Narrow street

Palm trees are used  in roofing and to give support for the structure

This was the source of the Omani Drum's sound

A scene from the pathway... 

The closed main entrance of an unused house.

Some houses are occupied.

 'Jahla' are the traditional pots in which drinking water is kept. Jahla can also be seen hanging from windows of  traditional houses. 

'Jahla' hanging from the window of a traditional house..

Remnants of an old house...

Finally we reached the plantation area where banana and lemon trees are also planted besides the palm trees.

A scene from the garden

Looking back....

Another scene from the garden

Raw dates

Ripe dates

Falaj is Oman's unique water channel system which collects water from the water source and distribute it for domestic and irrigation purpose. 

Falaj... Refreshing cool water from the mountains

It is so dense...

Kids are enjoying...

Our kids don't want to come out of the place. But we have to go back home. Finally we started our journey back to Muscat by evening. This trip will surely be a pleasant memory in our life....