I'm great today.

Actually I can't imagine what's going to happen today but I feel wonderful. Perhaps my colleagues were right. They said that women should wear beautiful dresses to make ourselves more confident.

Today is the first day I wear a beautiful dress (but very very cheap) to go to work. Many people living around looked at me. It made me embarrass. When I arrived at my office, my colleague also complimented my suit. Well, there's no reason to be not beautiful all the time. I promised to my dear that I will be nice, be beautiful, be busy to make him feel proud of me.

Don't cry anymore.

Don't be depressed anymore.

until the day I'm waiting for.

love you ^-^

Learn English: Noun phrase

Noun phrase is a group of words including a head noun/ main noun, one or more adjectives, and adverb. The adjectives modify noun while the adverb modifies adjectives.

For example: An increasingly advanced technology.

+ Technology: head noun
+ advanced: adjective -> modifies "technology"
+ increasingly: adverb -> modifies "advanced"

The adjective and adverb in noun phrase give specific information about head noun (technology)

A noun phrase can also contain a prepositional phrase. Noun phrase can be made up of one or more noun phrase and prepostional phrases.

For example:
1. An increasingly number of children are using computers from an early age.

2. An increasingly number of students in universities are using advanced technology for study purposes.

3. Increasingly advanced computer technology is now available to almost everyone. However, this technology can have extremely serious implications if it is used by computer literate criminals. These criminals can use the technology to gain access to details of personal accounts, and steal private personal information. The only way to protect the privacy of individuals is to ensure that all information is locked in a securely protected hard disk.

a day

Everyday I go to work, I have to wait at a train station if there is a coming train. I like to see ppl on the train. Some of them might come another place, some of them might go back their home. And I think each has own feeling. When I'm on a bus or train to go home or travel to another area, I always have special feeling. It's maybe exciting, it's maybe fret.

It has been cool these days. It's a sign of coming Xmas. I remember when I was a child, it's very very cold in this time. But now I think global warming causes this. We're losing winter. We're losing the good atmosphere. We're are losing living environment. And someday, we will never wear sweeter, we don't use wool anymore.

So, how about my wool pile? What do I use them for? :D

Little Dinosaur has new clothes

These stuffs were made this Sunday. Are they cute? When I had made these, I was hurry to bring them to my Little Dinosaur. I couldn't wait to see her try them on. Luckily, all of them were fit her.

I must say thank to sister P.Nghi who wrote the tutorial to sew this lovely blue dress.
And I also must say thank to my old grandma who showed me how to cut the pale blue shirt.
The skirt was repaired from my top :))

Many ideas just come from my mind. I can't wait to make them true.

this is my day ^-^

Happy birthday to you, this is your day.
On this day for you we’re gonna love you in every way.
This is your day, your day, happy birthday to you, to you, to you.

Happy birthday to you, you’re still young.
Age is just a number, don’t you stop having fun.
This is your day, your day, happy birthday to you.
This day only comes once every year,
Because you’re so wonderful with each and everything you do, hey!

Happy birthday to you, this is your day.
On this day for you we’re gonna love you in every way.
This is your day, your day, happy birthday to you, to you.
This day is only for you, ’cause you’re so special in every way,
Happy birthday to you!

A gift

last day of AE6

Wow, the period of 2.5 months passed quickly. It would be unfortunate if I didn't come to class in the last day. I must thank Mr.Nghia for calling me to wake me up when I was sleeping due to the tiredness after work. hehe. Actually my result made me disappointed about myself and I didn't think I can get the highest score in class. And I honestly thank Ms.Jacqui who just gave me some deeply comments. She said that I should be more confident to show me up to let teachers know who I am, how I am. Well, it is my weakness. I should try to speak out what I think.

Another thing Ms. Jacqui made me surprised is she still remember what I talked in my first speaking. I said that I want to be a good mother in the future. Well, actually it was my real feeling and exactly what I intend to do. I did it because I don't know why Australian women don't want to have children, especially Ms. Debra's thought. She said that she had a thought about what children will be in next 20 years in a worse environment than it is. And that's why it made Ms.Jacqui liked it and be impressed what I thought.

Ms. Jacqui also advised me to continue level A7. Well, after 5 weeks relaxing, I will go back to ACET, I hope that. :D

Ah, after the interview, we went to eat snail, shellfish... It was very hilarious. After that we went to a coffee shop, sorry I suddenly forget its name. Then we decided to meet together every week to practise English. I think it's a good idea and good way to improve English.

a hard week

This week comes with sadness and... final exam. Well, I'm going to go hell soon.

nothing's in progress. :(

I hate today.

CRAZY!!!!

I'm so crazy today.!!!! The sound of the driller from the next house is terrible. It makes me crazy. Please stop!!!!

Although today I got lots of money ^-^hahaha. I'm thinking of something to spend for. :D

last weekend

It was not my happy weekend which I expected. My dear and I had an argument about something stupid. I felt so bad. Because I always want to make him happy. But it's ok now. And I had to do lots of homework huhuhu. Many plans weren't carried out. :(

continue or not?

Last night, ACET staff, who is a kind and lovely guy but we all "hate" him, came to notice about the registration for the new course. Many my old friends delayed the next course. And me too. Actually, I want to stop studying at ACET because I feel so tired after 7,5-month period for studying at night without relaxing. I got a high score of assignment #1, it encouraged me so much. It also makes me confused of my decision. Continue or not? >"<

The most important thing now is I have to stop doing my favorite thing to focus on studying. But it seam a hard mission ^-^

Wishlist

This post from http://www.kaboodle.com/reviews/sew-mama-sew-blog-spring-sewing-~-spring-ruffle-top-tutorial

Step 1: Take your chest and hip measurements. Measure around your chest, with the measuring tape under your armpits and above your bustline (this is NOT the fullest part of your chest). Round this number to the nearest inch, add 1” for ease, divide by two, then add 1” for seam allowances. Example: My chest measurement is just over 35 inches. So: 35” + 1” (ease) = 36” / 2 = 18” + 1” (seam allowances) = 19” (we will call this “X”) Here is the formula for you to use: ____ + 1” = _____ / 2 = _____ + 1” = ________ inches Next measure around your hips at their fullest point. Divide this number by 2 and add 1” for seam allowances. Example: My hip measurement is 41 inches. So: 41” / 2 = 20.5” + 1” (seam allowances) = 21.5” (we will call this “Y”)

a useful link for health

http://officeworkout.msn.com/

I promise myself try to do exercise everyday. However, it seems a hard work to do, hehe. I hope this link can help me.

Otis Fashion Sophomore Studio: Invisible Zipper

This video is very useful for… someday ^-^

Skirt

This post is from http://www.kukyideas.com/journal/2006/07/tiered-skirt-tutorial.html
I made another skirt for Isabelle using 3 Peas tiered skirt tutorial. She no longer has her blog so I asked her permission to post her tutorial here.

Supplies needed:

Fabric: a total of 1 1/2 to 2 yards of cotton of your choice (plenty for girls’ sizes), for a lady’s skirt you will have to do some simple math based on the dimensions of the strips we calculate in a bit; I’d say 2 1/2 yards should be plenty, but don’t hold me to that!

Thread

3/4″ wide elastic (enough to fit comfortably around waist plus a few inches)

Notes
All seam allowances are 5/8″.
The things I did differently are in red.

Measuring
To begin, you will need to determine the dimensions of the strips you are going to cut.

Step 1: Measure the waist and hips (in inches) of the intended wearer. Choose the larger of the 2 measurements, we will call this number “A”. You also need to determine the desired length of the finished skirt, so measure from the waist to where you want the hem to land; divide this number by 3 (you can do a little rounding here to make your life easier, maybe choose the closest 1/4″ or 1/2″ increment). Call this number “B”.

For example: peri has a waist measurement of approximately 20″ and the finished skirt should be about 13″ long.

A=20
B=4.5 (after rounding up)

Step 2: (sorry to bring algebra into the picture)

(A x 1.5) + 1.5 = _____ “C”

Again, you can round your answer a little, this is not an exact science.

Example:
C=31.5

Step 3: You will cut 2 strips to make the top tier.

C divided by 2 = ____ width of each strip

B + 2 = ____ height of each strip

Example top tier: width=15.75″ height=6.5″

Step 4: You will cut 2 strips to make the middle tier.

C multiplied by 1.5 = ____ then divide your answer by 2 to equal your width ____

B + 1.25 = ____ height of each strip

Example middle tier: width=23.75″ (after rounding up) height=5.75″

Step 5: You will cut 3 strips to make the lower tier. Cut these strips to the same dimensions as those in Step 4. I decided to make 2 strips for the lower tier instead of 3 because I wanted the seams to match up. So I took the width of the middle tier multiplied by 3 = ____ then divide that by 2.

Example lower tier: width = 35.75″ (after rounding up) height=5.75″

Now we have all of our pieces and are ready to start sewing!!

Sewing the Skirt
1. With right sides facing each other, sew the side seams together on each set of strips (remember for the lower tier you have 3 strips to sew together. well not my way. My way is 2 strips for each tier). Edge finish each of these seams with a serger if you have access to one, otherwise trim the seam allowance to about 1/4″ and zig-zag stitch to keep your raw edges from unraveling. You now have 3 “loops” of fabric, one for each tier.

2. At this point, I like to go ahead and sew a narrow hem around the entire bottom edge of the lower tier. Press up 5/8″, open the fabric back out, and press the raw edge in to meet the first crease. Sew the hem.

3. Edge finish the upper edge of the top tier, fold 1 1/4″ to the inside and press to form a casing for the elastic. Stitch about 1″ in from the fold almost all the way around, leaving a small opening to insert the elastic into later.

4. On the top edges of the middle and bottom tiers (and with right sides facing out), sew a long machine basting stitch all the way around 5/8″ from raw edge and also 3/8″ from raw edge.

And another change I made. I actually did 1/2″ from the raw edge and 1/4″ instead. I found out with Isabelle’s first skirt that I am a crap sewer and sometimes cannot sew straight. Doing it this way leaves 1/8″ margin for error. Which believe me I needed. You may not but obviously I suck.

5. Starting with the bottom tier, grasp the bobbin thread ends and start pulling gently to form gathers in the fabric. When the circumference of this edge matches that of the lower edge of the middle tier, stop and tie your bobbin threads together to keep everything in place. Then slide the gathers around until you are happy that they are distributed fairly evenly.

Update: I added some new pictures with a new skirt. Hope the different fabric doesn’t throw anyone off.

6. Flip the middle tier inside out so that the right sides (the outsides of your fabric) are facing each other and pin it to the bottom tier — the bottom edge of the middle tier (the edge without the basting) should match up to the top gathered edge of the lower tier and the right sides should be together. Now machine baste this seam. I machine basted at 1/2″ (again the whole sewing straight thing). I’m usually one that skips the basting steps, but, trust me, basting is your friend on this project! I also reduced the pressure on my presser foot for this step, don’t forget to readjust the setting after you baste.

Now you can flip it right side out and check your gathers. Don’t worry if you see the basting stitches from where you gathered the bottom tier. When you sew the seam at 5/8″ you won’t see them anymore.

7. Repeat the procedures from Steps 5 and 6 to attach the middle tier to the top tier.

8. Now serge or sew the seams you just basted using a 5/8″ seam allowance (trim and finish your edges if you used a regular sewing machine for this step).

9. Thread your elastic through the top casing. I like to use a big safety pin to help me work it through. Adjust the elastic to comfortably fit waist. Overlap the ends and sew them together (I used several rows of zig-zag stitch and zig-zag back-stitching for security). Using a straight stitch, sew the opening of the waistband casing closed.

You’re Done!

YAY! And that was 3 Peas tiered skirt tutorial. Too bad I don’t have her pictures. I’m sure she had more pictures showing everything in more detail then what I did. But her directions are quite clear and it was quite simple to make this skirt. It was totally awesome of her to share her tutorial! Thank you 3 Peas!

Sewing in a Foreign Language

This post is from: http://thoughtandthimble.blogspot.com/2007/09/sewing-in-foreign-language.html

It is not necessary that you read Japanese characters to sew in Japanese. You don't even need a friend who does. All you need are metric measuring tools (which you probably already own, just look at your seam gauge) and intermediate sewing skills, or beginning skills with a good sewing manual and extra patience, and your new Japanese pattern book, of course.

1. Selecting your Japanese craft book.
First you need to choose your books. Yes, if you are reading this, it will likely be books plural by the end of this paragraph. Look at pictures and collect ISBNs from Crafting Japanese, Wee Wonderfuls, and Molly Chicken for starters. If you are sewing for little girls, Girly Style Wardrobe, ISBN 457911132X, is a great place to begin. It's instructions are quite clear, the projects simple, and the results very satisfying.

2. Purchasing your books.
Did you go browse? Good. Now that you have a nice wish list, you need to decide where to buy your books. Superbuzzy, Etsy, ebay, Amazon Japan, and YesAsia all sell them. Etsy and ebay are actually good places to 'see inside' the different books as the sellers there often post lots of photos. And it looks like Amazon Japan has vastly improved their English site, as I was able to look up Girly Style Wardrobe without an ISBN, so that may be the new way to go. That said, I've bought my small collection of five sewing pattern books from YesAsia. I entered the ISBN in the advanced search (no dashes or spaces), and ordered enough to qualify for free shipping. One credit card number and three weeks later, voila!, I had my booty.

3. How to use your new Japanese pattern book.

The hardest part is deciding which project to sew first. We'll look at this sweet tie-shoulder top, project 'a' from Girly Style Wardrobe. After removing the folded pattern sheet from the book, check your measurements for the correct Euro size and look for the set of lines marked 'a' in size 100cm (for example, do use your own size). Trace them onto freezer or pattern paper.
Important: Before you cut the pattern pieces out, add the seam allowances shown on the cutting layout.

The cutting layout is on the instruction page in the back of the book, along with the amount of fabric you'll need. If your project calls for elastic or bias tape, you will also find those lengths if you study the characters labeling those items in the illustrations, then look for the same characters near the measurements above the cutting layout. (Click the photo for a readable size.) Now you are ready to cut your fabric, follow the pictures, and sew! Yes, you are right. That was easy.

I can sew, can’t I?

I’m a such of imitative person. When I see something which ppl are talking much about it, or doing it, I want to have it immediately. My sewing machine is a good illustration of this. When I saw sis Pnghi’s Janome, I love it instantly. I asked my dear to go with me to buy it one week later.

And here it is:

I love it so much, now I know I can sew. I remember when I was a little child, I used to play with my grandma’s sewing machine. But I didn’t make anything completely. haha… And I thought that I had no ability to sew anything.

Not only sewing, there are many stuffs I’m enjoying, such as crochet, cross stitch, non stitch, sewing… Everything just started, I need to learn and practice more to make perfect stuffs.

Ah, another thing I want to do is cooking. I’ll do it someday ^-^

hard working

Technorati Tags: sewing

Last weekend, I did many stuffs with all of my enthusiasm. In Friday evening, I tried to finish a bean bag. After that, I realized that it's too big in my room although I love it so much. I decided to give it to my cousin. Here it is:

It it a nice and soft bean bag with some embroidery:
A crochet product which was finished at a coffee shop in last Saturday morning:
A dress with a wrong collar, but it's OK. It was my first dress making. So I love it whatever it's nice or not. haha

Saturday evening and the whole Sunday, I spent all time in sewing 2 dresses for the lovely girl living next door. I'll post the picture later. It was so exciting!!! I love sewing, although it makes my vertebral column hurt.

hometown

It's about 7 months I didn't come back my hometown. There are many reasons, but I came back with my dear and my little Thu's family last weekend. Thu went with us by bus, while her parents rode motorbike. We arrived home at noon and waited for her parents till night. We had so much fun! I like ppl in family sit, talk and laugh together.
In the next day, we started to go to Núi Cấm at 7 am. The distance between my house and Núi Cấm is not very long, just about 90kms. So it took 2 hours driving. I really loved the scenery outside the car's windows. You can see all of the activities of Southern ppl. When the moutain appeared at the horizontal, it means we nearly arrived in Núi Cấm. I can smell the fresh and cool air of this place.

The narrow path to go up to the pagoda:
The mighty scenery:

My family:


My grandpa, uncle 5 and uncle 4 who was pushing the wheelchair:

I love this pic so much:

Nice stairs:

A corner of Vạn Linh pagoda:
My cousin:
Uncle 5:
When these men went to the top of the mountain, the rest stayed at Vạn Linh pagoda to wait.
Palm tree, a special feature of this place:
We also dropped by the Duty Free Supermarket in Tịnh Biên, the boundary between VN and Campodia.
Finally, we visited the temple of "Bà chúa xứ núi Sam" before backing home:
We arrived home at 5pm, still early but all of us were very hungry. So, my mom cook for us many dishes, hehe

We ended the trip with much fun and happiness. My grandpa said that he's satisfied. This is his dream when he was young. At that time, he was so busy in business so he couldn't go. I feel so bad because he couldn't make the most of this.

done!!!

Finally, I'm done with everything I had to, then I can feel relax to back home. GREAT!!!

There's one more thing I have to do is preparing some gifts for my grandparents and my parents, some candies for my little cousins. Wow!!! The most important point is I'm out of money!!! huhu.

Remember that I have to hand in my first draft to teacher.

I'm spending so much working-time to surf some my favorite website and blogs. It looks I'm a bad staff, huh? But I know that my boss doesn't blame me for that. haha

okai, see u next week. ^-^

bad news

I've heard that my dear just got 483 Toefl, huhu... He just needs some more points for his uni application. But it's no great matter. He will do the exam again next month. Good luck next time my dear! He also encourages me to take the ielts exam, but I need to prepare carefully before I do it. I'm still not self-confident. :( Huhu.

Another bad news is.... I can't tell. :D

Finally, I have to finish my homework before going home but I haven't had a look at it yet. Poor me!!!

về nhà

Trưa trong ts bùn hiu hắt! Nằm vắt chân lên ghế cố vỗ về giấc ngủ, vẫn ko được!!! Thui thì pha cafe sữa cho tỉnh táo luôn vậy!!! Hộp sữa để trong tủ lạnh nhiều ngày, đông cứng, chờ mãi chẳng thấy nhỏ xuống giọt nào. Thế là chu miệng lên một lỗ thổi phù phù cho sữa chảy ra lỗ bên kia. Tự dưng nhớ đến ngày xưa ghê! Cái ngày còn là một nhóc con đen nhẽm suốt ngày chân sáo ríu rít ở nhà nội, cứ len lén mở tủ lạnh cầm hộp sữa lên mút một cái, nghe mùi thơm thơm béo béo, rùi cứ để đấy cho sữa tan từ từ trong miệng.
Lại hồi hộp ghê, cứ như mới ngày nào xa quê vậy, hẹn rồi, nhưng cứ nôn nao mau cho tới ngày về. Lần nào cũng tự nhủ mình sẽ nhờ nội chỉ cho vài món bánh, mà cái bịnh lười mua vật liệu rồi cứ để cho nội làm thôi, còn mình cứ mỗi việc măm măm. Thôi lần này hứa sẽ thực hành, ghi chép đầy đủ... Để lỡ sau này, chẳng còn nội, thì ai làm bánh cho mình ăn. Nào là bông lan nhân thịt độc nhất vô nhị này, nào là bánh gan thơm đường ngọt lịm này... Còn nữa nhé, bánh canh bột gạo nấu với gà, chừa một phần bột làm bánh canh ngọt thì tuyệt cú mèo... Ở Xì Gòn ko có những món này đâu nội à!!! Làm con nhớ lắm những món ngon của nội. Hôm nọ nội lên chơi, lấy giấy bút ra nhờ nội đọc cho ghi lại mấy công thức làm bánh. Nội nói già rồi hông còn nhớ gì hết!!! Tự dưng thấy xót xa quá đỗi... Nội già lắm rồi...

Mong lắm ngày về...

weekend weekend

Weekend vừa rồi, vợ chồng Bì lên chơi, nhà mình lại có một cuối tuần hoành tráng! KL mặc áo đầm mới chị 2 may nè, hoàn thành tại quán cafe lun mới ghê. Quán cũng dễ thương lắm, cái ngõ thì nhỏ xíu thôi, khó tìm, nhưng bên trong là cả một khu vườn tươi mát. Chị 2 lo móc áo cho Khủng Long nên quên mất chụp hình quán, thôi lần sau nhé!

Tối CN cả nhà lại đi Spices, 2 quên ko đem máy hình nên chả có tấm hình nào cả, máy của ba Thư thì lại hết pin. Tiếc nhỉ? Nhà mình mỗi lần đi đâu là rộn ràng, lộn xộn chỗ đó! Là những người cuối cùng rời khỏi nhà hàng lun, đợi người ta đuổi mới đi đó mà! Cảm thấy chưa đủ vui, ku Vũ còn gợi ý đi cafe nữa chứ! Phải chạy vòng vòng nhà thờ Đức Bà mới chọn được quán ngồi được lâu lâu tí. Thế là Windows hội đủ tiêu chuẩn vừa thoáng mát, vừa đóng cửa trễ, nên nhà mình có thêm 1 tiếng đồng hồ ngồi tán dóc! Tội nghiệp KLong bùn ngủ quá cứ đòi về!
Thôi show hình đây:

=>> người ta đang ăn mà cứ bắt chụp hình


==> giống bà cụ non ghê!!!
==> Tóc không đủ dài để bay bay trong gió, thôi thì lấy tay "nắm tóc" làm duyên vậy!!!
==> Hết nắm tóc, rùi lại "nắm váy"!!!

==> Một trái tim, một quê hương. Áo dzì mà tuột dây hoài vậy 2!!!
==> Sao tự nhiên 2 hiền khô vậy? @-@
==> 3 con "cá xấu"
==> 3 chị em
==> 2 chị em
==> áo ai may cho KLong mà xinh quá vậy ta?