The Stories Behind My Picnic Mat

"We need more colour!"

And so I made a picnic mat.

I made a call for scraps, and they came!

Thank you to everyone who contributed to the mat for the Maker Faire; no matter how big or small, I really appreciate it. 

As I was making the mat, I realised that each scrap has a story behind it. I thought it would be interesting to find out more, and so I interviewed the contributors.

#1  "These were curtains. We had ordered some for the spa and then found they were too long. We ended up cutting them shorter!"
#2  "I think my mum used to sew it into bolster cover"
#3  Uniform from Marina Bay Sands. It was going to be thrown out but the fabric from the waist coats was too pretty.
#4  "I think I bought that (top) when I was 15, with little I have, it only cost me $2 at a reject shop. I think it's vibrant and cute. Then I gave it to my sister. We both grew out of it"
#5  "My dad used to have a factory making garments for overseas export, but the textiles industry was moving to cheaper places like Bangladesh so his business went bust. All these fabrics used to be samples that he got from his suppliers."
#6  From the maternity dress that I made in 2005! It was baby pink and sweet - not sure what I was thinking of though.
#7  Cut offs from I bought from Fictive Fingers.
#8  "Clothing for a soft toy that I made for a swap!"
#9  Another maternity dress, the one that was converted into a skirt!
#10  "These were my daughters' (yes, all 3) pyjamas"
#11 Scraps left over from making my own sanitary liners (more details later!)
#12  Scraps from an old lady who passed away recently (story here) She was the lady who gave me the lace for my refashioned lace top.

For me, the story that touched me the most was #5, the one about his dad's garment factory closing down. It's a reminder that things don't always go as planned, no matter how hard you try. But then, the happy thing is that things turned out alright for them in the end.

Do you own something that has an interesting story/stories behind it?

6 Things I Learnt on My Maker Faire Journey

When I woke up on Monday morning, it felt as though I had a major hang over. I had just spent the weekend at Maker Faire Singapore! I was one of many makers of the OneMaker Group (OMG) / Art Science Museum consortium. We had Dangerous Demos, Etching Circuits, Cardboard Lamps, Plastic Bottle Planting, Light Painting, Cardboard Sculptures, Automata, Weaving, Mediaeval Costumes and the Hover Rover (so many, phew!).  I was in-charge of the weaving project called Weaving Dreams - participants wove mini hoops and stools with upcycled materials.  The objective of a Maker Faire is to engage the community in making things and get them to experience it. Do you want to take part next year? Read about the things I learnt in preparation for my booth at the faire.

Preparing for Maker Faire

There was definitely a lot more to prepare compared to last year's repair cafe; fortunately, I had a great team. 

#1 There Will Always be Changes
Be prepared because changes happen ALL the time - things can get very fluid so always have a Plan B!

For us, it happened several times from the production right down to the day of the event itself!  But it was also important that we stuck with the weaving and upcycled theme. For example, when we realised that we didn't have enough time to weld a nest-like structure for participants to weave on, we went straight to Plan B and decided on using hoops instead. But we also wanted to enhance the experience for the participants and show them that upcycled textiles could also be used for making things like furniture, so we welded some stools as well.

My first acceptable weld (after many attempts!)

#2 Find Your Team Members - Quick!

This is very important especially if you want them to be on board with your idea. Find people who have the skills that match the needs of your project. I required someone who could weld, and she (Farah) taught me how to do it as well! Steep learning curve, but very rewarding!

Great team and helpers on the day!

#3 Project Management is Important

Set yourself mini-deadlines, and if they are not met, do something about it!

Write out LISTS - things to do, things to buy, things to set up, and more importantly, who is doing what! Share those lists with everyone on your team so that you are all on the same page.  I sometimes forgot to do that but every now and then I would look at my calendar and see the looming deadline! 

Don't forget to communicate, communicate, communicate too!

#4 It's All About the Experience

Maker Faire is all about the experience so make sure your booth is somewhere people will actually enjoy making. Hidayah from OMG recommended that I add more colour to my booth, and so I made a giant picnic mat from fabric scraps. I think it made the booth more homely and allowed more people to take part in the activity.

#5 Make It Small and Easy

We realised on the first day that the participants didn't want to stick around for too long for an activity. We decided to make the small wire hoops even smaller so that they could be in and out within 1/2 hour. It also helped the little ones, but we did get a few who wanted to stay longer.

#6 Be Happy and Stay Calm!

This is very important! If you want happy participants, smile and stay calm no matter sunshine or rain. Do I look calm here?

Acknowledgements - Thank you to OneMaker Group - OMG and Art Science Museum for making it happen. Also special thanks to my wonderful team members Farah, Atiqa, and Colin-  thanks for being patient with me; Afia, Chew Lin, Joyce, and Cathy - thanks for helping out during the event. We had lots of people chip in to make the T-shirt yarn from old t-shirts and help weave the hoops: Adel, Bernice, Seth, Liyana and other members of Repair Kopitiam - a big thank you to you too!!

Preparing for Singapore Maker Faire

There won't be any Fix It Friday this week as I have been very busy with two things, Repair@Schools (a spin off of Repair Kopitiam) and the preparations for Singapore Maker Faire (11-12 July). 

:

• FAIRE OPENING HOURS

  11th July 2015: 11am-7pm
  12th July 2015: 10am-6pm

• GETTING THERE

  15 Tampines Street 11   Free Shuttle buses will run from Tampines MRT (half hourly) and Vivo City (hourly).

Singapore Maker Faire

A group of us (under the One Maker Group) were given a theme to work on - Childhood Dreams - and I decided to make a huge interactive nest that families could weave on, the whole idea being that people could relive and experience the warmth of a mother's embrace (the nest), and also take part in building the nest using old t-shirts. 

Unfortunately, I didn't have enough time to design it......

it got delayed.....

so eventually, I decided to transform the nest into woven hoops, akin to the Native American dream catchers. So, our plan is to have these hoops hanging from the ceiling and underneath, members of the public will get to weave a mini-version. 

I'm looking forward to it!

Check out the progress below:

Yup, we used a hand drill to wind up the t-shirt material!

Linking up to
Friday Blog Booster Party

An Eventful Weekend - Singapore Mini Maker Faire

Last weekend was the Singapore Mini Maker Faire, and I was given the opportunity to teach garment repair as part of the Sustainable Living Lab booth. We had gathered unwanted jeans, socks and fabric scraps for the booth.   Apart from the garment repair, we got the community involved in woodwork, vacuum forming, pin hole cameras, rainbow loom, upside down plant hangers, electronics deconstruction, a physical version of the pong video game, and a bike which generates electricity!  

High points 
a) Watching the kids get really creative with their repair swatches - they turned them into head bands and even a treasure map!
b) One lady came down twice to finish off repairing her cardigan and trousers. 

My fave maker of the faire 
It has to be Yuichiro Katsumoto for me! He is from the NUS Cute Centre and he made the AMAGATANA. Check out his video!

Big thank you!
I would like to thank Sustainable Living Lab for the opportunity, and to my wonderful team mates - Raye and Amy - thank you for taking the time to take part in the repair booth!

Check out some of the pictures below. More photos here.  

Sample swatches

My youngest participant - only 5 years old and she can sew a running stitch like a pro.

Blanket stitch and patch on a cardigan - can't wait to see the fully repaired
garment.

Practising darning socks

Starting a trend - upcycled jeans and fabric scraps into fascinators!

A Darn Good Mending Cafe

Join us from 26 - 27 July at the Sustainable Living Lab booth, Singapore Mini Maker Faire

Venue: 1/F, Senja-Cashew CC, Bukit Panjang

Nearest MRT/LRT: Choa Chu Kang MRT / Senja LRT

Singapore Mini Maker Faire 26-27 July 2014

Lately, I have been collecting lots of recyclables from my neighbours for my workshops - newspapers, drink cartons, and even old clothes. It's been quite an adventure because through all this, I actually got to know my neighbours a lot better!  One of the families was in the process of refurbishing their home for Hari Raya (to celebrate the end of the Muslim fasting month), and instead of throwing out their old furniture, I shared that perhaps they would like to sell it or give it away. So, it was very timely that we found UsedFurnitureSingapore.net, a local resource site for people who want to look for second-hand furniture.  We found information on where to sell, donate, who can repair / restore, and even re-upholstery services, something which I didn't think existed in Singapore!  If you are looking for such services, do pop over and have a look!

OK, so you are probably thinking why I need so many recyclables. Well, I was engaged to conduct a couple of workshops (which I will blog about later), but the key event is the Singapore Mini Maker Faire coming up this weekend!!

Mark your calendars!

Dates: 26 - 27 July

Venue: Senja - Cashew CC, Bukit Panjang

Nearest train station: CCK MRT, change to LRT and alight at Senja LRT (5mins walk)

Learn how to repair your clothes!

With two other team mates (Raye and Amy), I will be having a Garment Repair Cafe with the Sustainable Living Lab.  I was really inspired by the Get Redressed Repair Challenge that I took part in April, that I decided that garment repair is a skill that everyone should have! 

We have been busy preparing swatches and mock ups to show you that it's cool to repair your clothes.  We will be focusing on jeans, cargoes and socks, so if you have any that you need repairing, come on down with them and we will show you how! If you don't have any, don't worry, as we have swatches prepared for you to try out mending! Take a sneak peek at our prep work!

Like the name? :-)  We brainstormed over the internet with Bowerbirds Journal!

Tags ready to go on the mock-ups!

Patches can look very pretty!

Want to learn some Sashiko?

More  Sashiko! 

We Yarnbombed the Pillar!

The rules of blogging dictate that if you want to engage your readers you need (amongst others) to post regularly, and perhaps even have a good series that is posted on a regular basis. Well.... umm.... as you might have realised, I've been quite terrible with the Greeny Crafter Series and it's fizzled out. I think mainly because I haven't been on the look out for upcyclers, but also because it does take a lot of time. I'm thinking of doing it differently the next time round though...

Last weekend I took part in the final phase of the yarnbombing in the lead up to the Singapore Mini Maker Faire (26- 27 July 2014).   We arrived at 10am and didn't leave until 4pm. A full 6 hours getting just one pillar dressed up for the event. I have seen tanks and buses being yarnbombed and always wonder how long that would take -- I think I have an idea now!  We personalised the whole project by writing down our thoughts regarding the whole activity. Take a look at the pictures.

I would like to thank:
a) Mona for being game enough to take on this project with me. I don't think I'd have done this without you;
b) The wonderful staff of the Science Centre and Senja Cashew CC for agreeing to let us yarnbomb their venues, and for letting the project be part of Singapore Mini Maker Faire 2014;
c) Bartholomew Ting for letting us yarnbomb his T-rex at Senja Cashew CC;
d) All the lovely volunteers who came forward and donated their time, yarn and pieces to the yarnbombing effort; and
e) The interns of Ngee Ann Polytechnic who stepped forward to help out in the social media.

Just in case you are wondering what will happen to the yarnbombed pieces after the event, we will be packing them up and re-using them for another yarnbombing occasion, so stay tuned to fb.com/yarnbombingsg

Yarnbombing Singapore Phase 2

We are onto our last phase of the yarnbombing sessions in the lead up to the Singapore Mini Maker Faire (SMMF) at Senja-Cashew Community Centre. The whole purpose of yarnbombing is to bring the community closer to the arts. Phase 2 (which took place last Sunday) involved yarnbombing renowned artist, Bart Ting's, cardboard T-rex. The SMMF team worked with the centre to bring in the public to take part in learning how to work with yarn and create a lovely scarf for Bart's T-rex. 

Photo courtesy of Singapore Mini Maker Faire

 

Our final phase will be on 13 July (10am) at Senja-Cashew CC. We will be at the lobby area next to the swimming pool. Do join us as we will be decorating up the place in preparation for the SMMF which will be held on 26-27 July. If you can't make it you can always drop your granny squares (4x4") at the Science Centre or the CC, or even drop us an email at yarnbombingsg@yahoo.com.sg so we can collect them from you!

Happy making!

Yarnbombing Singapore Phase 1

We yarnbombed the dinosaurs at the Science Centre Singapore on 24 May. A group of volunteers came together and combined their pre-made granny squares to make a long scarf for the apatasaurus. The scarf came to 245 inches long (almost 6 meters!) and used over 150 squares.  We are now going onto the second phase of the yarnbombing project, which is one of the lead-up activities to the Singapore Mini Maker Faire this year. 

We are going to yarnbomb the venue on the 22 June, 10am and 13 July, 10am! Woo hoo!  Do join us - sign up at yarnbombingsg@yahoo.com.sg or like us at Facebook.com/yarnbombingsg for updates.

All photos courtesy of Science Centre Singapore.