Welcome to Knotty Bicsie!: May 2008

It was a long weekend due to the Monday holiday. Knotty Bicsie was kept very busy by all the events that were in place due to this holiday...

1st of all, Sweet Citrus went to UK! be sure to keep the baby princess warm! :)

Bazaar @Clarke Quay is back! This time by a new event company. Big Grin Organics (Chewy) tried Clarke Quay for the 1st time. We all had fun :)

Knotty Bicsie's good friend, Pauseability, celebrates his 1st Birthday on 17th May! We had a yummy Popiah Party!

Since it was holiday on Monday, Jullie, Michelle & Ee Wei came over to my house for a crafting party! Jullie just came back from a fruitful Bangkok trip & brought back many goodies. We all learnt tatting from Jullie. Check out my 1st attempt at tatting! Not bad, ya? :P

Finally a group of gals, waiting to start University in a few months' time start their 1st knitting lesson yesterday! There were lotsa laughter.

I had a very interesting experience on Tuesday when I visited the JIAM 2008 Exhibition @Expo. It is an international exhibition organized by a Japanese organization, showcasing textile & fabrics related machineries. It is held in Singapore for the 1st time. I'm lucky my granduncle's company participated in this mega exhibition, so I was invited to the show :) This was a whole new experience for me! I saw many huge machineries, which I don't even know what they are used for until the vendors gave a demo!

It was nice to come across a traditional manual way of making buttons :) They were giving away FREE buttons. Yay... who doesn't like free gifts? hehe... :P

Those Knotty Fans out there who LOVE my buttons, well, check out my sponsor & supplier - Sintek-Link! Yup, my granduncle's company. They now also distribute these very popular studs from Korea. The machine he's showcasing is the heat-press machine by his business partner - Hashima. Check out the company logo above Mickey Mouse. It's made by my VERY YOUNG UNCLE (only about 18yrs old!), Yixiong. I promised him I'll "feature his work"! :P

I chanced upon this exhibitor, Masayuki-san, showcasing sewing machines, who live in Yokohama. Knowing I just visited Yokohama, Osambashi, a few weeks ago, we started chatting about sewing & craft. This lady, Masayo-san, impressed me with her sewing-machine skill.

See how factory steam-iron a shirt in seconds! I felt like a kid in Science Centre! I was trying so hard to hide my excitement, in case I'm so obviously a "mountain turtle" there!

I vividly remember my jaw literally dropped when I saw this incredible machine. Not only can it do embroidery in minutes, it can even stitch strings of sequins & lace onto the design!!! O boy, how clever! & you know what? Since it's machine-made, the stitches are all "perfectly uniform"! iyo.... I'm still very overwhelmed! & of course these machines don't come cheap. I overhead a vendor quoting a potential buyer S$2million for the above embroidery machine! *I think my jaw dropped again*

2 sewing machine companies have very good & effective marketing strategies. They organize fashion design competitions & sponsor their machines to leading fashion academy in Japan. The effect, beautiful trendy fashion showing off the capabilities of their sewing machines, & of course, making these young aspiring fashion designers their loyal fans.

It was a strange feeling watching what these steel giants are capable of doing. I almost realize then why many people cannot understand handicraft & hence unappreciative of crafters' effort! Yes, it's scary, but this is real. Actually I'm most awed & amazed by the "handicraft" of these mega giants. The heroes behind these unbelievable inventions are truly incredible! They are definitely very creative individuals too!