Purple Galore

This ready to wear kurung is said to be too dark purple once worn. So the owner needs some light colored beading to lighten the dress to be worn with light purple scarf.

The request started from just a simple line, to two lines to three lines. In beading and color selection three tones of purple shades were chosen and some flower sequins in there matching tones. I thought it would delightful to use the different purple tones beads and sequins for this plain jacquard purple dress.

However, time does not permit I just had to finished it off with just one pinkish line. Should the owner wish for me to continue after Raya then I will pick it up then. For now, I had to sign off for Balik Kampung.

Selamat Hari Raya

Maaf Zahir dan Batin to all lovely viewers.

Thank you.

VIP Kurung

I wonder whose dress this is. The material is pretty common to me but the request for beading is quiet extravagant. My job was to bead around the neckline and sleeve ends. The bead design should follow the abstract geometric design on the fabric. The area to bead is quiet large for me so it has taken me quiet a while to finish this project. I started to work around the neckline randomly choosing the geometric design in one matching color. Then switch to another motif with another color. I ended up using three colors that match the colors of the fabric. Brown, orange and gold Japanese Glass Beads are used and the resulting dress fits a VIP.

Magenta and Lilac

Ok. Lama tak create post. This time, again, bead work on baju Na. Again, vibrant floral motif - minat sungguh Na dengan motif ini. Yang lain nya this time is the same floral motif is repeated kat lower body line.

This time also I switched from using pearl beads to rice beads. The triangular shape centers the vibrant floral with darker glass beads as the insides. Triangular vibrant floral buds are then stitched in between the larger vibrant floral motif. Very satisfying. Love the lilac and magenta colour tones.


For your information, magenta is also referred to as fuchsia. Fuchsia is from the electrifying pink tone. Lilac is from the purple tones. On this work the spikes for the vibrant floral motif is in two colors, magenta and dark purple. While the inside triangle made with rice bead is in dark magenta with dark lilac glass bead as the center bead.

Sulam Sayang is now on Facebook if you haven't realized yet. And so is Sulam Sayang E-Shop. Become fans of both and enjoy networking with those that love embroidery.


Happy beading and happy blogging!!

Back to Tradition

When finishing this work, what comes to mind is our Malay tradition - the tradition of fabric design. The half flower design reflects the same motif on our long lasting Songket. The rich and deep color of green brings back to memory those old traditional velvet baju kurung cekak musang. Although baju kurung cekak musang is mainly worn by Minang ladies, as a young girl I used to admire the simplicity yet rich cultural heritage of the dress amongst us Malays in the nusantara. And so I lay down here three pantuns to remind us of our heritage, with a modern twist:

anak cina memancing ikan,

ikan dipancing di muara sungai,

kalau kite sukakan sulaman,

sulamlah bunga bunga teratai

buah pauh buahnya masam,

mari dikait si anak nelayan,

sulam bukan sebarang sulam,

sulam di buat dengan sayang

bercicit si nuri di atas titi,

memanggil teman sambil menari,

saya bersulam untuk dinikmati,

sesama kita di blog ini

For those who share the same interest with me do balas my pantun accordingly. Thank you.

Hijau Menawan

Baju ni potongan kurung moden. Describe sikit baju ni - leher teluk belanga, no tulang belut just piping, lengannya lurus separuh dan kembang berjerut separuh, tiada kekek yang berasingan tapi bercantum dengan pesak yang dipotong agak ramping di pinggang.



Beadingnya di sekeliling leher depan dan dilanjutkan ke paras bawah dada. Disamping itu, ade beading jugak di bahagian bawah depan. Beading ni agak sarat kerana motif zig-zag di jahit dua lapis, hijau dan biru. Di dalam jahitan lurus zig-zag saya tambah labuci biru di ikat manik coklat. bronze.

"Fit for a Princess!"

These kurungs are Putri's two little daughters'. Had em done following the kids clothing. So my team worked from scratch - tayloring, tulang belut and beading. The dresses are our traditional kurung dresses, one with the normal pesak and the other as per Kurung Pahang with pesak gantung. The girls are gonna be so cute in these. Glamorous for sure!

The fabric is cotton with simple floral motifs in baby blue. We matched the neck stitching with tulang belut in baby blue. And completed the teluk belanga neckline with pearl buttons. Elaborate baby blue bunga tanjung adorns the girls' dresses. White Japanese glass beads vines roam the borders. Baby blue Japanese sequins and glass beads highlight the edging. Hm.. beautiful. A feast to the eye.

Basic Chain with Sequin Padding

Looks like pattern basic chain with sequin padding ni telah menarik minat ramai peminat-peminat sulaman manik! Kali ini sequin yang saya gunakan adalah yang size kecil sekali. Jadi sequin padding di jahit pada setiap basic chain. Wah! Of course warnanye adalah warna yang sedondon dengan kain. Kali ini saya pilih warna highlight pada fabric. Bunga pada fabric adalah besar-besar and ada splash in red! So I choose red as my main color on the chains. Disamping itu warna oren dan coklat mendampinginya untuk ia kelihatan lebih interesting. Hasilnya? Tentulah cantik!!

Lihat pattern yang sama dengan tona warna yang berlainan di post-post yang sebelum ini - Baju Kak Long, I did it again, Baju kurung lovers - recommended edging.

Vibrant Red Florals

These vibrant red florals just burst out from the fabric. The concentric pattern contrasts well with the swirling lines batik design on the silk. The flowers actually have orange tips and medium size pearls. This is a funkier version of Soft White-n-Blue Floral.

Check out how I used my new small spring loop to work with this kurung sleeve edge bead embroidery at Sulam Sayang DIY.

Soft White-n-Blue Floral

This is a collaboration work between Mok Su Zana and myself on Kak Yan's baju kurung. I'm just finishing off the floral motif MSZ started. She will add manik tabur both at sleeve and neck edges. Cantik.

I'm kind of worried if the long stitches would get tanggled with the wearer's jewelleries like bracelet, wrist watch, bangle and tudung and necklace. Because of the design, the stitches are just going outlet from the central pearl bead, no criss-crossing at the back. hm...

Eventhough not finished, just wanted to share it with you here. Enjoy.

Be your own taylor. Get yourself a Baju Kurung

Ever wonder the effort and spending when it's the time of year when you need a new baju kurung? Chances are it will be two months before raya or for a big wedding or special event. You plan to get yourself a baju kurung. Off you go to your favourite fabric store. Masses of fabric, silk, chiffon, rayon, cotton in a myriad of colors. Okay, so you've made your selection, 4 meters of fabric you feel suitable for your celebration. Maybe it had cost you a good RM80 to RM200. Now off to the tailor. She'll take your measurement and it will be ready a week before raya. It will cost you from RM40 to RM60 for tailoring the fabric into a baju kurung. There would be other cost incurred as you made your way thru Jln Tunku Abdul Rahman or where ever that you shop and back. Plus you need to wade your way to your tailor - at a makcik's place at Kampung Bharu or wherever. Then of course a matching tudung! So back to Jln Tunku Abdul Rahman for a tudung bawal. This may cost you RM55 to RM175!! So I'm providing you a short cut solution. Read on.

I have this friend tailor who sews the best fitting baju kurung in the world. She has been sewing mine for a good 10 years and I still go to her to get my baju kurung done. She operates from her house. Previously, she had a store but following a year of bad flood she had to close shop. Her cutting and sewing is so good you rasa terletak je!! Must I say more. So what's the deal? Read on.

Here at this site, I'm offering you fabric, sewing, jahit tulang belut and bead embroidery (if required) services and delivery (pos laju) right to your door - your baju kurung. "Wuoo... macam mana tu?" you might ask. You choose the fabric from our collection, trust me on this one. (We will build our collection of quality fabric at our e-shop!) You give me your measurement, and I'll send you your baju kurung right to your door!! "What kind of measurement?" For this you have to get yourself a measuring tape. Gi borrow from your mom, or sis or your neighbour if you don't have one. Dah ada dah? Now pull out one of your best fit baju kurung. Read on.

Lay the baju kurung flat on the floor. Start taking measurement. First, the shoulder width, from side to side. Forget about seam allowance, get the exact measurement. Second, the sleeve length. Third, the sleeve width. Fourth, the dress length. Fifth, the dress widest width at bottom, side to side including the pesak. For the kain, measure the waist, hip and length.

Give us two to four weeks and ding dong you get your baju kurung.

Or, if you biasa beli baju siap and comfortable with the standard size, just choose from the available sizes. We will suggest a matching tudung to go with the kurung.

How's that to shop from the comfort of your home. Save time, money, fuel and reduce global warming!!

So let's get started.

P.S. the price? Lupa pulak.

Fabric + Sewing + Tulang Belut + Beading + Packing&Delivery =
(fabric depends on the fabric)+R25+R3+(beading depends on design)+RM7

Price range depends on what you desire from RM110 - RM???? Email norazihan@yahoo.com or call 019-9846026 for enquiry. Thank you.

Rustic Brown

Baju kurung Kak Na ni quite dark untuk a young mom like her. Yang penting she likes it.

Na wanted this pattern and I couldn't agree more. For a career woman, she can wear this to the office with a plain tudung bawal with embroidery and still look glamorous if she wears it to a special event with crystal lined tudung bawal - very elegant.

When working this design its quite difficult to get the squares to exactly match up. The reason is the beads, of the two colors, are not the same size. These rustic coperrish brown and bluish grey are new colors I found from my regular bead supplier. I had to choose them to match the colors of the kurung. For any beading only the perfect color match will give the best results of the finished work. Of course then there's the workmanship.

Baju Kak Long

First thanks Sis Zima for the fabric (mine is still with the taylor for a kurung riau.. ya 'a 'auu. he.. he.. lawak pagi Sabtu.)

Secondly, thanks Kak Ani for taking the fabric coz orang lain tak terima tempahan baju dah. Also nice job in finishing the kurung early so I can start with the bead work. Love the jahitan kat leher. (Not sure what it's called, bukan tulang belut, mata lalat. Ape ek? Nanti chek degan Kak Ani.)

So Kak Long decided for this basic chain with sequin padding for her kurung raya. Although most of the time we share the same taste in fashion however in details there'd always be conflicting ideas and view. So we had quite a long discussion on what bead color and type to use. We settled with green (her preference), light pink (to highlight) and lavender (to tone with the flowers on the fabric). We wanted to use two types of sequins; emerald green and transparent pink flower shape; but found too flashy after few centimeters. So we lessen the pink sequin and the resulting color combination is just beautiful.

Can't wait for Raye padahal baru 6 Ramadhan.

Selamat berpuasa Ramadhan Mubarak.

Icy Blue

Siap pun baju Na yang nak kan pattern triple bracelet ni kat sleeve baju kurung nye.


"Selamat menjalankan ibadah puasa di bulan Ramadhan yang mulia!"


Follow this link to earlier triple bracelet chain with duo color.

I did it again.

Remember my favorite edging for baju kurung? Well it's the sequin padded basic chain. This time I've done it in Red, Lavender, Gold glass Japanese beads and pink plastics sequins. The result is just SShineyy!

This dress is a Raya dress for my next door neighbor Rozi. She wanted two lines edging with a little bit of pattern. I recommended this basic chain with sequin padding. It's just dazzling. The sequin I used here is slightly larger than the ones I used on Kak Yah's kurung .. so more sparkle.

I could just imagine on Hari Raya ... Rozi would wear this at her family's home in Teluk Intan, Perak. They would all gap and say "awesome". Then of course she would say "An beaded it for me :}}"

"Dah habis ganti puasa belum? Ni dah 12 Syaaban and the moon is 85% full."

Bunga Sekuin

This is for Kak Zah, my neighbour, yang nakkan a glamorous dress to wear on her daughter's wedding.

Dia kata, "Nak mengalahkan pengantin!"

"Color biar terang so orang nampak - merah ke."

So from some pictures yang I showed her, she wanted design manik tabur. I recommended further for bunga sequin untuk nampak lebih gah. (I tengok kebelakangan ni local beaders banyak yang guna bunga sequin dalam design yang padat, so saya pun nak try jugak, and here's my chance.)

"Bolehlah Zihan, asalkan cantik," katanya.

I think I could have done it better here but the dress looks glamorous as intended anyways.

Merah Menawan

Raya nak dekat, perancangan untuk baju raya dah dimulakan. Merah Menawan ni is on my baju tahun lepas. The fabric is silk tapi pattern dia bila dah siap baju macam orang tua sikit. So I've decided to upgrade it and here's the result.

The flower motif actually is similar to the fabric design. As the original design is in gold, the flower is not very visible. So I've repeated the flower design with this dual color bead embroidery (jahit manik). The result is just lovely.

Maybe I'll wear it to Kak Nor's wedding invitation and again on Raya.

Happy Beading!!

Baju Kurung Lovers - Recommended Edging - Basic Chain with Sequin Pads

This may be my favorite bead edging for baju kurung.



Here edging is around front end neck and around sleeves. Note the front neck slit, the edging is extended well below the slit end. Close up pic show the resulting double edge effect.

In crocheting this pattern is called basic starting chain. Here three colors used blue, green and gold to highlight the chain; blue sequins are used as paddings. I think the result is just sparkling beautiful.

This kurung material is cotton rayon, probably more rayon than cotton.

Darling Danglings

Reminds me of Fruit of The Loom but decided not to call it FTL but DD.

Warisan Bunga Par

Manik Tabur and Sequin Pattern on Thai Silk