Craft & Sewing Furniture

My current obsession is to window shop online and I just thought these pieces of furniture would be perfect for a craft and sewing corner:

IKEA LIATORP White Desk

This would have to be one of my fave desks from IKEA.  If I had the space in my room, best believe I would've gotten this and ship it back here.  It just looks so elegant and if I had a home office, this is definitely a piece of furniture that would be part of it.  It would make the perfect sewing table too.  I could plop my sewing machine and serger on there and put all the supplies in the drawer and shelf storage space on either sides.  Funny though.  It's no longer listed on the Malaysian IKEA website.

Bags Made With Love

A few months back my cousin started posting pictures of bags she made for her daughter, family and friends.  Her bags were clearly beautifully made and you could see she put a lot of thought into the materials used and all the other little details (like adding swivel clips for keys inside the bags).  She started out making bags with remnants of fabric from other sewing or craft projects but has now invested in various designer fabrics.

She used to sew clothes for her daughter but has now found a new love in sewing bags.  Her design method is very simple is based on what anyone would need from a bag and how the bag will be able to fulfill that need.  Since then, she has started her own little business selling these gorgeous bags and you can check them out online.

Click on the image above to view her blog

mysewingproject has arrived...

i know i've been harping a lot about my side project trove by elixelle but it's still in progress and i'm really hoping to have it up latest by april. however, i'm just so excited to announce that mysewingproject is now up! it's a blog for me to share.. well.. my sewing projects. haha. i'll be posting up more projects each time i complete them. check out my first post on the outfit i wore at dimple's wedding reception.

now to get my other projects up and running. *rubs palms together*

 

the dawn of a new beginning...

so far 2009 has been a bit stressful for me in many aspects. nonetheless, i'm pretty optimistic that everything will eventually smoothen out as the year progresses. *smiles*

for one thing, i'm pretty frustrated at the fact that the light in my room is still out of order. for more than a month i might add. in other words, i've been fumbling around my room miserably for that span of time and i find it simply irritating. i have trouble dressing up because i can't see my clothes properly. i'll be running off to my mum's room to see how i look then rush back to my room to change if i don't like what i see. i can't find things i'm looking for because the room is sooo dim. my room is currently lit up by a nightlight in the corner which i bought so i could at least see my way around my room somewhat. i'd wanted to change the light fixture entirely and had even dropped by a few light outlets in search of the perfect replacement but all in vain. in a light shop in inanam (we were getting a pendant light for the porch), my mum and i decided that we should just get a new bulb for my light instead. the bulb for the existing light could only be found in light outlets (wth?!?!) cos it's those slim circular tube bulbs. so we bought one there which costs RM13 and guess what, it wasn't even the right size!! found time to check out another light shop in likas and got another bulb (2nd attempt) for RM6 (the inanam shop seemed a little overpriced at this point) and when i got home, i found out the tube was a tad slimmer than the original one that came with the fixture. went back to the store with the original bulb to double confirm (they said i could come back if it wasn't the right size) and they assured me that it was the "new" version of the bulb. connected it to the fixture and guess what?!?!? it didn't lit up!!!! we checked the wiring and everything and it was in order. out of frustration, i got down to seng hup in sadong today and got me a hanging lamp at RM61. it's much easier to change the light bulb if it goes kaput and i can use an energy saving bulb (i.e. 11w = 60w or more) as opposed to the stupid ~32w slim tube bulb that didn't even work. so there.

glad to get that off my chest. haha. on a lighter note, i was a friend's wedding reception last night at magellan. i must say, tis the season to get married. LOL!! due to my restricted visibility in my room, i practically trashed the entire room last night (as in clothes and stuff flying everywhere) in search of my stilettos i'd previously packed for kl but have yet to restore to my shoe cabinet. just when i was about to give up the hunt, i found it hidden in another corner of the room. my brother tried (tried being the operative word) to help by standing behind me flashing a flashlight and his phone everywhere my eyes weren't which added to my agitation. i'd prolly define helping as searching elsewhere where i'm not looking. not to mention my discomfort of have a 10ft ladder leaning against my wall. anyways, the reception was nice and i'm glad i didn't miss it. it was nice to meet up with old schoolmates/friends as well whom i haven't seen in ages!! unfortunately i couldn't find the camera charger and the camera's been dead since viv's reception 2 weekends ago. hehe. nonetheless, the bride and groom (and parents) looked stunning last night (credit: Makeup By Jeff). congrats to the happy couple!!! as do many events and ceremonies these days, the famous poco-poco dance was also a part of last night's reception. all in all, the environment was good, the music was good and the food was good. loads of invites too considering cars parked well towards the end of the road. since i was alone, i decided to park at the clubhouse. prolly much closer to the ballroom anyways and better lit (or at least i feel safer parking there).

my apologies for excessively ranting on petty matters. like i said, i've been pretty stressed out these past few weeks. prolly taking on more than i can chew. hehe. it's makes me that much more fussy and particular on certain things. it'll pass as do all things. *smiles*

anyways, i'm currently working on a side project at the moment called trove by elixelle that's gonna be sort of a closet clearance outlet for me. i'll be selling off clothes and other items that i've outgrown (see, i seriously need to shape up and lose weight) and at the same time i'll be modifying certain pieces to give it a fresher look and sell off those as well. the site isn't totally up yet and i'm still finalizing the layout and gearing up to upload photos as well as making an inventory of all the stuff that i'll be posting there. so that's something i've been putting off for a long time and i'm hoping to get it up and running soon.

i've finalized the beading design for my mum's baju kurung and will prolly drop by the bead shop tomorrow to gather supplies. so that's another challenge for me. i started listing out all my sewing projects and i think i managed to list out about 20 of them. so that's another daunting task. will have to prioritize on that as well. speaking of projects, i wonder when my mum is planning on baking them cupcakes. hehe. cupcakes are such the craze these days. yummy!!

sick for the holidays...

first off, gong xi fa chai everyone!!! ang pow na lai. hehehe.

i'm actually kinda bummed out during this festive season. i'm supposed to be with the rest of my family who are now on the east coast at my grandma's house for the holidays. was really looking forward to go until i fell sick on friday (the day before we were suppose to leave). i've recovered (i think) from the sore throat phase and am now into the flu and cough (maybe a lil fever) phase. my mum has been persuading me to join them there and had even suggested i catch a plane there. seeing that i seem to be going from one illness to the other this festive break (did i mention stomachache now?!?!?!), i just couldn't join them. how i wish i could. *sniff sniff* instead i spent the rm150 it would've cost me to fly there on some groceries and household stuff for the house. in a way i feel like i've disappointed my mum by not going. i know she would've really loved me to be there too.

anyways, it really sucks being sick for the holidays. at least if it was on a work day i could get an mc and have extra rest days and all that. it's just such a waste of a good long weekend (which is rare when you start working).

i practically didn't leave the house for almost 3 days!! that's just insane if you ask me. even i couldn't stand feeling like such a slob becoming such a couch potato so to speak. too much lazing around. it's weird when you think about it. when i've got too much on my plate to deal with, i long for a break. now that i kinda have one, i'm itching to do something more productive. i guess you can't have everything huh? i managed to muster enough energy to get off my a** to do some grocery + household shopping at giant with my bro (yea, he didn't want to go with the rest of the family. prolly cos he just wanted to spend quiet time at home.) at giant. thanks to the festivities, there was practically no hassle in looking for a parking space and there were no lines at the cashiers!! well, i'd wanted to do this yesterday but ended up not getting out of the house (again!). forced myself today considering the tissue products in the house had been depleted - no toilet paper, kitchen roll, facial tissue, tissue packs.


my mum told me to go see a doctor to get some meds for my flu and all that. but personally i don't really like going to the doctors. especially if meds include antibiotics cos then you'll have to finish through the course of the antibiotics. i'm not very good with meds. i can't seem to keep to them. same goes for supplements. maybe i should add that to my resolution list - to be more disciplined. so i went to guardian to get something for my flu but can you believe it, they didn't have anything. i mean save for the inhalers that is. i managed to get some cough syrup (wood's has the best in my opinion) though. got back home and just remembered i used to get over flu with a lil vitamin c and water. haha!! after maybe 2 days of having flu i only remembered about the redoxen c stashed in the medicine shelf in the kitchen today. i can be such a spaz sometimes.

oo... i just remembered to look into sewing my grandma's skirts. i've been so busy with everything else and haven't had time to even start sewing it. same goes with all my other sewing projects too.

i'm a bit disappointed that burdastyle is now charging for most of their patterns. it doesn't quite bother me if they were gonna start charging for the new patterns but they've already put a price tag on their older patterns as well. feel like kicking myself for not seeing it coming and not downloading them while they were still free. guess you win some you lose some right? nonetheless i could still benefit from the website with their how tos. *smile*

over the weekend...

last weekend was another one of the few long weekends for the working community thanks to the celebration of hari raya haji (a.k.a. hari raya aidiladha) on monday. a whole lot of events were held last weekend and unfortunately i couldn't make it to all of them.

the pikom pc fair kick started on friday (5/12) at the sabah trade centre all through to sunday (7/12) from 11am to 9pm. excited as i was to go, i was personally disappointed at the reseller turn out and the overall size of the fair floor space. this was by far the smallest and least interesting of all the pc fairs that i've been to here. i can't believe that even the earlier organized fairs back in the days it was held at palm square's 5th floor at centre point was better than what i'd experience last weekend. the fact that there was another fair of similar nature held by the government at the likas sports complex might have affected the one held by pikom. unfortunately i was in kl during the earlier fair. nevertheless, i managed to get the things i'd set out to get sans an external 3.5" hdd casing. so i can strike off the hp pc (hp pavilion a6650d) and printer (hp deskjet f4280) from my wish list now. yay! this 19" lcd really needs some getting used to. picked up the pc package yesterday from the reseller at karamunsing complex and excitedly set it up in place of the old pc (which i might work on as a side project - pimp my pc - hehe).

of course there's the raya celebrations the night before (7/12) and on the day itself (8/12). we had dinner at my aunt's place then lunch at another aunt's house the next day. it's always fun to have these little family gatherings. sorry but i've soo underutilized my camera these days.

i considered heading down to kolombong for the sebor warehouse sale too but there really wasn't anything there that i'd really like to buy. i barely use make up so the loreal/maybelline part of the warehouse sale didn't quite interest me. what else is there? paint? household detergents/soaps, car cleaning aerosols/liquids?!?!?!? nah. so i'm skipped it this time around.

then there was the hobbycon event at kompleks asia city for cosplayers (i really don't even know what that is). i've seen pictures from the event and it looks fun. quite a bunch of people dressed up as their chosen characters and that's always fun to see. this unfortunately was another one of the events that was on last weekend that i couldn't go to (sorry fara!!).

i finished another one of my sewing projects too. yay me! hehe. my mum bought a piece of kain batik (sarong) and lining to make a skirt for my grandma. it was a success and i was so tired i didn't take pictures of the finished product. my mum cut the fabric and i helped piece it together with our trusty singer sewing machine (too bad this awesome version has been discontinued) and serger/overlock machine. this skirt sewing frenzy is the aftermath of me sewing my mum's skirt a few days prior to this. lol!

my very first successful project was a simple v-neck maxi dress i made for my company annual dinner end of last month completed over a 2 night period (last minute!) which was supposed to be inspired by the 70s maxi dress era. the dinner was themed the rolling 60s & 70s so i thought it was apt. i'd upload the photos here but it's in my laptop so ir you wanna have a looksee, just click on the respective links in the text above. *smile*

bitten by the sewing bug...

yeap. i've been bitten by the sewing bug. ok so technically i've always liked sewing somehow. when i was in primary school i got excited with hand stitching. a whole lot of trials and errors during the learning process (from a home ecs book no less). then of course there was the cross stitching phase which after awhile i kinda got tired of. heheh. it's such tedious work but i'm happy to know that i know how to do it. LOL!!! oooo and i did learn a lil bit of crocheting from my late grandma and great grandma. i've never actually completed a project on that though. just basics. hehehe. i've got sweaty palms so it didn't really work for me.

when we did home ecs in form 1 through 3, i loved the sewing parts. not that i was any good at the time but it was just something i found interesting to do. there was the skirt project, the kitchen hand towel project and of course the pmr box cover project. that involved a bit of quilting (well, kinda).

my mum had gone for sewing lessons before at her work place. so she knows a thing or two about sewing. so we have a sewing machine at home because of it. that was almost 20 years ago!!!! but i totally love the machine she has cos you don't even have to take the bobbin out of the arm to wind it. hehehe. this particular model/line winds the bobbin in the arm itself. hehehe. anyways, the machine has done a lot of good for us. my mum and i usually do the curtains for our home. in fact we've just finished the dining and kitchen curtains during ramadhan. now we're planning on the huge front door panels' curtains. thank goodness kamdar is finally here!!!! i heart kamdar for all the beautiful fabric they have. LOL!!!! but seriously, the sewing machine is mainly used for clothes repair and pants hemming. hehehe.

after realizing how enormous i've ballooned (i can't fit into ANY of my baju kurungs' skirts), i got the idea of sewing my baju kurungs myself. with a superb online tutorial from myGFL. unfortunately it didn't come out as i'd like mainly due to my overambitious nature (no clothes sewing experience and i had to choose a difficult and slippery fabric to work with). good thing i managed to salvage my raya wardrobe panic with a couple shopping expeditions a few days before we left for my grandma's house. LOL!!!!! to think i'd wanted to help sew my lil bro's raya costume as well. hehehe.

anyways, from then on everything built up. my passion for sewing that is. hehehe. i found an absolutely awesome site that has downloadable and adjustable patterns.my next project is to sew a pair of pants and a simple basic pencil skirt for work... i've already printed the patterns (seam allowances included) but haven't patched them up yet. hehehe. this should be fun. weeeee!!!!!!

another sewing project i've been addicted to somewhat is t-shirt surgery. my mum borrowed a book for me from the library a few months back cos she thought i'd like it (and i LOVE it by the way) called Generation T. this is a fantastic book i'm telling ya.. this book has a gazillion (more like 108) ways of transforming the average tee. it's truly inspiring and from the rave reviews i've been reading about it, it's one of the best out there!!

then there's a community site on LJ dedicated to t-shirt surgery (here). now there used to be a member there that makes the most gorgeous pieces called ninjatoshiba but somehow she's been wiped off from cyberspace all of a sudden. her site/blog on piczo is non-existent too. i wonder what happened to her?!?!?

another reason for my sudden obssession for sewing is because although i'm not exactly super duper double whammy incredibly huge in size or anything, mot stores, boutiques and outlets don't have stuff that fits me and a lot of which don't have the kinda designs that i like. i'm a very simple person and i play around with a lot of basic pieces when it comes to my sense of style. the fashion scene where i live is dominated by hong kong, korean and japanese fashion cultures which unfortunately cater to more boney frames. dresses are mostly in free size (or as they call it in indonesia "all size") that generally fits sizes xs to m. t-shirts are littered with nonesense sentences and spelling errors that i'd be too embarrassed to wear in public. just the other day i was looking for some new pair of work pants. and guess what?!?!? the store only had up to size L. how pathetic is that?!?!?! although they insisted that they have a size xl but it comes as a blazer-pants set and needless to say, i don't need a blazer. this is why i do a lot of my shopping at fos. nichii's pretty good too for basic stuff. me likey!!!

anyways, some clothes are cheaper sewn than bought. heheh. at least i've got a hobby again. :) yay!!!!