Handbag organizer

Sometimes I have trouble finding the thing I want from my handbag. A big handbag is useful as I can put everything inside. It becomes a problem when I have to search for something from the mess.

I came across something called the 'handbag organizer', but the price is not something I'm willing to spend on. So I tranformed one of my many woven bags I got for free during shoppings into a handbag organizer.





Not only that my handbag is now more organized, it's easier when I switch handbags.

First scarf

Thanks to Karen for her encouragement and thanks to Youtube for its great videos (videos from CyberSeams are the best!), I've completed my first knitting project - a simple scarf of Garter stitch. Videos made learning so much easier, I admire people who learned from books with just 2D images.


Garter stitch - every row, front and back have the same pattern.



The scarf looks OK on the whole, but I know a few flaws. I can't hide the frayed knots of the yarns, I can only 'adjust' them so they are only visible on 1 side of the scarf, that becomes the back of the scarf. And binding-off was the most tricky part, everything was good until the 2nd last stitch :( I didn't know how to save it. However, I learn from my mistakes, hopefully next one will be better :)

I used 3 balls of yarn for that, it's kind of short, so I've prepared 5 balls for my next project. Knit stitch on every row bores me, I'm going to try the Stockinette Stitch this time.

White book shelf

This is the biggest piece of furniture (so far) we bought from Ikea - 202cm tall, not to mention very heavy too. It has 3 colors, I picked white to match with my white computer desk.

I think I'm not only in love with Ikea furnitures, I'm addicted to fix my own furnitures too!

I like it big, simple and flexible, the shelves in between are adjustable to different heights to fit files, magazines and books of different sizes.


Another thing I like about it is the nice curve fitting at the bottom of the shelf, which allow it to 'lean' against the wall without a little gap.


We weren't aware of this when we saw the display set and we thought it was a defect when we took out the pieces of planks from the box :p

It's not only a book shelf, it can be an elegant display cabinet when glass doors are fixed to it. Thinking of getting another one to be placed beside it :)

Curtains for living hall

I decided to sew curtains for all the windows in my house. Meassured the length and width and bought the material from Kamdar. But for months, I only managed to complete the ones for my living hall and my room - too busy with work, life, and dogs.

When I first completed for the living hall, I got very excited (my first time sewing curtains) but when I hung it I went 'Oh no!~', it was dragging on the floor, almost could be the backdrop for photo studio. It was left dragging until I finally got some free time to alter it.

I reckon almost everything is hard to build but easy to destroy, except sewings. It took me 1/2 hour to unpick it, the re-sewing only took 10 minutes.

Yet, after first time alteration, it was still a little too long. It's either my measuring technique or sewing technique is lousy, or blame it on the tool :p The first time I used the plastic sewing measuring tape, the second time I used the retractable metal measuring tape (as I think it's more accurate as it can stay 'steady' when it's locked) and I finally got it right, yeah~

Ikea white computer desk

It wasn't my plan to buy my computer desk from Ikea. I've surveyed some furniture shops and set my budget at RM250 for a 6 ft long table, just table without drawers or those PC-allocation-parts (CPU space, keyboard drawer, etc).

Last Sunday I went to Ikea to get the pet's poo bag (they used to sell it at very cheap price but I couldn't find it anymore, why they discontinue it? :( ) Disappointedly, we walked to the exit through the store section, then we saw this white computer desk being displayed at the hallway. It's 100cm long and costs RM95 each (RM55 for the table top, and RM10 for each leg of the table - the usual Ikea pricing method). I like it at first sight. We measured with the paper measuring tape provided there, to make sure the length is what we wanted (100cm is around 3.3ft). We also checked how the legs are fixed to the table - besides the easiness to fix, we have to make sure it doesn't wobble). After all the checking, we took 2 sets. With just a screwdriver, it's easily fixed. I like the color and the simple design. But 1 of them isn't level (not sure whether it's the floor or the legs of the table) so I have to slipped a piece of folded paper under the leg to make it stable.


2 new computer desks at my family hall. Hhmm, need to get some cable-ties to make the cables tidier - why can't everything be wireless?


This chair was displyed with the desk in the store, but it costs more than the desk - RM169. It's very comfortable and nice. When I get it some other day, then it will be more of the reason for me to work from home more often :p

Ikea TV Bench

Last year I got a RM100 Ikea gift voucher for joining their online members' survey. I love the furnitures and things from there, they always have contemporary design and innovative usage. But furnitures there are normally more expensive compared to the neighbourhood furniture shops.

With the gift voucher, I bought a simple TV bench from Ikea. It took almost 1 hour to get it fixed. Some might think fixing your own furniture is tedious but to me it's fun and brings much satisfaction.



This was the second easiest piece of furniture to fix (for all the things I bought from there). All bolts & screws fit perfectly. Although we made some mistakes but it was quickly being corrected. But hhmm, it seems a little different from what is shown in their 2009 brochure.


Anyway, I'm using it perfectly fine, so no complains :)

Making my own calendar

I know it's kind of too early, but I'm eager to see the end product of my creativity.

I've been creating these images for the past few weeks. Printed with my Canon i355 bubble jet on glossy photo papers. Actually wanted to print using the Kodak DIY photo printing machine this afternoon, but the machines at shopping mall were out-of-order, so I think give my printer a try, since I still have some glossy papers at home. I didn't expect the quality to be so good as I'm using imitation color cartridges.


I receycled the back cardboard of an old calendar as the frame of my table calendar.


Cut everything into the correct size, then punch holes for everything to be binded using 2 ring holders.




Fold and paste the cardboard to a standing triangle shape. Bind all pieces together at the top.
Done.




Now I wish time pass faster, so that I can use my new calendar :)

Recycled Yoga Mat Bag

I always wanted to make more bags for my yoga mats, and I found free raw material for it - an old table cloth. Thought it would be a good idea to recycle.



It was a nice size where I can make 4 bags out of it - cut into 4 pieces equally not even need to measure.





I kept the fringe at the ends of the cloth as a decoration of the bag.



Since I have extras, I tried different patterns for the bag's opening.


Mum prefers this - the simplest one as she just needs a carriage for her mat, nothing fancy, and it's airy for the mat.


I wanted to make some button holes around and weave the ribbon in the holes which can be pulled to tighten the opening (something like shoelace), but mum forgotten how to sew the button holes. So I just fixed the center of the ribbon at one end, and tie it up to close the bag.


Lastly is another tradittional bolster-case-pattern.