What I've Been Up To!

Hey friends! So my blog has basically become the place where I unload and go over everything I've been up to over the past couple of months. It's like therapy. You're my (unpaid) therapist now, blog reader ;) Isn't this what blogging used to be, back in the days of LiveJournal? I'm just making blogging old-school again. Yeah. So the last few months have been intense, exciting, difficult, scary and amazing all at once. I did my first ever public speaking gig(!!) where I got to talk all about second hand and ethical fashion. The event was a "Second Hand Fashion Parade" hosted by Rozelle Markets and Ciao magazine. I also got to meet a couple of people who follow me on the internet and love my work, which was probably the most fun part of the day! Achievement unlocked: first ever public speaking event! 🔑🎉 @buddleandsqueak and I killed it 😁 (I think. I'm telling myself. Hahaha) 📷: @rumar.07 A photo posted by Annika Victoria (@littlepineneedle) on Jul 23, 2016 at 7:30pm PDT Super cute second-hand squad ✨😇 all of our outfits are thrifted (and most were styled by the amazing @op_shop_to_runway). Secondhand shopping is not only cheap, sustainable, & ethical but we look damn fine as well 😎 photo 📷: Ben Cregan A photo posted by Annika Victoria (@littlepineneedle) on Jul 25, 2016 at 3:17pm PDT Gorgeous day meeting the cutest people - like @jambi.brown, who was wearing a skirt made with the help of my tutorials! ☺️☺️☺️😁💕💕💕💕 if you ever see me and you're too worried that you'll be bothering me by saying hi, please don't worry and please say hi! I love love love meeting you guys 😁 especially when I've helped you learn to sew omg ☺️ A photo posted by Annika Victoria (@littlepineneedle) on Jul 22, 2016 at 10:43pm PDT I have pretty bad general anxiety, and I never want to do anything like this again - I spent the weeks leading up to the event planning how I could get on a plane and run away so I wouldn't have to do it. But at least now that it's done, I know that I CAN do things like this! Because it would be awesome to be able to do stuff like this in the future. Anxiety can bite me. BIG HAIR NEWS(!) - I am growing out my fringe! My fringe that I have had for the past 10 years (because I never liked my forehead as a teenager and that insecurity carried itself well into my 20s). *contemplating maybe not having a front fringe for a while* A photo posted by Annika Victoria (@littlepineneedle) on Aug 8, 2016 at 8:05pm PDT I also started dressing more androgenously and I feel more like "myself" wearing more androgenous clothing, but still being girly when I went to. I definitely feel much more confident in myself because of how I am dressing - and that's been awesome. *posts super aloof outfit photo to pretend that I haven't been crying at all the messages you guys have been sending me* 😜 I've been enjoying bouncing between super girly and androgynous styles lately 💅🕶 #ootd #wiwt #androgynous #thrifted #uniqloau A photo posted by Annika Victoria (@littlepineneedle) on Aug 14, 2016 at 4:28pm PDT What else - I started a medicine that I've been trying to get on for about 2 years now (as it's the most modern and therefore expensive medicine for my illness on the market, you're made to try literally every other horrible drug before you can start it!) and even though it's only been a few days since the first infusion, I am already feeling so much stronger and more like "me" again! Showing my immune system who's boss! 💪🏥💉 please cross your fingers and toes for me that this works! Once-per-month infusions that don't make me sick will be a *very* welcome replacement to weekly chemotherapy - ohhhh boy I hope this does something 💪💪💪 #spoonie #chronicallycute #chronicallyill #invisibleillness #chronicillness #autoimmunedisease #hospitalglam #infusion A photo posted by Annika Victoria (@littlepineneedle) on Aug 24, 2016 at 9:56pm PDT The one scary thing about this new medicine is that I'm now SUPER immunosuppressed. Walking around the world without a good immune system to protect you is frickken terrifying. I notice every cough and sneeze. It's like being in a battlefield, and everybody around you is wearing full body armor and bullet-proof vests, and all you've got is a paper shield. But I did get myself some super cute face masks, which have helped me feel a bit better about the whole thing: Making immune-suppression high fashion 🌷👌 finally I feel a little bit safe in public places! (Ps if any of my fellow spoonie babes want to know where I got this it's from breathehealthy.com) ✨ #chronicallycute #spoonie #immunesuppressed #autoimmune #chronicillness #spoonielife A photo posted by Annika Victoria (@littlepineneedle) on Aug 25, 2016 at 6:28pm PDT I reached 500,000 subscribers on Youtube. THAT IS HALF A MILLION PEOPLE. HALF. A. FRICKKEN. MILLION. CAN'T. COMPREHEND. HOW. MANY. PEOPLE. THAT. IS. 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉😁😁😁❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️✨✨😱😱😱😱😱 I can't even ☺️❤️🎉 #500k #thankyou A video posted by Annika Victoria (@littlepineneedle) on Aug 17, 2016 at 3:57pm PDT What even is life, people. What even. 🎈🎉 haha, @mum_not_mom surprised me with these giant balloons to congratulate me on half-a-million subscribers, she is such a dork/good egg ☺️💕😁 A photo posted by Annika Victoria (@littlepineneedle) on Aug 28, 2016 at 12:55am PDT I also reached 5 years since my diagnosis. There's a not-insignificant amount of people who never reach the 5-year milestone after being diagnosed, so it was an extremely emotional time for me. The supportive comments that I got from people who don't even know me made me cry. A lot. But they were happy tears!! So thank you if you were one of those people. *serious post incoming* It is exactly 5 years ago that I was given a diagnosis, and my life changed completely. 19 years old and just starting my life, I sat terrified in a doctors office as a surgeon apologised profusely for having to give me this news and then said two words that I will be hearing constantly for the rest of my life, "Takayasu's Arteritis". It's been 5 of the hardest years of my life. I had to learn how to live life more slowly. To live with pain and exhaustion, anxiety and depression. To accept uncertainty. To accept that there's some things I'll never be able to do. To live with a disability. I lost a lot of friends who suddenly didn't know how to act around me. Didn't know what to say to me. But its also been the best 5 years of my life. To escape my life as the "sick girl", I started sharing my life and outfits with the Internet. On days where my pain and fatigue was too high to leave the house, I learned how to sew. That has evolved into a successful YouTube channel with half a million subscribers, and just this year, my job. I made much stronger friends with the few who stuck it out with me. I made many friends with likeminded people from all over the world. I also started university and pursued my passion for science. I have developed the closest bond with the most amazing man, who I know I want to be with for the rest of my life. And I have emerged a stronger, more resilient and more positive person because of all I've been through. 5 years later and I'm still not in remission. I am still in pain. I still don't know what my future holds. But I've survived. I've gotten through it all, the bad days and the good. I've endured 3 years of chemotherapy. 5 years of steroid therapy. 5 years of total uncertainty, a bajillion doctors appointments, hospitals, blood tests, scans and feeling like a total science experiment. Kicking butt throughout it all. I am a fucking badass. 💪 A photo posted by Annika Victoria (@littlepineneedle) on Aug 12, 2016 at 6:24pm PDT Luciano made his first ever appearance on my channel, as a 500K subscriber special! And people's comments about him have made my day! Honestly, sometimes I feel like I'm the only youtuber with a nice, supportive comments section. It scares me to go on the comments section of other youtubers. How did I get so lucky? Anyway, the video is here and you should watch it because Luci is a super funny human being and I'm so happy that I finally got to share him with the world :) 😏 hey little Annika-heads 😂 A photo posted by Annika Victoria (@littlepineneedle) on Aug 28, 2016 at 3:45am PDT My younger sibling has also been really sick with chronic pain for the last few months, so that's been taking its toll on me emotionally. Having a sick family member is so distressing - and so of course it's brought up a lot of guilt for all the stress I've put the people who love me through when I'm really sick. *Sigh*. But hey, we all love each other and I think that's the most important thing. I just have to keep telling myself that time heals, and be hopeful that things will get better over time. So here's some more good news, because that all got pretty serious: I appeared on the cover of my local newspaper, Ciao Magazine! I think that my friends and family probably took about half of all of the copies that went out - they were all very excited about it ;) Being recognized locally for the stuff I do is helping to "legitimize" this as a job for me. There's a lot of stigma that goes with running your own business and being a "youtuber" - a lot of people still don't consider it a real job that you should be proud of! But I put a massive amount of work into what I do so god damn it - I'm going to be proud of my job! Check it out - I'm on the cover of a local newspaper! 😎 #totesfamous A photo posted by Annika Victoria (@littlepineneedle) on Jul 14, 2016 at 4:43pm PDT Annnnnd I'll finish this post off with a couple of my favourite outfits from the past two months. Because, you know, this was once a fashion blog and all. DIY bell-sleeve top (new video 😉) + thrifted shorts and bag+ @eejewellery necklace + @naotfootwearaus shoes ✨#ootd#brontebeach A photo posted by Annika Victoria (@littlepineneedle) on Aug 21, 2016 at 2:02am PDT I'm going out tonight and I have the most 💥bomb💥 outfit planned so - yeah have photos 😁💜 @buddleandsqueak found this romper for me at her work and it's the best thing ever (Ps hair colour is spray/washout) A photo posted by Annika Victoria (@littlepineneedle) on Aug 19, 2016 at 11:02pm PDT Silver hair ✨ I'm doing some filming this morning! ☺️ A photo posted by Annika Victoria (@littlepineneedle) on Aug 18, 2016 at 6:02pm PDT Today's outfit featuring a top that I DIY'd like more than a year ago and for some reason haven't worn til now! Jeans are from @cottonon who I am tagging here because the Australian store has dramatically improved their labour standards over the past couple of years from an F grade to a B grade on the baptist world aid fashion report. Good job, cotton on. ✨ #ootd #cottonon #diy #diyclothes #tshirttransfer #mrsparkle #wiwt #thrifted A photo posted by Annika Victoria (@littlepineneedle) on Aug 15, 2016 at 8:29pm PDT My outfit today 💕 #thrifted tops and skirt, DIY necklace & @naotfootwearaus shoes ✨ #ootd #thriftedootd #wiwt A photo posted by Annika Victoria (@littlepineneedle) on Aug 6, 2016 at 5:35pm PDT #ootd wearing a DIY crop top made by me, @eejewellery necklace, thrifted bag and @uniqloau pants 👌 I spent all day yesterday looking for a good, comfy pair of pants, walking around with @goodonyou_app constantly open, and was surprised that uniqlo actually have pretty solid labour standards for their manufacturing! They rate a "B" on the baptist world aid 2016 fashion report for good transparency and traceability & strong systems in place to make sure nothing's made using sweatshop, child or forced labour - although they could be doing better and ensuring that *all* their workers get a living wage. However, what was super shocking was the shopping centre I was at also has stuff like Armani and Givenchy (not that I could ever afford that, I was just curious) and they had *terrible* ethical ratings according to @goodonyou_app 😮 they're worth so much and you can't even be sure they're not from a sweatshop?? What the heck. A photo posted by Annika Victoria (@littlepineneedle) on Aug 9, 2016 at 10:28pm PDT My outfit today ☺️🏡 thrifted jacket, denim pinafore, shirt and bag 💙 #ootd #wiwt #thriftedootd A photo posted by Annika Victoria (@littlepineneedle) on Aug 8, 2016 at 7:32pm PDT I hope that you're all doing well. Sending you all love and positive vibes, Bloglovin' | Youtube | Facebook | Twitter |  Instagram | Chictopia | Lookbook | Tumblr

My latest videos!

I don't know if anybody even visits this little corner of the internet anymore, but I thought that I would update anybody reading this with my latest videos! I've made two new Make Thrift Buy's: Two new Style Pile videos: And a video on thrifting tips and tricks featuring my beautiful Mum! And as always, if you want to keep updated on my life/see my outfits/makeup etc, you can follow me on instagram @littlepineneedle or snapchat at annikavictoriah or Patreon, because with everything else going on, it's much more easy for me to update those than it is to update this blog (sorry long-time blog readers, if you're still out there!) As always, much love, Bloglovin' | Youtube | Facebook | Twitter |  Instagram | Chictopia | Lookbook | Tumblr

Removing and Replacing Buttons to Resize a Skirt | The Style Pile #5

Essentially, this is a video on how to sew buttons. But it’s ALSO a video showing you how you can make something fit you better just by moving where the buttons sit! Simple fixes can dramatically change an item of clothing! I'm so so so happy that I was able to give this skirt a new life, because it's one of my favourites!!  Watch the video below: Have a lovely day, Bloglovin' | Youtube | Facebook | Twitter |  Instagram | Chictopia | Lookbook | Tumblr

DIY Animal Face Bags | Make Thrift Buy #35

Hey hey! Today I am going to show you how to make cute animal-face coin purses and small shoulder bags. Enjoy the video! As mentioned in the video, here's some dog-face templates that you can feel free use for your own bags/coin purses ^_^ Of course, even if you don't have photoshop skills, you can always just use scissors to cut out the shapes! (You'll just waste more printer ink I guess). Click to download Click to download Click to download Click to download I hope you're all having a wonderful day, Bloglovin' | Youtube | Facebook | Twitter |  Instagram | Chictopia | Lookbook | Tumblr

DIY Ombre Tights | Make Thrift Buy #34

Shirt - Thrifted | Necklace - HKID | Skirt - Princess Highway | Shoes - Found on the side of the road haha Dress - DIY | Shoes - Thrifted | Necklace - TashTash Jewelry Today I try and make ombre tights and socks! Also, here are some outfits that I put together with them. By the way, I wanted to mention that if you're missing my outfit posts on my blog, I still post a LOT of outfit photos on my instagram account (I'm @littlepineneedle)! Anyway, if you'd like to know how to make these then watch my video below, and enjoy! Bloglovin' | Youtube | Facebook | Twitter |  Instagram | Chictopia | Lookbook | Tumblr

The Style Pile Episode #4

Helloooo! So this top was a fairly new addition to the unfinished sewing pile. I got this secondhand at a markets the other day knowing full well that I am NOT a size AU8. Not by a long shot. But I really liked the style and colour sooooo I bought it anyway. Once I brought it home I thought that I may as well try it on and well.... You'll see what happened with that brilliant idea. Anyway, I put my sewing cap on and tried to upsize it! I also tried to include heaps of good/useful tips on sewing stretch fabrics in this video, which I hope are useful! Enjoy! Bloglovin' | Youtube | Facebook | Twitter |  Instagram | Chictopia | Lookbook | Tumblr

DIY Clear Vinyl Skirt (?)

I had a lot of fun making this video (apart from sewing the vinyl....) particularly at the end! I hope that you all enjoy my dorky jokes. Support me on Patreon! Bloglovin' | Youtube | Facebook | Twitter |  Instagram | Chictopia | Lookbook | Tumblr

DIY Furry Eyeball Clutch!

HELLO! In today's Make Thrift Buy video I'm using my absolute favourite material in the world (HA, SARCASM) - furry fabric. Seriously though, I'm still finding that blue fluff from my shorts. EVEN AFTER MOVING HOUSE. HOW DOES THAT EVEN HAPPEN. But this time, it wasn't such a nightmare, thank goodness!! This technique can also be used to make any sort of zippered pouch - a pencilcase, phone case, make up bag.... etc. And you don't have to use furry fabric either. Though you should probably always attach eyes because - they're googly eyes. They're the cutest. LOVE! Bloglovin' | Youtube | Facebook | Twitter |  Instagram | Chictopia | Lookbook | Tumblr

How To Add Pockets To Anything! | Style Pile #3

Because women's clothing really suffers from a lack of pockets, I wanted to fix that situation! In this video I add pockets to a dress to make it 100x more useful (and cuter!) Enjoy :) All the best, Bloglovin' | Youtube | Facebook | Twitter |  Instagram | Chictopia | Lookbook | Tumblr

DIY Pom Pom Earrings | Make Thrift Buy #31

Image source Hello! Today I made a whole bunch of pom pom earrings. Some have long chains! Some are glow in the dark! All are fluffy and amazing! Enjoy the video :) Bloglovin' | Youtube | Facebook | Twitter |  Instagram | Chictopia | Lookbook | Tumblr

Design Your Own Clothes!

Remember me teasing that I got to work with PAOM a couple of months ago? Well, here's the video! I had so much fun getting to make my own designs, and of course, wanted to show you all how you can make your very own!! I hope you enjoy this video. Bloglovin' | Youtube | Facebook | Twitter |  Instagram | Chictopia | Lookbook | Tumblr

DIY Swing Dress

Helloooo! So I have just re-discovered swing dresses and how amazing they look on me! :D Something I love about doing this youtube series is that it forces me to create things that I wouldn't have come up with on my own. I've discovered so many cool styles that I wouldn't ever have made or bought for myself thanks to Make Thrift Buy. Now I've made 3 swing dresses and I'm sure there's going to be many more soon! Here's the video: Tonnes of love!!! (And THANK YOU for all the thought-out, wonderful responses to my previous post. Gahhhhh! You're all the best; so many wise words were spoken! So happy to have you all in my life, even in this small way!!) Bloglovin' | Youtube | Facebook | Twitter |  Instagram | Chictopia | Lookbook | Tumblr

Reflecting on Change | Favourite DIY Top & Pants

Long time no fashion post! I've finally come to accept that the nature of my blog has fundamentally changed. When I first started blogging -- gosh, 4.5 years ago -- it was all about showing off my cheap fashion purchases. Slowly, DIY projects began to feature as I discovered my crafty side. Next, my blog became a platform for talking about science, and then a place for me to explore fashion from a more socially-conscious stance. 2 years ago, I toyed with the idea of making a Youtube channel and tentatively uploaded my first video. Posts slowly changed from "look at the stuff I'm wearing!" to "make the stuff I'm wearing!" And here we are today. Because I began to spend more and more time on my youtube channel, I started to feel like I was neglecting my blog. I felt bad about this because, after all, my blog and its readers were fundamentally important to the initial success of my videos. But as video-making became more and more time consuming, blogging and outfit photos fell by the wayside. But I finally am in a place where I don't see this change as a sad or negative thing. This blog has been an incredibly important space for me for the past 4 years - it's allowed me to express myself and my style, gain a lot of confidence, make friends, learn how to sew, learn how to communicate science, meet up with wonderful people, escape the daily struggles of living with a chronic illness, and so much more. Just because I'm not as active on it anymore doesn't negate any of that. One really positive thing that's come from not blogging my outfits everyday is that it's given me a lot more freedom to play around with my personal style. When my content was all about my daily outfits, I always felt like I needed to stay "on brand". If I started wearing something completely different from my usual style, I thought that people would lose interest. I mean, I was always fine with playing around with different fashion genres a little bit, but I still had my set "style". This, however, is soooo not an outfit would have ever worn previously. I'm not even wearing winged eyeliner!! (What!) I've started wearing snapback caps and pants! Sometimes I dress really minimally, with a simple black top and grey skirt! What?! But this has actually been really liberating for me - recently I felt like my style was in stasis and didn't feel comfortable in what I was wearing a lot of the time, so it's been exciting getting to play around with lots of different styles! But I have been wondering - Is anybody still out there, reading what I have to say on this blog? Say hi if you are! Especially if you're an old friend of the blog, I'd love to hear from you. What are you up to these days?? While I guess it's cool (and, frankly, terrifying) to have a couple of hundred thousand people regularly watching my videos, it does make me a bit sad to have lost the more closely-knit community that I had around my blog! Anyway, onto my outfit: this top has to be one of my favourite DIY patterns I've made so far. I've made three of these and recently converted it into a swing dress as well! It's so damn flattering on my body, but probably my favourite thing about it is that I don't have to wear a bra with it (coz it's kinda tight-fitting and holds everything up?? haha). This necklace was a lovely present from Cristina at Now or Never Jewelry, who makes all these pieces herself. It goes with these high-neck tops soooooo perfectly. 10/10 recommend giving her store a visit! Outfit details Top - DIY Necklace - c/o Now or Never Jewelry Pants - Thrifted Shoes - Naot Kedma Lipstick - Bella by Stila Cosmetics  All my love, Bloglovin' | Youtube | Facebook | Twitter |  Instagram | Chictopia | Lookbook | Tumblr

DIY Onesie / Kigurumi!

I MADE A ONESIE! This is one of the most time-consuming tutorials I've ever made (~10 hours of filming and 30+ hours of editing later!) but I'm really really happy with how it's turned out!  I hope you all enjoy it! :) Bloglovin' | Youtube | Facebook | Twitter |  Instagram | Chictopia | Lookbook | Tumblr

DIY High Neck Crop Top

Salutations! This is one of my favourite made-from-scratch DIYs thus far. I'm already working on two more to add to my wardrobe: a really pretty ribbed grey version and a floral version! :D THEY JUST GO WITH EVERYTHING! Enjoy! (p.s. extra details such as time for the project can be found in the description box of the video on Youtube!) Bloglovin' | Youtube | Facebook | Twitter |  Instagram | Chictopia | Lookbook | Tumblr

DIY Heart Cutout Top!

How to make your very own heart-cutout shirt (or any other item of clothing!) Difficulty Level: Total beginner Time to Finish: 10-20 minutes I wanted this tutorial to be a really quick & simple way to upcycle/cute-ify your clothing. Both because beginners will find it easy to do, and also because I have exams to study for and couldn't spend all day sewing ;__; (Wish me luck!)  You can sew around the edges of the resulting cutout if you want extra durability - but it's not necessary! The heart will hold its shape thanks to the interfacing behind it. ps I don't 100% recommend using velveteen/napped fabrics like I did, just because the velveteen gets a little bit crushed & you end up with an outline of where you ironed! It's not *super* noticeable but if I do this again I'll be using non-nap fabrics (so like everything that isn't velvet, corduroy, suede etc) instead. T-shirt (jersey) material will work really well - just make sure that it's stretchy and won't fray! Love, Bloglovin' | Youtube | Facebook | Twitter |  Instagram | Chictopia | Lookbook | Tumblr

Making A Square Circle Skirt?? | Make Thrift Buy #27

Hello! Today I learned how to make a square circle skirt. Which sounds totally nonsensical. But I promise - it's actually a thing! Enjoy the video! :) Love, Bloglovin' | Youtube | Facebook | Twitter |  Instagram | Chictopia | Lookbook | Tumblr

DIY Bat Wing Hooded Shirt | Make Thrift Buy #26 - Halloween Edition!

Hello everybody, and I hope you're all having the spoopiest of Octobers! ;) I'll let you in on a secret - occasionally, when I embark on some of these projects in the Make Thrift Buy series, I don't actually think I'll end up wearing what I create. And it was the same with this project. When I was planning to make this hoodie, I thought that there would be no way I'd actually wear it out and about. Ha. I pretty much haven't taken it off since I completed it 2 days ago. It's SO comfy, and SO cute, and *just* weird enough that I've fallen completely in love with it, but not weird enough to make me scared to leave the house wearing it! I think I'm actually going to wear this year-round (well, in the colder months, at the very least!) Here's the video! I hope you enjoy it :) Love, Bloglovin' | Youtube | Facebook | Twitter |  Instagram | Chictopia | Lookbook | Tumblr