DIY Knee Patches & Vintage Dresses

I bought this vintage dress for $5 from a small vintage boutique in Newtown, Sydney the other day. Isn't it incredible? It's basically perfect. Well, it was after I shortened it (it was considerably longer when I bought it, reaching the most awkward dress length at mid-calf. It's either got to be floor-length or very short, when I'm choosing a dress!) and washed (well, scrubbed, a lot) a suspicious stain off the collar. Ahh well, it's not proper thrifting until you can bring back stories about suspicious stains and the like! And there's also a button missing that I have to find a replacement for. Still: $5!! Ahh.. and I forgot to iron it. That's a little embarrassing. And these below are some cream knee-high socks that I added knee-patches to. I think they're pretty cute! I hand-stitched these because I thought it suited the fabric. And my rings! (I took photos of everything today, so you can see all the pretty details.) Wearing: Dress - Vintage Bag - Vintage Necklace - here Elk Ring - here Cat Ring - Vintage Shoes - here Socks - Tutuanna (Japan) and DIY'd Hat - From Markets in Osaka This outfit is just one in 4 in which I'm remixing this vintage dress (wearing it 4 different ways). I'm doing a wardrobe remix for the lovely Polly at The Littlest Polly, and am so excited about it! More about that to come! It's embarrassing, and shows just what a new blogger I am, that I didn't even know what a wardrobe remix was until Polly explained it to me! But now I've done one... I'm addicted! So keep an eye out for this wardrobe remix in the next few days, and very quite possibly as a regular feature on the Pineneedle Collective! I hope you have all had/are having a beautiful day, wherever you are! xxx Annika

Handmade Skirt

Yesterday I promised photos of my handmade skirt in an outfit, and here they are.

So I also made these tights today but not sure what I think of them yet, if they're weird or nice... I think perhaps the same design but lower on the leg would be a lot nicer. Ah well! No harm in trying something out ;)

Yep, okay, I like them, but the placement sucks. I'll be trying these out again tomorrow, but waaaay lower on the leg instead! And I'll fix these ones by painting the hearts all the way down the leg.

There's always more projects to be done!

xxx Annika

Cat eyes, oh my! + Modcloth loves me & Happy Valentine's Day!

What I wore to uni today! (Slightly valentines themed. Very uni themed. I'm quite nearly unbearably hipsterish, even though I'm pretty sure hipsterish is a word I made up just then.) I'm starting properly in just over a week! Very exciting times.

Wearing:

Dress - Forever 21

Cardigan - Forever 21

Tights - DIY

Bag - Vintage

Collar - DIY

Shoes - Vintage

Ring - ebay

Glasses - ebay

Hat - From Markets in Osaka

Belt - Vintage

Also, I was super excited today, after coming home from a long commute and a long day of studying very studiously, to find that Modcloth loves my DIY tights! MODCLOTH!! LIKES! MY! TIGHTS!

Have you seen the tights they sell on Modcloth? They're incredible! So I was pretty stoked!

Happy Valentines Day,

Annika xxxxx (extra x's because it's Valentines day. Oh yes.)

A sweet way to update your wardrobe: DIY peter pan collars onto old shirts

Just a few hours ago, I found myself trawling through endless online stores in a zombified state, systematically adding hundreds of pretty things to various shopping carts and promising myself that I wouldn't buy anything (although already knowing in one part of my mind that I would). This is a scenario which occurs all too often. Today, however, some ridiculously self-disiplined part of me spoke up and went: NO! ANNIKA! YOU SHALL NOT BUY - YOU SHALL... CREATE! Go and make something of the ridiculous amounts of clothes that you already own (and don't even wear, may I add)! Go and embrace your creative side! Go on, do it!

And, well, I thought that this part of my brain had a pretty good point. So I dragged out of my wardrobe a whole heap of basic t-shirts and singlets and pretty floral tops which I once loved but now think are incredibly boring. I also pulled out of my vastly expanding pile of fabrics some lace curtain fabric that I bought from a thrift store for $1. "Right", I said to myself, "make something cool with these things".

And this is what I came up with:

(Plain grey t-shirt from Forever 21)

(Cotton On floral singlet)

(Floral blouse from General Pants Co)

(Banana Republic plain white long-sleeve tshirt)

(Half lace/half chiffon top from Forever 21)

So I thought that this is a pretty good way to update your wardrobe (the top half of it, anyway) if you're feeling a little bored with it. And it was (basically) free, as well! You just need to visit your local op shop and browse through all the old bits of fabric and upholstery (most thrift stores will have a sad looking basket sitting in a corner/under a table somewhere where you can find this) and put up with looking a bit mad because you're purchasing a whole bunch of unmatching, old lacey curtains. But these old curtains often have the most interesting and incredible patterns on them, and are just way too lovely NOT to be put to good use.
These are two examples of ones I bought ($1 each!):

The second one is particularly good, because the scalloped edges of the fabric provide natural peter pan collar shapes. And how adorable are the little birds??

Once you have your lace, you need to source an old/unloved t-shirt or singlet that would look pretty paired with it (basically anything. What doesn't look good with lace?).

Now here's the DIY bit:

1. Place the lace/curtain fabric (wrong side up, if it has a front side) over the front of the t-shirt.

2. Draw onto the back of the lace with a fabric pen (a normal pen works just fine as well) the shape you think the collar should be. ONLY do one half of the collar (you will see why in a moment). Use the collar of the t-shirt as a guide for one edge of the lace collar, and judge for yourself what the other edge should look like/how big it should be. In any case, the shape you draw onto your lace should look something like this:

3. Cut out this one half of your lace collar. Then, to get a symmetrical collar (always good), flip this piece you just cut out over, and use it as a stencil to draw onto the lace again, and cut out your other half. You should now have these two pieces from your lace:

4. Use craft/fabric glue to attach the two lace pieces (front side up) to the front of the shirt, like this:

You can glue the whole bit of lace onto the front of the shirt, or alternatively put just a thin line of glue on the edge of the (t-shirt's) collar and just stick the inner part of the (lace) collar to the shirt. And now you're done!

Here are some outfits that I put together with my newly collared tees:

I'll figure out a good way to update the lower half of your wardrobe now, and get back to you on that! I'm sure it will involve lace. I am entirely obsessed with any intricate or interesting lace pattern recently. A good DIY for updating old/basic/boring shoes, however, (if you're interested) can be found here.

Hope that you're having the sweetest day,

Annika xxx

I wear my heart on my legs, not on my sleeve...

Yes, yes, it's another (slightly) Valentines themed post. For this I apologise. But I did some more DIY tights, and I think they're pretty cute, so I wanted to share them with you! Plus I also did some awesome thrifting today (a post to come about this tomorrow), so I also wanted to show you some of those finds :) I found this bag, top (actually a dress) and shoes today!

 

Wearing:

 Tights - DIY

Collar - DIY

Top (actually a dress) - Vintage

Skirt - here

Hat - here

Bag - Vintage

 Shoes - Vintage

Love you all!

xxx Annika

Oh, hello there Mr Saint Valentines, Sir. Do you like my tights?

Just a quick outfit post. You can find the DIY and full post for these heart-print tights here.

 

Wearing:

Blouse - here

Tights - DIY

Bag - oasap.com

Belt - Vintage

Shoes - Forever 21

Hat - here

Side note: I'm not blonde again. I would be mad had I changed hair colour yet again. And bald. No, these were taken just before I went blue again, after bleaching out the lovely green :)

Hope you have/have had a super day!

xxx Annika

50s Polkadots & Petticoat

I got this sweet polka dot dress three years ago from one of my favourite Vintage stores where I live. It never, never ever fit me properly because I was too thin. I've gotten much curvier lately (relatively), and it fits! So I'm celebrating my new curviness with this 50s bombshell style photoshoot.

Wearing:

Dress - vintage

Petticoat - I made it!

Bag - OASAP 

Stockings - wholesale-dress.net

Shoes - wholesale-dress.net

Have a gorgeous day,

Annika xxx

DIY Patterned Tights

Hello! Another day, another DIY. It almost seems like that anyway – today’s are these Miu Miu inspired patterned tights. Me and my friend Clare had a chill craft afternoon, and ended up with paint stuck all over our legs, but it was well worth it. I'm going to be making more of these, using different stencils. I'm thinking jellyfish for one, and daisies for another :)  For these, I followed the DIY on the Haute Pursuit's blog, but added my own step - you should make & use stencils. This will make sure you get the right shape, and you don't have to worry if you're not great at hand painting or lack any kind of skill with a steady hand (like me). Another tip - DEFINITELY don't take off until COMPLETELY dry. Very important. Here's some photos of my outfit!   Wearing: Skirt - Temt Bag - Oasap.com Belt - Vintage Tights - DIY Shoes - Rubi Shoes Blouse - Chicabooti Have a beautiful day, Annika xxx

Mint & Bubblegum

 

My outfit today is a clash of the 60s and 70s, with my 1960s style leather bag from oasap.com and my many bows, combined with this amazing vintage dress from the 1970s. Until my hair is re-blued, I’m sticking to pastel greens and pinks. (I actually really like it as a colour palette, it’s very spring-like, no?)

My hair bow I also DIY'd: after I hemmed my dress shorter, I used the left-over fabric to make some hair bows. So my hair bow and dress match! 

Wearing:

Dress - Vintage

Bag - oasap.com

Blazer - Vintage

Belt - Vintage

Hair bow - DIY

Shoes - forever21.com

Socks - Tutuanna

LOVE!

Annika xxx