The Pineneedle Collective

Sunday 18 January 2015

Hong Kong Botanical Gardens

Hello - can you guess where I am right now??

So I made it safely to Hong Kong! - after the most turbulent, terrifying plane trip I have ever taken ;__; I was so lucky to have my wonderful friend Leila sitting next to me the entire time, patiently holding my hand and reminding me to breathe. Anyway - I'm here! And as I just mentioned, I'm travelling with one of my best friends, Leila (who took these photos!). Leila actually is the person who is responsible for giving my blog its name! Without her, you wouldn't be reading the Pineneedle Collective. Fun fact - she named it after a pub trivia team she was in when we were 18. She also has an amazing, quirky style and if I can convince her, you will be seeing photos of her on here soon!

After spending two whole hours in the most amazing thrift store of all of Hong Kong (okay, so it's the only thrift store we have been in so far, but I think that it will be hard to beat!), we visited some really pretty botanical and zoological gardens and, armed with both digital and film SLRs, we took some photos!

The skirt that I am wearing was a find from the aforementioned thrift shop! I loved it so much that I had to wear it immediately.

In fact, I made about 8 amazing purchases from the thrift shop! It's one of the best hauls that I have ever made from any thrift/vintage shop. I will be posting all about it very soon.

Blouse - Thrifted | Skirt - Thrifted (Mee & Gee) | socks - old | shoes - Naot (Kedma's) | necklace and ring - c/o Eclectic Eccentricity

Today is a day for resting my sore feet. But as we are staying here for an entire month, I'm not too worried about missing out. There is so much that we are planning to do and see! I'm very excited to update you all on my travels!

Until next time,

Monday 12 January 2015

Making my novelty phone handbag functional - mini Make Thrift Buy (episode #11.5)

I turned my novelty phone handbag into a functional phone. And then I got Katie to call me on it.

And we got pretty excited about it.

I hope you're all having a super day!

Sunday 11 January 2015

A Handmade Outfit - DIY Icecream Dress & Camera Bag!

For my first outfit post of 2015, I wanted to show off some things that I've made in the last week. I've been sewing just for myself (without a video camera over my shoulder!) and it's been lovely - I needed to remind myself that I can sew just for the pleasure of sewing, without being under pressure to make something successfully while being watched by thousands of people on youtube (or failing that, to at least make my stuff-ups entertaining).

So these are two things that I've made - the first is this pink icecream print dress with a full skirt and detachable halter strap. The fabric was a Christmas gift, from Spotlight if anyone is interested in buying it. For the dress, I actually used a store-bought pattern for the top part (Simplicity 1426).

Demi from Carbon Chic showed me how to use patterns when she came to visit me in Sydney the other week, demonstrating that patterns actually weren't this scary, super-complicated thing that I would never understand. And then I made a playsuit which wasn't a total failure, and, feeling like I could conquer any sewing challenge, I then used the top pattern to make this dress! For the bottom part, I used my own trusty circle skirt pattern.

The second thing that I made is this camera bag:

Okay, well... so I actually technically started making this at the end of 2013. I bought the pattern and template for this bag from Happy Sew Lucky, started it off and then... let it sit under my desk for an entire year, taunting me. Because I had to use a pattern that someone else had made, I think that I got intimidated. However, finally learning how to use patterns and making this dress then gave me the confidence to finish off this bag!

My shoes are brand new. As the more observant of you may have noticed, I've pretty much been wearing one pair of shoes for a whole year - my Naot Kedma 's, which are now looking a little worse for wear. Unfortunately I had some slight sizing issues with the only other two ethical shoe companies that I could find, and what with shoes being one of the most difficult things to DIY (without access to a whole lot of industrial equipment), I caved, and bought some shoes off Asos. I feel uneasy having no idea where and by whom the shoes were manufactured, and whether they were paid a fair wage to make them - but it's really, really hard to shop ethically 100% of the time. This past year for instance, I've had to cave on bras and underwear too when my old pairs were literally falling off me (although I have just learnt how to make the latter for myself!) So this definitely isn't me giving up on my pledge of trying to shop ethically, but it is a note about just how difficult that can sometimes be.

Dress - handmade | bag - handmade (Happy Sew Lucky) | socks - markets | shoes - Asos | ring and necklace - thrifted

Anyway, that's it from me today! I hope that you're all having a wonderful week! Much love,

Thursday 8 January 2015

DIY City Skyline Tee | Make Thrift Buy #13

This particular make thrift buy challenge reminds me of a project I made way back when in 2011, when galaxy t-shirts were all the rage. Now this isn't really something I would wear myself, but that's not the point of this video series - I aim to try out pretty much anything you send me! In fact, I just made the pinterest board where I store all the suggestions that are sent in public, so that you can vote on the ones you would most like to see me try out :)

So, did this particular one work out... or not? Have a watch!

Much love,

Wednesday 7 January 2015

DIY Cage Suspender Skirt | Make Thrift Buy #12

Hello! Last year I saw this caged suspender-style skirt EVERYWHERE on the internet. I always thought that it would be pretty easy to make, so I was super excited when not one but TWO people suggested that I try it out for a Make Thrift Buy episode!

Have a watch!

P.s. I was somehow super productive and made TWO videos today... so I'm doing a little shameless self-promotion: I'll upload the next episode when this video reaches 1000 thumbs up ;)

I hope that you're all having a beautiful day, and please keep sending me amazing suggestions!

Sunday 4 January 2015

A Post Of Outtakes #2

I got such a positive response from posting outtakes on my blog last time that I decided to do it again (because for some reason I want to ruin the carefully-crafted internet persona I've worked on for the past 4 years, or something?)

But seriously, I'm posting these photos because although I may attempt to make you believe otherwise, I don't actually live in an always-sunny picnic-world of perfect skin and flattering angles. Nobody does. But because blogs and social media allows people to present only the very best side of themselves, it can lead to other people thinking that everyone's lives are better than their own.

I've been guilty on more than one occasion of comparing myself to other people with seemingly-perfect lives, and feeling completely flat on the other side of it. Social media sucks you into this black hole of comparison with other people that you'll never win, because other people's lives simply aren't like that.

Nobody looks good 24/7. And why would you want to? That takes all the fun out of life.

So, here's some less-than-perfect outtakes.

Every. Single. Shoot. I just get this unstoppable urge to ham it up and ruin an otherwise very nice photo. I don't know why I insist on posing like this, because I know I'm not going to end up using the photos, but I just can't help myself:

However, some of the best outtakes are when I am actually trying to look good.

Here, for example:

Sexy hair flick? FAIL.

Sultry look into the camera? FAIL.

Speaking of great accidental blinking shots:

If you realise that you've blinked in a photo, you consequently overcompensate to make sure that your eyes stay OPEN. And the resulting shot is even creepier than when you blinked:

Then there's the classic "getting grumpy at the photographer" shot:

And the "I don't know what to do with my hands - so maybe my cardigan is wings...?" shot:

I was trying to be clever in this photo. Because my ring is a heart, I was trying to photographically represent "EYE heart U" - get it?!... Needless to say, I didn't look particularly clever in the end:

And just so you all know, for every good "spinning" shot that you see on blogs, there's about 10 of these:

Katie loves to do this thing whenever we take photos together where she gets an extreme close-up of my face. Thanks, mate.

So, this is a little bit of payback - one of the best photos I think I've ever taken of Katie. GIRL POWER:

I have a question. What exactly am I doing here with my hands?? My wrist joints look completely broken:

Ahh, okay, this explains it - I think there was a creepy insect of some sort buzzing around my head.

Graceful.

And finally, I like to call this the "grumpy watering-can gremlin" pose:

This is the stuff that nightmares are made of.

Just remember, next time you start comparing your life to seemingly-perfect blogs and instagram accounts - they don't often post the outtakes of life.

I'll leave you with this photo of me, Tilde and Katie accidentally, and without prior consultation, all pulling our very best bitchfaces:

I hope that you've all had a great week,

Saturday 3 January 2015

DIY Novelty Phone Handbag | Make Thrift Buy #11

Happy 2015! I hope that you all had a wonderful New Years and are looking forward to the year that is ahead!

Recreating this Betsey Johnson handbag was my first DIY project of 2015. I don't know why I chose something so likely to fail for my very first project for the year... but, I did, and here we are.

Have a watch, and let me know what you think! I really value your feedback because it helps me make my videos better :)

Love,