The Pineneedle Collective

Sunday, 23 August 2015

Floral Fifties | Sewing Room Update!

Hello blog! So although I moved in to my new place more than a month ago, I've still only got about half of the studio organised. However, it's starting to look pretty cute, so I thought it was time for some progress photos. One wall still has a couple of unpacked boxes and piles of fabric sitting up against it, so we'll just ignore that wall for this little tour.

Let's begin over on this wall - my workspace! I managed to fit two desks here - the one on the left is for sewing, and the one of the right is for blogging/video-editing/doing uni work! There's also a smattering of art from some of my favourite artists on the wall - Lauren Carney, Mel Stringer, Hungry Designs, Ahcahcum Muchacha and Miss Nikki all make an appearance. I still have a lot more art to put up, although I think I might leave this wall as it is!


My two babies ;__;

But this is probably my favourite part of the sewing room for its sheer colourfulness.

Now that I finally have a space of my own, I can display all my kitschy knickknacks, handmade bits and pieces, and my growing collection of Adventure Time memorabilia and fan art, without having to worry that I'm oppressing my housemates with my obnoxious choice of home decor.

Like these chattering teeth, that were a moving-in gift to myself. Perusing Ebay late at night can sometimes be very dangerous. But I have no regrets with this one!

Finally, somewhere to store my vast collection of Japanese magazines! These are Zipper & Cutie magazines from 2014-2015, plus a print by Mel Stringer.

A Wishcandy canvas bag is featured at the back of this cube, and there's a print by Tori Rose Wright in the foreground. The ice cream and the bunny are both kid's nightlamps (and yes, they light up), and the three foxes at the front are pencil sharpeners.

But this thing actually does serve a more important function: it also stores all of my crafting stuff, and half of my fabric!

Organising all my craft stuff was a big goal of this studio space. In my previous house, things were just thrown into random drawers, buttons chucked underneath desks, fabric stuffed into bookcases - and it was all impossible to use.

So to organise all my craft stuff neatly, I was inspired to make these dividers for the drawers of this storage cube. To make these, I simply measured each drawer, then cut strips of cardboard from the millions of boxes I accumulated while moving house, wrapped it in polka-dot wrapping paper, stuck them in with some tape, and there you have it! DIY drawer dividers!

Now I can separate out my buttons and threads from my elastics and glues! It makes crafting SO much easier when I can actually find the things I need. If you have a craft space that's all over the place - get it organised, because it's so worth it. Even if you only have a corner of a room for crafting, invest in some good storage shelves or lots of adhesive hooks (if you're in a rental like me), and stick all your stuff to the wall.

I'm still trying to figure out a better way to store my fabrics (rather than just throwing them in the bottom of the cubes). If you have any ideas, where I can both store my fabric neatly AND still be able to see it, please share them with me!

Now, if you'll allow me, I need to spend a minute talking about this gorgeous dress!

When I buy clothes, there's a couple important things I look out for:

1. Is it ethically made?

2. Do the models on the website/in the shop represent a diversity of both body types and ethnicities?

3. And, will this piece of clothing require me to iron it every time I wear it?

I'm happy to report that Karina Dresses pass all three criteria. They're made in Brooklyn and Massachusetts, the workers being paid a living wage and the fabric ethically-sourced from LA; they're one of the most impressive companies for representing diversity that I've ever seen; and lastly, you never ever have to iron these dresses - they're totally crease-proof. Which makes me happy, because ironing is way too much effort and I basically end up abandoning skirts and dresses that have to be ironed every time they're worn. This dress is also perfect for taking traveling, because it won't get crushed in a suitcase.

In addition to all that good stuff, they're made with these pretty vintage-style silhouettes and fabrics. The style that I'm wearing, the "Kate" dress, has a late 50s/early 60s silhouette and fit - which is one of my absolute favourite styles for dresses! And I can never go past a good floral print.

Outfit details

Dress c/o Karina Dresses ("Kate" style) (also see here)
Petticoat is thrifted

Brooch from Bok Bok B'Gerk

Shoes c/o the side of the road ;) - don't worry, I cleaned them first

Lots and lots of love!

Friday, 21 August 2015

Not Your Average T-shirt Transfer Tutorial! | Get Thready With Me #6

I've used a lot of this essential craft item called "t-shirt transfer paper" in my Make Thrift Buy videos, as well as to make some t-shirts with which I wore in my Style videos - but I realised that I'd never really gone into detail about how to make these things work! So, here's a super in-depth tutorial on how to use t-shirt transfers, from selecting an image, to how well it lasts in the wash - and, you don't need to *only* use them for t-shirts either ;)

Wednesday, 5 August 2015

DIY Plush Bear Phone Case | Make, Thrift, Buy #22

...This is quite easily the most ridiculous tutorial that I have ever made for my blog.

Enjoy!

Love,

Friday, 31 July 2015

DIY Drawstring Backpack | Make Thrift Buy episode 22

Hello! I just filmed my first video in my new sewing room (even though it's not totally set up yet) and OH MY GOSH it is so nice to film everything in the one room, film at whatever time of day I like, and not have to pause every second for planes going overhead. IT WAS SO MUCH EASIER :O

Anyway, I figured out how to make drawstring bags today! In this video you will actually be watching my first ever attempt at making one ;) And I'm definitely going to be making more! This bag is *super* useful for running errands, which is how I used it today.

Enjoy!

Monday, 27 July 2015

One Small Step For Woman, One Giant Leap For Womankind

Hey blog! So it's been a crazy couple of weeks - I suddenly and unexpectedly (for various reasons that I'm not going to get into) had to move house! So I said goodbye to my plan of spending all my Uni break filming videos and sewing .·´¯`(>▂<)´¯`·. and I also said goodbye to the lovely housemates I've spent the last couple of years living with. Me and Luciano are going out alone into the world - we are now living together all aloney, like proper adults! (Eek. I am so not ready to be an adult!!)

Then, as soon as the moving week was over, I got super sick with a cold. Boo hoo. I literally spent all of today in bed knitting a scarf and by tonight, I was super bored and sick of stinking and having gross, unwashed hair, so I decided to have a shower and dress up. I still didn't feel well enough to leave the house, so I justified my totally unproductive dressing-up by taking some photos for my poor neglected blog!

One particularly wonderful aspect about moving home: we managed to snag a 2-bedroom place, which means that I now have my very own studio/sewing room. Ahhhh! I had been very frustrated with the lack of space in my student sharehouse for quite a while - my "studio" consisted of a small thoroughfare room in the middle of the house that I also shared with my housemate, AND I lived directly underneath the flight path, which is not exactly helpful for filming videos. Like. I had to pause while filming every 2 minutes while planes rattled my roof. I'm not exaggerating. In addition to all this, I could only ever film when all 3 other housemates were out, and sew when they weren't sleeping. It wasn't the easiest environment for creating in.

But now I'm no longer living underneath the flight path (woo hoo!), and I have this entire room to myself, so I can just film and sew whenever I want! I've become so passionate about sewing and making videos lately, to the point where I'm feeling as though I could (possibly!) even make a career out of it, so having this space is just... indescribable. It's going to help so much. I'm so, so happy, and I can't wait to get to work in it.

I'm going to give you a real quick tour of my new craftroom/studio - but keep in mind that I'm still unpacking, and it's definitely not set up yet!

I have a whole (non-weird-green!) wall for filming against! And it's a white wall, which is perfect - I can even use it to take outfit photos against when I don't feel like venturing outside (like today!)

And my sewing desk/computer space - I finally have somewhere to organise and put all my fabrics! Hooray! (There's a whole other storage unit at the other side of the room just for fabrics and crafty bits and pieces, too).

I'm super excited about having so much space, as you can see above. I know it doesn't look particularly huge, but compared to the amount of space I had in my last place, it feels like a mansion.

When I'm all set up, I'll definitely be doing a little sewing room tour. It's going to look soooo cute - and organised! - when I am done decorating :)

Anyway, I should be back to a more regular video-making/blogging schedule soon, once I've settled in. Thanks for sticking around!

Outfit details

Top - Borrowed from Katie (originally thrifted)

Jacket - Thrifted

Necklace - Eclectic Eccentricity, c/o Ginger Pickle

Shorts - Thrifted

Tights - from a tight stall in Japan

Shoes - Asos

I hope that you're all having a lovely start to your weeks so far. Much love!

Sunday, 12 July 2015

Thrifted Transformations | Get Sewing With Me #5

Sometimes you buy a couple of things from the thrift shop and they just sit around unworn forever because they're just not really very interesting (much like in my shirt video!)

That was the case with the navy dress pictured below.

Then, I found a shirt with daisies on it on a subsequent thrift-shopping trip, and immediately knew that the two were destined to be together!

I love before-and-after shots, so here's mine:

People often say to me "My thrift shops suck! You're so lucky to have good thrift shops where you live!" But half the skill of thrifting is being able to see the potential to transform clothes from something that's otherwise fairly bland and boring. Inspired by Coolirpa's Thrifted Transformations series, I'm going to attempt to upcycle these two thrifted items into something that I would much prefer to wear!

Enjoy :)