The Pineneedle Collective

Tuesday, 8 September 2015

Pink Polka Dot Dress | Fashion, Meet Technology

I felt pretty cute the other day in my new ebay-bought vintage dress (seriously, sometimes late-night ebay purchases are the best). It's going to be so good for summer! I am not usually a fan of drop-waists, but in this case, it works so well - I think because it's offset by the super large sailor collar! I got it from AHKA vintage, which is a really good little ebay store - all their vintage is really lovely and also decently priced! (Not a sponsor - they just made a good impression.)

When I was going through the questions for my last Q&A video, somebody mentioned that they were missing my science posts on my blog! Me too, guys. With my health being what it's been recently (not great) and my Youtube channel taking off, plus trying to keep up at university - I just haven't had the time! But, for those of you who were missing my science posts, I have something very exciting to announce: I started writing for a science magazine! The magazine is called Lateral and it's run by an awesome group of Australian science students, scientists and science enthusiasts alike. I'm so excited to be a part of the team!

My article is all about the world of wearable technology and how it's integrating with fashion... or not.

Image source - Flickr

Anyway, you can read my article here! It's a little bit longer than the science posts on my blog used to be, but I hope you'll still enjoy it :)

As for my outfit:

Outfit details:

Dress - AHKA Vintage

Brooch - Bok Bok B'Gerk

Socks - Kmart

Shoes - NAOT (Kedma)

Hope you're all doing well! Love,

Friday, 4 September 2015

DIY Pinafore - With Adjustable Straps!

Remember my pinafore dress from the other day? Well, here's the tutorial for it!

P.s. I was a silly-head and totally forgot to put the last step into the tutorial (must have been too keen to show off the final results!)

SO:

When you reach 5:28 in the video, you're not done just yet - you need to sew the end of the strap back down onto the strap. This will stop the whole thing from coming loose!!

Like this:

Basically, loop the strap back over the slider, and sew it down onto the strap (the one that's at the back), using a straight stitch.

Cool cool cool! I hope you're all having a lovely day,

Tuesday, 1 September 2015

Q & A and a Giveaway

Thanks for asking me questions on instagram, twitter and facebook, so I could make this video! (And I had soooo many questions - like, over 100 - so I'm really sorry if I didn't get to yours!)

In this video I show you my wardrobe, talk about dealing with a chronic illness, do a marshmallow challenge, give details about a giveaway - and more!

Thursday, 27 August 2015

Head-To-Toe Florals & A Handmade Pinafore

Just popping in today with a really quick outfit post, because I've missed doing these regularly! Hopefully I can do outfit posts a bit more often now that I have a nice backdrop to pose in front of.

SO basically, I am super dooooooper proud of this pinafore that I made. It's probably the most professional-looking thing I've ever created - seriously, I can't stop looking down at my neat top-stitching and seams and feeling super proud of myself. Check it out:

As for the rest of my clothes: my shirt is thrifted, my tights are suuuper old - can't remember where they're from - and my shoes are from Naot. Also, the pinafore is made out of a thrifted bedsheet and thrifted buttons! p.s. It's National Op Shop week in Australia right now, so there's never been a better excuse to go visit your local thrift shop. Even if you don't live in Australia, you're allowed to celebrate it too ;) Not only are you saving clothes from landfill, this is where your money goes when you buy from an op shop.

Have a lovely day,

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 ;)