The Pineneedle Collective

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 :)

Wednesday 8 July 2015

DIY Lace Suspender Shorts

Some cute shorts to wear with your new DIY blouses?? ;)

I'm in love with these lace ruffle suspender shorts that I made. They didn't turn out exactly like the original product, but I think that's totally okay because I really like the final result anyway. This just goes to show that mistakes can sometimes turn out really well!

Have a watch of my new video:

I hope you're all swell!

Monday 6 July 2015

5 Ways To Upcycle A Blouse | Get Sewing With Me #4

I keep buying blouses and then not wearing them, because they're too... eh. Just not interesting enough. So, I came up with 5 different ways of upcycling blouses to make them a little more exciting. Enjoy!

Friday 3 July 2015

Mini Clothing Line Launch & Outfits of the Week!

For the past couple of months I've been working with the company Reelstyle to design and release my very own mini clothing line (that's been ethically manufactured!) and I'm SO SO SO excited to finally be able to talk about it and to show you all the results!!

It was both very interesting, and at some times frustrating, to be involved behind-the-scenes in the design process! One thing I learned - it takes a long time to go from initial concept to final realization. I started working on this project back in March! And as for the frustration, I was limited to producing only t-shirts for this collection. Furthermore, the designs on those shirts were limited in both size and colour - each colour that I added would add extra cost to its manufacturing!

Nonetheless, working under these limitations I was still able to create three pieces that I'm think accurately represent my personality and style, and that I'm proud to put my name to!

The three shirts are inspired by Japanese street style, vintage patterns and designs, and all things kitsch. This pastel pink shirt was designed to look really good with gingham, denim and red lipstick. The bow also is a sly reference to the Sailor Scouts!

I also fell in love, a little while back, with this Fiona Hewitt kitsch deer design and 1960s fawn knickknacks like these! I wanted to evoke this in my t-shirt. I was also inspired by my friend Katie, who once wore a bambi jumper with a brooch saying "hello" in a genius pairing. In a pastel peach colour, this shirt looks great with denim, black and white, and anything with orange tones in it!

For an extra pop of kitschy-ness, you might be able to see that the deer even has little eyelashes.

And finally - I love anything with a food print on it. And who doesn't want strawberry boobs? This shirt looks best paired with high-waisted jeans and pleated tennis skirts.

All the shirts can be purchased from here.

Anyway, here's the accompanying video, where you can see the shirts in motion and also hear me ramble on about them (in the latter half of the video!)

Sunday 28 June 2015

I made a skirt - with pockets!

Hello blog! I have seriously missed you! University is finally over for the semester and I can now spend some more time sewing, making videos and taking photos *big huge sigh of relief*.

Well, as you all know, I've well-and-truly mastered the circle skirt. SO, I'm finally(!) branching out into other skirt types. My favourite types of skirts right now are below-the-knee gathered flare-y skirts with pockets, so I wanted to challenge myself to learn how to make one. And I totally succeeded.

I'm just a *little* bit excited about learning how to make pockets. Can you tell??

Another technique I've learned - belt loops! So that I can pair these pretty vintage-style skirts with some pretty vintage belts!

And yes, I will aim to make a tutorial about making pockets within the month! Bear with me - I've literally just learned how to make them and want to perfect them before trying to teach others.

Now please excuse me while I go and make a version of this skirt in EVERY SINGLE COLOUR.

Seriously though, I'm so excited to have a whole month ahead of me just to make videos and improve my sewing skills. I think that I'm going to tackle a Make Thrift Buy challenge either today or tomorrow! Are there any particular ones that you're itching for me to do?? Let me know! My "to-do" list is here.

Outfit details:

Top is thrifted

Cardigan from Dangerfield

Belt is thrifted

Skirt is handmade by me!

Necklace is from HK:ID (Hong Kong)

Shoes are Naot Kedmas

Petticoat from Ebay

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you're all having a wonderful weekend ♥

Saturday 20 June 2015

DIY Cat Socks! Make Thrift Buy #20

Sometimes really simple DIY projects nonetheless end up being really effective. These socks probably only took about 30 minutes to make, but they have made every single one of my outfits look super cute (granted, I've only been wearing them with jeans because it's FREEZING right now, but - well, they make jeans more interesting, so that's a win!)

I shall be back to regular blogging very soon - my Uni exams are over in a week! Hooray!

Much love,

Wednesday 10 June 2015

Q & A number #2!

Hello! So I recently hit 40K subscribers on Youtube (what!!) so I thought I'd do another Q&A video for those extra 30,000 people who are new to my channel! A couple of days ago I asked people on instagram and facebook to ask me some questions, and I got through about half of them! ~ Seriously though this is the longest video I've ever uploaded and it would have been twice the length if I'd answered every single one ~

So, here it is!

I hope that you're all having an amazing day :D

Monday 8 June 2015

My Shirt Is Flirting With You ;) | Make, Thrift, Buy #19

Hey cuties!

I made a new make thrift buy video featuring this very flirty shirt. Yay embroidery! Embroidery is pretty much the best thing to do to relax your mind and give your hands something to fidget with (if you're a fidgety person like me), and in this video I go through two embroidery techniques which are among the most basic and necessary techniques used to embroider!

Make all your collars pretty, and enjoy! ;)

(p.s. if you're wondering where the original ep. 19 went, have a look in the video description on youtube!)

Saturday 30 May 2015

DIY Piano Dress | Make Thrift Buy #18

Presenting: one of my favourite Make Thrift Buy's I have done thus far! I'm so soooo excited about this one, and I hope that heaps of you give it a go - because it can be done on pretty much ANY dress (or shirt, or skirt for that matter! The possibilities are endless!)

Watch the tutorial here:

Please tag your creations #diyannika on instagram if you try it (or any of my other tutorials) out!

Sunday 24 May 2015

My Week In Outfits #3 + My Birthday!

Hello everyone! Today I turn 23 years old.

I celebrated last night by being a birthday lion and hanging out with my besties, including, of course, Katie from Buddle and Squeak!

However, most of my week doesn't consist of me wearing onesies (in the daytime. As soon as I get home from uni, it's straight into the snuggly lion onesie for me). I really liked all my outfits last week, so I filmed them all and made a little video with them! Enjoy :)

Let me know which days outfits were your favourites!