12:51 // Sneaky floral cutouts

Wearing: Hat - c/o Wholesale Necklace - Wholesale Top (actually a dress) - Asos  Cardigan - Forever 21 Skirt - Wholesale Bag - c/o Oasap Tights - DIY It's been such a sunny winter day! I'm not at home at the moment, which is why I've not got my usual outfit background - I'm actually on holidays at the beach - and it is definitely not warm enough to swim, but it is warm enough for this summery ensemble! I styled my new DIY tights with a black circle skirt and this floral cut-out top (which is actually a dress) that I have had for forever from Asos. It finally fits me properly because I have put on weight lately particularly in the, ahem, bustal region, haha. (Bustal is so not a word, but I'm going to use it anyway.) Lately I've been finding heaps of clothes that never fit properly, and were banished to the back of my closet, but now fit really well, thanks to a few extra kilos. It's been like uncovering a whole new wardrobe - awesome! Hope you're all having a beaaaautiful Thursday! xxx Annika

We're fated to pretend

Thank you all for your lovely comments on my lipstick a couple of posts ago! I used to wear bright red lipstick all the time, and then stopped for some reason, so I think I'll start wearing it often again. Can I just talk about how much I love suspender shorts???? I don't know why I haven't gotten a pair earlier than now. These gorgeous ones were sent to me from oasap. I think I'm going to attach suspenders to some shorts or skirts I already own. I reaaaaally like them. Wearing: Blouse - c/o Oasap Sweater - Big Bargains (??) some dress store on George St Shorts - c/o Oasap Tights - Not sure, they're years old... Shoes - Vintage Hat - c/o Wholesale Bag - c/o Oasap Necklace - Wholesale I'd also like to announce that I have some buttons linking my blog now, if anyone feels like sharing the Pineneedle! This little dog wouldn't leave us alone when we (Luciano and myself) were taking these photos. It was so darn cute, even though it constantly tried to rip holes in my tights (it didn't know. It was just excited and liked jumping). Anyway, this dog must have really liked us, because when cars and other people went past it decided it was our guard dog, running in front of us and barking and growling madly at whoever was apparently threatening us. I was sad though because I didn't know where it had come from and it didn't have an address on it's collar. Hope you got home safe, little guy! I hope you're all having a beautiful day. xxx Annika

Take my hand if you know where I'm going

Hello! Just a quick outfit post today. I am loving this new blouse oasap kindly sent me. The white/black contrasting collar and cuffs are rad. I just got some mustard suspender shorts and a mint blouse from oasap in the post this morning in fact, and am really really excited to show them to you, because they're kind of amazing!!! So I have managed to get through all the emails you guys have been sending me now... I think...(and thanks so much for all your kind words!) but if I've missed you, please send me another email and let me know! I'm also thinking of setting up an FAQ page (especially for questions regarding sewing and wholesale-dress), so if there are any other questions you'd like me to answer and put on there, let me know now! Wearing: Blouse - c/o Oasap Belt - Vintage Skirt (actually a dress) - DIY Socks - c/o Sock Dreams Hat - c/o Wholesaledress Shoes - Wholesaledress Bag - c/o OASAP Hope you're all having a lovely Tuesday! xxx Annika

Polka dots and some DIY tights

Wearing: Dress - c/o Oasap Tights - DIY on Vintage sheers Shoes - Rubi Shoes Bag - Vintage Belt - Vintage Hat - c/o Wholesaledress Well... I told you all I'd have a procrastination product to show you when I was done studying. I made these tights one night when I was absolutely sick of calorimetry (I now know I can rule being a Calorimetrist out of What Kind of Scientist I want to be, in any case. Oh my god it is boring). Anyway, they are a bit lopsided, but I decided I kind of liked that. What do you think of them? xxx Annika

Hello again! & Giveaway results and another giveaway!

Well folk, I'm back! Unfortunately, you won't be able to congratulate me on finishing my exams just yet, because due to me being sick, I wasn't able to do a couple of them. Which I am more than a little annoyed about - I was planning on having a carefree sewing-and-blogging-filled month! And now I have to wait 2 whole weeks until I can do them. Still, I don't have to study anymore (I have done far too much of that lately), so I am back, and you can expect to see some more posts here again! First things first - here's an outfit post with a pretty floral skirt I made: I was trying to make my skirt look all cool and swooshy in these photos. I think I kind of failed. I posted the best attempts though, haha. Wearing: Blouse - Wholesaledress Skirt - I made it! Belt - Vintage Bag - c/o Wholesaledress Hat - c/o Wholesaledress Tights - c/o Oasap Shoes - Dr Martens And of course! The winner of the OASAP giveaway.... Miss "Naama A", I really hope you enjoy your gift voucher and pastel slip! I will be in contact with you very shortly. If you were disappointed about not winning the giveaway... OASAP is running yet another giveaway! All you need is an account to enter! Enter here. What's been happening guys? Can't wait to catch up with you all! And if you've sent me an email in the last week or so... I'm really sorry if I haven't replied. I'm going to get on top of all that today! xx Annika

Bye bye for a little while...

Hey guys! Just letting you know that this will be my last post for the next 2 weeks, as I have my end-of-semester exams coming up and figured it might be nice not to fail Uni :) So if you turn up here looking for some new posts, that's where I am! I haven't abandoned you guys! If you see me around here, please tell me to go away and study. I'm sure I'll be busting to share heaps of procrastination-creations with you all by the end of this two weeks! I will still be responding to emails, if you want to get in contact with me ([email protected]) And don't forget to enter my giveaway that ends on the 21st. See you guys in 2 weeks!  And thanks again for being completely awesome. I'll leave you with a photo of what I did to my hair last night (if you follow my Pinterest, you would have seen that I was having serious hair envy, and I had a couple of tubs of blue and lilac hair dye lying around so this was inevitably going to happen...) (There's a bit of nude back for you there, leaving my blog on a totally scandalous note!) Bye bye for now! xxx Annika

Autumn Leaves and Creepers

I took these photos way back when it was still autumn, but realised I had never posted them! So, it is "autumn" themed, but really, that doesn't make sense at all because it's not autumn anywhere in the world. Ah well. These leafy tights from Wholesale-dress and awesome comfy (and warm!) sweater from OASAP are helping me to slowly accept the COLLLLD! Also, I'm still refusing to wear pants, even as the temperature drops. The way to avoid pants all winter will be to wear skirts and multiple tights, and shorts and tights when the weather is really cold. I've managed to grow out of all my high waisted shorts from last winter (yay for putting on 10kgs in 3 months!...) so I got some new ones from Wholesale-dress, and am really pleased with them; they fit much better than my now too-small version of these same shorts (in dark blue) from wholesale-dress that I wore all last year. Wearing: Sweater - c/o OASAP Shorts - c/o Wholesale-dress Hat - c/o Wholesale-dress Bag - c/o Wholesale-dress Tights - c/o Wholesale-dress Shoes - c/o OASAP (Ok, yes, I'm wearing all freebies from sponsors. Hey, I'm poor at the moment and this is my only source of new clothes, don't judge me!) Hope you're all having a lovely sunny autumny (or winter! or summer! or heck, spring, why not?) day, wherever you are! Oh and before I go, I just created a facebook page for the Pineneedle Collective! Go ahead and like it (if you like me :D) https://www.facebook.com/PineneedleCollective xxx Annika

Three Quick Questions with Leila Chatti

I wanted to start a series of blog posts where I blog about someone other than myself. There's a handful of just-started-up blogs that I really like, SO, I have decided once a month to dedicate a blog post to interviewing one of these up-and-coming bloggers, who you may not have not heard too much about yet, but should definitely go and check out! What also tends to frustrate me in blog interviews is that the endless same old questions are asked, for which it is difficult to not just give the same old kind of responses to. So the idea of "three quick questions" is that it makes it slightly different from a normal blogger interview, and hopefully it'll give you just a quick, but interesting, snapshot of the blogger in question. And I don't think I could have chosen a better person for my first interview! SO Without further ado... My first interviewee - the gorgeous Leila Chatti from Confection. Q. Your style as a teenager - Do you regret it? Or do you look back fondly? Have you always seen yourself as having a good sense of style, or did you go through some awkward phases? Oh lordy, I have definitely not always been stylish! There were some dark, dark days: fleeces, grandma sweaters (not in an "ironic" way, mind you), and ill-fitting jeans that were 100% ready for a flood. As Velma Dinkley, whom I rather resembled, would say: "Jinkies!" My fashion sense until age 14 or so was pretty rough. I went through some interesting phases once I exited the "outfits-that-shall-not-be-remembered" stage. One I look back fondly on was this bizarre cabaret/Victorian thing I had going on junior year. I wore a lot of pinstripes, lace, tutus, hats, and blouses that buttoned to the chin. I admire that stage not because I looked particularly good, but because I was so confident in myself that I dressed how I wanted in a school where everyone donned matching Abercrombie polos and jeans. So, good job, baby Leila! I'd say I became "fashionable" my senior year of high school. I was voted by my high school class the senior award for "most unique style." Above: Leila as a youngin'! Q. So, you're an amazingly thrifty lady - what's you're number one tip for thrifting? Why thank you! :) Number one tip, hmm? That's a good question. I'd say, learn when the store does its sales and ask about when they put merchandise out (I think those are two, oops). First, about sales: this is important because I am not just thrifty, I am straight up cheap. Sales on top of already reasonable prices makes me one happy camper. Plus, if you have your eye on some higher end stuff (some thrift stores keep their vintage/nicer items in another area and price them higher), sales are a good way to score them without feeling too guilty. As for the merchandise part, it's critical to go when the batch is "fresh." I hate going into a thoroughly picked-over thrift store...who am I kidding, I'll thrift anywhere, but I promise it's not as fun when it's already been picked clean. Most thrift stores restock in the middle of the week after the weekend rush. If you can, pop by your local thrift spot on a Tuesday or Wednesday. The store will be less busy, and you'll likely have more to choose from. Q. That is seriously good advice! So who taught you about the wonderful world of thrift stores, or did you discover them for yourself? So, I'm the oldest of four children. My parents didn't have a ton of money to dole out to each of us, and for whatever reason, they really didn't want to spend it on clothes for me (my siblings now are rocking an assortment of Northface jackets on the daily, so my parents changed a bit after their run with me). I was given a small allowance of 20 dollars each month to spend how I wanted/needed. For a long time, I wore my mother's hand-me-downs; picture me as a 7th grader in work slacks, I promise you it isn't a terribly pretty sight. I knew that with 20 bucks I could barely afford a flimsy tank-top at Forever 21. I was sad, and thought I would be doomed to awkward outfits for the rest of my adolescent life. Lucky for me, my best friend, Lexi, came from a family of seriously thrifty folks. Her mom noticed my dilemma and insisted I come with them thrifting. Fast forward to my junior year of high school, and I was thrifting regularly with Lexi and our other best friend, Elissa. We frequented Goodwill and Salvation Army, and though our fashion preferences varied greatly, we all walked away with a few gems. Once, we went to Chicago (we lived in Michigan) and Elissa found the most GORGEOUS green velvet coat; I hated her for about 10 minutes. Right after high school, Elissa and I got jobs at a second hand store, where I later became a manager. I definitely learned to thrift alongside those two lovely ladies, and when I think of some of my favorite high school memories, my mind wanders to the racks of colorful garments and the faces of my friends, grinning and eager to show me some weird thing they had just found. I love thrifting and look back on my discovery of it the way someone might remember the first time they swung a leg over a horse or when they plunged into the water on their first scuba trip. Thrifting was the hobby that made us light up. Every time we're reunited, you can guess what we do first. Leila is also a high school teacher who recently endeavoured in a project which I think is amazingly admirable - at her school, they have a week called "Week Without Walls" where the teachers get to choose to teach anything they like for a whole week. Leila chose thrifting and DIYing! She took her students to a thrift store (each with a small budget) and then helped them alter their clothes into pretty things, and then they documented the whole process on a collective class blog. I just think that that is so fantastic, and that she pretty much should go down in history as the coolest high school teacher ever. Also more reason to go and check out her amazing blog! I hope you enjoyed this interview, I sure did! xxx Annika

Take you to the candy shop, I'll let you wear some colour-block

Colour-blocking sweetness! This backpack from Asos and skirt from Sugarlips Apparel just happen to go together ridiculously well. May I direct your good selves to this song by the Baseballs (much better than the 50 Cent original, they (amazingly) make the song so sweet). This is the song that I had stuck in my head whilst taking these photos, and hence the title. Wearing: Blouse - Vintage Bowtie - DIY Skirt - c/o Sugarlips Apparel Cardigan - Sydney Markets (pop-up shop) Backpack - Asos Belt - Vintage Shoes - Asos Hat - c/o Wholesaledress Much love! xxx Annika

Oh hey there, cute socks!

Aren't these just the best socks?? I am so in love. Sheer at the top, with cute little bows. The lovely Shop with Romi sent them to me and I'm sure I'll be styling them again and again, especially with anything navy! So, I tried to match my feet to my entire outfit. Navy contrasting with red/brown and light brown. My feet are like a mini version of the theme of my outfit... haha. I'm so cool. Wearing: Vest - Vintage Socks - c/o Shop with Romi Skirt - Wholesale Bag - Vintage Shoes - Vintage Hat - Wholesale xxx Annika

Handmade Blouse - More Photos, Styled Differently

Here's some more photos of my handmade blouse, styled a bit differently with high waisted black shorts and a ribbon bow attached to the blouse. I didn't talk much about making the blouse in my last post, and heaps of you asked how I made it, so I will real briefly now. I used a really simple pattern, and hence the blouse is quite an "oversized" style (ie I couldn't be bothered to add any buttons, zippers etc and I actually wanted to have to ability to get it on and off without dislocating my shoulders). This is the basic pattern I used (cut this shape out of fabric twice, sew it together right sides facing each other - except for the arm and neck holes of course - and then add interfacing on the neck, hem the arm holes and add a collar), and when I have more time (my Uni holidays will be coming up in about 3 weeks!) I will endeavour to do a full DIY on it for you all. The collar bit looks really dodgy in the above photo, I just needed to fix it by ironing it properly though. Wearing: Blouse - DIY Ribbon - DIY Shorts - ??? (Cotton On?) Tights - Forever 21 Shoes - Rubi Shoes Hat - c/o Wholesaledress Bag - c/o Wholesaledress Much love, all! xxx Annika