Pika-chooooooo!!!

I did it! I made the Pikachu hat! And with plenty of time to spare! ^_^

(pic up soon, I promise!!!)

As I mentioned in my last post, my brother gave me orders to make this hat for him which he had seen on Secretlifeofabionerd!

Inspiration from Secretlifeofabionerd

My bro gave me until Tuesday to make this hat! But I've actually finished it today!

It was actually rather a fun project to do! Really easy and I couldn't help but smile as the piece started to take shape and look like Pikachu!

It was recommended that you use a stretch fleece, but unfortunately, after trekking all over Dublin city centre... I could not find a fabric store that stocked a yellow stretch fleece (or a stretch fleece!). So I popped into Penneys (Primark in Ireland for those that don't know) and purchased a XL mens yellow tee for €3 after some advice from the staff at Fabric Select (who were very very lovely!).

I still have enough left to make a second hat!... should I? (I think my brother would kill me, either that or die of embarrassment if that his sister has a matching hat! hehe!)

Bina :o)

Teddy Bear Ears

This is a cute little soft hat that I made from an old hoodie that was being binned anyway, after I got it CAUGHT on a bush which ripped a hole in the side!

Secretlifeofabionerd recently posted up a tutorial for a Cosplay Pikachu Beanie Hat. I was watching it when my brother happened to creep up behind me to attack me, but thankfully, he then got distracted by the coolness that is this hat!!!

He had now demanded that I make this hat for him, and he has set me a deadline (Tuesday, 3rd August)! ^_^ Don't worry, I was actually excited by this! He's never asked me to make him anything before and I'm looking forward to making it for him!

But I needed to make a test hat! (I do tend to fail in my sewing conquests! ...and I didn't want it to be a complete and utter disappointment to my bro when I rolled up to him with a pathetic hat... hehee!)

Teddy Bear Ears Hat

So, I whipped up this teddy bear ears hat with an old red hoodie and a white tee I got for free! It's a wee bit small for my head! But I think it'll make a nice little present for my cousin's little girl!

KL Cao of Secretlifeofabionerd actually has this hat on sale in her online shop. It's where I got my inspiration from.

Inspiration from http://klpigmentshop.weebly.com/

I might add a similar bow to make it even more kawaii. Anyway, for now, here's ho

w it looks!

The front

The back

Bina :o)

Freedom at Topshop haul

(Sorry to anyone who randomly happens to stumble upon my blog and cannot get to Dublin in time! ...)

Get yourself to Topshop in Arnotts on Henry Street. Bargains galore! And I didn't even have to climb downstairs! In fact I ended up spending €10.00 (which was further reduced to €9.00 with student discount! ^_^ tehehee!) for items that actually totalled €90 all together...shocking, ain't it?

So it all began with a trip out to town today for a few bank-related errands... and of course, I couldn't help but visit a few shops!

And I wasn't planning on going into Arnotts, but I happened to peek my head through the
entrance (against the wishes of my brother) and found so many bargains! There were two rails (back and front) full of jewellery pieces for less than 3euro! Most of them were only 1euro!!! ^_^ Happy days!

I didn't dare go downstairs to the clothes (cos I really should be concentrating on finding a job to earn money, rather than spend it!)

Here are a few items that I picked up!

cream lace bow brooch pin

golden autumn leaves neckpiece

love necklace

heartbreaker necklace (two chains and two pendants)

pearl heart earrings and sunflower earrings set

vertical diamante love necklace

So, get yourself down to Topshop (in Arnotts) asap!

Bina :o)

Bow-tastic!

I know I said I was going to start off easy... but even I surprised myself with this one... (Before making this, I did not have the confidence in myself to produce something that was of a good standard!)

This piece looks so well!!! I'm so happy with it! I was thinking about this project for a long time, but now I am so happy it turned out so well! (I could also have worn it as a headband piece but I didn't have time to take a photo!)

This was the last of the first cotton print fabric I ever bought and I was so glad that I had enough in my scraps to make it! It is such a gorgeous paisley print with enough lilac to make me feel pretty!

Oddly, I found the instructions on lovesewing.com unclear. It seems to skip steps and I had to just improvise, for example, the bow itself seems to just be seamed in the tutorial. But I actually sewed it right sides together and left a gap to flip it inside out.

I also found, when marking the fabric, that the measurement were a bit small. So I added a bit of extra bit to each amount... even still, I think the next time I make one, I'd like a bigger bow, and a longer tie...

I have to admit that I would have not have had the motivation to do this on my own. I ended up giving this piece away as a birthday present. I was making this piece anyway, when I was informed of plans to attend a friend's birthday, albeit, slowly with lots of procastination. But once I confirmed that I was going to head out for the birthday, I instantly focused my attention on finishing the project and I ironed everything before sewing (which I don't always do! I know... big sewing faux-pas!)

But I feel the best motivation for doing anything is when you are doing it for others rather than yourself.
What's the point of having a gift, a passion, a talent... if you don't share it?

I hope that the girl I gave this to, feels as pretty as I did when I wore it!

Bina :o)

I need a drink!

... of OJ!

Unfortunately, over the last while, my creative juices have not being flowing the way I want them too... in fact, they're pretty much non-existant.

I feel as though I have lost a bit of my identity in the last few months. Finishing up at university and more significantly, having no concrete plans for the future have left me lost. I have no purpose in life, and this has had a huge impact on my wellbeing. I feel like I have lost myself in the last while and I am determined to get back to me!

So I'm gonna TRY and start sewing again, boost my creative juices... with a bit of orange juice and a SMALL but significant (to me) sewing project!
I'm going to try out this gorgeous bow tie neckpiece from Kaitlin of myvintagesecret.com.
She posted up this tutorial on lovesewing.com a while ago. I instantly fell in love with this when I saw it... so let's see how I get on!

Bina :o)

She bangs, she bangs!

I haven't had a fringe in the longest time ever. I think that since my first set of bangs back when I was 8, I've always had some sort of fringe.

And for the first time in years, I noticed that I didn't have a fringe anymore! :-o My fringe had actually outgrown by so much that I forgot I once had a fringe! I kinda missed it so I figured, what the heck... (hair grows!). So I whipped out a pair of scissors and a comb and hey presto, bangs to the side! :)
I actually kinda wish I hadn't cut it. It requires so much maintenance and upkeep and it will get in my way a lot. So I think the bangs won't be seen often. I'm going to just pin them back and take them out once in a while and let em down.

Anyway, what do you think of bangs? In, out? So last year?

Bina :o)

Goodbye Threadbanger?

If you haven't heard by now, well, where have you sewing DIY buddies gone - Rob, Corinne and Meg have left the Threadbanger building! *sniff* *sniff* *sniff*.

There has been huge uproar in the Threadbanger forum and Youtube over how talented trio left no "real" explanation for their decisions to leave. But is that really fair? People have decided that they are owed an explanation...what?! why???

Over the last two weeks, I have watched as comments such as 'where are you? why are you not posting up any more videos anymore?' and 'i thought this was a sewing channel'... but who are we to demand that Meg, Rob or Corinne provide us with the reason they left? Clearly, there are some background issues involved. Many of the regular bloggers on threadbanger have also left. Even TB's newest installment, Secretlifeofabionerd wasn't informed that they were leaving. She was in fact excited to be working alongside the dynamic trio as she has stated in many of her replies to distasteful hate comments under her videos.
I was shocked to see such mean comments towards bionerd and how many comments were hypocritical in nature (as she and many of her fans touch on in their many replies).

I, myself will be upset to see them go. Despite the fact that I was never extremely active on TB and I had never really contacted Meg, Rob or Corinne, I did enjoy their many videos and they will be sorely missed. I always looked forward to the next video that TB put up on youtube. But now, I'm excited about replaying their old videos and doing the projects that I never got around to!

I must admit that I might unsubscribe to the Threadbanger channel if they don't find someone else (ALONG with bionerd). It is annoying that the same video comes up twice in my updates (as I am subscribed to both TB and bionerd).

But I wish Corinne, Rob and Meg the BEST OF LUCK with their future projects! I know they won't need it tho! and THANK YOU for all the hard work you've put in for us threadheads... (even if some of them seem ungrateful now!)

btw, Meg/Corinne/Rob...if one of you happen to stumble on this random blog post in the world of blogosphere, please keep us posted with what ever exciting plans lie ahead! I am following your twitters!

(In order of appearance) Meg, Corinne and Rob

I'd also like to wish Secretlifeofabionerd ALL THE BEST with her regular stint on TB. I hope she continues to experience the success that she has had so far! :) (btw, congratulations on getting a stint on TB... I know that she started out as threadhead and was a fan of TB during her journey! So it's great to see her progress to where she is now!)

I hope the trio are happy and that bionerd is ignoring the bad, because the good she achieves will be worth it in the end.

Thank you to gothictany73 for making this tribute to the trio. It was beautiful.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5OC0DnxRbo


Bina :o)