monochrome - with a little colour

I've tried white on white so many times... and have always opted out because I haven't got the quality pieces. Like... you know, a white shirt (except this one which is pretty ill fitting).

SOURCE

Shirt: Equipment

Jeans: Victoria Beckham < ---- Im going to play with these old ones!

Shoes: Bertie Noshaq

Belt: Maison Boinet <---- cheaper one here from Asos

Bag: Topshop

Friendship bracelets: Marc by Marc Jacobs or I would take a pick from these Etsy bracelets

Creative Firday: Interview ACIDZIP

On this Creative Friday we are featuring the jewellery designer ACIDZIP. I really love the simplicity and the delicacy in her designs. I feel like I could team her jewellery with a heap of outfits or even create a garment around the jewellery. It sure was a treat to sit down and chat with her about her jewellery line, life in Berlin and creativity! I love the point that she makes about just going for it! Don't wait until the "right time". There is no "right time", just hurray up and do it. AGREED!

Ting from ACIDZIP                                 Photo: Michael Dooney

Where are you from?
I was born in China but spent the majority my time in Canada. I recently moved from Toronto to Berlin and am still trying to make myself feel at home here.


What is your art/craft and where can we find it?
I make jewelry that often feature porcupine quills. My items are currently available on my Etsy store (http://www.etsy.com/shop/acidzip) and in a boutique called Victoire located in Ottawa (so if you ever find yourself in Canada…) Berlin shops are on my to-do list so hopefully soon!

What are the positives in buying handmade items?
I love producing and purchasing handmade items because I know that there is a story behind every item. Each item has been made with care and I’m a total sucker for details.


Where do you find inspiration?
The Internet. To be more specific, the Internet and it’s endless source of beautiful images and the wonderful people who create them. I’m very visual so I often find myself sifting through blogs and tumblr for images that simply “click” with me.


What motivates you to create?
Jewelry making started out as an outlet for my pent up creativity but now it’s the feedback that keeps me going. There is nothing better than seeing people react to your pieces and hearing back from satisfied customers. 



What encouraging words/advice would you give to someone who is interested in sparking their creativity?
If you have an idea or vision, just go for it! I sat on the fence for years and now wish that I had started earlier. It will never seem like the "right time" and you will never feel like you have enough time but once you start it will be hard to ever give up.

lolly shop

Tank: Agent 99. Shoes: Shoebox. Bag: Alexander Wang. Pants: Tripp NYC.

I can't believe I haven't posted these jeans before... I wear them  A LOT. Robert snapped these shots of me before dinner in Fremantle. 

Kaye xx

Creative Friday: My knitting setting

Thanks to Michael I now own a very shiny circular needle knitting set. I just love having quality products like this. 
I am now on the look out for a new circular knitting challenge.

 

Last year I was challenged by Kaye to knit some shorts. If you have been following us for a while, you might remember that this project took me a while to complete. It was definitely one of my most difficult design challenges

mahaila knitted shorts

So at the moment I am thinking of warming up with a simple snood. 

I might then knit a jumper or another pair of shorts. Perhaps I will experiment with patterns, like this jumper from ASOS.

If you are looking for inspirational knit wear images, check out the The Dark knit blog. It is solely dedicated to fashion and knit wear and she designs her own pieces too. 

My handmade Christmas treat

Top: LUI LUI   Photos: Michael Dooney

Last year we interviewed a knit wear designer Esther from LUI LUI on the blog. If you look at the previous post you can see that she let me try on one of her garments. I never go clothes shopping because I make all of my own clothes, so it was nice to try on a handmade item that I hadn't made. The next time that I saw this knitted top was on Christmas morning! Michael had gone back to the a loja store and purchased the top that I had tried on. It was a nice surprise! I really love this top. I love the design, I love the colours and I like that I feel a little European in it... if that makes sense. In Perth we don't wear a hell of a lot of knit wear because of the weather. So wearing something which makes me feel wintery is kind of nice:) 


Speaking of winter wear, only recently have I noticed that people have different expectations of what someone should wear in the winter months. I bring this up as my colleagues keep asking me if I am cold because I don't wear jeans. At weekly intervals  someone always feels the need to come up to me and ask me why I wear skirts. I wear 1 pair of stockings and then 1 pair of woollen tights over these stockings. But I don't really feel the need to explain myself. So I just end up saying 'no, I am not cold'. Can someone inform me as to whether there is an unwritten rule regarding jeans and winter??? Anyhoo, hope you are enjoying the weather where ever you are located in the world.

my sunday go-to

Perth is so crazy hot right now, there is no way I could wear this. But on a usual Sunday, this is the ideal version of my go-to outfit... the real life version is not as fancy as this. 

SOURCE

Bag: Celine <---- the bag that replaces this in real life is my Wang. But in a couple of years I think I'll invest in something a little more classic like this one. 

Shoes: Dolce and Gabbana <---- a more budget friendly version here

Tank: Zoe Karssen <---- this would be super easy to DIY

Jeans: Diesel <---- the boyfriend style reminds me that I should dig out these again!

Creative Friday: Snou

A few weeks ago we met up with the jewellery designer, Lucia from Snou*. Going to her studio was really nice. She is so energetic and enthusiastic and it is reflected through her unique creations. Thanks to Lucia for spending the time to show us around her studio. Make sure you check her designs out!

Lucia from Snou*                             Photo: Michael Dooney

Where are you from?

I was born in Puerto Rico and lived there for 27 years.

What is your art/craft and where can we find it?

I design and make snou* a line of contemporary jewelry, available online at www.snou.biz and through various stores and galleries such as Or-est in Berlin-Prenzlauerberg, Promobo in Berlin- Mitte and others.

What are the positives in buying handmade items?

I can only see positive sides to buying handmade. First of all today there is a huge movement of creative people offering all sorts of handmade, unique, high-quality items. By buying their products you do not only support them, you support alternative microeconomies. Plus when you buy original pieces directly from the maker you get the best personal service from the people who make these things with their hands, minds and hearts.

Where do you find inspiration?

For me life and work are so much entwined together, life brings all sorts of sources for inspiration if you keep your eyes open. Nature, music, travels, experiences, art are some of the sources I can identify.

What motivates you to create?

Every jump from idea to reality involves some degree of experimentation, when I surprise myself with an outstanding result, this becomes motivation for the next experiment.

What encouraging words/advice would you give to someone who is interested in sparking their creativity?

The path of creativity is a very hard one, but bringing forth something new and special out of the dark reaches of the mind where ideas generate and seeing it become real and surpass your own expectations is among the most rewarding experiences of life. 

Snou* shop
Snou* blog

(Bag: Alexander Wang. Top: Topshop. Shoes: Friend of Mine. Shorts: random (old). Rings: Fashionology and a market in Florence)

Photos taken in Albany

The bag and shoes were bought during the end of year sales as part of my "new clothes resolution" (you've already seen a little of the shoes here) - I still can't bring myself to pay full price, but I'm getting there. I'm officially addicted to good quality accessories! I haven't bought anything from a chain store in a loooooong time - I love exhausting my current pieces and finding new ways to wear them. I had actually bought a pair of boots in a similar colour. In my blog post I had noted: 

"I should stop kidding myself with all these fancy shmancy colour variations. I do love my black."

However I think I was just so wrong! It was the quality that stopped me wearing them. How do I know this? Because I wear my new Friend of Mine boots with everything!- Are you joining me in the "new clothes resolution", dear readers? Please tell us how it's going!

Kaye xx

Berlin Half Marathon all the way I say!

Firstly, apologies for my recent sporadic (or rather lack of) posts. Yes I WAS off to a poor start to the year..... but I decided to turn it all around. I am ssssoooooo looking forward to 2012. It WILL be a year full of energy, enthusiasm, hard work, love and creativity (oh and of course sewing!) .... and what better way to kick this all off other then to sign up for the Berlin half marathon. Thats right! Michael and I have started a 3 month training schedule which will hopefully prepare us for the 21.0975 km run on the 1st of April. 

Bonds chesty top

BUT there is one problem! I am completely guilty of wearing THE daggiest (for our non Aussie readers, here is how the "Australian National dictionary" defines the term dag: Dag : A ‘character’, someone eccentric but entertainingly so) THE oldest and THE most unattractive clothes whist exercising. So in an effort to change this I am going to be sewing a few items which I can look forward to wearing on the 1st of April. I have never sewn any athletic type garments before, so it should be a nice little challenge. However I will not promise to stop wearing my old daggy items whilst training.

CUT #4 "Jacke Luca" pattern

MY PLAN

At the moment these are the items that I am thinking of making

1. JACKET - The jacket "Jacke Luca" from the CUT mag #4(they have a pattern for adding a hoodie too here)

2. TOP - I love my old Bonds chesty. I don't think they make them any more, so I will be recreating a similar shaped top. 

3. LEGGINGS - I never used to wear leggings, but the weather here in Berlin tends to be a little nippy so I like to wear leggings with shorts. I think that I will draft a pattern for leggings and make a few for the year

4. SHORTS - I am still at a loss as to what shorts to make, perhaps in a similar style to these Nike shorts. I don't know, I have to do a little more research (I love that these one's are Dockers (an Australian football team) coloured). 

So over the next few months I will let you know how we have progressed, regarding both running and sewing! 

Our initial run: 5.6 km in approx 30 minutes. 

P.S. What do you like to exercise in? I am open to suggestions!

floral fever - it's everywhere and im here to join the party

I've never colour blocked in my life. But give me bright floral on a black background and Im happy - I guess I have Celine to thank. 

As part of my "new clothes resolution", I'm trying not to buy any trend based items for a while. So instead I will be letting my imagination run free via Polyvore.

If I had my way this is what I would be wearing..... right. now. 

SOURCE

Pants: Tata Naka

Tank: Monki

Shoes: Asos

Bag: The Row < ---- the price of this was almost too insane to include in the post. But this is the PERFECT black backpack. 

Sunglasses: Asos < ---- I will be buying these. Too cheap and too awesome to pass up. Especially as my friends keep calling me John Lennon whenever I wear these, which is a reference I take compliment to. 

DIY instructions for my breakfest top

As promised, her is the tutorial for the pinned muscle tank that I wore to Breakfest! If you missed my inspiration, you can find it here and if you missed the outfit post you can find it here. 

Most things needed for this DIY are household items which is why I love it so much! I realised that I needed more items than those pictured above, so here's the list:

You will need: 

A black crew neck T-Shirt (I got mine for $7 from Kmart)

Safety pins

Fabric scissors

Rubber gloves

Bleach

Black fabric paint

A ruler

A sponge

Sticky tape

A4 paper

An old cloth

Newspaper

1. Wash. 

Get you T-Shirt nice and wet.

2. Bleach

Use an old cloth to rub the bleach into the top. Apply the bleach haphazardly to give more of a washed look.  Then hang out the T-Shirt and let the bleach do it's thing. Keep a close eye on it because the colour will change quickly. When you're happy with it, throw it in the wash.

3. Dry and cut

 Hang your top out to dry - and admire the DIY "washed look" that you've created! It's now time to get cutting. Cut the sleeves off just past the seem - because it is a jersey fabric, you don't need the stitching as it won't fray. 

Do the same for the neckline. 

5. Make your stencil

I used the width of a 30cm ruler to make my cross. Mark it out with a pencil on A4 paper and cut it out. Position it onto your T-Shirt.

6. Sticky tape and sponge

Secure your stencil with sticky tape. Use a sponge to apply the fabric paint over your stencil. Don't forget to position newspaper inside your top to prevent bleeding on the other side. You'll also need to iron your paint on after it's dried so it doesn't come off in the wash.

7. Cut along the side stitching
Now start making room for your pins. Simply cut out the stitching on the side of your tank.

7. Pinning
Now pin it back together. I put a hard book under the fabric to make it easier to line up the two edges. Pin it all the way to the top. Repeat on the other side of the T-Shirt.

8. Finished!
And there you have it! Please let us know if you give it a go - or if you've tried your own spin on it! We would love to see some pictures of your own creations :)

Kaye xx

my completed breakfest top

(shorts: Sportsgirl. Top: DIY. Shoes: Kmart)

I finished my diy top! It's already been put into action - at the Breakfest festival! The day was kind of amazing... you would have seen a few pics while I was at the event if you follow us on twitter. I'll just finish up the tutorial and I'll post it tomorrow. Ill catch you then! :)

Kaye xx

new years eve

Happy 2012!!

To celebrate our new years eve, robert and I ditched our initial plans of attending Origin (a music festival with tickets priced at $110 each, and that's without drinks and a ride home), and joined our friends at their house party. For only $13 (the cost of my bottle of wine), we took turns on the decks, set absinthe alight, drank, danced, played table tennis, danced, drank, ran, squealed, drank... and just had fun. A great way to ring in the new year.