MULTIFUNCTIONAL BUFF HEADWEAR

There are more upcoming travels and I thought I should rethink the clothes I put into the backpack. I am not getting big expensive items. In fact, I am relooking and rethinking the wardrobe and looking at clothes that can be minimised, or rather multi-purposed. While on the road, I need clothes that are multifunctional as well as hardy. Some fabrics crease and pull easily so they are really not good for backpacking, rough handling. Most of my scarves are long and bulky, all for winter climates. The few I have for the warmer climates are flimsy and they pull easily, meaning they fray easily. So I have one of these buff headwear coming my way. Made of microfibers, it can keep me warm in the tropical nights or the cooler climates. It is compact and the slight elastic also help to make it versatile. I hope it arrives in time for the next travel.

 

DIY YOUR MARC JACOBS GOOGLY EYES WHATEVER

This is so refreshingly easy. Makes us want to just pick up that glue gun and just googly eye everything around us.

WE ARE BACK CROCHETING

We have some from our Hanoi Trip, yes, it is from that long ago, say 4 years? It has been sitting under the drawer for the longest time. We are taking this long weekend to reboot and also trash the old. Yep, that is what we like to do from time to time. We are slowly embracing the minimalistic lifestyle if that is even achievable. We got back into crochet this weekend with the thick yarn, we are making a scarf out of it like we do not have enough scarves already. Let's see which lucky one would receive this as a present. 

We have laid off crocheting for a while, considering there have been too much on our minds. We thought it is time to restart since we have some leftover yarn sitting around. Yarn is getting more and more expensive. We wonder what we would do after finish this batch.

LOVING THESE BEACH SHADES

And yes, you, whoever you are, you will build this for me one day and I shall feed cake to you.

AND YOU SHALL BUILD THIS FOR ME ONE DAY

RESTYLE YOUR BIKINI TOP

MAGIC SCARF 101

I am a light traveler and a sucker for gimmicks like this. Got to have a black one. And no I am not going to wear it as a dress. Nice idea to transform it into a dress but the fit does not look good. I might do it only if I am desperate.

CROCHET, THE NON-COMMERCIAL MEDITATIVE HOBBY

I have the habit of crocheting. It is calming for me and it is a form of meditation in my opinion. I like to crochet useful things whilst watching videos or traveling on the bus or on the plane. Instead of Candy Crushing or some senseless social networking that does not lead to anything productive, how about let us make something. Whether it is a small coaster from leftover yarn, or a pouch, or a scarf, they make useful gifts for friends and family with free time to readily available in your hands!

Why buy something from the stores? Why pay more and benefit commercialism? Why not learn something new, a useful hobby? Why not actually produce something with your hands? This month I made a conscious effort to learn how to read crochet patterns. I already know how to read simple patterns, but I want something more. I found an intermediate vintage pouch pattern and off I went.

It was not easy. Reading patterns take some effort and trial and error to get right. But after a few tries, I was off with my fidgety fingers. A 50g of yarn makes about 3 pouches and that makes a nice little gift for friends this season. At the end of watching my series and movies, VOILA! I made a gift. How fab is that? What are you making this season? Make a point to make something with your hands. And the more useful it is, the better. Your friends and family would actually use it. 

Gandhi used to spin wool to support India making their own clothes. And I hope to make a positive change in my life and the people around me, one stitch at a time, one pouch at a time.

About 1920, Gandhi began his program of hand-spinning wool into yarn and weaving the yarn into cloth. He had three principal reasons for doing this: (1) to aid economic freedom by making India self-sufficient in cloth; (2) to promote social freedom through the dignity of labor; and, (3) to advance political freedom by challenging the British textile industry and preparing Indians for self-government. He also began espousing his desires for a united and independent India, a revival of cottage industries, and the abolition of untouchability. Over a period of about ten years, he built the Indian National Congress into a major political and social force in India, and used that force to bring increasing international pressure upon Great Britain to grant independence to India.

ROADKILL RUGS

We have been finding a lot of roadkill rugs online recently. Cute not? We quite like it. They are absolutely hilarious and such fun talk pieces. What say you?

This is our favourite by far.

MAKE YOUR OWN STYLISH SCARF BELT

So cool. We will be sure to save some of those buckles from old broken belts.

EMBROIDERY HOOP STORAGE POUCHES

We might have some have these hoops at home. Interesting way to 'recycle' them via Craftzine

THINGS WE WANT TO MAKE THIS YEAR, AND IN ANTICIPATION OF OUR NEW PAD

We have been thinking about picking up a new hobby this year and we are just not sure what. We are into making things and everything useful but just how and what. We have been toying with the idea of making things for our home-to-come. We are planning to buy a place sometime this year and instead of leaving everything to the last minute, we thought we should start to make use of our time in the evenings to make something for our up-and-coming pad.

Some things which we love making and think would be pretty awesome for our pad.

OUR MAGAZINE COASTERS
Free materials, just our time and why not.


OUR RECYCLED CLOTHES RUG
We have already made this and it is just a matter of weaving more and attaching it to the rug to expand it. Now we only need to find more old clothes to shred.


OUR REVAMPED POUCHES
We need more of these. Taking old clothes and revamping them into new crazy-ass pouches. Great way to upcycle those clothes and we know how expensive those 'designery' hand-sewn pouches can be.


HERE IS A LIST OF STUFF WE WANT TO MAKE FOR OUR NEW PAD:

• pot stands
• pot holders
• wine bottle jars
• placemats
• cushions and cushion covers, or little plushies could work too
• more to come

CUTE FINDS ONLINE

We hate shopping. We do. We think we were traumatized by our mother. She used to drag us to go shopping with her and she would go comb the shops while we stand in a corner waiting to what was like an eternity. Our sisters and cousins used to dump loads of clothes on us too. Clothes they do not want to wear anymore, or clothes they buy on impulse. It sometimes drive us insane because those clothes sometimes are not our style and they would just take too much space in our cupboards.

We are also too busy to shop. We would rather sit down and watch a film than to shop. We hate crowd and we hate going through a load of clothes.

We, however, love shopping online. It is open 24/7 for us, no crowds, no hassle, sometimes cheaper, we have rare finds. We just bought the cute top above. How is that cutie for SGD6.50 inclusive of shipping? We say it is awesome. One man's trash is another's treasure.

HAVE TO SAVE OLD BELTS TO DO THIS FOR A PICNIC

UPCYCLING OUR OLD CLOTHES PART 4 : OUR PROGRESS ON A HOLIDAY AFTERNOON

This is the end product of our recycling of our old clothes. Shredded them, woven them, and sewn them them together to form a rug. It isn't a perfect circle as all the clothes have different thickness. This is our first attempt in making a rug. If we were to do it a second time, we would have shredded the clothes not in the same thickness but gauging how they would look in the same thickness when woven.

You can see the progress of this rug here:

The 2nd picture is a bit off in its colour because of the light from the window. Nonetheless, this is our progress so far. We have been really busy and not been able to do much. But a couple of hours this afternoon has increased our little rug to 42cm in diameter and it is still going.

Click here for Part 2
and here for Part 1

HOW TO WEAR A SCARF : 25 WAYS IN 4.5 MINUTES

THE SCARF BELT

Gotta try this one day.

LOVING FUROSHIKI : HOW TO WEAR A SCARF AT THE MARKET

Love this so much. Another great demonstration of the wonderful scarf turned into a sustainable bag at the market via furoshiki. We have to get ourselves a big scarf like this.

LOVING FUROSHIKI : HOW TO WEAR A SCARF

We love furoshiki so much. Even Hermes has realized the wonders of furoshiki and included the instruction in their scarf packaging. Why splurge when it is just any old beautiful scarf which you can so easily transform into something so effortlessly stylish. So great for traveling too.

UPCYCLING OUR OLD CLOTHES PART 3 : OUR PROGRESS ON A SUNDAY AFTERNOON

The 2nd picture is a bit off in its colour because of the light from the window. Nonetheless, this is our progress so far. We have been really busy and not been able to do much. But a couple of hours this afternoon has increased our little rug to 42cm in diameter and it is still going.

Click here for Part 2
and here for Part 1