DIY Square Blouse

I've been really digging square blouses lately. They're so comfortable for our weather and I really wanted to try my hand at making my own using fabrics with different prints.

I searched around and found this tutorial here - which made it sound so easy and manageable for a DIY newbie like me! I also liked how her end product looked like:

Source: cottonandcurls.blogspot.com via Erlina on Pinterest

So I picked up some duchess satin fabric from Spotlight when they had a sale recently and got into the swing of making my first blouse. Let me tell you; it is probably easy for someone who has had some sewing basics but I had an incredibly hard time cutting my fabric and making sure it was not lopsided... and sewing a curved neckline definitely takes practice!

Almost 48 hours later and my top square top has taken shape! I'm sure someone proficient with the sewing machine would have taken much less time but considering this is a first for me I'm reasonably happy with the results!

Having said that, anyone knows where I can get sewing lessons?

Travel Special: Where Does Marc Jacobs Buy Vintage in Vienna?

When you think of vintage shopping; Vienna is not a city that immediately comes to mind.  

Perhaps I wasn't in the know; but it came as a surprise to me that tucked just 15 minutes away from the city's glittery shopping street is Flo Vintage; a gem of a shop owned by Ingrid Raab. 

Ingrid has been selling vintage for 30 years and was probably one of the first to introduce vintage to Vienna. With their extensive range from the 40s to the 80s, this little shop on a street corner just off Naschmarkt is bursting with treasures that will definitely put vintage lovers in a state of awe. 

Entering Flo Vintage is almost like stepping into a costume set of a movie or a mini museum. Its a small store but you will unveil several gems if you give yourself time to patiently browse through the racks and appreciate the items.

It is no wonder that Flo Vintage has attracted models and fashion designers like Marc Jacobs, who comes in ever so often to get inspirations for his designs.

Each piece of clothing is in immaculate vintage condition and you can tell at a glance that these are not clothes that can be easily replicated by modern high street brands in terms of quality, fit and style.

This is no thrift shop (thrift shops put me in a different state of awe, but that's another story) so prices are not rock bottom. You will however get good quality vintage clothing and a unique outfit for special occasions at a reasonable price. I eyed a subtly sexy Mad Men style black dress, a delicately sequined caplet and a luxurious Valentino coat - all lovely but unfortunately inappropriate for the weather and lifestyle in Singapore.

Ingrid's husband, who was in the store at that time, humbly proclaims that "Marc Jacobs thinks we are the best vintage shop in the world, but we don't think so - we think Decades in LA has more exquisite inventory, given their connections and proximity to Hollywood"

If its good enough for Marc Jacobs, its good enough for me! 

Could I walk out of Flo Vintage empty handed? Of course not. A Valentino coat I do not need; but can a girl really have too many bags? I don't think so. I couldn't resist this 80s red leather bucket bag by Charles Jourdan :-)

Address: Flo Vintage Nostalgiche Mode | Schleifmühlgasse 15a, Vienna, 1040

Getting Crafty

Eversince this little project rekindled my interest in crafting; I've been mentally bookmarking other projects that would be fun to do.

There's something about crafting that has an almost therapeutic effect on me - forces me to sit down and focus on creating something with my hands; something which I won't otherwise be doing in my normal everyday life. It brings me back to a simpler time; way before writing emails and spending countless hours in front of the computer started to muddle with my brain. 

Or maybe its just my creative side trying to peek out; after years of being pushed aside to free up time so that I could complete other more "pressing" things. 

While there are still many other "pressing" things to do; I was able to complete two DIYs recently. The first was a simple paper banner that was inspired by this video. Although they used fabric for the flags, using paper was much easier and they turned out equally cute. 

The other project was a skirt refashioned from a vintage maternity romper that was way too huge to be sold. I liked the little floral prints on the fabric so why let it go to waste?

This was a pretty challenging one for me since I don't have much sewing skills but I'm hoping to get better at it! I think I'm going to add that to my 2012 to-do list.

Hope you've started thinking of new year resolutions!

Xmas Day Post

Whether you celebrate Christmas for religious reasons or not; you probably won't be immune to the general sense of festivity in the air. To me, the Christmas season is a time to get together with friends, indulge in good food, take stock of things in the past year and start thinking about the next.

With that I just wanted to drop a quick post to thank all those who bought a little something from our recent sale. Erlina's Vintage was humbly launched 5 months ago today and the experience has been nothing short of awesome. Here's a quick review of some of the stuff that got bought up during the sale:

I'm heartened to hear that these vintage pieces have found new happy owners and am looking forward to bringing more cool stuff next year!

In the mean time, I'll be celebrating with some homemade buttered popcorn for breakfast

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays!

I was left in the dark and I'm sorry

Before you start thinking this is going to be an emo post don't worry; I will never subject you to such torture.

What I meant to say is - I've been in the dark on how to remove the background from a photo. Now that I've learnt how to do this efficiently, I can't see how I can ever go back to posting images with so much shadows in the background.

Just the thought of it makes me cringe; and I'm so sorry I had to put you through all those horrid shadowy images! On the flip side; I am truly grateful to all those who bought from Erlina's Vintage despite those images.

Just look at the difference:

BEFORE 

AFTER

I have this overwhelming desire to re-edit all my old photos, but in the interest of time I'm telling myself that I'll just have to let it go and move forward. Especially since there's loads more stock to be photographed and edited.

Here's some sneak peeks of things to come...

Lookout for these listings and more this week!

Have a Cupcake & 30% Off All Items

One of the great things about running your own store is the ability to run your own campaigns, based on what YOU want and what YOU like. This month, I wanted cupcakes and cupcakes I shall have.

Its even better when we both get a win-win situation - I get a cupcake campaign; and you get 30% off all stock online, including new stock that will be listed this week. Yup, I'm not just clearing stuff. This is a true discount for all you vintage lovers out there.

That's what I call having my cake and eating it too.

Anyone knows of a bakery with awesome cupcakes?

Inspiration Wall & Crafting

A few weeks ago I blogged about creating a dedicated work space... I'm pleased to update that progress has been good so far and I also rediscovered how gratifying DIY-ing and crafting can be!

There's still some finishing touches to be done but already I'm pretty happy with my feature / inspiration wall:

Ok so the cork board and photo frames are still empty; but I am definitely looking forward to filling them up in the weeks to come!

Glued on these cute wooden mannequin cut outs and alphabets for a personalized board.

Was inspired to create this from A Beautiful Mess' tutorial.. I picked up a whole stack of these paint sample cards from the Home-Fix store, while avoiding the suspicious stares from all the store assistants. The alphabets were just chip board stickers meant for scapbooking.

I used to enjoy doing crafts and think its time I pick it up again. 

Have you done any DIY or craft projects lately?