RM50 challenge: How am I faring?

Up to this moment, I am pretty proud of myself. Why? I did not fully use up my thrifting budget last weekend. Remember that I would be going to two flea markets? At the first flea market / bazaar, I did not spend at all. Perhaps the items were not to my liking.

However, prior to that, I have ordered a vintage / retro dress from Bundle Sweet. Here is the dress:

I spent RM19 on dress inclusive of postage fee. And I have just received it earlier today. It fits almost perfectly but I need to take in some on the sleeve and the rest is fine. For this dress, I will not shorten it yet. Perhaps after few wear.

Kutu Market 3

On Sunday, I went to Kutu Market 3 with a friend of mine. I had in my mind what I would like to get. Lately I have been drawn to tapestry bag. Don't know why. Perhaps it was featured in Lucky, my source of inspiration. I purchased the bag from Sae at RM12 after haggling a bit.

In total, I have spent RM31 and now, I left with RM19 either to thrift or to save. Although the month of December is yet to start (but will soon) and to end, I still need to monitor my spending. I have been invited to join a thrifting outing with Ana and her friend. This would be interesting and yet another temptation to watch out.

Hope I could do some sewing this week especially for fashion project as I have one sewing / alteration challenge to tackle. Have a good week ahead everyone.

Polka dots and bright pink

Time passes very fast. November is coming to an end and December is around the corner. This means year 2010 will end soon and will be followed by 2011. Yes, I am on track with my RM50 spending vow. So far, I've got my eyes on a dress and have reserved it. Will let you know soon or will post photo later. Estimated of the cost for the dress inclusive of postage is RM20. Now, I have left with RM30 to spend at Kutu Market at 69 Bistro tomorrow.

The look:
Vintage dress from Flowers Coming
Bright pink necklace
Pre-loved flat oxford shoes

Hope everyone is enjoying the weekend. Cheers!

Weekend of temptations...

So happy it's Thursday because tomorrow it is Friday, which means that weekend is around the corner! This weekend would be a temptation since that I have vowed to cut down or stop spending. This is because I have found out about two bazaars - Midnight Bazaar: Vintage Paradise by UYA! Distro (26 to 28 Nov) and Kutu Market on 28 Nov. Well, come to think of it, I guess it is better to cut down bit by bit then totally stop, right? Ok. I have made up my mind that I would cut down thrifting budget to RM50 for the first three months, then RM30 for next three months and RM20 per month thereafter. This weekend's spending would be taken consideration as Dec's thrifting budget, therefore if I have spent all this weekend, I can not thrift at all in Dec. Sounds fair? Let the challenge begins...

In the mood for autumn

Although there is no autumn here, I have always wanted to own and wear a beret. Beret is very adorable and lady like at the same time. My one and only autumn experience was way back in 2000 or 2001 when I was in Russia. I love the yellowish or reddish leaves on trees and on grounds. These make picturesque scenery which no words can describe. If ever autumn comes, I would wear the above outfits. I have my eyes on the shoes in outfit 1. The shoes are from Zara. Keeping my fingers crossed that the shoes would be on sale soon...

If you love (Jos Rakastat)

As mentioned before, I would be watching foreign language films these few days and today I watched a Finnish movie entitled 'If you love' (Jos Rakastat). It is a musical film and I enjoyed watching the movie. Some of the songs were catchy and despite the language barrier (well, there were subtitles) some of the songs were nice.

I kept my outfit simple and comfy as it was a busy day - family's affair in the morning and after lunch I managed to sneak to Bijou Bazaar despite my vow not to spend or to cut down spending. And I did not return with empty handed. Part of me was yay-ing and some part of me was sighing... After a bit of guilty pleasure, I headed to the cinema.

The look:
90's denim like material dress from Vintage Packstocks (now known as anaabu)
Vintage boho printed cardigan from Vintage Packstocks (now known as anaabu)
Vintage belt from Faloveva's Closet
Thrifted shoes from Salvation's Army thrift store in Ipoh
Thrifted brooch

Fashion inspiration: Golden hands special

Photos taken from The Co-ordinates Collection, Golden Hands Special,
Marshall Cavendish Ltd., 1973

Few 70's fashion for inspiration. I love the white and red paisleys print of blouse and skirt and white and green print blouse paired with A-line white skirt. They are so lovely, don't you think? At times, I wish I could find more old sewing books (come with patterns) at flea markets but these are very hard to come by. Sigh. Anyway, hope everyone is enjoying the week so far. And yes, weekend is around the corner. Yay!!

Fashion Project: Mending holes

Not all vintage dresses, tops, skirts or pants come in perfect condition. It is a pity to bin lovely items due to some defects such as stains, holes, serious wear and tear. However there is one or two ways to salvage these lovely finds. For stains, you use stain removers, but what about holes? Just mend the holes.

You need:

1. Fabric remnant of your piece or find fabric which is the closest (in terms of colour or print) to the desired piece. In my case, I altered my tiny roses skirt and I still have the remnant with me.
2. Interfacing which is gauze like piece with one side comes with adhesive. This part is a bit shinny.
3. A pair of scissors
4. Few pins (which are not in the above photo)
5. Iron (which is not in the above photo)

Here are the holes to be mended.

Find the best match of the damaged part (holes) on the piece of remnant and cut it out. Small piece just enough to cover the holes.

Place the cut out piece and on the shinny part of the interfacing. Leave some allowance around the cut out piece and cut accordingly.

Find the holes and place the set of cut outs of small piece of remnant on interfacing directly under the holes on the skirt.

Pin the pieces together.

To avoid the gluey part of the interfacing sticking onto your iron, place a piece of paper between the interfacing and the iron.

Press the iron onto it and wait for few seconds until the interfacing sticks onto the skirt.

The holes have been fixed. This is the inside view of the skirt.

And this is the outside view of the skirt. Can you see the difference?

Hope this helps to save your favourite piece(s) or any potential purchase in the future. Have a great week ahead. I am looking forward to have a day off tomorrow due to a public holiday. Oh, Selamat Hari Raya Haji to all Muslim readers/bloggers.

New gal on the block

Felt like a school girl today even though I was wearing a floral skirt of tiny roses. Hhhmm.... must be the cutting of the skirt; full skirt. Or the off-white top. This outfit was not what I had in mind. Initially, I planned to wear a brooch and pearl necklace but this would be too lady like. I scrapped this idea off from my head and be playful a bit by tying a knot on the blouse and paired the outfit with white socks and flat oxford shoes.

The look:
Vintage top from I'm Your Personal Shopper
Thrifted vintage skirt
Thrifted belt
Flat oxford shoes

Just found out that EU Film Festival has started and this means that I would be hitting cinema more often than ever next week. Will try to blog as usual. Hope everyone is enjoying the weekend so far!

Confession of an e-shopaholic

Not sure if the term e-shopaholic existed or not. Whatever it is, here's my confession: I enjoy finding and shopping on great bargains, whether they are vintage or pre-loved items. About a week or so, I came across with 'bundle'. Never thought I could come across online bundle. This was a serendipitous find. What could be a greater bargain, when vintage dress you like or any items are on sale. Yes, S.A.L.E. That just hit my Achilles' heel. I guess, I need not tell the rest of the story.....

Received parcels from My Reject Shop and Rara Vintage on the same day. Yay!!

My favourite dresses to add into current collection

Now I am really on shoestring budget or ikat perut for a very long period. Is it worth it? I think so.

Another thrifting tale...

During my second thrifting adventure at Salvation's Army Thrift Store in Ipoh, though there were quite a few new items displayed (since my first visit which was three months ago), I still managed to find items to my likings. Good to my wardrobe but bad for my pocket, so to speak. Again, I could not resist any good bargain and finally I claimed the dress and skirt to be mine.

Not sure since when I am into collecting old books but I bought few old books at a secondhand book store in Ipoh. The oldest book is 'At the Villa Rose' By A.E.W. Mason. It stated in the book that this is the first edition which was printed in 1925. I could not believe my eyes, seriously. Little that I know of this author, when I got home I googled him and found out that he wrote 'The Four Feathers' which has been made into films. It would be cool if I could find the first edition of 'The Four Feathers'. The rest of the books were printed between 1930's to 1960's.

It was a fruitful thrifting and I must vow to stop thrifting or shopping at all. Must spend money wisely and within my means. I know, it sounds cliche but it is something that I must adhere to strictly. Not sure if you have any tips on keeping your vow or resolution. If you have feel free to share because I would love to hear from you....

One Cultured Sunday

It has been a very long time since I watched a ballet performance in Moscow, Russia. Almost about nine years ago come to think about it. I watched 'Romeo & Juliet' in Kremlin Ballet Theatre but today, I watched a replay of 'Sleeping Beauty' ballet performance on screen whilst the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestras played the scores. The music for the ballet performance was composed by Tchaikovsky. It was a wonderful experience to be able to watch ballet again though it was on screen. The costumes were lovely and the dancers danced gracefully. Today was no ordinary Sunday but a cultured one.

The look:
Vintage dress
Beads necklace
Belt
Thrifted vintage bag
Flat ballerina shoes

Hope everyone had have a wonderful weekend and is looking forward to another great week ahead!

Fashion Project: Lace applique tank top

Lace or anything with lace on clothes is pretty trendy nowadays. This has inspired me for this week's fashion project. Ready? Here we go...

What you need:

A plain tank top (I bought mine for only RM5)
Lace remnant
(someone gave me this but you could purchase fabric from Kamdar, Nagoya or any fabric stores along Jalan TAR. Check out remnant bin or you may push your luck by requesting to buy half a meter of lace (e.g. corded lace) as sample. Some may sell to you half meter, some may not do so.)
Clear nail polish
Thread (same colour of the lace)
Needle, pins
A pair of scissors

Cut out flowers or motives from the lace. Make sure there is a mixture of different sizes of flowers or motives.

Next, using nail polish, paint the edges of the cut flowers or motives. This is to minimize fraying.

Leave them to dry.

This may be a tricky part. Arrange the flowers or motives as you like/prefer and pin accordingly. Squeeze your creative juice from your mind and have fun.

Using thread and needle, stitch the pinned flowers or motives cut outs onto the tank top.

Here is my version of lace applique tank top. Have fun trying this and have a good week ahead!