Archive for the ‘style’ Category

Wrap Bracelet “Tutorial”

April 16th, 2013
3 Comments

This is the most complicated tutorial on my blog to date. I kid, I kid. You probably already have everything on hand, it’s just a matter of repurposing. And maybe you’ve already done this before.

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Yes, make an awesome, hip, trendy, amazing wrap bracelet in a matter of seconds.
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Find the skinniest skinny belt in your closet.

Wrap it around your wrist a ton of times.

Fasten.

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Mind blown? I sure hope so. The gold belt above I scored as part of a sweater set at H&M. I made the hot pink one from leather cording and a lever-back clasp.

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I measured the leather cording to my waist and glued the leather into the end cups. Each wrap took 2 minutes to make and an hour for the glue to dry. So I can wear these as itty bitty skinny belts or multi-wrap bracelets. I like these as bracelets as they’re flexible, comfortable and don’t get in the way.

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Outfit details:

  • glasses: Coastal.com
  • scarf: thrifted
  • blazer: H&M
  • top: Forever 21
  • pants: target
  • shoes: thrifted
  • bracelets: handmade and H&M
Leather and clasps courtesy of endlessleather.com (cording here, clasp here).

 

Sewing: Gathered Tulle Skirt

April 11th, 2013
25 Comments

At my church we have two weekends a year where we listen/watch a broadcast of our general church leaders from home, and I love it. Growing up we have a tradition of crafting/making/sewing while we listen. So I made a skirt on Saturday.

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I’ve had the idea of this skirt in my head for some time. I was going to make it a gathered skirt with a jersey underneath, but Miriam convinced me that I make it out of a thinner woven material (that she then gave me). I liked her idea. Then I decided to make it with a real waistband with a zipper and everything. I’m so glad I did.

The tulle that I found (thrifted) is really soft with a very drapey hand. I’ve not found anything like this except for a floral netting I came across at Joann a while ago (they don’t have it listed online, but I’ve seen it in stores). Does anyone have a good way to describe this kind of fabric?

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The pink color is my absolute favorite. So soft and romantic.

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I used the same template as I used in my woven maxi tutorial for the underskirt. I did change the zipper to the back rather than the side. So I measured at the half-point and added a seam allowance and cut the back pieces accordingly. I then gathered about 4x my waist measurement worth of soft tulle (I think this may be classified as a lace more than a tulle?) and attached it to the bottom of the skirt. Then I attached the waistband.

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I added extra width in the waistband so I could attach a button (I’m getting much better at sewing button holes!) for the final enclosure. I didn’t have a matching invisible zipper on hand, so I used a regular one. This just so happened to match perfectly.

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I love the way this skirt flows. It’s my new favorite!

Outfit details:

Button provided by LotsOfButtons.com. Use code: BUTTONS4CHARITY for 10% off your purchase.

 

 

 

Refashioned: Geometric Sweatshirt

April 9th, 2013
16 Comments

Last night was the storm of the year. We woke up to about 3 inches of pure ice. So today I decided to refashion something that I was thinking about saving until next fall/winter. With all this cold, wet weather I know this will get a lot of use.

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Some great friends of ours gave this sweatshirt to Chris. It’s AMAZING. I love the geometric shape. Chris got some use out of it, then he started working out and gained a bunch of weight. The man is a beast, so I stole this from him.

It’s pretty big on me. Mostly the pits and upper arms are the biggest. It’s also too long in the sleeves.

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So, I grabbed my favorite sweater and used it as a template for taking in the sides and shortening the sleeves. Once I pinned and marked the sides, it was a 20 minute fix. It made all the difference in the world.

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I’m pretty stoked about this new sweater, the geometric lines are amazing.

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Outfit details:

  • sweater: hand-me-down, thrifted
  • pants: Anthropologie, refashioned
  • shoes: Eddie Bauer, hand-me-down

 

 

Tutorial: Kate Spade Inspired Skirt

April 5th, 2013
24 Comments

I’ve had the skirt of this dress in my head for a while now. It’s simple, too. Three pleats in the front and three in back.

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So for Easter I drafted up a pattern for the skirt and I thought I’d share the tutorial with you.

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The skirt itself is really simple, pretty much straight lines.

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I used this fabric from Kollabora. I love the tie dye, mottled look of it. It’s a cotton twill, perfect for heavy projects. It may be a bit stiff for this kind of skirt, but I couldn’t help myself. I will be making some pants for Felix out of this and I think those will be perfect.

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This was my second invisible zip insertion and it went even better in this than the last. Probably because this fabric is much more responsive than chiffon. Perhaps? I then thought how I could make it out of jersey. And I love my jersey version, too.

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I made it out of a stripe jersey, it’s soft and wears totally different. This was easier to sew up as I didn’t have to work with any fasteners because of the amount of stretch.

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It’s still pretty cold around my neck of the woods, so I’m not about to wear shorter skirts without stockings any time soon. But I couldn’t help myself. I’m just itching for warm weather!

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Click the read more button for the full tutorial.

First Outfit Details:

  • top: H&M
  • belt: thrifted
  • skirt: handmade
  • shoes: thrifted
  • earrings: etsy

Second Outfit Details:

  • top: handmade
  • skirt: handmade
  • shoes: thrifted
  • bracelet: handmade

Oh! And lookie, I just found a skirt you can purchase that’s very similar, but much less expensive than the Kate Spade dress version. Check out the awning stripe pleated skirt.

(more…)

Sewing: Color Blocked V-Neck

March 14th, 2013
3 Comments

Here’s another bit of fabric I picked up while at JoAnn. All of their fashion line fabrics were something like 30% off, and I have been eyeing this print for some time, so I went for it. Unfortunately/fortunately, I didn’t buy enough fabric. I only got a yard, which would not be enough to accommodate long sleeves, so I got creative.

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I had plenty of leftovers from this skirt I made, and it just so happened to be the same type and weight of fabric I was able to make it work. It’s comfortable, light-weight and springy. For some reason, though, it still reminds me of a golf shirt. Perhaps it’s reminiscent of a vest and shirt underneath? Still. I love it.

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I got clever with the back and pieced it, the top is just plain and about an inch below the bust line, I have a seam with a pleat at the middle of the back. Since this particular fabric can be a bit clingy in the wrong way, this turned out to be a great detail. To make this back detail look right, I had to make the top boxier and I added length to the back compared to the front.

I used the same pattern for this tee as I did with the previous color blocked tee. It was fairly quick to sew up, but I noticed that the construction was different (lots more pinning) due to the type of fabric I was working with here.

Outfit Details:

My sewing confidence has definitely gone up in the last couple of months, which is perfect timing. I’m gearing up for some really fun handmade outfits for Easter Sunday. Let’s hope I can keep this sewing confidence up until I finish those projects.

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