halloweenie

happy halloween everyone! i obviously dressed up as a totally awesome street walker... wait... thats not right... to tell you the truth i've always pretty much sucked it at the whole halloween costume thing. as a matter of fact, someone asked me what i was going to be this year and i said "a ghost..." a ghost!?!? i mean, how lame can you get?!

we have been having the most beautiful weather here in galveston! after a bit of rain it finally cooled down just a smidgen to make it a bit more comfortable. that being said, i had a really hard time wrapping my head around the fact that my family in the northeast just got snowed on! snow?! in october? as homesick as i get sometimes, i will never, ever miss winter. good riddance!

these are my clovers from colette patterns. as i mentioned in this post, i wanted to make my clovers to resemble these jeans from madewell. the amount of adjustments i made to the pattern were quite heavy. i spent about one weekend just slicing and dicing up the pattern, first to get an idea of fit, and then again to turn them into the denim trousers you see before you. i made three muslins for these pants because i wanted to get the fit just so. i have to say that as far as pants patterns go, these were a dream to make, and even a dream to adjust. in the end, i'm pretty happy with the result and will definitely be making these bad boys (or some version) again.

the top is rachel comey for vogue patterns (v1247). so... um.. i'm kinda a die hard rachel comey fan. like, i'd totally rock a foam finger for her. i once tried on one of her dresses and almost convinced myself that $800 was a reasonable amount to pay for a dress, for no occasion. i luckily had enough stamina to walk out of the store, telling myself that i should think it over, and it will be there tomorrow. i think i suffered under some delusion that i could actually afford the dress until i made it home. to my hovel. then i gave myself a good hard slap.

so you can imagine that i damn near fell out of my chair and had a litter of kittens right there on the spot when i saw that rachel comey did a small line of patterns for vogue. diy rachel comey??!??! be still my foolish heart! i snatched those babies up like i was a professional snatcher. a pattern snatcher, that is.

this top was not without its peculiarities. the whole bottom is pieced together and cut on the bias. frankly i've never been great with working on the bias. however i let this little dude hang out over night and fortunately i seemed to avoid some of the craziness (an entirely twisted dress) that has happened to me in the past. i wanted to make this top out of a silk print, but wouldn't you know, unless you're a crazy hologram clown, they don't really make silk prints for you. i will spare you my rant on the ugliness of the fabric prints that are available to me. okay just a small rant... who is buying all this florescent paisley??!?!? who, dammit?!

so i decided to stick with a basic ivory silk crepe de chine and let the lines do the talking...

my wonderful husband took these photos for me today. which means several things... first, i'm way more smiley than i am on my own. second, i get shy rocking my top model poses (you know what i mean...) and third, i get some amazing shots like this one...

oh! and thats two more for the fall palette challenge. that brings my total up to... 4. good thing it doesn't look like fall is coming anytime soon...

xx

weird beauty

(pardon the weird lines in this photo, it has come to my attention that my camera is possessed)

does anyone remember those articles in teen vogue or glamour or whatever that featured interesting diy beauty remedies? like "for cheap, easy summer highlights spray a mixture of chamomile tea and lemon juice on your hair" or "to make your own body scrub mix sugar, honey, and olive oil" ? did anyone ever try them?

i tried them all. i've put (on separate occasions) avocado, egg, olive oil and vinegar in my hair - as well as the above mentioned chamomile tea and lemon juice combo. i've put vitamin e capsules, asprin, preparation h, toothpaste, beets, baking soda and (again) olive oil on my face. i've sat with my elbows in lemons and laid cucumber slices on my eyes. i've received weird looks from family members, roommates and boyfriends for storing little bowls and vials of my concoctions in the refrigerator.

i love a self-made spa moment. i love home beauty remedies. the ones i love best are the ones that work really well. and i have found a few that work really well for me.

one of my current favorites is a yogurt facial. this sounds, and is pretty disgusting, and if it wasn't for my history of putting weird edibles on my face i probably wouldn't have tried it. but try it i did, and i gotta say, i kinda lurve it. this is a pore tightening, skin clearing, softening and brightening mask. the lactic acid in the yogurt exfoliates skin without the use of harsh scrubbers or particles that can scratch skin. the yogurt and honey are also moisturizing and honey is an anti-microbial that prevents the spread of bacteria. lemon juice and/or strawberries lighten marks like acne scars. after i use this mask i always feel that my complexion looks a bit brighter and healthier (at least for a day or two!)

making a yogurt mask is cheap, easy, and i usually have all the ingredients on hand because, lets face it, this isn't too far off from what i eat for breakfast every morning. i use a spoonful of full fat or 2% greek yogurt. we make our own because we're cheap we're fancy. i add a dollop of honey and a squeeze of lemon. if i have them on hand i might mash up 1/2 a strawberry. then i sit with this on my face for awhile. write a blog post, like i'm doing right now. and generally look like this...

source

i like to do this on days when my husband isn't home so he doesn't wonder why i'm putting my breakfast on my face. i don't like explanations, and i don't want him to worry for my sanity. plus while this little mask dries you kinda look like freddy kruger....

xx

my favorite color is rainbow: grey is so much more than grey

in my ultimate wisdom i have decided that it is time for another "my favorite color is rainbow". the past week and a half really bit the big one. i had big plans (i always have big plans) but then lady life decided to pay me a visit. i really wish she would check my day planner (i don't keep a day planner) and my bank account (i don't keep a bank account. only a loose floorboard. and a shotgun.) before she decides to pull a fast one on me.

so perhaps it is in that spirit that i bring you this "my favorite color is rainbow". gentles and ladymen, please give it up for none other than the humble, the elusive, the overlooked, the misunderstood, the confusing to spell... grey.

i like it with the e not the a.

grey is a color that often gets confused for a non-color, but there is so much hue in grey. just try to find the perfect grey and you'll find yourself stumbling upon purples and blues, browns and greens... i've even spotted yellow in there. grey is an elusive, slippery, complex color. but when its right, its oh so right. welcome to the wonderful, confusing, and rich world of grey.

for more grey images and to see sources, please visit here.

xx

sailor knots

after the marathon that was sewing my bombshell dress i was really feeling the need for something easy breezy lemon squeezy. in my mind, that means its time to sew a knit. some people get pretty freaked out by sewing with knits, and i can see why. they're stretchy, they require special machinery or tools - and sergers are scary. however you can't beat a knit top for comfort. and more importantly, its so easy to fudge sewing a knit!!

this little striped top started out as burdastyle 09/2011 striped top however after i basted it together in my size it was just.... really unflattering. so unflattering that i didn't even keep it on long enough to get a picture. so i did what any self respecting sewer would do and i rolled it in a ball and stashed it in a drawer.

i kept hoping that divine inspiration would strike and i'd know what to do with my striped top. i even spent some time searching anthropologie's website - the queen of quirky/cute knitwear. after some deliberation i decided to just make what i had work and started by lowering, and widening the neckline a good three inches. then i exaggerated the dolman sleeves because, while some people might dislike the dolman, i just can't get enough of that saggy armpit look! i shortened the sleeve and added ties - which i really debated but i think they gave the top just a touch of cute. i also narrowed the torso to further exaggerate the fit. all this was done fairly blindly - which is why i love sewing with knits - you just fake it till you make it. so yeah, total 360 from my bombshell dress.

you may remember from this post that one of my goals for my fall palette wardrobe was to sew a striped top. well friends, here it is in all its glory and we have officially completed one two garments for the fall palette challenge!

in closing, i'll leave you with this...

xx