bubble hem dress

i've been wanting to hem this h&m dress for a while now, just to make it a little shorter, but then i decided i would like it better if i did something more interesting with it. then i though, since it was so simple to do, and requires minimal sewing skills, i would make a "how to" 

things you need:

step 1:

measure (on another dress/skirt, or have a friend help) how long you want the shortest part of the finished garment to be, and then mark this on the inside with a pencil or chalk

my shortest point was 19

then decide what you want the longest point to be - i did another 3 inches, so mine was 22

decide now where you want the bubbles to be - my choice was made easy because this dress has an even number of hems joining its panels together. if yours doesn't, an easy way to get even spread is to fold the skirt part 4 times in half, and mark each divide, vertically

step 2:

on each horizontal mark, sew a simple loose tack with a double thread, leaving tails on each side for easy removal later.

(this isn't vital, but sure makes the next step a lot easier!)

the back of the tack (on the right side of the dress) should look like this: 

step 3:

now that all the points are marked, fold the hem up at each one so the tack is on the fold:

pin the hem at the top as you go

(now is a good time to see how your dress/ skirt looks and make any adjustments. i didn't take a photo at this point, but if you hold it up with all the pins in, you can see what it will look like finished)

step 4:

hand-sew each pinned part with 4 or 5 stitches

i actually just sewed each point to the hem, but if your thread matches your dress/skirt well enough, it won't matter if your stitches go through to the front, especially if they are small

step 5:

cut out all the marking tacks from earlier

(if you sewed them loosely enough, you might even be able to just pull them out)

step 6:

turn right side out, style, and wear!

♥♥♥

shoes on the brain

so i was in the middle of making this post when i received a call from some people wanting to look at the place i'm living (we're selling it) in FIVE minutes. 5. fünf. cinq. cinco. etc. And I looked around my room and said "uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh how about thirty?" they showed up twenty minutes later as i was running out the door all panicky and weird. and i locked the door, so when they went to go in, having just seen me, they got all confused about having to unlock it themselves. boof. 


anyway. i haven't been much into taking outfit photos recently. i keep getting bitten by multitudes of bugs and it is not pleasant, even if i do like the photos more...


so insteeeeeead i found some cool art pieces through flickr that i thought i'd put up here because they are pretty to look at. and that is important. 


firstses, all of the following are from andrea joseph's sketchblog

she does a lot of drawings in ballpoint, which i always think is amazing, and a lot of shoes, which are awesome, drawn or not:

aren't they incredible?

i also really enjoy her drawings of pinboards, and collections of letters and things all jumbled together:

and now that i see how long this is, i shall save the other art for later =))))

♥♥♥

today i felt like anne shirley (from anne of green gables...a kids' book). i think it had something to do with me wearing all green. and that i bought this wonderful adorable brooch yesterday that just screamed her childishness and innocent ways while still looking vintagey.

it's so cute! a little hat, heart, and shoe. how could i have not bought that? exactly. so i did. i also got some new earrings (because vintage ones are actually clip-on) but i didn't wear those yet...

then feeling this adventurous (kindred, as anne would say) spirit, i went to a nearby park. and here is a story in pictures:

i think anne would most appreciate the lake (of shining waters) and the ladybird with no spots.

♥♥♥

hazy lace of summer

the other day, i found a fantastic 60's mod style dress on ebay. it was also made of lace. it was basically heaven in dress-form. a couple days ago it arrived in the mail (one of the quickest ebay-ing ever!) and tried it on as soon as i could make my way through the the packaging, in as many ways as i could think of. yesterday i wore it for real. it was a good day.

then, being in a lacey mood, i decided to make cakes. perhaps not an immediate association, but i made it work because i wanted to bake cakes and i wanted to have a lace day. hence:

i made my own icing... decorator.. tool... by cutting a tiny hole in a plastic sandwich bag and carefully squeezing it through onto the cake as desired. i felt while i was doing it i should have had some sort of design(s) planned in my head but i think they worked out pretty well without. also i like that it looks silver... i don't know how that happened! 

i also started a diy art project, but it was interrupted by a night out to the bar, which ended in one member of the group deciding to buy everyone a patron shot (i think after the bar had actually closed? at least after last call had been called) so it is not fit for showing, and will have to be a lace day part 2. or something. 

♥♥♥

outfit updatessss

just a few outfit photos from the past few days, which i have been putting on chictopia, but very slowly, haha

first missed day:

second missed day (and one after a much-needed h&m visit!) :

third missed day where i wore my fabulous sequined bandeau top (peeking out the back):

and today....

 

with a haircut! aaand colour! super excitinggggg and i feel like it looks just the slightest bit like jean seberg and will be looking to dress like her some time in the future. until then, i will be twirling unnecessarily in this 50s type skirt celebrating the red with my new blonder hair =)))

♥♥♥

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shh!

these last two days have been good days, full of doing things, which is always better than days full of doing nothing. first i went thrift shopping with a friend, and even though i didn't find anything (nothing! shocker!) , it was fun to look around. especially in one place i had never been before, and so had to take sneaky photos of everything in my amazement. 

their hat selection was truly envious, but unfortunately they mostly looked good only on display. like these straw hats. they look so pretty but put one of those babies on my head, and all the charm disappears. it was really quite distressing.

i also have wanted some scarves lately.... to make things from. but of course i can't find any that match, and i'm still coming to terms with mismatching in one garment...

my friend did find this beauty though. a little mint coloured bottle opener that feels (if not is) very sixties. 

then yesterday me and another friend went on a roadtrip to find glorious clothes in h&m. which we succeeded in doing. probably too well. 

♥♥♥