Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Did you know? Cos I didn't...

I didn't know anything this beautiful existed on earth.

Truly.

Let us all take a moment:

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from here

Does anyone else hurt when seeing these. I mean, he is just too much. Too heartbreakingly gorgeous, and it's driving me insane.
Don't even get me started on that punker jacket on him... too effing hot.

On a similar, but not-really-just-trying-to-make-a-transition, note: check out this rad leathah vest I found in the back of my mom's closet last week. I honestly didn't even know that she had anything cool in her wardrobe. Oh no, I sound like an over-critical teen... and I'm not even a teen anymore!!
Being 20 is wierd.

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Friday, July 24, 2009

Lumberjack lovin'

Ages ago I promised a DIY tutorial for my lumberjack-printed ruffle dress. I’ve been ever so slowly chugging along on this post, but here it is finally. This is one of my favourite DIY’s I’ve ever done, I really do hope some of you are inspired to try it out!

First of all you’ll need to go to pick up some lumberjack plaid shirts from the thrift store, or sneak into your Dad’s closet and steal a few of his old ones. You are going to need 4 plaid shirts of a similar shade. You could try to find 4 identical plaid shirts, but I think this dress looks much more interesting when there is a few different shades and patterns are being used. Try to find ones that are as big as possible!



Pick which one you want to use for the top of your dress. I bought 3 of my shirts from the men’s section, and one from the women’s to use for the top. This way I didn’t have to alter the top because it was already fitted, but if you want to use a shirt that is big then you can just flip it inside out sew the sides in so it fits better. When you’ve got a top that fits, try it on and decide where you want the skirt to begin. I made mine start on my waist, around the bellybutton. Use tape to mark where you want your skirt to be attached, then set this shirt aside for later.
Now you’re going to sew the basic bottom of your skirt. Take 4 measurements:

1 – Your waist, where the skirt begins
2 – The widest point of your hips
3 – Around your thighs where you wan the skirt to end.
4 – The length of your skirt from top to bottom



Take the shirt you want to use for the bottom, flip it inside out, button it up, and lay it out flat on the floor. Take some chalk and start marking out the shape of the skirt, using the measurements you took above. IMPORTANT: Add about 2 and a half inches to each measurement for seam allowance, and so you can actually move in your skirt. You don’t want it too tight!! If in doubt, make it bigger. You can always take it in later, but you can’t reverse it once you’ve already cut it out!

Once you’ve got the curved shape marked out, pin the sides and try it on with the buttons done up so you know it will fit. Add another inch to each side if it’s too tight.
If the skirt fits then fold the shirt in half and cut out the shape. Sew the curved side seams, and keep the original bottom hem of the shirt to be the hem of your skirt… it’s easier then making a new hem!

Measure your skirt from top to bottom and divide it by 5. This will be the width of your ruffles, plus and inch for seam allowance!





Now it’s time to start making your ruffles! This is the most time consuming and important part of the dress, but it’s worth it in the end!

The last 2 shirts are what you use to make the ruffles. Start by cutting off the sleeves of the shirts and cutting open the seams of the sleeves. The rectangles for you ruffles should measure double you waist measurement… they need to be very, very long! You will need to attach rectangles together by sewing a straight seam so that you will get a looooong piece of fabric. 2 of the ruffles should be from one shirt, and 3 from another. To make my 5 ruffles I used up both of my shirts entirely, so make sure to measure and plan wisely when cutting out your strips as you might run out of fabric!



Once you have your 5 long strips, get out an iron and fold down half and inch along the bottom edges of your strips for the seam. You don’t have to worry about making perfect seams, as nobody really sees the underside of your ruffles. Just fold the edge half an inch, iron it down, then sew a straight seam along the edge.

Now it’s time to make those long strips of fabric into beautiful ruffles! This is actually much easier than you would think. All you need to do is sew a loose stich along the edge of your fabric. This is called a basting stitch, and all you need to do is set your machine to the longest stitch length possible. If you need some more help on this, watch this video on Threadbanger where they are making ruffles just like this!


While sewing your basting stitch, you need to make a gap in the stitch about every foot or so. This makes it easier to gather the fabric in the next step. While you sewing the basting stitch, stop about every foot and lift up the presser foot. Pull your fabric so you have some loose thread hanging off your fabric, then put down your fabric where you left off and continue sewing.


When this is all done, now you can sit down and start to gather you fabric strips into ruffles. This needs to be done CAREFULLY, otherwise you will break your threads and things will get messy. To gather your fabric, just pinch the part where the seam ends and carefully pull ONE of the loose end threads. Keep pulling until the fabric section is about half the length of what you started with. This Threadbanger video shows how to do this gathering method, it may help you out a bit!



When all the gathering is complete, you can start attaching the ruffles to your skirt! Lay the skirt flat on the floor and start pinning the ruffles on, starting with the bottom one. Each ruffle should overlap the previous one about 2 inches, enough to hide the basting stitch. You may need to fix the gathering a bit to make the ruffles fit each point on the skirt, then pin them down so they will be ready to sew!

To sew the ruffles on, you can just use a regular straight stitch and just sew overtop the basting stitch with a thread that matches your fabric. Don’t sew over your skirt’s buttons, otherwise you won’t be able to put the skirt on!



When all the ruffles are one, try on the skirt to make sure everything fits and looks okay.

Now you want to attach a collar from one of the scrap shirts onto the top part of the dress. Take the shirt you are using for the top and carefully cut off the collar. Then take the scraps of another shirt and cut off the collar, leaving at least half an inch of seam allowance. Place the collar face down along the neckline and pin it down. When you sew it, make sure you sew as close as possible to the original finished seam of the collar to make it look flawless. Also, make sure the buttons line up correctly between the 2 shirts.


Now all there is to do is to attach the top and the bottom of the dress! Lay the skirt in position overtop of the shirt, and sew it in place with a straight stitch. To attach the top and bottom more securely, as well as to cover up the seam, now we are going to make a simple waistband.

Cut out a long rectangle about 3 inches wide and the length of your waist measurement (plus a few extra inches for safety) out of some scrap fabric from one of your shirts. Fold the strip width-wise and iron it down. Then sew the side closed, leaving the ends open like a tube. Now you want to flip it inside out. You can attach a large safety pin to the end to help feed the fabric through. If you’ve never done this before, check out this Threadbanger video for this method.

When you’ve got your long tube, iron it down flat so that the seam now lies down the middle. Take your waistband and pin it down on top the seam between the skirt and top parts of your dress, as well as covering the basting stitch of your top ruffle. Sew it down with 2 seams, one along the top edge and one along the bottom edge. I put a button on top of the waistband but if your dress turned out so that the buttons between the top and skirt are even spaced, then you probably don’t need one.




Snip off all the loose threads (there will be A LOT on the ruffles) and then you’re all done! I would recommend donning your new lumberjack dress out for some pancakes, but that’s just me.





Wednesday, July 22, 2009

I don't know the color of sea, but there's no reason

What I wore to FINALLY see Harry Potter. Usually I'm first in line to the first show, decked out in my hogwarts uniform. This time, with all the traveling and stuff, the movie just had to wait *sob!*. Was worth it though, I was pleasantly surprised. Now I think the 4th and 6th are tied for my favourite...
Oh yeah, this is a fashion blog!! Sorry, forgot ther for a mo'. So yeah, was going for a bit of a rockabilly look here, I'm quite digging it. Are you? Although I'm not sure the Alice Dellal hair quite fits in with the rockabilly aesthetic...





Angry punk:


Monday, July 20, 2009

I'm Baaaaaack...

In Canada! That's right, I'm back home safe and sound. Back to the DIY days, stable internet connection, and digital cable. What more could anyone ask for?
Yes yes, London was fun and I did a lot of things that I would NEVER get to do in Winnipeg (hello concerts, sweet shopping, and movie premieres!), but I'm really a homebody and it's good to be back to all my comforts. Oh yeah, and seeing family and friends is good too I guess...
The worst part of coming home is unpacking, don't you agree? Especially when you did enough shopping as I did... I had to buy an extra bag to bring all my goodies home with me AND pay 45 pounds at the airport for my too-heavy luggage. Oops!

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If you think that is a hot mess, you should see my room on a BAD day. This is just my London junk, my home-y junk is a whole other story.
And what better to ease the pain of unpacking, but to go ahead and buy more junk. A good thrift was in order for a proper homecoming, with my BBB (best blogging buddy) Andrew. You're a bad influence on my credit card, boy! You should know, I can't control myself.

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Get ready for an awesome DIY coming up! Don't be a stranger, check back soooooon!

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Everybody knows

Heeeeey y'allz! I'm in Liverpool right now, got here 2 nights ago and I'm leaving already :( Liverpool is SUCH a cool city, I could actually see myself living here. The girls have such fly style, and the guys.... well, they're frikin hot!

Speaking of hot guys, did I mention I saw McFly last night?








Oh yes. That's the stuff.


Twas crazy fun times, although I was by myself. Danny was looking majorly sexy, I think it's his new haircut... and tight jeans. Yum.

During the day I just wandered around the city center and got lost several times. I had no clue what bus to take so I just hopped on the first one I saw and ended up going to eastjesusnowhere! I felt like that episode of Arthur when he falls asleep on the bus on the way to his swimming lessons, and wakes up downtown all lost and scared. Only I didn't get a free burger out of it like he did.

Unfortunatly I don't have a lot of pictures, because pictures with no people in them are just boring. Since I'm by myself, the only pictures I've got are from changeroom photoshoots. What what, Urban Outfitters!


I look strangely drugged out here... or very very tired. I was neither of these.

And incase you were wondering, I AM trying to channel Noel Fielding with them boots. I've got them in gold too....


Obsessive? Me? Never.

Sorry my posts have been so shallow lately, but I have the memory of a goldfish so providing a rich and detailed recolection of something I did a few days ago is just not happening. I can only remember when I see:

1) A hot guy.
2) An outfit that catches my eye.

3) Anything shiny.

I'm off today, back to jolly old London. After that I'm going to France for just 2 days (over my birthday too, July 14th. I'm expecting cyber birthday presents. K thnx). Maybe I'll have some good stuff to share after going to another country? Or maybe I'll just come back with a post about hot French boys and shiny objects I found on the street.

Friday, July 3, 2009

Too much, too little, too late

Soooo, Thursday I did not 1, not 2, but 3 crazy amazing things! I swear, this country is really showing me some mad love, my luck has been off the charts lately! Here is a quick breakdown of the amazing andonlysomewhatfashionrelated things I did that holy day that was July 2nd.

Event number 1: I saw the movie I have been craving for about a year, and have already expressed mad love for: Cherrybomb.

The movie hasn't even been set for release yet, but I got to see an advanced screening for movie distributers and other people I don't care about... all I care about is Rupert Grint and how SUPERSEXYFINE he looked in this movie. Did I mention he's shirtless in about half the film? Yeah, it was sweet.







The movie itself was great, I mean it was seriously one of the most visually amazing films I've ever seen! The colours were so beautiful, very saturated and I feel made the whole film a lot more "hip" and such.... I don't know what I'm talking about. I'm trying to say the movie was pretty lookin'.
I did feel the movie lacked plot and didn't have enough dialogue. I didn't really feel close to the characters, nor did I feel the implied intensity of the love triangle, most likely because of the minimal dialogue between the 3 leads. Don't get me wrong though, I'd gladly see this movie again in heartbeat and I think that all of you would like it... even if you're not a rabid Rupert Grint fan like myself.

Oh yes, and when Rupert wore these in one scene, I died a little inside.



Redheads + Leopard print creepers = Pure love forever.

I saw Cherrybomb at the BFI southbank cinema, which is a freakin amazing place! It's a movie theatre, museum, restaurant, and bookstore all wrapped in one. Heaven I tell you, my new holy land.

Event number 2: Luella sample sale. Read: mad cheap Luella gear!


After the movie I wandered around the Thames river then walked to Oxford street for a bit and stopped in an internet cafe cos I didn't know what else to do. Did I mention I don't have internet in my flat anymore? I'm blogging from a McDonalds this very mo'...

Anyways, so I went into an internet cafe and started clicking through my blogroll, and read about the sample sale on Style Bubble. The sale was on New Bond street, just about 5 minute walk from where I was. Fate? I think so.

Bags where about 50, 75, and 100 pounds, not too bad at all. There were lots of trousers for just 25 pounds! But who knows if they would fit, so I didn't try my luck. T-shirts for 15 pounds, and most of the other tops no more than 50 each. It was pretty awesome.


I was too embarrased to ask if I could take pictures inside, but here's what the que looked like when I came out. When I got there there was no line, I just waltzed right in!

I ended up buying one top for 30 pounds. It's black and has big velvet polka dots, very CDG. I'll take a picture another time, like I said I'm in a McDonalds right now...

Event number 3: After all this excitement (and walking) I was quite tuckered out, but that night I had one tickets to a Fightstar concert so I had to keep going! Now, I'm not the biggest Fightstar fan. I only know about 3 songs. BUT I was/am/always will be a HUGE Busted fan. If you are all up in the BritPop scene like I am (and by all up in it, I mean madly obsessed...) you will know that Busted broke up in 2005 (sad face :( ) and Charlie went off the join another band called Fightstar.

Since the tickets were free I was in no rush to get there early, see the opening act, etc. In other words, I got there in time for the last 3 songs. HA! I'm not what you would call an early bird! I didn't mind though, as long as I got a glimpse of Charlie I would be happy. And I did! I wish I knew more songs cos the concert was really great... it's wierd but I only enjoy shows if I know at least half of the songs. I think I just like to sing along, ha!

So how's that for a random post? Admit it, you love my useless ramblings...

ps- I'm going to the Harry Potter premiere today (July 7th). I'm not sure what to do with myself, I might faint... or puke, from excitement. Cross your fingers that I will be alive tommorow!

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