Introducing Mabe TwoToo the Dress Form

Look at what I got for Christmas!!! From the Grandma that I named the last dress form after and whom I gave the sewing room shadow box to.

This is all not helping me focus on thesis writing at all.

Tiny and cute Christmas IOUs, and a Sewing Room Shadow Box Mystery

Hello all you lovely readers! Hopefully you're not still stuffed from all the holiday eating that we indulge in at this time of the year. I don't know about you guys, but I've already had it with turkey leftover creations. But the shortbread cookies will never get old!

As promised in the previous post, here are the adorable little gifts I made! Well, gift IOUs, I suppose. It all started with the fact that I am a grad student who hasn't received funding since October and am in the throes of writing a thesis, thus have no time to make my usual gifts. So for anything more costly than, say, a Christmas hug and hello, I'd planned to do little IOUs. My Mom suggested it, actually, since she'd like me to make her curtains once I'm finished my thesis. And then a good friend of ours, Laura, said she'd like the same. It sort of snow-balled from there.

But writing an IOU on a card is lame and boring. My favourite part of Christmas (besides spending time with family) is seeing someone's face when they unwrap a present I've spent time on, and a card wasn't gonna cut it. So I started with these curtains.

Aren't they cute? I pretty much just tore up an old shirt into strips, folded the top edge over and hand-stitched, cut out notches to represent loops, then slid a wood skewer through the loops and hot glued it to a picture frame. Tied some ribbon to gather the curtains, added some paper to the frame, and voila, a fun little IOU that made her smile!

The mini-curtains got me thinking of other fun ways I could present my IOUs. Laura's husband, Cyril, had asked for another pair of very large pajama pants for Christmas, similar to the pair I bought him last year accidentally (apparently super big pj pants are more comfy). Figuring I'd make him a pair later on, I thought it'd be hilarious to make him a tiny pair for Christmas.

One sock from a child's pair, scissors, needle and thread, a couple buttons, and about 10 minutes of time produced these adorable little pajamas!

I didn't even have to sew the waist-band, the cuff of the socks was perfect!

Seriously, I played with these things all evening. They'd make great doll pants! Or finger warmers. Cyril got a kick outta them.

At this point, I decided I wanted to make pajama pants (both tiny and full sized) for both my Grandma and Great Aunt. Lounging around on weekends or holidays in pajamas is a given in my family, and my Great Aunt especially always has the most funky pajama pants. So another pair of fuzzy socks produced two more pairs of tiny pajamas.

This time I sewed a ribbon around the waist to bring in the waist a bit. Okay, so they're a little hippy and bow-legged, but man do they look comfy, eh?

For my Great Aunt, I simply wrapped up the tiny-pants with a letter saying (I'm paraphrasing, here) that I'd made these pajamas for her, but I think they're a little too small. So I'm going to come down one weekend with some fabric and Maggie Kenmore, and make her a pair that fits and spend the weekend with her. Because the gift really isn't so much the pants, but a weekend hanging out together after I've been away for 2 years.

She really liked it.

I was planning the same gift for my Grandma, but I wanted to be a little more creative with the wrapping. See, she used to always give the most interesting presents, not so much for the gift itself but for the way she'd wrap them. Sometimes she'd write and illustrate a giant book about an adventure you had to go on to find your gift, or you'd have to work for it by earning your gift through some game show she'd make up. While she hasn't done that sort of thing in years, she always has the prettiest wrapped gifts under the tree.

Just like an IOU card, a box with the pants wasn't gonna cut it.

So digging through my craft supplies (that my poor Mom has been storing for me for ages), I made a shadow box sewing room.

Hidden all over the room were clues that she had to find and solve to figure out what her gift was.

I am ridiculously proud of this. Amazingly, I had all the supplies - the shelves, dress-form, baskets, wee patterns and scissors, hangers, mirror, chalk board, everything - in my craft stuff. I just took a shoe box and lined it in wallpaper from an old sample book my Mom brought home from work, then hot-glued everything into place.

I also made sure to stick little personal touches in it, like the hat above, since Grandma loves big hats, and the roll of ribbons, since I first saw that idea in her own craft room.

The drawers in the cabinet above pull out, and I drew on one clue on the bottom of the shelves.

Three of the five clues were in this little shelf. The roll of paper with the green ribbon in the drawer was one; one of the Butterick patterns had a clue (the other two were glued down); the last was rolled up in one of the fabric rolls. Actually, I was really proud of that last clue. My family adopted that tartan (the Manitoba tartan) as our own, and the clue was the first line of our family motto - "To Get Together" (the rest is "To Love One Another, To Care For Each Other").

The last clue was the pajama pants, rolled up in this basket. I loved the fabric pieces hung up on those hangers!

Grandma love it, and I'm glad to say that it took her longer to solve than I expected!

Sadly, I didn't have the time to get creative with the rest of my gifts. My other Grandma (the one the sewing machine is named after, actually) requested no gifts but my presence at our Boxing Day get together, so along with my presence, I exploited her chocoholic affliction with some nice chocolate bars and included an invitation to lunch sometime in the future, just her and I.

When you love giving homemade gifts, being broke and short on time kind of sucks. But after 2 years away from my family, I don't think I'd change these gifts even if I had all the money in the world. Because I think what I, and hopefully they, want and need the most is just time spent together.

I hope you all had a fabulous Christmas (or whatever you do or don't celebrate!), and that you were lucky enough to be able to spend it with people that you love!

Cheers, and happy sewing!

Travels and Companions

I know I've been radio silent the last while, but I've been swamped with thesis and moving stress. Well, I made it home to Small Town, Manitoba, on the beast shown above. YAY SNOW!

Lessons Learned from a Wardrobe Contest

I learned a lot, this past summer, from the wardrobe contest hosted by PR. Not only did my sewing skills improve and I discovered the joy of hand sewing, but I also learned a lot about how clothes fit on my body and discovered how to put together a coordinating wardrobe. I now consider my wardrobe when (thrift) shopping for clothes, and even if I love a garment, if it doesn't fit just right or is a complete tangent from the rest of my clothes, I'll put it back for some other lucky thrifter to find.

Well, I'm leaving today to attend a geology conference in Denver this weekend, and I was concerned about my wardrobe. I want to make a good impression, and despite this summers sewing activities, I actually have very little appropriate clothes, especially for this time of the year. So off to Value Village I went.

Actually, I really went there to find a scale, but came home with 1 pair of wool trousers, 4 tops (3 of which are shown above), a colourful casual scarf (not shown above), and 2 pairs of dress shoes. I'm very happy with my finds, because combined with a few pieces I already owned (the black trousers, denim pencil skirt, black & white top, and two scarves), the whole mini wardrobe has a cohesive, professional look.

Oh, I know there's some problems. I'm not a fan of the all black combo, but with a scarf it's not so bad. That burgundy shirt may not be all that flattering on me because there's no waist definition at all, but it's a flowy, comfortable shirt, and I actually think it look fine on me. Sort of breaks one of my garment rules (waist definition), but maybe the lesson is that none of these rules are set in stone.

Even though only one piece of clothing in this wardrobe is self-stitched, the rules and techniques used to build this conference wardrobe was entirely learned from the wardrobe contest. Every piece mixes and matches, and a couple accessories can completely change the look. And best of all, I actually look my age instead of like an over-grown teenager in hoodie and jeans!

And of course, one can't forget the shoes.

(Sadly, the brown pair will not be coming on this trip, since they so don't go with anything else. Although they'd look fine with the jeans I'm bringing for any down time, checking out the city. Hmm...)

Anyways, thank you all for your awesome support! I wish you all the best of luck, both in your sewing and, you know, those other parts of life that gets in the way of sewing. Take care, everyone, and happy sewing.

Sewus Bloggious Hiatus :(

It is with deep regret that I announce that I have packed up my sewing supplies.

It started when I needed a place to work on thesis stuff at home, and my dining room table turned sewing table again transformed into something new: a work desk. Poor Maggie got shuffled into her cover and under my ironing board.

And then Canadian Thanksgiving came along, and I - for some strange reason - decided to host a dinner at my (teeny tiny) place. Well, there was no way 6 people would fit in my apartment the way it was, so I shuffled all my sewing stuff into the bedroom.

What with being swamped with thesis work and moving at the end of November (to where, I don't know yet), I won't be bringing the sewing stuff back out. :( And due to the aforementioned Thesis Swamp forming around me, there's just not much time for blogging about sewing.

I hope you all will forgive me for the hiatus while I get my academic life in order. Hopefully things will go smoothly, and I'll be back to sewing and babbling about sewing in the new year!

However, I have one more post to tide you over of my cute self until I'm able to come back! Heh. It should go live tonight or tomorrow morning, but here's a little preview.

Cheers!

Can't Blog, Thesis Will Eat Me...

Hey there all you lovely people reading my blog. I'm so sorry about the radio silence of late. Unfortunately I'm under some major deadlines with my thesis, and I just don't have time to blog right now, never mind sew.

I'm also going to be moving in about a month and a half, so I'm even considering packing up all my sewing stuff to A) get an early start on organizing my apartment, and B) help resist saying screw it to my thesis and spending hours and hours sewing. I'm holding out doing that for now, though, because sewing is a great break from thesis work, and I'm hoping to take some me time in the future which will hopefully include sewing.

So for now, I'll be taking a bit of a hiatus until thesis stress goes down to manageable levels. Although I'll probably be lurking around sometimes, reading about (and envying) all your lovely projects. :)

Happy sewing all!

I've Been A Bad SSS Participant...

I'm off on an adventure in Vermont and New Hampshire, playing in mine tailings and acid rock drainage, so sadly the majority of my clothes won't be self stitched. And today I wore not a single self stitched clothing (although I did ride a cow). How could I when I knew I'd spend 10 hours sitting in the very back of a packed 7 seater van?

In short, I've fallen off the wagon.

So I've decided to renew my vows for this last week of Self Stitched September, but slightly altered:

'I, Heather of Sewing On Pins, sign up as a participant of Self-Stitched-September. I endeavour to wear at least one handmade or refashioned item of clothing every day for the remainder of September 2010'.

Project Pajamas: Planning

One of the things I've noticed with Self Stitched September is that I'm sorely lacking in lounge wear and pj's. I've spent a lot of time at home working on The Thesis (Master Thesis? Thesis Master? Yes Ma-ster. Right away Ma-ster), and it would be nice to be A) comfortable, and B) warm.

I found this flannelet sheet at my favourite thrift store, and it's just the right combination of soft and clean, so I think I'll make myself pj pants and hopefully a robe from it using Simplicity 3696. I can't decide if this fabric is cute and girly or something my grandma would wear (no offense Grandma!), but I don't care because it's cozy. I want to make the t-shirt and nighty too, but you need knits for both of them.

Except, I don't want the nighty in a knit. We don't have nice knits at our fabric store (singular). I'd rather it in a flannelet or cool and pretty cotton! Maybe I can alter it so that it has tank top straps instead of the raglan sleeves? Eh, it's pj's, as long as it's comfy, I'll wear it anyways, so why not, eh?

Although considering the amount of time I don't have for sewing, it'll be a miracle if I get even the easy pj pants done in the next few months. Maybe if I get some work done this afternoon, I'll reward myself with some sewing time! :D Wish me luck all!

Happy sewing to those of you with time! *fistshake of envy*

The Beautiful Blogger Award!

I was nominated for this ages ago by Taran at Tanit-Isis Sews, during the final rush of the wardrobe contest. I've been feeling guilty about never doing the post write up for it ever since. And then Patty at The Snug Bug nominated me for it again this evening, so I guess I'd better get on with it! :D Thank you so much, both of you (and sorry for the long wait, Taran)! It's awfully sweet of you guys to think of me for this!

The rules for this blog award is to write out 10 things you all don't know about me. I find this sort of thing hard to do, but I'll give it a shot!

1. I'm a geologist who is studying aqueous geochemistry. Which I find hilarious because I've barely passed every single chemistry class I've ever taken before starting my Masters. I though I was coming to do a environmental geology degree, and Didn't Ask Questions. And then 4 months into the degree I discovered I'd graduate as a geochemist. Cue panic attack. But I've learned to love it, and frankly, it's just a required hoop to jump through to do the type of work I want to do, which is cleaning up old abandoned mine sites.

2. There's quite a few accomplished sewers in my family. My Mom, while disliking the skill, had been known to sew spectacular Halloween costumes for my brother and I when we were younger (I suspect with some help from my grandmothers). One memorable year I wore this awesome Rainbow Brite costume (complete with a home made wool wig), and my bro wore a strong man costume with lots of bulging muscles, all made on her early 80's Kenmore (yay!). My Grandma on my Dad's side used to sew all of her kids clothing when they were growing up (much to my Aunts horror), and she taught me to sew when I was young. She still has her Mom's Singer treadle, that she learned to sew on. Maybe one of these days I'll ask her if her grandmother was a seamstress too!

3. I've been crafting nearly my entire life, in one form or another. I've dabbled in everything. I've learned to knit, crotchet, paint (various things including canvases, ceramics, wood, paper, walls, anything that holds still long enough), tree-top angels and various Christmas decorations, wood carving, dream catchers, metal working (that didn't last long), gluing things to other things (and general crafting - particularly with kids), candle making, sculpting, origami and probably much more. I usually just get it in my head that I can do something, and then I do it. It's only been in the last year that I've gotten into sewing (beyond learning the basics from my Grandma when I was younger), since last October when I decided that I could sew my Mom a scrabble quilt, and I think I've finally found my niche.

For now, anyways.

4. I used to be a voracious reader. I'd read anything you put into my hands, although I loved SciFi and apocalyptic books the best. I had a long time love affair with the Star Wars book series before they killed off a few characters in the New Jedi Order series. Since starting university, I've lost that appetite for books almost completely, and it's only since I started grad school that I'm reading for pleasure again. I just reread Fahrenheit 451, and was blown away again. Why hello there, love of apocalyptic genre, very glad to see you again after all this time.

5. I hate doing laundry. Seriously, it's the worst household chore in the entire history of household chores. I'd prefer to clean out the containers that's been hiding in the back of my fridge for months than fold and put away the laundry. Because of this, my wardrobe is usually empty, with laundry, both clean and dirty, in semi tidy piles on the floor or in a series of laundry baskets/hung over things/piled on a table in my room. HATE LAUNDRY.

(Cartoon from We Blog Cartoons)

6. I look just like my Mom. Well, mostly. It hit home not long after my 18th birthday though, when we were sifting through a bunch of old photos, and came across a picture of my Mom when she was about 16. In it, she looked exactly like me in a picture taken at my 18th. See for yourself! I swear it's not the same person.


















(My, was I ever tiny back then!)

7. I've always had an active imagination, and spent most of my childhood (and honestly, most down time as an adult) daydreaming. My best friend and I used to run all over the neighbourhood acting out adventures we made up, usually as Robin Hood and Maid Marion. She was the only one I ever shared the stories in my head with. I wish I had the writing skills to put onto page all these stories and ideas!

8. Despite today's world and the Way Of The Future, I'm a total technophobe. I like my computer for playing on the internet, but I hate learning and dealing with any new programs and features that come along with computer and thesis work. I refuse to own a cell phone (although sadly that may have to change once I start working), especially now with all their crazy, so unnecessary features that people can't live without. My home phone, while a cordless, does not have a display to show who's calling, and my answering machine is a separate piece of equipment that has a big flashing red light when I have a message. In a couple years, I'm so going to be that grumpy old man waving my fist at those disrespecting young'uns and their new-fangled electronic thingers.

9. I love coffee. No seriously, I love coffee. I think the bean and I are soul mates. And my local fair trade coffee shop (which is my new thesis-writing office, btw) makes the best and prettiest coffee in southern Ontario.

10. I love to try new things. I once had a prof ask me why I was applying to work with a bunch of kids teaching them about geology, and I told him I thought it'd be interesting, and that's kind of how I live my life. I've worked in an underground gold mine because "I thought it'd be interesting", I took on a MSc project in the Northwest Territories because "I thought it'd be interesting" (and I'd been dying to go up there my entire life), I went back packing around Europe - well, for various reasons, but it was very interesting. I've recently taken up swing dancing, and I'll pretty much try anything that I find - you got it! - interesting!

And now I guess I need to nominate some people for this award, eh? It's getting hard since this award has been around for a while now. I'm sorry if there's some double nominations here (but maybe this'll help encourage others to stop putting it off like I did). So I choose:

• Emma Jane at Snuzal Sews is, I swear, the Queen of Jeans! She has inspired me to tackle a pair myself (once things settle down a bit with the thesis). You should go check out the amazing little back dress she made for a contest on PR.
  
• Quietandsmall over at quiet and small adventures in ph.d-land. She is a woman after my own heart, with her sassy creations and thrifty finds, and fellow sufferer working on a graduate degree in science (but of course we secretly love it).
  
• Schey at Scheryka Sews 41. She creates such stylish and flattering pieces for herself and adorable clothes for her kids, and I just think she's lovely overall.
• Jenna at Seamstress In Training is just starting up her sewing blog within the last month, but is jumping right in and has posted some lovely garments that she'd made for her "living doll" and an apron for herself. She's hoping to get into garment making for herself soon, too. I'd love to learn more about you, Jenna!

ETA: I wrote this up incredibly late last night or incredibly early this morning, and I forgot to nominate someone that I've been planning to nominate since I got the award myself. So edited to add:

• Liz at Lizards Little Luxuries! I'm actually jealous of her because she had success at making her first pair of fitted pants this past summer. *fistshake* As I'm sure you've noticed by now from my whining, my first pair of pants were awful. She also makes cute and unique things for her kids, and great casual garments for herself. TAG LIZ, YOU'RE IT!
  

Thanks again, Taran and Patty!

Self Stitched September: Days 17-22

I know it's been radio silence lately, but sadly my thesis has trumped sewing. Hopefully I'll be able to make some time to do some sewing soon. I plan to make a gift for a friend who is defending her M.Sc. thesis soon, and I'm running out of time!

But in the mean time, here's a Self-Stitched September update. Sorry if it's a little babbly, I'm pretty exhausted. I blame the thesis.

Day 17:

Well, once again I spent the day in self-stitched pj pants and reconstructed t-shirt. What can I say, I spent the whole day on the couch doing data analysis. WHEEE geochemistry! Same outfit as days 3 and 12.

Day 18:

I'm definitely learning which pieces I like the most. I keep re-wearing them. Sadly, I didn't take pictures of this day or day 19, but I headed to Ottawa to cheer on a friend of mine who was competing in a Draftmaster competition, and I wanted comfortable and easy to wear outfits. On day 18 I wore my reconstructed jeans skirt, faux wrap shirt, self-made undershirt, and ruffle jacket, the pretty purse, as well as tights and pink flats. Oh! And I packed everything else in a weekend bag I made from the SEW Everything Workshop by Diana Rupp (not shown but a very cute and fun bag). The picture above is from day 13.

Day 19:

Second and last day in Ottawa. To save packed space, I only brought a change of shirt and underwear. And I wore the exact same outfit on day 8, and since I forgot to take pictures, that's what the above picture is from. Reconstructed jeans skirt, sheety blouse, ruffle jacket, hose and pink flats. Plus pretty purse and weekend bag.

Day 20:

Alright, so I'm starting to fall off the self-stitched wagon. NOT ENTIRELY! But this day was another spent working on thesis stuff in my kitchen all day (i.e. 10 am to 1 am - yes, that says 1 am), and I got sick of dealing with the blanket on my shoulders. So while I'm wearing self-stitched knit top and awful pants, I threw on my geology zip-up hoody. I'm not sorry. This picture was taken right before going to bed in the early hours of the morning, by the way.

Day 21:

And I completely gave up this day. ANOTHER day spent at my kitchen table, obeying Master Thesis, and it was bloody cold in my apartment. Spent the day in a RTW hoody. But at least I'm wearing the self-stitched awful pants (which are quite comfortable, by the way), and I believe self-stitched gotch (not pictured).

Day 22:

I LEFT MY BASEMENT APARTMENT THIS DAY! The light, it burns! Heh. Wore my brown straight skirt, knit top, ruffle jacket (yes, again), pretty purse, black tights and black ankle boots.


I guess I'm broken my vow to only wear self-stitched clothes this month. It's been both easier and harder than I expected. I am getting sick of some of my clothes, and I know what I need to add to my wardrobe. Warm clothes especially, including PANTS! More lounge wear, more tops, and different colours too. And more basics.

Sadly, I'm going to be completely breaking my vow from this Sunday to Tuesday. My supervisor has planned an unexpected and last minute field trip to Vermont, and I can't get away with wearing skirts and short sleeved jackets and t-shirts during field work. I have no self-stitched clothes that can handle wandering outdoors in cool fall (and possibly rainy) weather. Someday, when I'm a better seamstress and willing to tackle the more expensive material (and can sew pants), I'd love to make my own field clothes. For now, I'm stuck with RTW.

I hope everyone else is surviving Self Stitched September! Has anyone else had some set-backs and failures like me? (I won't tattle, promise!)

Self Stitched September Days: 12-16

I have never worn skirts so much in my life as I have this summer, and especially this me-made-month. In fact, I think I've worn more skirts this month than I have in my entire life of dressing myself (I don't count the years as my Mom's living doll). And you know what? I love them.

In fact, one of the things I'm realizing this month is that I like dressing nicely. I have far more respect for myself than I ever did while wearing jeans, t-shirts, and sweatshirts, which basically sums up my usual wardrobe in a nutshell.

However, I am noticing more 'lacks' in my wardrobe. For one thing, I am getting sick of my limited selection of shirts. I haven't even worn my ruffle shirt outside of the house because of how badly the ruffles warp and wrinkle after washing them (which requires long finicky minutes with a steamy iron to tame again). And sadly, most of the pieces that I've made outside of my floral romance wardrobe do not go well with anything, not even each other (with the exception of my reconstructed jeans skirt). I wish I had the time to make up a couple new tops, at the very least.

Or even a new pair of pajamas. :)

Day 12:

Despite vowing to put more effort into taking pictures of each days outfit in the last post, I forgot to get a picture on this day. Doubly bad since I wrote the last post on this day, too! Whoops! Anyways, I simply wore the same thing I did on day 2 (although I didn't look nearly as nice on day 12), so I refer you there and pretend this didn't happen.

Day 13:

I spent all this day in various meetings (both formal and informal), working in my office, and swing dancing in the evening. Luckily I wore something comfortable and easy to wear (and wrinkle resistant!) this day, including my reconstructed jean skirt, faux wrap top, self-made undershirt, and ruffle jacket, pretty purse, and flip flops. I know, a lot of my garments are getting a lot of use this month. Don't worry, they're clean! I find I keep going back to certain pieces, and I'm considering making more of these pieces in different colours.

Day 14:

This was another lovely (and productive!) day spend working at my favourite coffee shop, so I wanted to be comfortable. There is no more comfortable skirt in my wardrobe than this cotton petal skirt, and I think it's cute paired with my sheety blouse and ruffle jacket. Hmmm...I'm wearing that a lot these days. Might need to make an effort to wear different jackets.

Day 15:

A good friend of mine came down from Ottawa to visit and do thesis-y stuff, and we spent the afternoon and evening shopping at Fabricland and having dinner at another friends place. I wore my reconstructed jeans skirt and knit top, along with the ruffle jacket, pantyhose and cream floral flats.

Actually, it was a good outfit to wear, since it stood up to running around all day, helping my friend bag up bales of hay and crawling around the floor playing with a bunny! At least, I thought it was playing. Poor bunny would probably disagree.

Day 16:

Once again, the faux wrap top and self made undershirt was featured in today's outfit. It's honestly my favourite top, it's just so pretty and easy to wear. I paired it with my brown straight skirt and jaunty jacket (yay it's not the ruffle jacket!), bare-legged and flip flops, despite the cooler weather today. I'm from Manitoba, I like when it's only 16 or 18 degrees outside.

Despite today's bare-legged venture outside, I actually liked wearing pantyhose yesterday. It made me feel less self-conscious of my extremely pale legs and their various scars and bumps and marks and missed hairs, and reduced chaffing. Sadly, I tore a hole in them by early afternoon. On the up side, there were 3 pairs in the pack I got. On the down side, that means they're cheap, and will run like a trooper.

Self Stitched September: Days 5-11

I've been watching everyone posting all their lovely daily outfits, and cringing because I know I'm falling behind. It started with Day 5's outfit, which I'd planned to photograph at a friends place in the evening and completely forgot. And then I just kept forgetting. It seemed like I'd only remember to photograph every few days or so. I blame my thesis. And my broken tripod, which has made photographing the outfits difficult. And then I kept getting the Guilt, where I know I should post, but I don't want to play dress-up again and re-create the outfits.

So I played around this morning and re-created the missing outfits I wore on the floor. I know, I don't have any proof that I actually wore these, but I honestly did! I've kept track of my wardrobe using a powerpoint presentation, which has been really helpful for keeping track.

Beware, long post ahead.

Day 5:

As you can see, I wore my brown floral faux wrap top, self made undershirt, brown straight skirt, pretty me-made purse, tights and cream floral shoes. I like this outfit a lot, despite the abundance of brown, and I assure you, it looks better on me than on the floor. :)

Day 6:

Okay, this was a horrible day spent ill, mostly curled up on my couch wrapped in a blanket. Hair not brushed, no make-up, awesome fuzzy socks over tights. I did not leave the apartment this day BUT AT LEAST I GOT DRESSED. Wearing the brown straight skirt, light coral ruffle blouse, and tights.

Day 7:

I actually left the apartment this day (yay!), met a friend for lunch and then went to the local coffee shop to work for a change of environment. I wore my denim pencil skirt (which I've discovered an undying love for this past week) and a black cotton eyelet tank top that I made ages ago, along with black tights and cream floral flats. Oh wait, I do have evidence of wearing this out. It's a bad picture from the coffee shop.


Day 8:

Another day that I had to leave the apartment, for a dreaded meeting with the Thesis Supervisor. I wore a denim skirt I reconstructed out of a pair of jeans last March (using this awesome tutorial), my sheety blouse, and a ruffle jacket I made last April. I think this is one of my favourite looks, along with Day 9's, and I think this is more my style.

Day 9:

I escaped my apartment again this day by working at the local coffee shop, and wore one of my favourite outfits while doing it. Petal skirt, faux wrap top, self-made undershirt, and the jaunty jacket. I feel so pretty in this outfit!

Day 10:

I was actually pretty sick this day, had some sort of stomach bug, so I mostly spent the day in pj pants and a reconstructed top. However, I did feel well enough to meet an old friend for coffee, so I'm posting that outfit. Denim pencil skirt, knit top, ruffle jacket, my pretty purse, tights and cream floral shoes. Honestly though, I mostly wore the outfit from Day 3.

Day 11:

Alright, I have a confession to make. I wore a non-self-stitched top this day. Well, this night, anyways. I had a concert and a party to go to this evening, and still feeling off from the day before, spend most of the day resting in pj's. That evening, when I went to get ready for a night out, I realized that I'm severely lacking in nice party clothes. Plus I hadn't done laundry. So with much guilt, I decided to wear something I hadn't made myself. I felt a little more appeased since it was a thrifted top, and I plan to alter it to shorten the sleeves, so I guess it's a future self-stitched top? *hangs head in shame* The only thing self-stitched in this outfit in the denim pencil skirt. Oh well, what can you do.

Anyways, we're now caught up as of yesterday. I promise to take proper pictures from now on. Or I'll try to, anyways.