Friday, January 31, 2014

One Yard Party Dress

I searched a lot and I did not find any dresses with an online tutorial that only used one yard of fabric. With only one yard of fabric, you will have to settle for a pretty skimpy dress. But when you have one yard of nifty novelty fabric laying around, who can resist? I love trippy mushrooms... haha...

What you will need:
1 yard of fabric
1 waist tie
1 zipper
a bunch of thread
some pins
scissors
sewing machine (or a a lot of time to hand sew)
math


Okay, this is the hardest part: the math. You have to measure yourself and figure out how a-line or form-fitting your skirt has to be based on your girth and how long you can afford your skirt to be.

I'm not sure if I can explain this very well, but if you have any question please ask and I will try to fix any parts that don't make sense.

Here is my haphazard layout as an example. 

First you have to figure out how long the skirt and the top should be. Measure from where you want the neckline to be to where you want the waist to be. I made the back of my top a couple of inches shorter than the front to conserve fabric. Then measure how long you want the skirt to be. These two measurements together should not be larger than 36 inches, and should be even less if you are going to try and follow my layout.

Measure your boobs at their widest, over your boobs, and your waist. Add a little to each measurement for ease and seams.  There are 5 pieces in the bodice. Divide your waist and your over-boob measurements by 5 and make the tops and bottoms of these pieces reflect those numbers.

 Take your boob measurement and subtract your over-boob measurement. Divide this number by 2. Make the two side pieces curve out to accommodate your bosom.  

And now the skirt. Add a couple of inches to the waist measurement for seam allowance and ease. I chose 8 pieces to make up my skirt, so I divided this number by 8. Then I messed around with the numbers to try and make the skirt as poofy as possible.

If you have a larger waist you will want to make sure you measure your hips, too, because you will not have as large of a difference between the bottom of the skirt and the waist. Make sure you accommodate for this.



 Cut out your pieces. This was how my layout turned out on 42" wide fabric and the only scrap piece is the one in the upper-left corner. You could probably make a skinny strap out of it, if you wanted.

Sew all the top and bottom pieces together. Hem the top of the top and the bottom of the skirt. 

Try the top and skirt on with safety-pins holding the back together. This in the easiest time to fit your dress. Mine needed some adjustment to the princess seam in the front and the skirt was about an inch larger than the top (so much for my maths).  

Then sew the top and the bottom together. 


Sew up the back seam of the skirt and insert your zipper.

Gather the front for a sweetheart neckline, tie the ribbon around your waist, and you should be done!



Please show me pictures if you end up deciphering this tutorial!

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

In Love with... Mixed prints and velvet heels

Leopard and Roses




A few reasons why I heart this:

  • Mixed prints are fun.
  • <3 the zippered bell sleeves on the LUV AJ moto jacket. 
  • These D&G sunglasses are even prettier in person.
  • The aquamarine ring has a hidden compartment.
  • See-through clutches intrigue me. 
  • Peacock teal + velvet + satin bows + shoes

Later Lovelies!

<3KM

Friday, January 24, 2014

Intro to Russian Pop

I like Russian pop music. I have been trying to learn Russian, but I have not really gotten past dah, nyet, and spaseebo. I have been working on the alphabet more, but man... languages are not my strong suit.  Here are a few of my favorites. Most of them are in English, so don't worry if you are language impaired like me. 
I discovered Glucoza through GTA. Her voice is so sexy. I looked up some her lyrics in English, though, and they came off as way too lovey-dovey for me, but luckily they are in another language so it's not that bad to listen to.
Two from Sergey Lazarev. The first one is from 2005, the next on 2010. I think he is the king of cheesy pop. I have never heard such cheesy, catchy songs. I love to dance to these late at night and drive my down-stair's neighbor nuts.
Everyone knows tATu, but maybe not this song. There is a version in English, too, if you can find it. So pretty.

Monday, January 20, 2014

Dyed Buzz Cuts for All ft. Jessie J, Winston, Dennis Rodman...

One of the shows I like to watch is New Girl. During a flashback, in the episode called "Basketball", Winston shows off a dyed leopard buzz cut. I couldn't stop thinking how much cooler it made him look, even though it was obviously sprayed on.


Dyed buzz cuts look rocking on both guys and girls. I considered dying my hair but I am sure that the upkeep can be pretty ridiculous. I bet you need to dye it quite often unless you're okay with showing your roots.

Here are some more awesome buzz cuts:

Hair accessory
Amber Rose
Hair accessory (clipped to polyvore.com)


...
Flea
... (clipped to polyvore.com)

Haircare
Dennis Rodman - King of the dyed buzz cut
Haircare (clipped to polyvore.com)


Tempted? I love the blue on Jessie J. It would be great if you could just try it out for a day and then have all of your hair back the next. I know there's always wigs, weaves and extensions but I have a low tolerance for uncomfortable hair styles so I don't think I could handle those either.

Later Lovelies!
<3KM

Friday, January 17, 2014

Basil Chick'n of Seitan


One of my favorite Thai dishes is chicken basil, but unfortunately ground meats creep me out. Nothing is grosser to me than feeling a bit of gristle between my teeth. Because of that I prefer seitan, a wheat-gluten meat substitute. A bonus with seitan is that it is more filling, too!
 This recipe is not vegetarian because it has oyster sauce and fish sauce, but you can use vegetarian substitutes for that, if you wish. And if you can handle ground chicken you can use that instead of the seitan. 

Ingredients:
coconut oil
2 shallots
3 cloves garlic
2 tsp rice wine
pinch of sugar
1/2 tsp oyster sauce
1lb Seitan (or ground chicken)
1 tbs fish sauce
1 hot chilli (preferably Thai, but Serrano works fine)
1 hand-full of Thai basil
juice from 1/2 lime



coat bottom of wok with coconut oil
add shallots and garlic when oil is hot
fry until aromatic

add seitan, sugar, oyster sauce and rice wine
stir-fry until seitan is thoroughly warm and a little browned

turn off heat and add basil, chili, lime, and fish sauce


Serve over rice and cabbage or rice and sprouts

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Gold and Garnets


Gold and Garnets



Lately I have been craving vintage, ancient looking gold and garnet jewelry. Red garnet is just gorgeous and it happens to be this month's birth stone. According to Crystal Vaults garnet is known to calm emotions and repel bad dreams, among other things. These rings look like they really could give you super powers.

The bracelet in the upper right hand corner is made by the 19th century goldsmith Francois-Desire Froment-Meurice. The band is actually made of human hair which sounds kind of creepy but it is still so pretty. I actually heard about Froment-Meurice from an episode of Pawn Stars. <3 his work.

Happy birthday to all the January babies!

<3KM

Friday, January 10, 2014

Sweet Winter Lolita

I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm not usually one for pink and frills, but I am loving Sweet Lolita. In case you don't know, Lolita is a subculture from Japan in which girls dress like children from Victorian times or Rococo dolls. There are many variations, but I especially like the "sweet" one, which mainly focuses on pinks and other pastels. 

Who doesn't love a soft, pink muff?



When I was little I used to collect miniature teddy-bears and build them towns out of old shoe boxes. I am totally digging the idea of turning old stuffed animals into accessories. I have a stuffed pink elephant I want to turn into a purse!

Do you think this fashion is just silly? Or do you want to put on excessive amounts of lace and turn your favorite stuffed animal into a backpack?

Monday, January 6, 2014

In Love with... Tiny foods - Kracie Popin Cookin Happy Kitchen kits

Kracie Happy Kitchen Ice Cream Kit
One day I was browsing Youtube and I came across these awesome, Japanese candy kits. I love mini food things so I knew I needed to try one for myself but I couldn't decide which one to try. Thankfully they are available in variety packs on Amazon so I ordered this lot of 9 for my kids and I for Christmas. They are so fun and they actually taste better than I anticipated.

The instructions for these are in Japanese so that made it a challenge at first but then I just went ahead and searched the Internet for the English instructions.  There are lots of Youtube videos out there that show you how to make them but I prefer written instructions. The videos helped me figure out what to expect though, and they are pretty entertaining!

Kracie Happy Kitchen Sushi kit
The first kit that my kids and I made was the hamburger kit. It was the most challenging because I wasn't sure what the consistency was supposed to be like and it actually needed to be microwaved at certain points. Once I got the hang of it I became more comfortable with trying to decipher the instructions on my own.

The English instructions help a lot but beware - sometimes the colors of the packet inside your kit may vary from the color of the packet in the tutorials or instructions. If this is the case it helps to try to compare the writing on the packages. If the writing looks identical but the colors are different than you may just have different packaging. Smelling the powder can help you figure out what component it actually is if this happens to you.

If you purchased a kit and you'd like to read some English instructions check these out:

I can't find any written instructions for the waffle kit or the cake decorating kit so Youtube is your best bet for those. I still wonder if I made the blueberries right in the waffle kit because mine turned out squishy. The play dough kit seems to be pretty self explanatory but I still haven't opened it.

Assembly Hints:
  • Open the packaging very carefully.
    • Sometimes the wrapper is used in the final product either as a place mat or as decoration, such as the fry holder and drink wrap in the hamburger kit. 
    • It is recommended to cut the top and bottom of the plastic wrapper with scissors. 
    • Sometimes the box is used for display too like in the ice cream kit.
  • Less water is better than too much water. 
    • You can always add a little more if it is too thick. 
  • Have little dishes ready. 
    • Little pitcher, teapot or dish to hold the water. 
      • Kids love to use their own play kitchen dishes - just make sure they are clean! 
    • Little plate for your treats. 
  • Use filtered or bottled water.

Have you tried any of these? I think they are so fun! 

Later Lovelies, 
<3KM

Friday, January 3, 2014

Impractical Sweaters

I'm usually for function over fashion when it comes to clothes. These sweaters will not keep you warm, but I really want to lean how to make one. They are just so... post-apocalyptic somehow. 
This one would probably be easy to make - just the right yarn and some giant knitting needles

And this one just make holes in the sweater above and tie them off.

I have no idea who made any of these, so if you know, give me a heads up.