threadbare

Friday, February 3, 2012

DIY: Jersey Maxi Skirt

Sorry for the back to back skirt DIY's but I went a little sew-crazy this weekend! (Hint: there's still at least two more coming.) I got some wonderful jersey knit material a few weeks ago to make a skirt for a friend and decided I had to get some more to make myself a skirt too. And considering my recent obsession with maxi skirts, I figured I'd give DIY'ing myself one a go! Although jersey knit is SUPER tricky to work with (took me about three hideously wavy hems to figure out the tissue paper trick), I love how it feels and weighs, as you can see in the following smile/grimace of excitement:

To make it, I basically took a huge rectangle of fabric (as tall as from my waist to the floor, and two or three times as wide as my waist/hips), sewed it up the side, and folded over the top to put in elastic. I didn't even hem the bottom since jersey knit doesn't fray.

This is the comfiest skirt I think I've ever worn. It's like a permanent blanket. I can sit in pretty much any position (excluding maybe upside down) and I'm covered! I'm still gathering the courage to cut a slit in it though. I'm thinking maybe along the side seam so I can sew it back up if I hate it?

Also, I'm obviously still figuring out how to wear it. I think something along the lines of this top would work better:

Cropped, minimal, and colorful to balance out the heaviness of the skirt (especially since it's black - a more colorful skirt coming soon, I promise!). The question is then, what kind of shoes do I wear with something like this (I'm barefoot in the pictures, hehe)?? I think sandals would be ideal but not an option considering it's winter...

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Vegan Returns with Vengeance

A Pair and A Spare, how do you always read my mind?? Just when I was losing motivation to do the vegan twice a week thing, in swoops my favorite blogger of all time with this brilliant post about a vegan recipe blog called Lookbook Cookbook. Their claim to fame? "American Apparel-esque girls" modeling/eating vegan and gluten-free food. Chances the girls actually were eating the chocolate covered chocolate chip cookies? Minimal.

But I mean, come on. How great is this? Definitely ready to make some vegan kitchen magic!

Images via Lookbook Cookbook

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

DIY: Fishtail Skirt

I saw this skirt at Goodwill last semester and immediately thought Anthropologie or Urban Outfitters, and knew I had to get it. It was a super awkward length so I hemmed it, and although I liked the outcome, it just wasn't all that great.

So I did what anyone else would do: make it into a fishtail skirt a la Geneva (see also this and this - not really a fishtail skirt, but a gorgeous maxi skirt nonetheless). Et voila! I'm in love.

Just have to point out these shoes. They're Ralph Lauren (made in Spain?), found for 5 bucks at Goodwill. SCORE.

What you need:
A skirt
Thread/needle (or fraycheck, or fabric glue)

What you do:
1) Put the skirt on.

The before. See what I mean about it just looking weird?

2) Mark in chalk where you want the skirt to hit at its shortest in the front, and at its longest in the back (I wasn't going to shorten the back of mine so I skipped this half).

3) Lay the skirt out on its side and connect those two points with chalk in a smooth line, remembering to leave a small hem allowance (you may have to curve the line more if the length difference is more extreme than mine is), and cut.

Note: that button on the waistband is on the side of the skirt - make sure you lay the skirt like this, on its side! Also, since I wasn't shortening the back of mine, I only cut about 3/4 of the way around the skirt.

4) Try on the skirt to make sure the length/shape is what you want (not pointy in the front, even slope all around, etc). Alter as needed.
5) If you're lazy like me, use fabric glue and Fraycheck to hem the skirt (it's made of non-machine washable fabric anyways). Otherwise, sew.