Day 90: Periwinkle Ice Bellydance Costume

So it all started with this big skirt I purchased from goodwill and unpicked to discover it was very very large! So large that not only did we fit 3 people we fit 4 people!

We wound up turning it into this costume for our troupe (5 costumes now).

I still had a lot of satin leftover. So I wanted to make another costume with the leftovers. Even though there was some glue marks still. It did not matter b/c the beads were going to cover them up.
And then finally it comes to this costume. I oringinally purchased clear ab beads over the years and inherited some from other people and I wanted to do an all white costume that was a mix of clear ab beads. One day I was cleaning out my closet and a piece of the periwinkle satin from the tribal fusion costume was near the clear ab beads and I realized no.... I need to make a costume cominging these 2 colors. It would be amazing.

So I started with gluing the big pieces and sewing on the big beads. And I played around with the center piece too. I had something in my stash of course.

Then just sew sew sew. Now before I filled everything completely in, I needed to decide how to edge the costume. I could not find pre-strung sequins that would match. I actually purchased individual sequins in different blues to see what would work the best. Here is me playing around with them.

I chose medium cornflower blue. So I sewed on the sequins on the edges of the costumes. Yes each one indiviually.

Eek! the strap was too short. I had to extend it further with felt... boo

So I finished the top also with sequins. And the straps too.... Now time for easy filling in! I glued the different clear AB finish rhinestones (and they were big too!) to fill in the costume. Less for me to sew. Yeah! FYI it is way easier to add to rhinestones to the glue spots then it is to glue the rhinestone then add. Trust me!!!

Done! Wahoo! Well almost..

Add the fringe to the bottom of the belt.

Now I need to add fringe to the bra. I used beads I got at Michael's. I cheated b/c they had jump rings. I decided to sew it on as is...

Ahhh! Done!!! I actually didn't have a performance to wear it to b/c I had gotten sick. So I wore it to practice one night. So I am completely not made up. And well the stress is getting to me with the move and I have put on some weight. But here is how I would like to wear the costume.

OMG I can't believe that I made it through 90 days. OMG I can't believe that I am moving. Wow. We leave with the truck on Thursday! For all of the posts click here!

It was a lot of fun. It was really great to finish projects before the move. I can't believe I did 90 posts! Wow! Give me some time to unpack and get internet before more posts will begin to trickle back to the blog. Life is crazy! But life is good!

I hope you have enjoyed my 90 days of blogging. :)

xoxoxo,
Lauren

Day 87: Sea Salt cranberry walnut quinoa

I found this sea salt and pepper quinoa mix at TJ Max. I thought I would try it out. I have recently discovered quinoa and wow it is great! Did you know quinoa is a grain that is 75% pure protein? It is really good for you! So I am on a quinoa kick!!

So I followed the instructions to cook. Add water.

Boil

Add the lid. Sit for 20 minutes.

Fluff! Everything turned out wonderful!

But I wanted to add some more nutrition to the mix. I am in the process of cleaning out my pantry for the move (T-minus days and counting!) and I had leftover dried cranberries and some walnuts. I add those to the mix. Here is my dinner (and lunch the following day!)

Omg this was delicious! And really easy to make! I like that! For more of my 90 days of posting click here! 

Ahh! 3 more days left! Yay!

xoxoxo,
Lauren

Day 86: Third time is a charm!

Wow So I don't know what happened! I thought I had today covered but looks like I did not. I just got back from a whirlwind trip filled with drama in D.C. We were looking for apartments and to get a feel for the area before I go to work there. The weather was lovely. But I am really tired! I had to wake up at 3am EST to drive to the airport. And dodge deer on the side of the road. Wow, its been a long day. Well on Day 80, I posted a refashion of the shirt I dyed 2x!

It went from this white shirt

to this bad light green shirt

to then blue

But I really wasn't happy with it. Then in my last dyeing experience before the move, I attempted to dye this jacket darker with RIT black dye.

I threw in this shirt while I was at it. For the jacket, long story short- the jacket fell apart in the wash. It was old and only $1. Black RIT dye here I come!

Long story short, the jacket just didn't hold up in the wash. So it is a goner. I was sad. However the new shirt color came out this awesome charcoal grey! Yes! Score!

Yeah we are approaching the chaotic move. It is chaotic for many reasons which I won't get into right now. I didn't have the time (nor do I want any messier apartment pictures on my blog!) so you got a couch photo. The shirt is MUCH more wearable now! For more of my 90 days of blogging click here!

4 more days left! yay!!!!!!

xoxoxoxo
Lauren

Day 85:Team Unizoomi Milli Pinafore Dress

I recently made a dress for my fellow sorority sister Alicia. Her daughter wanted to be Milli from Team Unizoomi for Halloween and there are not that many options for Halloween costumes for her. So she commissioned me to construct a dress for her. Just a simple plain pink pinafore dress.

First of all I am old and I have no children. I had no idea who Milli was first of all. She is a character on a Nick where they do Math problems and stuff. Yes I had to Wikepedia it.

We decided for no flowers just a simple pink fabric dress. We selected the Penny Anne Pinafore Dress Pattern. 

Now on to my review of the pattern.  There are 2 main pieaces plus an interface piece for each piece. I lined my interface with the pink piece of fabric just because no person (including children) want interface touching their skin. Cotton is much nicer! The directions were semi-easy to follow if you are a SEASONED sewer and pattern reader. At times I was slightly confused and wish it just wasn't pictures but had some sort of arrows or something to help the reader out. Additionally, there was no mention on clipping the corners or clipping the curves to allow for ease of the fabric. Because I have sewn for a while (though I don't consider myself seasoned but maybe I am!) I knew to do this to make the dress look nicer. Otherwise should I have to make another one, I could make it faster. It just took awhile to read and understand what she was trying to convey in her directions.

Here is the end dress!\

Super cute! Will post when I get pictures from Halloween! For more of my 90 days click here.

xoxoxo,
Lauren

Day 84: My DIY Maxi Skirt

I completely made this up. I wanted to use this fun fabric and make a skirt out of it. It was long enough to make a long skirt. I had a long piece of elastic and thought I would try it! Let's wing it! First even out the top and bottom

Next line up the elastic with the top of the fabric. This is a super stretchy fabric so I don't need to stretch while I sew it I used my elastic stitch.

I had a lot of extra fabric and elastic so I tried to drape the excess and I stretched the rest of the elastic over the waist.

I tacked down in several areas with my machine.

So here is my skirt. It is super comfy and perfect for lounging in the house getting things done at the end of the day or during the weekend. Not bad!

Alternatively, where the excess fabric is where I have place on my bum, I can also wear it as a slit on my leg. And yes there are no side seams in this skirt. The only thing I sewed was the elastic! The extra fabric covers over each other. For more of my 90 days of blogging click here.

xoxoxo,

Lauren