Gluten Free Review: Granola Bar

Thought I would try these new granola that are gluten free. Now oatmeal is gluten free. But usually most things with oats in them are contaminated with other grains that are gluten containing. I was hopeful about this bar.

It looked good.

It tasted good too. I didn't feel weird after eating it so it was gluten free. Though I don't know if would purchase again. They were ok but I'm not that crazy about them that I would spend my money on them.

Cheers,
Lauren

Book inspired project: Sequined scoop neck top

If you are here from Renegade Seamstress looking for my Leather submission for the challenge click here.

Is it a shirt or is it a dress? That is what I asked when I tried this item on...

Now I am wearing a pair of shorts underneath but this is way too short to be a dress.

But it is kind of too long to be a top. It just doesn't work.

But this top would be a great top to work with for the book....

I got inspired by this particular project. It was pretty easy. It was called Disco Tunic. Just a lot of sewing. Lots of sequin sewing.

So I had black sequin trim in my collection from various costumes and this is a great project to use it up! Wow! Just started to line up my sequins and sew them on. I sew 2 skip 1 sequin in order to not go crazy. It actually didn't take me too long but then again I have sewn heavily beaded costumes so for me this is easy and I am ridiculously fast.

I just kept going and going and going... almost done!

Done but still too long!

I still had to shorten the dress (if you could call it that) to a top. Cut and hem.

Done. Now I debated about the big pailletes. I had some but just felt it took the shirt in a different direction and I didn't like it. I decided to not put them on. Here is the finished top.

Paired with a blazer. I really like it under a blazer. 

Done! Lots of sequins. Pretty easy refashion per se just a lot of sewing.

Cheers,
Lauren

The sad sack dress refashion

I don't know why but when I look at this dress, I think it is sad. Like a sad sack. Just a sad dress.

I mean it fits well in the bust. The bottom skirt needs some working. And then I realized another sad spot. There was a hole that someone attempted to close. I did not catch it

I thought about this dress for a while. I did not care for the straps. It gave the black and white striped fabric combined with the cut of the bodice a bit of a overall feel. I decided I was going to remove them. And I didn't care for those buttons.

I realized the straps had been folded under by the person who used to own this dress. Oh easy. 

But I still had to open up the back to pull out the strap.

Done. I wound up stitching the back closed. 

I found a shirt that I no longer wore anymore and decided to connect the two. I put the dress on with the shirt and pinned it while I had it on. Which was fun.... 

Ok now the hole(s) I need to seam them out. 

Looking at the dress there was pleats in the front. I figured I could take out the pleat and sew out the holes. 

I opened up the bottom hem so later I could fold it back up and close it and have a nice finished hem. 

I serged the middle part so I could reduce the bulk. Then I reconnected the skirt with bodice. 

Done!! 

Re-sew the bottom hem. 

Not done tho... I needed to cut off the rest of the shirt from the inside. I wanted to use that to make the belt. 

I took an old belt and used that as a template for the new belt for the dress. 

Now to attach. I attached where I wanted it and sew down. 

Fold over making sure the edge of the fabric is underneath. Sew it down. 

Make sure the ends by the zipper are clear and finished. 

Done! This dress is much more happier now. 

I love my new dress. And the holes are gone! 

Cheers,

Lauren

Bellydance DVD Review: Temple of Jehan Ultimate Workout

Happy Shimmy Sunday! Today's DVD review is a fitness bellydance DVD. Which during the DVD I asked the question- if this is a fitness geared DVD why are you working out in jeans??

This is from New York Bellydance which I will admit I am not a fan of, they tend to be overly edited with weird background graphics, sometimes odd lighting, etc. A lot of fluff and stuff, I just want content. I don't watch bellydance DVDs for their background graphics I watch them for their content. So in my opinion they are a bit of a fantasy based DVDs. But since this isn't performance based DVD and a fitness maybe this one would be better. And yes it was. The format was filmed in a studio with a white background. Ah thank you. 

Here is the DVD menu. Each chapter has a name which is a section where it is lead by 1 dancer, with 2 backup dancers. However, everything is dubbed over with a voice. Grr. I dislike that. 

So there is a warm up, followed by: strength, sensuality, joy, passion, energy, and then a cool down. Now you have to know moves already, you can't go into this workout blindly. Also what is missing at times is they don't say everything they do. You must follow the video. Or else you totally miss it. Some chapters are better than others. But sometimes even I was confused on what I am supposed to do. 

In the sensuality section, I will give a warning- if you have any sort of head or neck issues you need to watch this section. It is just filled with hair and head flings even body flings. There was actually NO warning that if you have issues- don't do this part.  

In joy, it is filled with lots of jumping and high speed. I got really confused in this section. The other sections I could manage. 

Overall here is my take on this DVD: this DVD is a Temple of Jehan billed DVD. Jehan doesn't dance or even make an appearance. Nothing. There is no breakdown of any move. What is proper, what to do to avoid injury. If you are not a seasoned dancer where you know what to do to NOT hurt yourself, I would not recommend this DVD. You will probably hurt yourself. Not worth it. Also the whole dancing in jeans? Really? I know this is 2003 DVD, but come on none of us in the bellydance community bellydance or workout in jeans. None of us practice in jeans, unless we are somewhere and it is impromptu. Most of us practice in yoga pants or exercise wear with a sports bra. Also some of these bedazzled bras with big cheap rhinestones glued to bras feels really artsy craftsy. I know they were trying to go for that mysterious bellydancer feel. But really it comes off as cheesy and beginner. At least a few of them wore cholis. That was somewhat redeeming. 

And at the end is a cheesy trainer talking about safety. Well sort of. 

Now this was not supposed to be a fellow dancer bashing sort of review. But I feel what I feel. The overall question is would I keep this DVD? The answer is MAYBE. Why b/c I did get a sweat going, and some of the fast paced did challenge me. So was it a workout yes. And hence why I am possibly thinking of keeping it for a bit longer. :) But I would not recommend for the beginner bellydancer.

Cheers,
Lauren