Organisation

“To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich; to listen to stars and birds, babes and sages, with open heart; to study hard; to think quietly, act frankly, talk gently, await occasions, hurry never; in a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common – this is my symphony.” – William Emery Channing

Recently, I spent a full weekend organising my closet and jewellery and well actually my whole apartment. It was so fulfilling! I found pieces that I had forgotten I even had, plus came up withe a couple of outfits that I don’t think I would have if I hadn’t cleared out all the clothing and jewellery that I dont/wouldn’t wear anymore..

It’s pretty amazing what a couple of plastic containers and dividers can do to make jewellery more accessible. Getting ready in the morning really couldn’t be easier, I just have to try really hard to keep it organised, otherwise I am going to be back at square one!

But so far.. so good

I hope you are all having a lovely week – it’s halfway to the weekend!

DIY: Cut-out checks {how to}

So as promised, here are the step-by-step instructions of how I transformed my plaid shirt. You can do this to any shirt/top – so use your imagination

So here’s what the top looked life before I did anything to it.

Step 1. Fold your shirt directly in half (symmetrically), making sure everything lines up perfectly and then iron along the seams to ensure they are flat and smooth.2. Cut along the shoulder seam of the top to create the cut-out. Cutting a small amount at a time works best, as you can always keep cutting if it’s not enough. Cut in a slight curved shape, so the fabric drapes around your shoulders nicely. Try the top on to see how the cut-outs are sitting, and if need be cut more – keep repeating this until you get the look you desire.3. This is what mine looked like once I finished cutting.5. I then decided that I wanted to curve the hem as well. To have the front hem shorter than the back. So if you would like to do this as well, fold the shirt in enough again (vertically), making sure everything lines up. Iron down to smooth it all out if neccessary. Then cut the hem to the shape you desire.

6. Here’s how  mine looked after cutting the hem. After I cut mine, i realised that the pockets stick out a bit under the hem – but I quite liked the rugged-ness of this, so decided to keep them

7. The final step is to hem all the cut edges of the top. Depending on the fabric of your shirt, you might need to iron down the hem folds first to make sure they stay in place. I hemmed mine by hand, as my sewing machine is still in London.. but either way works.

And here’s what it looks like finished.

Would love to know your thoughts – or even better pictures/links to your attempt at this DIY.

Have fun creating!

(Outfit: DIY top; Mango jeans; River-Island boots)

DIY: Cut-out checks

I decided to change up my old plaid top from a couple of years ago.. It was a lot of fun and I am really happy with the results. DIY instructions to follow tomorrow..
Hope you’ve all had a good weekend.

(Outfit: DIY top; Mango jeans; River Island boots)

DIY Heaven!

Button Button on Homer Street, Vancouver

 Dressew on Hastings St W, Vancouver

Two stores that are complete DIY heavens in Vancouver! One is just full of buttons, but it is pretty amazing that one store can have this many different buttons – any colour, shape, size, textures, material – u name it, they had it!

The second is Dressew – I’ve been there a few times since being in Vancouver, and I could honestly spend hours in there.. the problem is the more time I spend in there, the more I want to buy.. so somtimes it’s a case of having to run in, get what I want, and run out I managed to find some lace for this DIY project I mentioned last week – looking forward to completing it!

I had a super busy weekend – will share it with you shortly!

I hope you are having a fabulous Monday (Happy 4th July to those of you in the USA!)

DIY Lace Shorts

I have been meaning to do this to my shorts for a while now.. but when I first thought about it, I couldn’t really find a lace I really liked and then I just got busy and haven’t really had the time to go out and look for some more!

Strangely enough, I was thinking about this DIY this morning when I woke up… and as soon as I sat down infront of my laptop to catch up with favourite blogs, I came across TWO posts about DIY lace shorts/skirts.

You can see them here & here

It’s a fabulous idea and I definitely need to get it done soon!! Hopefully for this weekend

(Image: HonestlyWTF)

DIY Bell Bottoms

I love this DIY!! Converting a pair of skinny jeans into bell bottoms/wide flared jeans – its genius!!

Full DIY instructions here.

(Images: Honestly… WTF)

sequined superman

A few years ago, I was shopping with a friend of mine who fell in love with a t-shirt with a sequined superman logo on it. However, being students at the time meant the t-shirt didnt really fit into his financial budget and he was very upset he couldn’t buyt it. I convinced him I could make a t-shirt just like it for him – he didn’t believe me and so challenged me to do so! So I did – and I ended up making a few different sequined tshirts for a bunch of friends who wanted one! This one I ended up keeping for myself – there’s just something about it that I love and I couldn’t let it go.

(H&M cardigan; Bershka leggings; ASOS shoes; Tag Heuer watch; bracelet was a gift)