Sewing and lifestyle blog of a wannabe "full-time vixen"

Tag Archives: polka dots

Buttons for Ears

I’m behind on my blog posts due to it being summer (so many things to do!) and spending a lot more time on social events then personal development (i.e. sewing, knitting, crafting). But I’ll throw this short little post out there! I made some fabric covered button earrings for a friend’s birthday this past weekend. They are the first time I’ve made such a thing even though the idea has been swirling around in my head for a while.

I think they’re adorable! And I can see myself making a bajillion of these things for myself and for friends. They’re pretty easy to make so I’ll probably write a photo tutorial later this month.

EDIT: If you do a quick google search of “fabric covered button earrings” you’ll find plenty of tutorials so I won’t bother making one of my own, would seem pretty redundant. If you need help making your own, feel free to ask me any questions. Cheers!

Summer Sewing

Sneak peak of the current project I’m working on. Just taking a bit of a break with garment photoshoots which will resume next week.

I’ve been REALLY productive this week in practically all aspects of my life. My boyfriend has been/is away for a week and I decided to take advantage of his time away to do two things: sew like the dickens and start exercising again.

I’m proud to say that I’ve managed to do both! I enjoy both activities quite a lot and now I find myself looking forward to my next “fix” of either activity.

I also started keeping a log book of hours spent sewing right on the table where my sewing machine sits and it helps greatly in achieving my minimum goal of sewing for 7 hours or more a week (so at least one hour a day). So far since Monday, I have sewn for 7.5 hours already, spread out among four days.

I think part of my new-found vigor is due in part to a book I’ve been reading titled “Get Out of Your Own Way” by Robert Cooper. The book is about explaining some of your brain’s less productive habits through neuroscience and then giving methods for overcoming such brain obstacles so you can be more productive. Some of the advice doesn’t really apply to me (such as working in teams on a business project) but I still find those sections interesting and a little bit useful since it gives me insights into workplace politics and such.

I also watched Moonrise Kingdom this week by myself before it the theatres in Vancouver and enjoyed it superbly (I have this fondness of watching films by myself if it’s the right film. I watched Black Swan by myself and it was amazing). I totally have a costume crush on Suzy and all the costumes in the film. But specifically Suzy of course.

Check out this website for more examples:
http://fancyfrenchcologne.com/blogs/blog/6129004-costume-crush-suzy-bishop-in-moonrise-kingdom

I have been wanting to make dresses like these for at least a year or more now. I really need to get on this! They’re simple and classic and oh so girly. *swoon* I especially want to make a red dress with a Chelsea collar!

So here’s a hip, hip, hooray! for getting back on the sewing bandwagon. It has been a frustrating spring so I’m glad I’m over my slump.

Blue Polka Dot Shirt – New Look 6407

Sorry for a late blog post, I will update again on Thursday to make up for it. Canada Day weekend and poor weather threw my photo taking schedule off.

Here is a shirt I made last year which I’ve finally taken proper photos of. I am using my dress form Audrey to help out because the shirt is too big for me! It is the New Look 6407 pattern cut in a size 10, which was the smallest size. I made this during a class and didn’t feel like making a muslin since I used cheap quilting fabric anyways (I had a feeling the shirt would be too big, so much ease!). It looks lovely on Audrey but it’s about one or two sizes too large for me, at least in the torso area. The sleeves are fine.

I also just don’t think the cut of the design is right for me either so I won’t be attempting this pattern again. I’m curious as to whether I can make this work in my wardrobe somehow, by wearing the shirt open. If you have any suggestions for styling this shirt, let me know! I would appreciate hearing them. I will definitely attempt to make another garment with this colour palette though! I love polka dots and contrasting details.

1940’s Glam Hair

I took some photos of what my curls looked the day after…I think they’re still very lovely after being slept on! I don’t bother to put them back in curlers for the day after, mostly out of laziness, but also out of curiosity as to what the curls will look like.

This is what I wore to work on Friday. As you can see below, the blouse is see through so I wore it with a cardigan for modesty’s sake while at work.

I’m very happy with these curls! It was the first time I used sponge rollers and I absolutely love them for their ease of use and amount of curl I can attain. Pin curls are fun but a pain in the butt for me to do. Ever since I started experimenting with curling my hair vintage, I’ve realized I lean towards the 40s style of hair. It’s just so glamourous and elegant, especially with my hair getting longer like this. I also adore Victory Rolls although I haven’t done them in a while.

My next goals are to keep practicing how to style the curls, especially brushing them out and taming the frizz.

I also had another realization…curling my hair and taking photos like this is time consuming. To the point where sometimes I feel like I wasting my time! I realized that I only enjoy doing this once in a while and am not really the type of girl who will “do vintage” everyday like some other lovely ladies in the blogosphere. I am totally happy with just doing “vintage-esque” things with my hair and I also realized I prefer having straight hair (thank goodness it’s my natural hair type)! At least it’s getting longer and I’m really enjoying growing it out currently. Can’t wait to do things like braids and buns on top of my head.

I think I came across this realization after finishing reading The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin — “Just because something is fun for other people doesn’t mean it’s fun for me. (and vice versa)” I was inspired to try doing my hair in vintage style after seeing all these blogs of girls who do it around the world and all the tutorials on youtube. I’m happy that I’ve experimented with it and I’m happy to have found a method that I like and is easy for me to do. It might not be true, 100% authentic vintage but I am totally fine with that.

Stay tuned for more hair experiments. My co-worker Vicky went on trip to East Asia recently and came back with a funny Japanese hair curling product called “Goo Set”. I have to find some time to try this out and show everyone!

Outfit details:
cardigan, blouse – Urban Behaviour
belt – Forever 21
skirt – my grandmother!

For Science!

If you’ve ever wondered what I actually did at my old job in the lab…well here’s a bonus blog post to show and tell! So today I went to visit my old workplace, the Psychobiological Determinants of Health Lab at UBC (University of British Columbia). The lab is sadly closing down at the end of June and moving to Chicago. My aim today was to bring peanut butter chocolate chip cookies for my former co-workers in exchange for taking silly photos! Silly photos of what? Of me with my hair curled and all done up in vintage style. My former co-worker (and close friend I still hang out with) Adam helped me take photos. Thanks also to my wetlab manager Gaye for letting me take photos.

You will notice that the lab is a very unglamourous place, not at all like CSI or in other TV shows or movies. This is just a wee little lab tucked away at the top of the Kenny Psychology building. We actually take up multiple floors in an inefficient way – our offices and labs are spread out so we have to go up and down quite a bit around the building. Yes, those floor tiles are missing in the background. They’ve been missing ever since I used to work there! Still haven’t been replaced.

This is one of two biosafety cabinets that I used to work in. The lab draws blood samples from the participants in our research projects…so someone’s got to deal with them! The cabinet is designed to protect me AND the blood or other things we work with. Everything has to be kept sterile. We achieve this by autoclaving everything and/or wiping everything down with a 75% mixture of ethanol and water. The lab always smells like vodka in the morning.

Gotta keep my pens in place!

Like I said, it’s sad to hear the lab is closing and moving. I worked here for about three years — started during the summer right after I graduated from high school. I managed to win a paid internship to work in a research laboratory! I’ll miss the ol’ place, and I still miss working with pipettes and centrifuges, doing assays on human blood like extracting DNA, RNA, or running ELISAs (Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay).

It’s not the most glamourous looking lab or backdrop for a photoshoot…but I’m so glad I have this memento with me forever now. Maybe one day I’ll work in a lab again.

P.S. The dress was sewn by me and the shoes are from Ruche!

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