A very simple skirt

This particular model is one of my favourites. It’s comfy, approporiate, and so easy to make I’ve made three of them now, and still have plenty of ideas! The shape is great, either on its own, or as a basic you can add on to.

This is really easy, both the sewing, and making the pattern. It’s very versatile, and you can add almost whatever detail you like; ruffles at the bottom, pockets, buttons, suspenders, and so on…
Because it’s so easy, and so few steps(when you’ve made your pattern once, you can after all skip the 4 first steps), this skirt is made very quickly. If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

I’ll go through the ridiculously simple way of making it. You do as you like, but I’ve found I like skirts (of this shape) with lining the best. You need a few measures; (a) your waist divided by 2, (b) the widest part of your hips divided by 2, (c) the length between a and b, and (d) the length from c to where you want your hem(+ a few cm). You can choose for yourself whether or not you want it A-line shaped(like I did), and let it widen even more below measure b. Or if you want to make it a little narrower at the bottow(a few cm under your b measure). The latter option will give your skirt a more pencil-skirt feel.

1. Draw a straight line on a piece of paper, as long as measure a + 2-3 cm. Add a vertical line at the middle of it, draw it as long as you want your skirt. So you’ll end up with a “T”.
2.  From the “top of the T”, you’ll measure down the vertical line, as long as your measure c.
3. Where the line of measure c stops, add your measure b(+ 2-3 cm), with the vertical line in the middle.
4. Add measure d along the vertical line, and make it as long/short as you want(depending on whether you want the a-line or the pencil-effect).
5. Cut this one out, and make a similar one, but add a few cm to measure a and b (for the zipper).
6. Cut it out, lay it on your piece of fabric. Draw around, and cut out.

7. Overlock edges if needed.
8 a. If you use lining, you can sew this onto the fabric now(from bottom, sides or top), or you can add it afterwards. I did it now, though, to make it easier for myself.
8 b.  Add zipper to the back piece(the wider one).
9. Sew side seams.
10. Optional: add  a band to the top(hide the seams). If you don’t do this, you can hem it. (Remember this when you add the zipper!)

11. Hem bottom.
12. Finished!

This is really easy, both the sewing, and making the pattern. It’s very versatile, and you can add almost whatever detail you like; ruffles at the bottom, pockets, buttons, suspenders, and so on…
Because it’s so easy, and so few steps(when you’ve made your pattern once, you can after all skip the 4 first steps), this skirt is made very quickly. If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

I’ll add pictures of the skirts I’ve made in this shape

 

This skirt I made without lining, and band. The fabric is sort of stiff, but thin.
In stead of making the front and the back big enough, I added a little fabric on each side, with vertical horizons, as an interesting twist.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 This skirt with lining, is made of heavier cotton. I put a band both on top and bottom. Because the fabric is thicker and heavier, and also because I have a fairly heavy lining, the lines aren’t as clean as on the previous skirt.

Versace for H&M

As most, you have most likely heard of the Versace/HM collaboration by now. Probably, you have seen the  collection, and maybe you already own a piece. Anyway, here is my opinion of it

I really like so many of Versace’s collections, so this was exciting news! Usually I either love a piece or… I’m not particularly loving it. For me, some of their garments are just too daring, or too shiny. Some of it. My favourites from Versace are usually the sophisticated, subdued glamorous ones Unfortunately, I didn’t really fall in love with this collection. I liked a few pieces, but mostly, I found it was too colourful and bold. I liked a few black dresses, and some jewelry.

My favourite was this black dress. I really like the buttons, and belt-alike details. The splitted arms is a nice touch. This (in addition to the fit, which won’t have the same quality for every shape) prevents this LBD from getting boring. I also like the necklace, I think it has a slight “armour-feel” to it.

I think it’s interesting every time HM get guest-designers! Bringing designer pieces into wardrobes of “the mass” is a nice idea Of course, they are still more expensive than most of HMs own collections. The downside to it – for me, anyway – is that everyone will wear the same clothes(well, not literally, but you know what I mean). Which is the case of most chain stores, so I guess it isn’t really much different from when they make their own collections.

I really like those earrings, without being able to explain why. And that is the necklace on the picture above. True statement accessory! Something else which caught my attention: suede ankle boots with toe patch, laces, heel and beige sole! All great details

John Masters Organics Lavender Rosemary Shampoo Review

The first product I tried from JMO, and I must say I really like this! Purchased when I had itchy scalp, and this helped a lot. This, of course, is a result of the nice ingredients list(the main reason I bought it). It contains no GMOs, parabens, DEAs, MEAs, TEAs, sodium laurel sulfate, artificial color, artificicial fragrance or petro-chemicals(found on the bottle).

Though it’s not intended as a shampoo speficially for colour treated hair, it also works very well for coloured hair. With my hair, I wouldn’t know if this is correct, but it’s worth knowing Also, my hair felt not as heavy as it use to, and was less unruly. And I could go longer between washes, something I find important.

One thing I didn’t like as much, was the amount of product I had to use. It felt like I had to use a lot to get it all over my hair(or, my scalp anyway), because it didn’t “spread” too easily. Probably because it doesn’t foam much, which we like of course. But it still resulted in me using all the product(236 ml) way too fast. Anyway, despite using that much product, my hair didn’t feel squeaky-clean!

The smell is slightly strong, but I don’t really mind, it isn’t too bad when washed out and dried. If you’re really sensitive to this, you might want to consider whether you like lavender or not
I can’t review this shampoo without taking the look of the bottle into account! I really like it! So simple and understated. No disturbing colours, or shapes. I think it gives off a professional feel, and a “they care more about the product, rather than the fact that you will pick it up based on interesting appearance”. Well, just my opinion.

I remember finding it hard to find the complete ingredients list when I was interested in this, so I will put it here for you:
Aloe barbadensis(aloe vera leaf juice) gel*, aqua(water), decyl glucoside, sodium lauroamphoacetate panthenol(vitamin D5), lavandula angustifolia (lavender) oil*, rosmarinus officinalis (rosemary) leaf oil*, hydrolyzed soy protein, wheat amino acids, sorbitol, symphyturn officinale (comfrey) leaf extract*,chamomilla recutica (chamomille) flower extract*, lavandula angustfolia (lavender) leaf/flower/stem extract*, utrica diotica nettle root extract*, equisetum hiemale (horsetail) leaf/stem extract, achillea millefolium (yarrow) extract*, camellia sinensis (white tea) extract*, salix alba (willow) bark extract*, lonicera caprifolium (honeysuckle) flower extract, potassium sorbate, sodium benzoate, guar hydroxpropyl trimonium chloride, linum usitatissimum (flaxseed) seed oil*, borago officinalis (borage) seed oil*, helianthus annuus (sunflower) seed oil*, simmondsia chinesis (jojoba) seed oil*, tocopherol, sulfur, glycerin

* NOP certified Organic

A favourite: Clinique High Impact Curling Mascara

Thought I’d review one of my all-time favourite mascaras; the Clinique High Impact Curling Mascara!

Photo credit:
http://www.clinique.com/products/1606/Makeup/Mascara/index.tmpl

I’m not notably fond of Clinique’s skincare, but they have some great eye-makeup for sensitive eyes, especially mascaras I’ve tried several of them, but my favourite is this one, I keep coming back to it. There are particularly three things I love about this(apart from the fact that my eyes don’t tear up as soon as I put it on).

1. It looks really natural.
Because my lashes are on the longer side, I tend to just use mascara close to the lashline on a daily basis. This gives great definition to the eyes, it looks like you’re just “born that way” (hehe!). My sister didn’t believe me when I told her I had mascara on! You can put on several coats, your lashes won’t end up looking like three insect-legs. And clumping just doesn’t happen.

2. It’s water resistant.
I really like the resistance of this mascara. Rain, swimming, tears, sweat and blood. Okay, maybe the last one isn’t as relevant(nor tried!), but it sounded hardcore. And for a mascara, it really is! If you’re one of those who like to put on mascara in the morning, and not think about it throughout the day, including cardio workout, this is great.

3. You remove it with water.
Now, while I probably made this mascara sound like a warrior in the previous paragraph, it is removable. With water over 39 degrees Celsius /102 degrees Fahrenheit. The first time you remove it, it’ll be slightly creepy, and you’ll almost cry at the sight of eyelashes falling of. That, however, isn’t the case. It comes of in clumps, and eyelash-like shapes. As soon as you get use to it, you’ll find how easy, clean and convenient it is

So many great things about this! It is a curling mascara, but the one who came prior to this one, is the Clinique Lash Power Mascara. Basically the same thing(I’m pretty sure), just not with curling effect. I prefer the curling one, as it has a bigger wand, great for my not-so-voluminous lashes. If you prefer to add length, or find yourself intimidated by the broken-looking wand, you might want to try the other one

Military green dress with bow

This dress, I made originally as a test before “the real” one, just to  see if the pattern was right, and so on.. Therefore I made it in pretty easygoing stretch fabric. Turns out, I quite like it. If the fabric was less stretchy, it would probably have a better fit (esp. round the shoulders), but oh well, I like it.

Again, I’m sorry, I don’t have pictures to actually confirm the making, but I can try to explain. Not my strongest quality, but I’ll try

The bow is made out of pique-like fabric, just two equally long strip(choose whatever length you like). This of course, is heavier than the light jersey fabric the dress is made of. Therefore, the bigger bow, the more “pressure” where the bow is fastened to the dress(hence the slight sagging around the shoulders.
I simply put the front and the back together(any simple dress pattern will do, unless you can make them yourself), and hemmed. This was prior to me getting a serger, so I used a “extra safety”/”mock overlock”-stitch at the sides and the top of shoulders.
As I mentioned, I made two equally long pieces of the white pique-like fabric. Then I folded the ends, and sew them on, along the shoulderseam. Of course I should have just made my life that much easier, and put them between the front and the back pieces as I sew the shoulder seam. After that, I pinned them along the neckline, making sure they didn’t meet at the end(about 10cm/3-4 inches apart). Folded the neckline again, and stitched them on. Finished! Easy, huh?

I’ll make a more detailed guide, but for now, I hope this paint-illustration can be of any help. Feel free to ask, if you have questions!

As you can see, the limegreen is the outside of a garmen, while the grey is the inside. You stitch the fabrics wrong sides together, and fold them over the seam(3rd picture). Then stitch them together again. Fold the “sidepiece” to the left/right, and stitch it in place(this step, 5th pic., isn’t vital, but the lines appear cleaner, esp., if you have figurhugging clothes). There you go, a really secure seam!
Does unfortunately not work that well with angled seams.

My first step in the right direction

My first post about something skin care related! Hooray! The Aloe Calming Facial Cleanser!
This was probably the first product I purchased after deciding I could “trust no-one but myself”.  (Read more about that seemingly lonely but practical mentality).

When confronted with this brand, I get different reactions… From “Weirdo-nature-crap-without-function” to “Fantastic-and-so-super-duper-natural”. Personally, I find their products differ in quality, so I wouldn’t really make one definite statement about it.

Anyway, back to the product. Before I bought this, I went through the entire ingredients list. This was at the end of my too sick of trying just about anything-period, and by then my skin had a combination of acne, redness, dryness and it was über-sensitive. Which only worsened with the stronger and stronger products I tried to combat the evilness stuck in my face with.
Positive none of the ingredients were irritants, I decided to give this a try. And it worked. To some extent. It was my sensitive skin’s new best friend, even if I wished better results on the acne part. It did however help; not stripping the skin for moisture resulted in my body producing less oil(which again can cause unclear skin), and therefore I had less breakouts. Not completely gone, though, as I wished.

It was definitely calming, and a great option for me at the time! It didn’t make things worse, as so many other cleansers did. But it didn’t have enough active ingredients to completely rid me of breakouts either. It’s probably a good option if you have normal skin, sensitive skin, or skin abused by harsh products. If you suspect you have used the wrong(too strong) products for some time, this can be a good alternative to let your skin either just calm down(before you add another new very active product), or see if it’s all your skin needs to stop producing tons of oil(and breakouts).

Bonus: this is perfectly removable without water, which I love! Maybe weird in the beginning, but great for sensitive skin, travelling, or if you’re somewhere with poor quality of water/your skin hates water. And it removes makeup pretty alright!

I’ll add the ingredients list(it’s from their website):
Aqua (Water) (Solvent/Diluent), Aloe barbadensis (Aloe Vera Gel) (Skin Soothing Agent), Pentylene Glycol (Solvent), Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride (Emollient), Elaeis guineensis (Skin-Conditioning Agent), Butylene Glycol (Humectant), Cyclomethicone (Emollient), Glycerin (Humectant), Glyceryl Stearate Citrate (Skin-Conditioning Agent), Cetearyl Alcohol (Emulsifier), Sorbitol (Humectant), Glyceryl Stearate (Emulsifier), Orbignya oleifera (Babassu Oil) (Emollient), Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer (Stabiliser/Viscosity Modifier), Xanthan Gum (Viscosity Modifier), Disodium Phosphate (pH Buffer) 

Also; the “sister-cleanser” or whatever(how would I know their exact relation?!), I wouldn’t try. Even if SLES isn’t the 2. or 3. ingredients, I don’t understand why they would add it to a “calming cleanser” in the first place. Then again, it foams, so I guess we have our answer right there.

Photo credit: http://www.thebodyshop.com/_en/_ww/catalog/product.aspx?ParentCatCode=C_SkinCare&CatCode=C_SkinCare_Cleansers&prdcode=22609m

You will never win if you never begin ~ Helen Rowland

The very first post. The beginning. According to my cronically frustrated teachers, it’s one of the most important things to get right.

Yet here I am, unable to make this a big circus. Then again, I’m not one to feel guilt over such trivial matters.
I tried to think of a brilliant beginning, I really did. Then I tried to come up with an original one. Then I aimed for alright. Then I got the feeling I would never come up with a satisfying beginning. Being a beginner at the beginning, I decided it was important to just start. Brilliant or not, a beginning is vital to the rest of the story.
Therefore, I will simply use this first post show you one of my favourite skirts. Now, if this isn’t a grand opening worthy, you tell me what is!

Unfortunately, I don’t have pictures from the materialization of the skirt. However, it was an easy affair. Just pleat a long piece of fabric, hem it, and attatch it to a waitband before you add a zipper. Think the whole episoded lasted an hour or so.

What I really like about this, apart from the fact that it is comfortable and a nice shape, is the interesting fabric. The subtle pattern is a great touch, making a classic, neutral piece a little more special.

And there we go, my first post!