TWIST + WRAP TRIBAL PRINT DRESS

Today I've been preparing to go and look at a few fashion colleges in Sydney. That's right, obviously three years at university weren't enough and I want more study. Honestly, I think I'm crazy. Before I headed out though I wanted to try a really cute look that I found over at A Pair and a Spare. You can find her proper tutorial here, I have just done the end wrap part a bit differently. Basically, you cut off the bottom of a long skirt, hem the mini skirt, and with the bottom part you've cut off, cut it open so it's a long piece of fabric and then wrap and twist it around your bust starting at the back. I did mine a bit differently to what Geneva did and instead of tucking the ends into the waistband at the back, I crossed them at the back and then pulled them over my shoulders and pinned them under the bust to look like a bustier style. Simple! The fabric of my skirt was a weird stretchy one, which is why in the back picture it looks like it's sagging a little (it was hard to keep it pulled tight). I think I'll be doing this to a few of my long skirts that never get worn anymore. I think I even like the top just on its own. Thoughts?

See how the back sags a bit? Still, the cross back looks cool, what do you think?

KILLEN FALLS

Wearing Zimmermann bikini

Sometimes it's nice to forget about the things that get us down in life and experience the true beauty of nature. This small series was shot by my boyfriend when we went for a swim at a place called Killen Falls while we were visiting Byron Bay. I researched a few waterfalls and this was one of the only ones that you could swim in. It was a bit of a treacherous walk off the beaten track but was so worth it once there, as you can tell from my frolicking pictures.

DIY FRIENDSHIP BRACELET

It seems that I have fallen off the face of the earth recently. I blame the holidays. Really, I was up at Byron Bay, had little reception where I was staying and so posting was difficult. I wanted to do one DIY post that could be done while holidaying and I decided that road trip time-passer would be really cool. Books, magazines, music, crosswords... So many fun things to do on the way. I decided to make a friendship bracelet on said road trip. It's easy and is an lovely addition to any arm-party. You'll need to prepare beforehand, so buy all of your bits and bobs prior to leaving.


You'll need:
- Several colours of embroidery thread
- Safety pins
- Pillow
- Scissors

How to:
1. This tutorial is for a Chevron pattern friendship bracelet. Cut your threads prior to leaving, then you won't need a measuring tape and your arm won't be in the face of the driver! Cut several of your colours to about 75 cm. I've used 6 colours, but you need two sets of each colour. Combine your threads and tie a knot at one end, leaving about 6 cm of slack.

2. Pin your knot to your cushion on your lap. Separate the two sets of colours in half making sure to arrange the colours in a mirrored pattern, so the outside colours are the same and so on towards the centre.

3. Starting on the left side with the outermost colour (purple in our picture) make a forward knot in the shape of a 4 over the second colour, loop it under and back through the opening. Then pull the thread you just looped up towards the right to tighten it. Repeat this knot twice over each colour. Keep repeating this until the outermost colour has reached the centre.
4. Now do the same on the right hand side with purple, and make a backwards knot, which is done using the same process except mirrored (make a backwards 4). Thread through until it reaches the centre. Then repeat step 3 and 4 with the next colour. Be sure that you're repeating the knot twice each time.

5. When you have about 6 cm left to go knot the end of the bracelet and then braid each end and knot once more. Done!

There are other patterns to make as well. For a straightforward striped bracelet, just cut one set of colors and knot the outermost color all the way through to the right side. For an asymmetrical chevron, mix up the colors when dividing them into 2 sets just make sure you count the number of strands as you knot so you know when to stop in the middle each time. Cute right? Would love to see if anyone else has tried this and any other variations.

BYRON BAY

For the past few days I've been soaking up the hot sun at Byron Bay. The boy and I were staying at this beautiful 300 acre farm stay property about 5 minutes out of Byron (with very bad reception as well) and I often forgot that's where we were. It was an amazing and peaceful place with rolling green hills, private lake, views, cows, goats and tranquility.

I couldn't pass up the chance to get a sneaky outfit post in while I was carefully strolling barefoot along the property.

Wearing: Shakuhachi lace jumpsuit, thrifted gold watch, friendship bracelets (tutorial coming in a few days)

DIY ZIMMERMANN [INSPIRED] MINI MAXI SKIRT

I started this project on the 12th of December and I was really optimistic and completely underestimated the task I was setting myself. I won't lie - I got up to the last step and had to put it down and walk away for an hour or so out of sheer frustration. An hour turned into 3 weeks. Alas, I have finally finished. I found this skirt at a charity store and I bought it for my trip to India. Not wanting to be one to succumb to the typical Jodhpur pants trend, yet not wanting to offend locals and wear mini skirts I decided to travel with a little style and loads of comfort and opted for maxi skirts and loose fitted cotton tops. I found this skirt for something like $8 and I loved the retro 70's style floral print. However it wasn't very well made to begin with as I was constantly hitching it up and tying knots in it while travelling due to it not fitting me properly and the elasticised waist band being nearly worn out.

So, inspired by a Zimmermann maxi skirt (pictured below) from their Halcyon Days SS 11/12 RTW collection, I decided to overhaul my skirt to emulate the style. This is probably the biggest makeover project I have ever taken on. My thoughts were that the skirt was pretty average anyway and anything that I did to it couldn't have been much worse. I just took my time and thought of the best way to tackle such an ambitious task. (Sorry for the lack of process photos I lost some of them along the way, so have given as detailed instructions as possible).

- One little side note, I was lucky enough to work doing backstage photography at a lot of designer shows during fashion week back in May and Zimmermann was the first show I went to. When I first saw this skirt I fell head over heels and it was a great way to start the week!

You'll need:
- Long floral maxi skirt OR floral fabric if you're making from scratch
- Sewing machine/needle and thread
- Pins
- Scissors
- White ribbon
- Invisible zipper (that matches the background colour of your skirt (mine was black)


How to:
1. I cut off the elasticised waistline. Then I grabbed my favourite bodycon skirt and took its measurements as it is a similar length to what I wanted the top fitted mini part of the skirt to look like. I measured the length (and added 2cm for hemming) and cut the skirt to this length (careful not to ruin the bottom section as I needed this later).

The original skirt; After cutting off the waistband and the bottom half.

2. Leaving the bottom half to the side for now, I then hemmed the top waistline section of the skirt, about 1cm thick.
3. I then had to work out how much to cut off so that the skirt fit me properly. I wanted the skirt to be high-waisted so took the measurements across my high-waisted bodycon skirt. The fabric of the floral skirt was not stretchy and I was afraid I wouldn't leave enough room for my hips so I really took my time on this part. Remember, it's better to cut less than too much!
4. Once I figured out the measurements of my waist and the hips I made the skirt the same width from hip to knee (see in the photo of the Zimmermann skirt how it seems to be quite a straight cut from the hips down).
5. Sew in an invisible zipper to one side.
6. I made sure it was all good and fitted everywhere. If you're attempting this project, make sure that the fitted part sits flush everywhere. If any parts need to be taken in even more then now is the time to do it. I then sewed another hem at the bottom (I decided against attempting the triangular hem).
7. Now back to the bottom half that I cut off earlier. This part is going to be the floaty section. I cut the bottom of the skirt into four even sections lengthways and then hemmed each one.
8. I pinned each section onto the inside of the skirt, about 10cm from the bottom and then sewed them all down.
9. Sewing the white ribbon on to give the structured look was the most fiddly and time consuming process. I feel like it paid off though.

Conveying a sense of movement with the floaty sections - apologies for lack of styling!

DIY [SASS & BIDE] DRAPED FABRIC DRESS

New Years Eve is fast approaching and I have nothing to wear. Well, not nothing per se, but most girls know what I mean when I say that. I was wondering what I could do about my outfit since my plans are still not yet decided and Sydney isn't seeming so desirable this New Years with drinking bans in certain areas and loads of pubs closing early. I was browsing the internet when I came across a dress on the Sass and Bide website that I saw a few months ago that got my DIY juices pumping and decided that it would be my next project and my NYE outfit.

I love the simplicity of this dress from the Sass & Bide 'Seekerstate' collection. I love its sweeping, ethereal and modern look and the way the dress has been styled in the second picture with the fabric bunched closely together and I think that is how I will end up styling my piece.

At the fabric store I wanted to find a nice, sheer, sweeping neon material like the kind used on the dress. I couldn't find anything neon but would you believe what I found instead? A pink and purple ombre chiffon fabric on special for $11.50 per metre? In case you haven't been following my ombre endeavours of late I recently did a how-to on ombre denim here and a few days ago I did a balayage/ombre experiment on my hair, which you can find here. Clearly ombre is a theme for me at the moment, and I had a little chuckle when I saw the fabric at the store while thinking 'what are the odds?'. So in keeping with my ombre obsession I thought it might be a nice interpretation of the Sass and Bide dress, which any of you can easily throw together as well. Follow me...

You'll need:
- 2 metres sheer draping fabric - mine is polyester but silk would also be nice
- Pins
- Sewing machine/needle and thread
- Scissors
- A white dress with a higher neckline would work better than low-cuts

How to:
1. Hem both selvedges (edge of a fabric that is woven tightly so that it will not fray) of your fabric by folding it once, ironing and folding again, ironing and stitching with your needle and thread or sewing machine.

2. Pin both sewn selvedges to the top of the collar line and do your gathering from this section so you can see how much needs to be gathered as you're doing it.

Run a needle and knotted thread across from one side to the other, doing stitches about 2-3cm apart. When you reach the end rehang your dress on a hanger and gather by pulling the end of the thread through. When you think the fabric has been gathered enough tie a knot in the thread and then unpin fabric.

Needle and thread through from one side to the other; gather by pulling.

3. Lay the dress flat on a table (normal side out) and then lay your fabric with the wrong side facing up and place it upside down with the gathers at the bottom (like picture). Lay the corners of the gathered fabric around the neckline and pin it down. Make sure that if you have used a thread that is visible that you pin ABOVE it so that when you flip the fabric after stitching it down it won't be seen. Flip the fabric and check it to see how it looks (picture 3). Stitch as close to the hem of the collar so that the fabric looks like it is sewn from the very top.

Step 3

4. Flip your fabric over and make sure to sew up any loose little sections that may be hanging out and to also cut any visible extra fabric from the part underneath.
5. Finally hem the bottom of the fabric either by hand or sewing machine.

Done! You'll need to fiddle around with how it sits when you place a belt on. So that's my NYE outfit sorted now. Word for the wise: anyone who is wanting to try this I feel it's necessary to say that this project took a few hours as it was fiddly. But the end result was worth it. I'll be doing a proper outfit post of my look tomorrow.

DIY BALAYAGE OMBRE HAIR HIGHLIGHTS

Have you a few hours to spare? Like 2-3 hours, I mean? Low maintenance hair is what I'm all about, which may sound strange coming from someone who has bright red hair. This look has been around for ages but it's still really on trend. I have been trying to distinguish the difference between the terms balayage and ombre and I think I have it figured: balayage is a free form hand-painted highlighting technique for hair done with a brush (I suppose this is compared to using foils) and is used to achieve an ombre look, which is French for shaded/shading and is basically a gradual lightening of the hair from the roots. The Ombre is usually done from the chin downwards and can be done with dramatic or very natural effects.

There are a few blogs that have shown how to do it, so I thought I'd give it a go considering my hair is dyed bright red. Would it work? Would it fail? I wasn't sure, but I thought the ombre effect could be really cool and different with red.

If you're trying this and your hair has no dye on it then bleach should take quite well and developing times may differ to the ones I used, in which case there are other blog posts on this topic which you can find on google. I use red hair dye and if you do have any other colour on your hair then I would suggest doing some research before trying it to see how to get bleach to take to your hair and if any stripping is needed. It might be more hassle and may be best left to your hair dresser.

You'll need:
- A bleaching/highlighting kit. Using a blonde hair colour simply won't work, you need to buy bleach kits. I bought L'oreal Perfect Blonde highlighting kit for about $20
- Towel (optional)

How to:
1. Mix together the contents of the packet according to the instructions. Grab a small section of your hair (underneath section) and do a strand test. This is optional but recommended especially if you're dying over another hair colour. I did my first strand test for 15 minutes and when washed away there was no change at all. With the second strand test I grabbed a different section from underneath and left the dye on for 40-45 mins and this result was much better (pictured).

Results from second strand test

2. Split hair in two down the back and tie. Decide where you want the ombre colour to start fading in. I chose to have mine just below the chin. I then spread the the blonde dye over my hair from the chin down, as I needed to lighten/strip the hair before doing the ombre technique. I left it for 30-35 minutes, washed it off then blow dried it.

Lightening process for 30 mins - applied from chin to ends all at once

After the lightening process - the blonde streak is from the strand test. I was careful not to put too much bleach on it during the next steps for an even result

3. Now for the ombre effect. I applied colour in 3 sections starting from the bottom and working up. I applied dye to the bottom 7-10cm of my hair and left it for 20-25 minutes. Leaving that, I then applied another part of blonde to the next 5-10cm of the hair and left it for 15 minutes. I then added the final amounts of dye to the last 5ish cm of the hair closest to my chin and left it for 10 minutes. I also spread the dye a little unevenly around the top 'root' part to avoid a definitive line from appearing and to help the blonde blend subtly. So the bottom part of the hair had dye on for a total of around 40 minutes, the middle part for about 20-25 minutes and the top, lightest, part for 10-15 (max) minutes.

4. Wash your hair out completely and use any additional shampoo or conditioners that come with the hair dyes and blow dry.

Ombre. Say it with me now - ohm-bray. Pretty cool. I'm really happy with the result and it wasn't difficult at all, just took a fair amount of time. Not sure how long I'll keep it but it has definitely given my red look a breath of fresh air. Hope you all like it.

Note: If you can, maybe get someone to help you. If you're doing it by yourself it's hard to get the back properly when its parted to the sides. I missed a bit at the back so might get someone to help me when I do it again in a week or two.On the other hand, I guess it does look more naturally faded. I like it, either way.

If you have questions about how to do ombre please contact me and I can try to give as much information about it as I know.