Repurposed Jeans: Braided Headband

After my DIY Colored Jeans post, I still had five or six pairs of old jeans that were in need of some love. Unfortunately, not a single pair still fit. I managed to squeeze into them; they just cut off all circulation below my hips while simultaneously causing an “I need to pee now” sensation. But instead of giving them away, I decided to repurpose them, and so this little series was born.

This Week’s Project: First up is this DIY Braided Headband. I love headbands because I am still in the process of growing out my bangs, and headbands make it much easier to keep them in their place.

Additional supplies: Sewing Machine, thread, elastic, and an iron.

How To:

1. Measure your head (around where a headband would go.) Then measure just the length between the backs of your ears.

2. Multiply the length between the backs of your ears by 1.25. Cut three two-inch-wide strips of jean in that length. (For example, the length between my ears was 16. [16 x 1.25 = 20] I cut three 20-inches-long, 2-inches-wide strips, one from three separate pairs of jeans so I’d have three different shaded strips)

3. Fold one strip in half width wise, then iron in the crease. Open it and fold the edges into the center and fold it in half again, and iron it down. It should be 1/4 of the original width, with no rough edges similar to binding. Sew a line down the center of the strip. Repeat for all strips.

4. Pin the ends of one side of all three strips together. Braid the strips. Pin the other ends together.

5. Sew the ends of the braid together. I went back and forth over the line I sewed, several times. The finished braid should be very close to your behind the ears measurement.

6. Subtract your behind your ears measurement, from your total head measurement. Divide the result in half. This is your elastic’s length.(Mine was 22 inches (full head) minus 16 inches (behind ears) equals 6, divided by 2 equals 3.)

7. Cut your elastic. Sew each end of the elastic into the inside of each end of the braid. Make sure it fits, and adjust if necessary. Enjoy your new headband!

The First Dress

One of my goals for long time has been to learn to sew. My nonna is seamstress, so I tried to learn from her a few times, but she usually ended up doing everything for me. Last summer my aunt let me peruse two giant boxes of vintage patterns from my grandmother’s collection.  My nonna didn’t want me taking all of them, so I only kept 10 patterns, which was okay, because they sat in a bag in my basement for 8 or 9 months anyway.

Two weeks ago, I went to the fabric store with Jon’s mom, Deb, and took the first steps towards making my own dress. When I set out to do this project, I had certain ideas in my head about how the process would work. It was very different from my expectations.

With Deb’s guidance and assistance, I started to learn to sew. There were parts of making the dress that I loved, and then there were parts I despised. I hated cutting out the pattern and the fabric. I am not great with scissors, which prompted Deb to ask if I’d gone to Kindergarten. I did but I apparently failed at cutting.  Surprisingly one of my favorite parts was hand-sewing hidden stitches into the neckline, even if I refused to hand-sew the arm hem or the bottom hem, instead opting to let the stitches show and use the machine.

All in all, making the dress was an awesome experience. It was nice to get to spend time with Jon’s mom and learn a lot about sewing and garment construction in the process (Thanks Deb!). And I got such a lovely dress out of the time we spent together as well, (even if I now need to purchase a white belt to match). I still have a lot  to learn, and I’m not running out to buy myself my own sewing machine tomorrow, but I’m really excited to continue to explore this new craft. I just need to decide what my next project will be.

7 Ways to Wear Colored Jeans

Colored jeans are everywhere right now, but they can be really intimidating. At first, I was not into the idea of colored jeans, because I had no idea exactly what was I going to wear with them. But I’ve been converted, and I’ve been wearing my four pairs as much as possible. Since colored denim is my favorite trend for spring and summer, I’ve compiled the seven basic ways I style colored jeans in hopes that this post will help someone step out of their comfort zone to give colored jeans a try.

1.  The simplest way to style colored jeans is with a neutral colored top. Black, white, navy, off-white, brown, and gray are all basic neutrals that will match any color jean you choose.  You can pair the jeans with a necklace in the same color or a complementary color.

2. Chambray and Jean tops are adorable, but rather than wearing them with jeans a la Canadian Tuxedo, pair a jean or chambray shirt with your colored jeans.

3. Find a top that has an accent color that is the same color as your jeans. While it might seem like the colors have to be an exact match, they don’t. As long as they’re pretty close, it will work. As you might tell from the three examples above, this is my favorite way to wear colored denim.

 

4. Although this might scare some colorphobes, wear your color jeans with a shirt whose dominant color is a complementary color. Unsure of what colors are complements, they are technically the ones that are opposites on the color wheel. But really, any two colors that look nice together will work.

 

 

5. Wear your colored jeans with a black and white top. I absolutely adore the way a black and white top looks paired with a bright jean! You can also do this with other paired neutral shirts, like a navy/white striped shirt or an off-white and brown polka dot shirt.

6. Wear your jeans with a shirt with the same color as the dominant color. By dominant color I mean the color that pops when you look at the shirt. I love the way the pink jeans make the pink in the shirt really pop.

7. Wear your jeans with a shirt with a complementary accent color. (This is one of those magic tops, that has a perfect balance of color so the pink can be either a dominant color or an accent color. I probably should use a better example, but my photographer quit. Thanks and Sorry Mom.)

Three things I learned about Color Pairings:

- While pink pants with a purple shirt, looked great when I was five, it’s not as appealing now.

- Red pants with a yellow top made me look and feel like Ronald MacDonald.

- Wearing colored pants with a shirt the exact same color, and nothing to break it up, made me look like a crayon.

I am not going to go through all of these pictures and write down where I got everything, but in case you’re wondering about the jeans; the green ones are from Urban Outfitters (and they have a ton of colors, if I was rich, I’d have one of each, these are the most comfortable jeans ever.) the red are from Zara, the pink are from Old Navy, and the yellow are from Anthropologie. 

How do you feel about colored denim? Did this help decode colored jeans a bit? and what’s your favorite trend for spring or summer?

The Magic Skirt

Fashion magazines, tell me that shorter skirts are the best option for my five foot and three-quarters of an inch frame, that longer dresses and skirts will overwhelm me.  In the past, I’ve followed that rule, and rarely, if ever worn a long skirt or dress. However when I saw this skirt, I had to have it. I have an obsession with polka dots and the color was lovely but different so I bought it.

I wore it for the first time last week and I fell even more in love with it. I don’t think that it’s the most flattering style for my body type, but I felt so not-frumpy in it; I think I stood a little taller. In some weird way, stepping a little bit out my fashion comfort zone, boosted my confidence. I know I look miserable in these photos, but I wasn’t; I just haven’t gotten over the awkwardness of photographing myself yet. This skirt is magic and I can’t wait to wear it all summer long and maybe add a few more long skirts and dresses to my already-full closet.

What are you looking forward to wearing this summer?

Happy Tuesday!

P.S. Those sunglasses still make me happy whenever I wear them. However the red mark left on my nose when I remove them, does not. Does anyone know how to make it so that doesn’t happen?

Sweet Potato Hummus & Knit Hats

On Monday, when I got home from work, instead of making this crumble, I made this sweet potato hummus. Let me tell you, it was delicious. I immediately put some in a tupper ware to bring to a friend at work, and some more in another tupper ware to bring to Jon’s mom. I don’t think I ever want to try another hummus ever again, because this one is just perfection. My only suggestion is to over-estimate the amount of sweet potato you need. It’s better with more. Also since you roast the sweet potatoes anyway, roast the garlic too.

In other news, here are two of the hats I’ve knitted thus far.

The grey is the second one I’ve done, and the green is the third. The grey is way too big and the green is just slightly too short. I’m really excited about learning to knit and discovering knitting in the round. It was intimidating at first, but it’s so, so, simple and I love it. I have been making up the patterns as I go, which is why the sizing hasn’t been perfect. I’m definitely okay with learning via trial and error; experience is the best teacher.  If anybody knits, and wants to know my patterns for these hats, let me know and I’ll write-up a post. Anyway, I’m off to try a head wrap, ear warmer thing next…oh and help cook for tomorrow.

<3 Frankie

4th Fashion Roundup/ Outfit 5

I decided that I did not particularly enjoy any of my “4th Fashion posts.” Mostly because not one of my photographers (mom,aunt, boyfriend) grasped the concept of outfit photos and my android camera phone does not take particularly good ‘people’ pictures. It’s better with object/landscape photos. However I did enjoy my outfits. I love red/white/blue color combination. It’s one of my favorites, along with grey and mustard, black and white, and recently cream and white. Instead of doing a full outfit post for the last outfit I wore, I thought I’d just do a roundup and include the last outfit.

Without further adieu, here are the 5 Fourth of July Outfits I wore this weekend: (5 seems like a lot but if I had wanted to, I definitely could’ve done 10!)

I think my favorite is the one in the bottom left picture. It was overly obvious that it was 4th inspired, but I really enjoy that shirt. It was also more comfortable than all the others, except perhaps the shorts. Which was your favorite?

<3 Frank

4th Fashion Outfit 4

This is barely an outfit post, but I wanted to show you what Jon claimed as his favorite. When we got home from the Grounds for Sculpture, I was ridiculously hot so I changed into shorts and a tank top. Then I went into the garden and picked the first zucchini of the summer. I was overly excited so I made Jon take some pictures.

The weird thing about this shirt (from Macy’s 2004) is the belt band thing, that you tie in the back. Every time I tie it in the back the front gets weird, so I tie it in the front now. I wanted to cut the belt thing off, but my mom said she liked it so I left it. The shorts (also from Macy’s 2005) are eyelet and really cute- they didn’t fit me when I bought them 7 years ago, but now they finally do! One good consequence of gaining 20 lbs.

My face in these two pictures are hysterical. But how about my zucchini? Pretty spectacular right?

<3 Frank

4th Fashion Outfit 3

Today, Jon and I went to the Grounds for Sculpture in Trenton, NJ. It was a beautiful day and kinda hot. I’ll share more pictures of what we saw and did, but for now, here’s a few outfit shots.

Outfit Details

Striped Leotard Shirt: Macy’s (2010)

Jean Skirt: Anthropologie (2009)

Purse: Fossil (2008)

Red Sunglasses: The Bead in Towson, MD

Earrings: Sipalda from my Mom

Turquoise Necklace: Macy’s (circa 2004)

Striped Straw Hat: H&M (2011)

Espadrilles: Macy’s (circa 2008)

I loved this outfit before I looked at the pictures. After wearing it all day in 85 degree weather, and looking through several not so flattering pictures, it’s not really my favorite.

What do you think?

<3 Frank

4th Fashion Outfit 2

After getting home from work last night, Jon and I went to Dean’s to hang out. I wore outfit number 2 of 4th Fashion. Here is my red, white and blue ensemble.

Tex liked my white sweater.

Shell Clip: Handmade by yours truly

Red, White and Blue Shirt: H&M (circa 2007)

Jean Skirt: Anthropologie (circa 2010 sale rack)

Patent Fake Leather Red Belt: H&M

Do you like outfit 1 or 2 better?

How about my naturally crazy curly hair?

<3 Frank

Fourth Fashion: Outfit One

The fourth of July is my all time favorite holiday. It always has been. I have so many awesome memories associated with the fourth of July; swimming at our neighborhood pool club until the sun went down, watching fireworks in my town with my best friend and then running home through the pouring rain, swinging on playground swings with Jon when we were just barely dating (butterflies in my stomach the whole time), and fireworks along the Charles in Boston with my college friends – having a blast despite terrible weather. Needless to say, I could hardly wait to leave work today. When I got into the car, I was already ecstatic to start my 3-day holiday weekend, and then magic happened- a great song came on the radio (Money by Pink Floyd). What could be better than starting my favorite holiday weekend with one of my favorite songs serendipitously playing on the radio? Well a lot of things, but this ranked pretty high. I am still excited.

To celebrate the fourth of July, I thought I’d share all my red,white, and blue ensembles (yeah, I’m that girl, the one who wears nothing but red,white, and/or blue for as many days as possible leading up to this holiday. I’m not too ashamed.) Earlier this week I even wore an outfit unconsciously that was red, white and blue; fourth of July fashion is that embedded into me.

Today’s outfit isn’t very festive. I decided to ease into the holiday garb. Here’s what I wore.

Blue Shirt: H&M

Grey Jeans: Banana Republic

Striped Sneakers: Urban Outfitter’s

Red Sunglasses: The Bead (Towson, MD)

Red Garnet Earrings: Gift from my Mamma

What do you think about outfit one?

Do you dress in red, white, and blue for the Fourth?

Is your fourth fashion more subtle?

Let me know!

<3 Frank

P.S.: This fourth of July is going to be super awesome, even though I have no plans as of today. Why then will it be so awesome? Well it has what I call a MAGIC date. A magic date is when the month number plus the day number equals the year i.e. 07 +04=11! I love these dates because of their numerical awesomeness and so I deem this fourth of July extra special.