O My Soul

Bell bottoms: handmade/DIY ; Bralette: Spell Designs ; Flannel: Shaun White for Target

A few weeks ago I rode my bike over to Art Scraps, a little store on Saint Clair jammed pack with weird trinkets and things verging on trash. I used to go there all the time when I was very young and much more crafty, but I popped in the other day to bring in some donations, and ended up buying quite a lot of stuff. One of the things I bought was an old lace curtain for $2. It was in good condition (or so it appeared in the store) and I thought it'd be great for sewing either a maxi skirt or bell bottoms - and it was as you can see above!

Lace bell bottoms seem to be really in right now and since I cannot afford a $90 pair from Miracle Eye, much less one of Spell Designs beautiful $200 pairs, I decided to just make my own.

When I brought the curtain home, I realized that it was way dirtier than it looked in the store, and also had a few holes. After some research, I decided on what seemed like a proper way to clean the curtain - I think it had come from a smoking home, as it was pretty smelly and very very yellow. I put baking soda and detergent with OxyClean in a big vat of boiling water and then, intending to let the water cool but completely forgetting, I put the curtain in the still boiling water. I completely fried all of the elastic (as the curtain was extremely stretchy) but I think it ended up making it easier to sew as the lace melded together a little bit. I washed the lace this way two or three times and they're finally a nice creamy color, free of the terrible stains from before. I managed to cut the pattern out around any major holes and oh yeah did I mention that the curtain only cost me TWO DOLLARS?!?!?!

The bell bottoms pattern I used was an old one from the '70s (Butterick, I believe) that I bought for like 25 cents at a garage sale. I didn't have to make many adjustments to the pattern other than taking out the darts & fitted waistband to use elastic instead. The pants were also really weird in that the pattern wanted you to make both of the legs in four pieces each (?!?!?!?!) so I just taped the pattern together into two pieces for each leg. I lined the pants with little silky shorts (which was like $17/yard, unfortunately, but I made by with only a third of a yard). The shorts ended up - surprisingly - being the most difficult thing to sew. I fought with the fabric forever. Sewing the lace was surprisingly easy! I searched a little bit online and in sewing books for tips on sewing lace, but didn't find anything. I ended up using a needle for delicate fabrics and had about 24 stitches per inch (excessive, I know!), hoping not to miss any of the fabric. The seams seem very solid and I'm still amazed at how simple lace was to sew. This project would have only taken me about half an hour if it wasn't for the bastard shorts. That fabric frayed and slipped so badly! But now I have some rad bell bottoms at a fraction of the price of what you can find in stores.

I've kind of talked myself out after such a long-winded explanation of making these bells. In a meeting at work yesterday, I was talking about how I'm not good with using Twitter because nothing I say is short, I'm a very long-winded person, to which my boss smirked in agreement (you should hear the long explanations I bring to him - I have no shame!). I think it's why I do so well with blogging. I'm definitely not one of those person style bloggers who just lists what they're wearing and maybe add a witty blurb or two.

I'm sort of stuck between knowing if these bell bottoms are so totally rad, or if they're pretty horrific and I just want them to be cool because I'm weird. I have this problem a lot. One of my volunteers at work the other day mentioned a photo of me in overalls that he saw on Facebook - I can't remember if he said he liked the overalls or not, but he got this huge mocking grin on his face, obviously indicating how out of date overalls are. I grinned back at him and said, "I wear really ugly things sometimes because they make me feel beautiful." So that is why I am wearing these perhaps very terrible bell bottoms - but they make me feel as rad as ever, so who really cares?

Easy Victory Rolls Tutorial with Broke & Chic

I recently partnered with Broke & Chic to bring you this fab Victory Rolls Tutorial! 

I'm so glad I get to share this with you finally - I think this style is perfect for the upcoming 4th of July! Maybe it's because I'm American, but Victory Rolls just bring about this feeling of intense American pride harkening back to the grand old days of 1940s America in the midst of war, both men & women working tirelessly for the honor of their country. Yeah, a single hairstyle can elicit a lot of feelings in me - probably unsurprisingly to anyone who knows me.

In lieu of further dorking out, make sure you check out the full tutorial here.

p.s. This fun gingham top is courtesy of the wonderful Jayne at BOODWAH!

Rarin' to Go + DIY Collaboration with Cut Out + Keep

Jeans: Cheap Monday ; Cardigan: Alice & Olivia ; Crop top: Soprano ; Necklace: DIY, click here for tutorial
Please note, the end of this post may contain triggers for anyone recovering from an ED.
I'm mega excited that I can finally share this post with you! I took these photos way back in February and have been anxiously waiting to share them on the blog. This post is part of an awesome collaboration that I did with Cut Out + Keep, a site hosting hundreds of fun DIY projects, now including my own how-to for creating a kitschy toy car necklace. It's a super easy DIY recycling those old toy cars that I know we all had during our childhood. Whip up your own kitschy necklace in just a matter of minutes to add a dose of rad to every outfit.

p.s. Click here to read a little interview I did with Cut Out + Keep about my personal style & influences!

I made this necklace to showcase this little car I found in a one-cent box at a garage sale when I was just a tiny, tiny child. It was what began my infatuation with toy cars. I was one of those little girls who played with race cars, Polly Pockets (back when they were teeny tiny & literally could fit in your pocket), lincoln logs, and tinker toys all at once, creating crazy worlds and race tracks out of my collection of garage sale toys. I still have quite a few of my race cars packed away in boxes, so I grabbed this little miniature one - the one that spurred my love of race cars - to make into a necklace. It's a fun statement piece that always creates conversation.

The necklace is sort of a '90s throwback type piece (come on, this is straight out of My So-Called Life), so I decided to wear it with my Cheap Monday acid wash jeans and a crop top. The cardigan was necessary warmth and the messy hair just comes with the package (the package being me).

Also, before ya'll start thinking that I am so wealthy because I'm wearing an Alice + Olivia cardigan, let me tell you that I found it for $5 in Arizona at this awful store called Last Chance. My sister used to work at Nordstrom and became obsessed with finding steals at Nordstrom Rack (that store is too chaotic for my tastes). When I was visiting her in Arizona in February, she kept raving about Last Chance and how we just needed to go because I would love it. So we went. And it was okay. Last Chance is pretty much where all the stuff that isn't bought at the Rack goes to die (or be sold for a low, low price). A lot of the stuff has rips, tears, broken zippers, missing buttons, missing sequins, etc. This sweater has a small hole in the neckline by the tag (I assume because the idiot who bought it decided to just rip the price tag off, instead of cutting it) but it's nothing a few stitches didn't mend. This grey crop top is from Last Chance too, which I think is because it was overstock. There was a whole rack of these for $5 a pop. I barely make $5 an hour at my job you guys, I'm not buying Alice + Olivia at full price - just needed to clear that up before ya'll start thinking I'm a Rockefeller.

Sorry for the photo overload you guys - what can I say I'm obsessed with myself. Actually, in all seriousness, seeing these photos reminded me that I used to have the smallest hint of abs. That's all gone now. I decided to put fat gain before muscle gain and have been packing in 5 meals and 3 snacks a day. I've gained 4 pounds, so it's working! But I want my abs back after seeing these photos. Crop top season is upon us, friends!

Don't forget to read the little interview I did with Cut Out + Keep, and make your own toy car necklace! I wanna see your creations!