It's been an age since I've done a crafty post that isn't wedding related! Whilst back in the UK I decided to brave the sewing machine with the help of my mother and try to restructure a shirt into a dress. As a novice sewer with a very basic understanding of a machine, I thought this would be fun way of re-inventing something old into a new garment with some basic sewing skills.
The shirt in question I picked up was a mens XL shirt from the charity shop at £2. The great thing was if I cocked it up I'd only spent a couple of quid so no biggy. I fancied something nautical but with some spare material in mum's box of treasures and the help of my lovely mothership to guide me we created this...
Shirt- charity shop
Straps material- local craft shop
Bandeau- Dorothy Perkins
Espadrilles- eBay
As I am a novice sewer the restructuring was pretty simple, cutting off the sleeves and across the top of the shirt to loose the collar. I then sewed the raw edges over and sewed up the front so it wouldn't gape open around the buttons and added on some sleeves! Mum also helped to add some little tucks in at the front and back to give it a better shape as it falls. Simples! As I say I was looking for a nautical theme but it materialised into more of an America theme with the white stars on the red straps and I love it. It's more of a pinafore dress so I added a plain bandeau underneath. I think it's a great little chuck on dress for the beach or a festival and I'm thinking of wearing this at Secret Garden Party with some crazy sunglasses and a statement lip. Oh and glitter ofcourse!
Have you restructured a shirt or other garments? Let me know!
Outfit posts are by far my favourite posts to do and I'm really feeling the boho vibes recently as you may have noticed.
Dress- Topshop
Kaftan- Primark
Sandals- flea market
Belt- Primark
Bindi hair jewellery- and old necklace revamped!
Bracelets- H&M, flea markets etc..
Ring- Shop Dixi
I know I've put too many photos in but, can you really ever have too many photos? Really ought to try smiling a bit more though! I also must show my mama how I've styled this Primark kaftan as she hated it when I bought it. Her exact words were "it reminds me of old hippies". Now maybe old hippies aren't so bad? I think it looks great over a LBT and gives a relaxed bohemian feel. Have the urge to swish around whenever I try this on, must be the tassels? I had to add tasselled sandals to tie in with the theme and the bindi style hair piece is actually an old necklace of my Mum's! I've always thought it'd look cool as a hair piece. Will probably end up wearing the kaftan to festivals this year, it'd be a crime not to really!
This week Chris is away in the UK so I'm on my tod for the first time since we moved to Cyprus so what better to do on the weekend? Be lazy and enjoy the sun!
Sometimes it's nice to just kick back and enjoy being at home, especially with my gorgeous pets Harry & Zara (royal names not intended) to keep me company. I'm really into reading at the moment and loving Dawn French novels. She's such a fantastic writer, I love her style and she has me in fits of laughter as well as tears! I'm also loving that the temperature has risen here so our pool is ready to use and isn't too cold! I've even added in mini ducks to the pool ^_^. So yeah that's what I've been up to this weekend, a super lazy chilled one. I think people have such fast paced lifestyles nowadays, particularly in the UK and we all need to appreciate some me time and relaxation.
Argan oil has cropped up into many beauty regimes in the past few years. It's great for hair and skin, leaving it nourished and wonderful so for that reason I decided to sample the Argan Dew Miraculous Argan Oil and Replenishing Hair Mask. I received an abundance of samples from Argan Dew and put them to the test!
First off I tried the Replenishing Hair Mask and followed the instructions to leave for 5 minutes before washing out. The mask was a rich thick consistency, with plenty to use from the sample and it smells so good! I noticed a definite improvement afterwards, my hair being more manageable and easy to comb through. It also felt softer and more nourished which is an improvement on my dry locks!
I then used the Miraculous Argan Oil on my hair after washing whilst it was still wet. The oil was a thick and rich consistency which initially made me think it could be too heavy for my hair and leave it looking greasy and overloaded but I was wrong. My hair pretty much drank the oil and felt silky smooth and like it had just been cut! Again there was a large quantity of the product in the samples which I was impressed with and it left the texture of my hair considerably smoother and soft.
All in all I think these products are great. I'm usually a worshipper of the L'oreal extraordinary oil but I actually think these may be better? They are pricier but a little bit goes a long way and it's definitely helped to tame and nourish my dry fluffy hair. They have a full range of products on their website http://www.argandew.com/ from shampoos to treatments and oils and ship world wide!
Hello hello hello. I do apologise for the lack of sync between this blog post and my youtube video however the internet at my Mum's house in the UK is SHOCKING. It magically took 16 hours to upload the video and then couldn't cope with me uploading pictures to this blog post. Weak!
I am really loving the variety in Primark this summer and also the prices! I got a lot for my money and they're all pefect pieces for the super hot weather in Cyprus. Thought I'd try displaying the clothes in a different way in this blog post but it was windy so not sure I'll bother doing this next time! Ill just model them..
I picked up these two dresses at just £5 each! An absolute steal and so versatile too. They're great to chuck on over a bikini for beach days or pop a ice pair of sandals on and a cardi or denim jacket for a more put together style. I love the prints, they're cheerful and the material is super light weight- great for hot weather.
This maxi is a little £10 beauty. I actually travelled home in this as its cotton jersey and so comfy as well as being suited for cooler days in the UK and a light weight cover up for hot days in Cyprus. The tie dye pattern and colours give it a bit of a grungy feel and looks great with statement chunky jewellery. Again this can be paired down with a simple pair of espadrilles or converse and a cardi (as I wore it to the airport) or dressed up with some pretty sandals and jewellery. This was actually in the beach section of Primark so I'm thinking its meant mainly for beach wear but hey!
I flipping love this thing! Again in the beach wear section at £15 however I see myself wearing this in more of a festival setting with my high waisted Levi shorts and wellies, maybe even the typical festival floral crown too. I love the fringing and have some boots with fringing which will go perfectly. It'd even look fab with a simple black skater dress just and add some style to it. I bloody love it!!
Sports wear? In Primark? Oh yes, that's right and guess what? It's so comfy! The bottoms were £7 and fit like a dream, much more comfy than some of my branded sorts wear and that great sweat absorbing (eew) material which means you won't overheat so much. I'm not sure if the top is a crop top or a sorts bra but Ill be wearing it as the latter to keep me in place when I'm exercising. NO ONE needs to see boobage out of control and at £3 you can't go wrong!
I am loving these shorts as they're silky and light weight and £5! The cut and the fit mean they appear more as a skirt/ culottes, ye know those old school brownies uniform things? Those bad boys. But anyway seeing as they're shorts they'l be great for windy days and still look ultra feminine. I love the pattern too. The top is pretty self explanatory. £3 or £4 and is a simple graphic vest to wear with many summer things.
Lastly onto jewellery. I'm loving the cooler tones of silver this year. All of these bits work well together and even the eye shadow palette too! I must adimt I got these as a hen do gift for winning a game on my hen do (whoop!) so I cant tell you the prices but either way they're pretty and lovely and yes.
So thats my summer haul! What have you been loving from Primark recently? I'm certain I'll do some outfit posts with these lovely bits in the coming weeks. Don't forget to check out the video below!