Thrifty Transformation | Dress Alteration

Hello everyone,

Recently I've been getting into sewing a lot more. My mum has always sewn and I've dabbled in the past, but I've discovered that I love to take items and change them up. My first project a few months ago was to take a floral dress which was too short, cut the top part off and sew it onto a maxi skirt I had to create a maxi dress, and I loved doing it. So, yesterday I tackled a new project.

A while ago I bought a vintage dress in the charity shop. It was a few sizes too big and definitely looked outdated and not my style, and I'd been wanting to do something with it for a while because I loved the fabric. Yesterday, I finally got a burst of determination and decided to take on the project and I am so happy with the results.

Before

After

It took me a couple of hours to get this result, but how I did it was fairly simple. My first step was to remove the sleeves and refinish the armholes and as soon as I did that, it made a huge difference. The next step was to get it to actually fit me. My mum helped me out by telling me the best way to take the dress in and then I got to sewing.

The armholes were huge on me, so it needed so drastic alteration and so I started by taking it in along the front and back seams. As I was doing this, a waistline started to appear and the more I worked, the more it tailored to me. Each time I took in a seam, I'd try it on again and see where I had to adjust.

After I'd taken in the two front seams and two back seams. I took it in at each side seam, tapering off at the waist so that I wouldn't lose the belt loops. It was still too big, so I took it in at the shoulder seams and then each side seam again by about an inch each. Once that was done, I tried it on again and this time it fit! I was so happy and I love the end result. 

Originally I'd been planning on removing the collar and changing the buttons as I thought they made the dress look too old-fashioned for my taste. But, after taking it in and removing the sleeves, I found I loved the look with these items. So, I left them where they were and I now love the dress.

I'm excited to try more alterations soon.

  

My Favorite Nail Polishes

Hi all,

I love nail polish. I'm not a nail art expert, although I would like to learn. I do, however, love to change up the color of my nails. So, today I thought I'd share some of my favorites.

1. Bahama Mama by Essie
2. Time for Me Time by Essie
3. Carmela by Maggie Anne
4. London Snog by Trust Fund Beauty
5. New York Noir by Kate Spade (Nails inc London)
6. Riding Hood by Tanya Burr
7. Menthe by Soigne 

Let me know what your favorites nail colors are in the comments, and please share and subscribe if you liked this post.

Until next time, 

H.

Birchbox | January Unboxing

Hi all,

I recently signed up for a year's subscription to birchbox and I wanted to do an unboxing for you all. This is the January 2018 box. I was immediately excited about this one, because of the box design itself. I've recently become obsessed with flamingos. My iPad cover has flamingos on it, my weekly planner has flamingos and they make more than one appearance in my bedroom. So, very excited.

Here's what I got.

Full-Size Lord & Berry Blusher Crayon in Camelia

Amika Perk Up Dry Shampoo

Paul & Joe Beauty Moisturizing Foundation Primer S in 01 Dagree

Marcelle Waterproof Eyeliner in Charcoal

 

Afterspa Amazing Makeup Remover

 

OHH DEER Stickers

My Week in Music | January 5th-11th

Hi all,

I'm back with another my week in music post. I'm going with a slightly different format this week, so I hope you like it.

This week, I've definitely been listening to a few key artists. I've been loving O'Brother and Amber Run. Today I listened to Camila Cabello's album for the first time and while it's not the usual kind of music I'd gravitate towards, I enjoyed listening and it was a great album to just dance around. I had great fun today making my lunch while moving around to it and there are some really great songs on there. A particular favorite from the album is Something's Gotta Give.

Besides those artists, I've been discovering a lot of new music. 19% of my listening for the week was made up of new artists.

So, that's what I've been listening to this week. Let me know what track you've had on repeat in the comments, and please share and subscribe if you like this post.

Until next time,

H.

2018 Most Anticipated TV Shows

Hi all,

As you may or may not know. I like TV shows. Given the choice between watching several episodes of something or watching a movie, I'll pick the show and I'm always on the lookout for something new, so here are some shows hitting the screens in 2018 that I'm going to be checking out.
Some (a lot) of these are American shows, so I'm not sure when/where I'll get to watch these in the UK, but as a subscriber to three different streaming services, I'm hopeful I'll be able to watch all of them.

• Luke Cage - Season Two
• Lost in Space
• The Good Place - Season Two B
• Daredevil - Season Three
• Safe
• Jessica Jones - Season Two
• Riverdale - Season Two B
• A.P. Bio
• The Chi
• Good Girls
• The Resident
• Rise
• War of the Worlds
• 9-1-1
• American Idol
• Unnamed Grey's Anatomy Spin-off
• You

Those are the shows that I've found out about so far, but I'm sure there are probably more shows coming soon that I'll want to check out.

What's on your watchlist for 2018? Let me know in the comments and please share and subscribe if you liked this post.

Until next time,

H.

New Beauty Products

Hi all,

Recently I went out and got myself some new products to try out. I love trying out new beauty products, so these are the ones that I've purchased recently. 

I'll be trying them out throughout January and giving a review on them at the end of the month, so be sure to check back for that.

1. Nature Love: Detoxifying Body Lotion - Charcoal + Argan Oil (T.K.Maxx) - £5
2. No.7 Beautiful Skin Hot Cloth Cleanser (Boots) - £5
3. No.7 Beautiful Skin Cleaning Brush (Boots) - £16
4. L'Oreal Paris Waterproof False Lash Xfiber Xtreme Resist Mascara (Boots) - £10.99
5. L'Oreal Paris Lip Paint/ Laquer - Dracula's Blood (Boots) - £6.99

My Week in Music

Hi all,

I love stats. Seeing my data pulled together in handy little info-graphics is always fun for me, so I decided to share my music listening stats for the week. All of this data and the images were taken from my Last.fm profile.

These stats are from December 29th - December 4th (Because weirdly the week runs Friday-Thursday).

 

Favourites

Track: Deconstruct by O'Brother

Artist: O'Brother