Vintage Inspiration: DIY Crocheted Collar

A quick "hi" from maternity blogging hiatus:  Thank you everyone for the kind words and best wishes!   I'm truly touched and appreciative of all of them!  Baby Girl is proving out to be quite the night owl where peak wakefulness is 12am-3am :) but everything is going well.  Before I pop back into hiatus, I wanted to share one of the posts I prepared before her arrival:

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So my mom is pretty much the most awesome person I know.  She sews, knits, crochets, is a fabulous cook, AND helps me take care of the little one when Hubby and I work.  I've been seeing dramatic, embellished collars in the mags lately and when I told Mom about it, she offered to not only crochet me a collar, but also TEACH me how to crochet.  We're waiting until I start maternity leave to really dive in but for now, I can crochet a mean straight line LOL.

The great thing about the collar is that it is interchangeable and can be added to any kind of ensemble.

Collar:  DIY (courtesy of Mom)

Necklace:  F21

Dress:  H&M Maxi Skirt worn as dress

Shoes:  Born Leather Slides (you may have noticed that I'm all for comfy flats now)

A closer view of the collar

What do you think?  There may be future crocheted items making their way to my Etsy store soon :)

Preggy Chronicles Vol. 4: Dressing for Every Trimester

I'm in the home stretch!  I'm full term and pretty much ready to go whenever Baby Girl would like.  I know some of you have been with me since the beginning but I wanted to do one big post on what you can wear for your entire pregnancy with tips for every trimester.

I'll first say that everyone is different.  I started to develop a baby bump VERY early on (partially because I went on a food free-for-all the moment I found out I was pregnant) and needed to hide it (see belly-hiding tips here) from my coworkers until I was ready to announce my news.  After that, I was able to flaunt my bump :)  Despite this baby bumpitude, I was able to primarily wear normal non-maternity wear except maternity pants in the 3rd trimester.  Underneath every picture is a description of what worked for me plus a link to the original post so you can see the outfit details.

1st Trimester:
1.  Loose wovens mask bellies with volume.  Wear skinny bottoms to offset the flowiness.
2.  Dresses that cinch the natural waist and then flare out also work.
3 & 5.  Tucking a blouse helps define your figure while the fluffing hides any tummy pouches.
4.  Placing your skirt waist directly on the most protrusive part of your bump helps smooth it out.

1. Loose Woven  Top (link)	2. Cinched Waist  w/ Flared Skirt (link)	3. Tucked /  Fluffed Blouse + Blazer (link)	4. Strategic Skirt Placement (link)	5. Tucked / Fluffed  Blouse + Blazer (link)

2nd Trimester:
6.  Once your tummy is officially ready to make its debut - start flaunting it with belting at the empire waist.
7.  Make use of your normal pants by pairing it with a Bella Band (essentially keep your pants undone and the stretchy band will keep it up!) and of course voluminous tops still work.
8.  Elastic-waist skirts are your best friend and you can wear them in every trimester either above, on top of, or beneath your bump.
9 & 10.  Stretchy dresses are super comfortable and allow your belly full freedom :)  Add a belt for more figure definition.

6. Empire Belting (link)	7. Bella Band +  Flowy Top (link)	8. Elastic-Waist Skirt (link)	9. Stretchy Dress  + Empire Belting (link)	10. Stretchy Dress (link)

3rd Trimester:
11.  Maxi dresses are PERFECT for pregnancy.  Most are built with an empire waist so feel free to buy your normal pre-pregnancy size and rock them both during your pregnancy and afterwards too.  Need I say more about belting?  :)
12 & 13.  Stretchy tops + maternity bottoms make for an easy way to wear separates if you are more a pants-type of gal.
14.  Stretchy top + elastic-waist skirt.  Get some mileage out of your existing normal clothes!
15.  Stretchy dress - same kind of deal here :)

11. Belted Maxi (link)	12. Stretchy  Top +  Maternity Pants (link)	13. Stretchy  Top + Blazer +  Maternity Pants (link)	14. Stretchy Top +  Elastic-Waist  Skirt (link)	15. Stretchy Dress (link)

Shoes:  Starting in the 2nd / 3rd trimester, I tended to favor comfy shoes over cute shoes (though I still took photos with the cute ones!).  Flats are probably the shoe of choice since they are both work appropriate and comfortable.  I also love my sandals (particularly shorter platforms since they allow me to stay balanced and don't pitch my weight forward) because they never feel tight on my sometimes swollen feet.  I will add here that I primarily work at my desk and do not need to move around very much.  When I do, I have a pair of extra shoes in my desk to slip on.

All Other Accessories:  Go bold and have fun here!  You have absolutely no restrictions.

Whether or not you decide to go with maternity wear, just be comfortable!  There are no rules so make your own as you go.  I hope this post was helpful :)

See previous Preggy Chronicles here:

• Volume 1:  Hiding the Bump
• Volume 2:  The "Push" Present
• Volume 3:  Preparations for Baby

Of course, can't have a post today without pausing in remembrance of 9/11...

DIY Fuchsia + Gray Bow Neck Dress

Quickie post today: I'm still obsessed with color blocking though this one is much more mild - incorporating fuchsia with a medium gray.

Dress:  Fuchsia + Gray DIY Bow Neck Dress

Belt:  J. Crew Factory Metallic Webbing Belt

Shoes:  Talbots Flower Bouquet Ballet Flats, Gray Flint

Sunnies:  Michael Kors

Bag:  Balenciaga Twiggy, Anthracite

A closer view

I used this tutorial to make the dress (2 rectangles of 25 x 33") and then just added a gray border and sash.  What do you think?  I love the giant bow :)

DIY Colorblocked Maxi Dress OOTD

Remember my t-shirt to colorblocked maxi dress tutorial a little while ago?  Some of you asked to see what it looked like on me and of course I had to oblige :)

Dress:  DIY Striped Colorblock Maxi Dress

Necklace:  DIY Looped Rope Necklace

Belt:  Lands End Nautical Rope Belt

Shoes:  THE comfiest sandals in the world!  I bought these ~15 years ago and have been wearing them every single summer.  They are so old that I can't even tell what brand or size they are anymore.

Sunnies:  Gucci

 The perfect thing about a t-shirt dress is the ability to either look "normal" or s-t-r-e-t-c-h to accommodate my baby bump :) 

Wear Your Scarf As a Shirt Tutorial

By now, this scarf (a fabulous Cee discovery) has taken the blogger world by storm.  Cee has done a wonderful job of showing all the versatile ways to wear this and I wanted to show how I plan to wear it as a top.  Note - tie your knots securely and wear a tank underneath to prevent any wardrobe malfunctions!

Top Option #1 Knotted Halter:

 

How to:

 About 6-8 inches down from the center of the top, tie a small knot.

Using the top 2 corners, tie a small knot behind your neck.  Tie another small knot at your waist/hips with the bottom 2 corners.  (Please excuse the visible bra straps!)

DONE!

Top Option #2 Asymmetrical Halter:

Blazer:  Banana Republic

Scarf: eBay (seller here)

Equestrian Pin: eBay (buy here)

Bottoms: Banana Republic, Khaki Trousers

Shoes:  Clarks Book Pump (SUPER COMFY!!!)

How to:

You'll need some kind of scarf ring.  I got this equestrian-inspired pin to echo the scarf pattern - yes, I know I'm matchy-matchy :)

Pull one of the top corners through your scarf ring.

Tie a small knot with the top 2 corners.

Slip the top over your head and one arm for the asymmetrical look.  Tie a small knot with the 2 bottom corners.

Don't have a scarf ring?  No problem!  Use a pretty, decorative fashion ring and it will also do the trick:

DONE!

What do you think?  Would you try this?  For most, I think this would look really cute tucked into a pencil skirt.  For me, this does a nice job of hiding the baby bump :)

For more ideas, visit the Hermes.com website for a how-to on scarf tying download:

http://usa.hermes.com/PlayTimeView?storeId=10202&catalogId=10052&langId=-1#

To Sew a Boucle Skirt + OOTD

Just a quickie sewing project + OOTD posting :)

Top: Banana Republic Black Button Down, XS (old)

Skirt: DIY

Belt: The Limited Flower Chain Belt (out of stock online, but you may still find it in the store)

Black Peeptoes: Blowfish Festival Wedges, DSW

Amongst the garment sewing world, skirts are generally one of the easier types to sew yourself.  Pencil skirts, for whatever reason, are difficult for me to get right the first time around.  Usually it's the tush's fault - the skirt is either too narrow or too wide there so I keep going back in with a seam ripper.  Or the bottom is too wide so that it's less of a pencil and more of a triangle.  I think it ultimately comes down to practice and knowing my own measurements.  Hmm, looks like I rambled a bit here...sorry!

I am pretty happy with the way this particular skirt came out and I do really like the texture / pattern.  I also made a lace print version and a plaid wool version that I'll post OOTDs with later.

7 Confessions and Equestrian-Inspired OOTD

Petite XXS tagged me in her Seven Confessions posting and of course I have to oblige :)

1.  I HEART karaoke...in the privacy of my own home LOL.  I have all of the Karaoke Revolution games from PS2 to Wii (with the exception of country music ones) and really enjoy belting it out on random nights.

2.  I only started sewing/crafting when I went on maternity leave last year.  I took a year off (without pay of course) and needed to be more mindful of finances.  As you know, I am a shopper at heart but since I couldn't really do that, I took to making my own versions.

3.  I was born in Hong Kong but moved to Indiana as an infant.  I speak Cantonese and a little Mandarin.  I took 2 years of Chinese in college but have since forgotten almost all of it.

4.  I am OBSESSED with food.  Hubby and I travel specifically to eat at certain restaurants.  We had a ball on our honeymoon cruise and gained 10 lbs in 1 week.

5.  Our son is 18 months old and he is the center of our world.  My mom graciously moved in to help take care of him and has been a godsend.  This pic is from last year but I thought I'd post it since we're getting close to the holidays.

6.  I'm a deal hunter by nature but splurge on handbags and other accessories.  tPF has proved to be a dangerous place for me as I was introduced to great brands like Balenciaga and Rebecca Minkoff there as well as learning more about brands I was already aware of.

7.  I still love kiddie movies like The Incredibles, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, and Up.  I may say that I'm watching them because of my son but it's not true :P

I hope I'm not repeat tagging anyone but I'd love to see confessions from:

• Ping from All About Fashion Stuff
• Olyvia from Caramel Covered Everything
• Jen from LoveBBags
• Curvy Petite  
• Callandra from Petite Early Morning Style
• Dani from Petite Dani (a new blogger to our community!)
• Kara Marie from Fabulously Petite (another new blogger!)

And finally an equestrian inspired OOTD:

Blazer: Banana Republic, Sz 2

Top: LOFT Bow Front Button Down, XS

Pants: Old Navy Skinny Ankle Zip Trousers, Sz 2 

(These are the pants I purchased via the Gap Give and Get sale.  They run big AND stretch throughout the day so I recommend sizing down.  Otherwise I love having skinny khakis.)

Boots: Born

Bag: Burberry

Nautical OOTD and DIY Beaded Pin

Left:  ROCKSTAR Sushi Striped Embellished Epaulet Tee, Neiman Marcus, $121

Right:  DIY Beaded Pin + Boat Neck Striped Tee from Old Navy, Sz XS, now $8, Ann Taylor Khaki Trousers, Sz 2, Banana Republic necklace

When I saw the tee above in the Neiman Marcus I HAD to try and recreate it.  It combines everything that I love - nautical stripes, epaulet, and beading!  I already had a striped tee in my closet so I set off to create a pin to go with it.

 What do you think about pin placement?  I think it looks better on top of the shoulder except that the edges don't lay flat there.

Here's the pin by itself - DIY tutorial to follow!

 These AT trousers run very large.  I usually wear a Sz 4 in pants but these are Sz 2 and are still a little roomy.  Nonetheless, the material is very soft and I like the semi-wide leg cut.  Plus they were on sale for $20!  :)