Christmas Eve

So it's 11:28pm on Christmas Eve and I only just finished creating and wrapping the last of my Christmas presents. I've made *so many things*. Tomorrow I'll force my family to put on their items and take photos for youse.

There are Christmas beetles EVERYWHERE IN MY HOUSE flying into stuff. It's like they don't have eyes.

This evening was Carols on the Lawn at my church. I was going to be playing 3 or 4 carols, and another man was going to play the other 4 or 5. He rang me up this morning saying he'd been in a car crash (!) and was too shaky to play. His car was totaled but somehow (thank goodness) he was unhurt. So I spent all day practicing the songs he was going to play, and ended up playing them all this evening. It was a bit shaky, but it was a casual event and everyone appreciated it. Luckily it was overcast and not too hot. Performing in the hot sucks.

Time for bed, and maybe Santa will visit tonight! Happy Christmas friends!

MORE SKIRTS OKAY GOSH

This is my last skirt for a while, maybe. There's another one in my cupboard that I haven't shown you guise yet, and the one I made my mum, but surely you're sick of skirts by now. So one more.

Here you can see the skirt reaching critical mass. It burst into flames seconds after the camera went.

This fabric is mostly transparent. To overcome this embarrassing problem, I sewed an underskirt into it. Hooray for modesty!

This fabric has a pretty edge. So when I sewed it all up and it was about 4 inches too long, I had to be creative about how to shorten it. I sewed in 2 pintucks around the skirt (a bit uneven in some places) which looks kind of cute.

What kind of skirt should I make next?

No Poo = Poo

So I quit using bi-carb instead of shampoo. I did it for about 3 weeks, washing my hair every 3 - 4 days. At first I just used the bi-carb, but it felt horrible so I started using normal conditioner as well. That helped a little, but the other day I washed my hair and it came out AS GREASY AS BEFORE, and felt like bits of straw or pipe cleaners. I washed with normal shampoo and my hair feels amazing. Perhaps I just needed a change. Perhaps my hair is not suited to this treatment. Perhaps no-poo sucks.

Here are some common arguments for the "no poo" method, and my counter arguments.

"My hair is so shiny" - Really? Maybe that's because it's so greasy.

"My hair holds any style" - You know how wire stays when you bend it? This.

"I don't have to wash my hair as often" - I guess this just depends on how greasy you like your hair to look.

"I just have to blow dry my hair and go" - When it wasn't weird and greasy, my hair went strange and frizzy and stiff (both at once! weird!) and I had to use my straightener to make it look any kind of normal.

Also, this made my head really itchy and gave me dandruff. It was as though I had a buildup of dry bi-carb on my head, even though I washed it out very thoroughly. Now with real shampoo, my hair feels silky rather than stiff, clean rather than coated in grease, shiny rather than frizzy, and my head doesn't itch. I would like to reduce how much I shampoo, though. That will be my next experiment.

Here is a link to someone else who failed at no-poo. She has a more in-depth discussion which is really interesting.

No-poo, I am disappointed in you. Disappointed.

MORE SKIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRTS!

Another one!!!

Here's a box-pleated skirt I made about a month or two ago. It's a bit *business-like* but also has a bit of body. The waistband is from a commercial pattern and the skirt is from my imaginings. Box pleats! Imagine that.

Outfit Rundown:

Skirt: Handmade

Jacket: SES

Blouse: ValleyGirl

Shoes: Cheap shoe shop that has now disappeared.

Here you can see a hanger!

Look! The lining has spots!

Skirt post!

Here's a skirt I made quite a while ago (RL friends will know it well) but I never posted it because I totally nicked the design off a girl from sew_loli and I worried that she'd get upset. Now I realise that she'd be flattered. It's a normal rectangle skirt with the stretch lace sewn on top so that it fits snugly around my waist.

I'll do a daily_lolita here.

Outfit rundown:

Skirt: Handmade

Shoes: Vintage

Cardigan: OHNOIFORGET

Here it is in its natural habitat. Fabrics: Blue and white polka dot cotton, stretch lace, normal lace, ribbon, zip.

Here you can actually see the dots and the pretty lace. Pretty!

Holidays!

I'm on HOLIDAYS now and I've started sewing again!

Yesterday I made a SECRET CHRISTMAS PRESENT FOR CHARLES and hemmed some fabric to make a silky scarf for my mum...

It was soooo hard. I swore and threw chiffon at the sewing machine because I couldn't do the tiny hems. But I did it in the end! ^.^ it's good!

Today I'm making an A-line skirt (again for my mum) for Christmas. It's a vintage pattern I found somewhere. Quick and easy!

I have a big pile of fabric in my room with post-it notes on each piece... "dress"... "skirt for mum"... "re-fashion skirt"... "bows"... "blouse"... "pyjamas?!"... etc. I mainly kept that pyjama fabric so mum wouldn't throw it out! I bet I won't even make pyjamas.

I'll attempt to take photos of all the stuff I make, and all the stuff I made and didn't take photos of yet. Mainly skirts, as I am terrified of actually making a blouse. What is wrong with me.