Inspiration Board

Image credits go to Forever 21, The Pineneedle Collective, and Trash to Couture

In short, this is simply a collection of images and screenshots taken from the internet (I do not claim any of them to be my own), primarily Forever 21's website and from the blogs Trash to Couture and The Pineneedle Collective, that have caught my attention and/or inspired me to sew or create something. In general it's just clothes that I like, would like to have, or would like to make.

I love interesting backs on shirts and dresses, cool cutouts, and refashioning. I've been wanting to make some kind of a pinafore or remake some overalls, but unfortunately I won't be having much time to do that for quite a while. I think for my summer as a whole though, I was actually able to put many of these ideas into action with all the sewing I did.

Grey and Purple Glitter Nails

My most recent nails that I painted yesterday. Its a pretty simple look using Sephora by OPI's Break a Leg Warmer and Tokidoki's Stellina. 

The glitter is pretty opaque even without any sort of base color, although the finish isn't as shiny as one would expect. It definitely needs a top coat to give a shiny, glittery finish.

Blue and Magenta Nail Art with a Butterfly

I painted my nails and this time I went with a pretty simple design with aimless grey dots and fun color combo. I used Essie's Splash of Grenadine, Sally Hansen's Smooth and Perfect in Air, and for the dots, Sephora by OPI's Break a Leg Warmer.

Update: I found a butterfly temporary tattoo, so I put it on my thumbnail, 'cause what else am I supposed to do with it? In retrospect, it should probably be facing the other direction. 

Random Collection of Nail Art

This is more for me to remember my past nail art designs, but here's a collection of my own nail art with varying photo qualities. 

Pink and yellow triangle cutouts

Glittery geometric nail art

Pink and white hearts

Christmas glitter nails

Yellow and turquoise nails

Grey and silver ombre with glitter

Cherry blossoms, stripes, two tone, and polka dot French tips

Valentine's Day hearts

Purple glitter

Green and silver textured nails

Sun, clouds, and glitter

Basket Weave Denim Vest

Ever since I first saw this post on Pinterest from Laura (aka Trash to Couture) I've been wanting to make a vest like her's. This summer after my mom cleaned out her closet and found an old plain denim vest, I had the perfect opportunity to! I only made the back part a basket weave, instead of the entire vest like her's, but I really like the way it came out. It was super difficult to keep it all together, even with all the pinning, but I'm happy with the end result and glad that I finally got to make this idea that's been floating around in my head a reality.

Progress shots. Laying out, pinning, and cutting.

I had some left over fabric from a couple of jeans that I cut last summer that I used to make the back. I cut strips and weaved them into place, using the old backing as a guideline for the approximate shape (I made it shorter and more fitted than the original). After sewing around the edges to hold everything in place, I went across a couple of the rows with a single seam to reinforce the basket weave and keep it from shirting around too much when wearing. It sort of shifted things out of place a teeny bit, but it isn't too noticeable. I also went ahead and frayed the armholes and the bottom edge with some scissors and made the darts on the front bigger.

Front and back.

I'm still thinking the front is missing something, but I'm not quite sure what to do. I don't really feel like doing the basket weave for the entire vest, but I might change the buttons and/or add a pocket. I'm really loving the slight color variations from the different jeans that I used and the slight texture differences they add.

Edit/Update: I still haven't added anything to it (struggles of being in college and having no sewing machine), but this has seriously become one of my favorite pieces in my closet to play around with and try out new outfits with!