Anything you need you can find it at the market

Mac Miller "Frick Park Market"

Here's the follow-up post as promised. This really is an easy little diy, no need for a sewing machine, a few hand stitches was all it took.

To get started all you need is one dress, a pair of scissors and an unpicker. This dress worked well to be turned into a crop as it was seamed at the waist, which provides a guide for where to cut it and also means that the top half will retain it's shape, which is what attracted me to the dress in the first instance.

This dress had a side zip, so I started by unpicking the stitches to remove it, having a smocked elastic back panel means that taking the side zip out will still allow me to get it on and off easily.

When removing a zip, once started if you hold the zip and the fabric taught between your fingers, you can easily get the stitches out without snagging or cutting the fabric in the process.

Having removed the zip I turned the dress inside out and cut as close to the seam as possible, for one it meant that if I wanted to use the remaining dress fabric for something else it wasn't dog-eared, and as I wanted this to be a quick little project, I wasn't planning on stitching the bottom at all. The fabric of this dress  is best described as light weight denim, so it shouldn't fray too much.

The seam allowance where zip was removed was sewn together by hand, I used back stitch, but a couple of rows of running stitch would work if that's all you know.

And there you have it, literally that simple. Not bad for a dress that cost 99p! And yes, the labels were still in it. If you want to see the finished crop and how I styled it, the post is here.

On Wednesday, I will finally get to see Jay-Z and Kanye on their Watch The Throne tour, I am beyond excited!! It seemed like an age away when I booked the ticket, but it's come round so quick. I'm hoping to remember to take some pictures and not get overwhelmed by the whole thing, I feel a little giddy just thinking about it. I am a huge Jay-Z fan, and I mean MEGA! I look forward to filling you in on :)

KDx

Don't you drag me down cause I'm living my life

Benga "Icon" Featuring BeBe Black

The Jubilee Weekend Round-Up in Numbers:

Days to enjoy the Jubilee: 6

Street Parties Attended: 1

Bbqs Attended (in the rain!): 1

Scones Baked: 12

Scones Eaten: 2

Blueberry Muffins Baked: 12

Blueberry Muffins Eaten: Yet to be confirmed...

Cups of Tea Drank: Too many to count (ranges from 4-8 cups daily)

G&T's Drank: 'Enough' (I do not recommend a Disarono, G&T mix if you have any sensibilities about you!)

Queens Spotted: Numerous! (I went to GLAS Super Pride as part of Gay Pride in Birmingham over the Bank Holiday, celebrating the reign of the Queen surrounded by queens-how apt!)

Roast Dinners Eaten: 2 (Neither of them fell qualify for the 'Sunday Dinner' tag)

Yorkshire Puddings Eaten: 8

Hangovers Endured: 0 (This one still surprises me)

Trips to the Gym to Account for my Overindulgences: I'm still working on that one...

Well good ol' Queen Liz, she sure knows how to throw a party doesn't she? In somewhat unpatriotic fashion, I didn't watch much/any of the Jubilee concert/floatilla/awkward celebrity meetings; but I am looking forward to catching up on a glut of who wore what, and how much he/she/we/they loved or loathed it. But I thought I'd share a bit of what I've been wearing throughout:

Headband Dorothy Perkins, flowers Accessorize, top Topshop and skirt River Island both via ebay, Miss Selfridge belt,Topshop boots, jewellery H&M, Dorothy Perkins, and Topshop

This was the outfit I chose for GLAS, I thought I looked more like Xena Warrior Princess, opposed to our Royal High-streetness, Princess Middleton. The top was formerly a dress, it was a really simple diy that I will post about later this week. I got it for a steal at 99p on the ebay, which is why I had absolutely no qualms about cutting it up!

New Look vest, River Island skirt and Zara pumps via ebay

For my one and only street party appearance I thought I'd indulge in a little red, white and blue, or in my case....just red. Despite my sunny disposition, the weather didn't match up; it didn't rain (for a change) but I was a little optimistic in opting to go bare legged, I did wear my trusty Oasis leather jacket, but that didn't stave off the leg chill.

Oasis leather jacket, New Look denim shirt, Dorothy Perkins necklace, Zara shoes via ebay, and River Island sequin shorts (just seen) via carboot

A bbq in Britain is never going to be a simple affair, but we Brits do have a love for alfresco dining and all things outdoorsy. (Picnics included) I left my house in the rain, so despite the footwear in the picture I actually made a last minute change for my Zara ankle boots, not that it helped with the bitter cold. When the perfect addition to your bbq would be a pair of gloves and a granny-lap blanket, you know it's time to call it a day. Disappointingly I only managed to snaffle one burger, as good as it was, the decision to either sit on my hands to conserve heat, or eat, wasn't really a decision at all.

Having an extra day off today as work thought they'd throw a concessionary day our way has been spent perfectly by baking with the MB*. We plumped for blueberry muffins. I don't know if it's just me, but what I thought would be a quick google for a recipe turned into a 20-minute trawl; as an American favourite it seems as though everyone wants to add buttermilk, or have you measure everything out in cups. Eventually I came across this recipe on the Daily Mail, the addition of the streusel topping really pepped them up, so my only recommendation would be to make more than stated as there's not much sugar in the actual recipe, the muffins can take the additional sweet topping

Fresh out of the oven

Only two days of work and it's the weekend again!

KDx

*MB is the (lovingly given) shorthand for Momma Bear

Once you enter my house, it becomes our house

Julio Bashmore "Jack got Macked"

So it looks like my pleas were answered in the form of glorious sunny spells, and with that comes the mad dash to stuff all the jumpers to the bottom of the drawer and dig out all the 'Summer' frivolities that have been packed away since last year; and that's where the problem lies, everything feels a little, well, last year. The skirts I have been wearing throughout the colder months are perfect now I can go sans tights, but I feel myself longing for something a little bit 'now' to perk everything up and keep it fresh. As I posted about here, the high drift is the flesh to flash, so on the hunt for a crop top I was left a little disappointed by the offerings immediately available to me. Truth be told, the campus of the College where my office is based has a less than pathetic high street, filled with restaurants and charity shops of which have been known to give me some delightful spoils, both edible ones and wearable ones at that, but in this instance I wanted instant wearable gratification that can normally be found in your average shopping centre. Making the most of what (little) there was on off, I was drawn to the print of this top in the sale in New Look, £6 down from £16.99.

The smock style top has a fitted band that sits above and below the bust, so in essence, a crop top with a skirt, with a little bit of time to spare I decided to get out my needle and thread and get customising.

What you will need:

A Smock top

Scissors

Needle

Thread

This little diy project should pose itself as no challenge for even the most sew-phobic of individuals.

1) Lie your top down on a flat surface and locate the waist band. You want to make one cut straight across, about an inch below the waistband.

2) You can discard the bottom bit of fabric for now, although I am intending to make that into a crop also-a tutorial will follow, so keep it somewhere safe! Turn the top piece inside out and locate the seam.

3) Leaving an allowance of an inch will mean you can ensure a neat edge along the bottom of your crop top. Those of you that don't have any faith at all in your sewing abilities can just cut the fabric close to the bottom of the waistband, but this way, although a little more time consuming should ensure that the crop can be washed without fraying. 

4) Take the cut edge of the fabric and bring it up to meet the seam, this is where you will be sewing.

5) With the needle and thread, sew the cut edge of the fabric to the seam; with the top being inside-out there is no need to worry about neatness here. The novices amongst you might find it easier to use a contrasting colour of cotton so you can see where you are sewing; again being on the inside no-one will ever know! I just used a basic up and over stitch, I tried to demonstrate the motion with my dotted line in the image, but any basic stitch would do to secure it.

6) Turn the top the right side out, and voilà! Smock to Crop in just a few minutes. Not only will you have the satisfaction of knowing this is something you created yourself, but definitely no chance of bumping into someone in the same one as you. 

I am pretty sure that smock tops had their day a while back, and so I bet if you delve deep enough there will be more than a few lurking in the back of cupboards, maybe even in the yet-to-be unpacked Summer wardrobe from last year? 

KDx