skipping the French fries and hitting the books

INC Beach linen shorts, Macy's

top and long necklace, Forever 21

Fossil key necklace, Nordstrom Rack clearance

       A recent weekend involved a visit to a Chinese buffet to celebrate a family member's birthday. The buffet included a lot of fried things, including oddly, French fries and deep-fried maki sushi. The fry-lovers in the family actually tried the fries and reported that McDonald's doesn't have to worry about the competition. ;)  For such outings, elastic-waist shorts and a flowy top are in order. My only regret about that day is that I didn't notice they had a soft-serve machine until the very end, when I was too full to enjoy it!

       One of the best parts of the semester being over is time to read. And read. And read. I blasted through Rae Carson's "The Crown of Embers," and will be diving into either the classic "The Stranger" by Camus,  "Chime" by Billingsley or "Unwind" by Shusterman next. :) Also need to tackle my pile of alterations and some neglected crafts projects, but for  this week at least I'm reveling in lots of reading time.

inspiration Monday: Alexa Chung

The inspiration:

My take: 

Vivienne Vivienne Tam cut and sew dress, Ross, $25 

Christian Dior tie as belt, thrifted

Fossil key necklace, Nordstrom Rack, on clearance for $7

long necklace, Forever 21

Dansko "Sakura" sandals, Nordstrom Rack

    This isn't quite the perfect everyday black dress I've been looking for, but it does come close. I'll wear this a few times before I decide whether to lop the long sleeves off because short sleeve works so much better for this climate. I do like the seaming detail - it adds a little interest and a lot of flare. Now I need to find a pair of bike shorts or something similar to layer underneath so I won't have to clutch at my skirt in a panic every time there's a breeze ... 
 

Linking up with inspiration monday at two birds! See other bloggers' lovely looks here!

Try-it-out Tuesday: J. Crew-inspired skirt DIY

        I am an intermittent sewer, to say the least -- it's been years since I dragged out the sewing machine. But during the last week before classes started, I got the itch to make something.
       I thought this cheery umbrella-printed cotton would make a cute skirt, and I decided to use this tutorial, which is inspired by J. Crew's elastic waist flirt skirt. (She also revamped the tutorial to make a lined wool skirt with the same pattern.) It's an elastic-waist skirt with a few lovely differences: the  design cuts down on the poof you get with an elastic waist; there's a little ruffle at the waist, and it has pockets.

EDC by Esprit tee, old

skirt, made by me

broken and randomly re-knotted necklace, Forever 21

Fossil belt, Macy's

      I learned how to sew with printed patterns from Simplicity, Butterick, etc., so it's very strange to me to see people breezily laying out some fabric and just cutting into it. What about unfolding that brown tissue-thin pattern and cutting out your pieces? What about carefully pinning it to the cloth and measuring to make sure the grain arrows match up? Eek. Just cutting into the fabric is even more of an undertaking when you are like me and cannot cut a straight line to save your life. Nonetheless, I washed and ironed my fabric, laid it out neatly on the carpet, and proceeded to follow the tutorial. 

Yellow pockets make me happy :)

     This skirt is definitely a different silhouette than I'm used to, but it's breezy and light and just perfect for summer. When I first put it on I thought it was much too poofy, but in the photos it looks OK. I think the wide brown belt helps, although it eventually slid out of place. Would it be oxymoronic to add belt loops to that comfy elastic waist? 

Try-it-out (Wednesday): don't try this at home

    While I love pattern mixing, there is a fine line between a fun, fresh pattern mix and a crazy one. Unfortunately, I usually fall on the crazy, something-went-wrong side. 

shirt, Savers

necklace, Forever 21

skinny jeans, Ross

   
     However, I figured out with this outfit that a necklace can be a great way to incorporate a second pattern and not look crazy. This necklace is not a favorite of mine -- it's a little too long and tangles easily. But I found it while cleaning the house this weekend and decided to give it another try. 

    This shirt is short and boxy, so I thought a long necklace would balance things out. I also knotted it at the end to make it shorter. Then, while I was unloading my grocery cart, it somehow got caught on the grocery cart and broke. (Don't try this at home -- I am a professional klutz). So now it looks like this: 

Well, one way to shorten a necklace is to break it ...

    By the way, have you read WTF Pinterest's "How to Be a Fashion Blogger" series yet? In my first photo, I'm guilty of #3.
    Have a happy Wednesday! I turned in my last 3 assignments for the semester (bibliography, reference response e-mail, and reflection paper) this morning and am ready to enjoy some free time! :D