On a Lark » New Years Resolution http://onalarkdesign.com Sewing, cooking, and generally enjoying life Wed, 06 Jul 2011 16:00:29 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Brown Paper Packages! http://onalarkdesign.com/2010/03/26/brown-paper-packages/ http://onalarkdesign.com/2010/03/26/brown-paper-packages/#comments Fri, 26 Mar 2010 01:36:06 +0000 Emily http://onalarkdesign.com/?p=358 Are there many things better than getting a package on a sunny spring day? Sitting in my mailbox this morning was my order from Lush! My New Years Resolution this year was to try to make generally more healthy decisions, so I used this as an excuse to order some natural shampoo, conditioner, and deodorant. I’m [...]]]> Are there many things better than getting a package on a sunny spring day? Sitting in my mailbox this morning was my order from Lush! My New Years Resolution this year was to try to make generally more healthy decisions, so I used this as an excuse to order some natural shampoo, conditioner, and deodorant. I’m not willing to give up function on any of these items, but Lush products work great and are mostly free of preservatives and harmful chemicals, which is both good for me and Mama Earth. Word to the wise, order from the store not the website. If your order is over $60 (which between my roommate, our boyfriends, and me wasn’t too hard to meet), than shipping is free and it comes in just a few days.

I got the Seanik Solid Shampoo, the Teo Deoderant and the Jungle Solid Conditioner. Both of the guys got Soak and Float Solid Shampoo. This shampoo literally smells like fire. But men seem to love it. So there you go.
Lush 1
Lush 2
The fact that there’s more than one picture on here of my shampoo and conditioner should be an indication of how excited I am.

In other news, the dress is coming along great. I had to make two alterations in the top and this is the first time I’ve ever done an alteration mid-project that actually looked like I meant to do it in the first place. Big strides around here.
Almost there!
The final step is the invisible zipper. Which requires an invisible zipper foot. Which I do not have. Anyone have any great suggestions on how to put in an invisible zipper?

And finally, one more lovely reminder of spring. Our resident huntress, Scout the Kitty. Can you spot her under the bird feeder?
Scout

]]> http://onalarkdesign.com/2010/03/26/brown-paper-packages/feed/ 1 Operation Graduation Dress http://onalarkdesign.com/2010/02/24/operation-graduation-dress/ http://onalarkdesign.com/2010/02/24/operation-graduation-dress/#comments Wed, 24 Feb 2010 11:00:28 +0000 Emily http://onalarkdesign.com/?p=293 I am graduating! After 18.75 years in school, I am almost done! Woohoo! So I need a dress. But part of my New Years Resolution was to not by any new clothes. This of course excludes absolutely necessary items, like a suit for interviews, a bridesmaid dress for my brother’s wedding, socks, and underwear. Because no [...]]]> I am graduating! After 18.75 years in school, I am almost done! Woohoo! So I need a dress. But part of my New Years Resolution was to not by any new clothes. This of course excludes absolutely necessary items, like a suit for interviews, a bridesmaid dress for my brother’s wedding, socks, and underwear. Because no one wins if I abstain for purchasing said items. What to do? I’m making my own dress.

I’ve sewn a few pieces of clothing, but with pretty limited success. I have two or three pieces that I wear, but a graduation dress is a whole new level for me. I shopped around for a pattern for a while and I ended up finding this one, Butterick 5353. My boyfriend’s sister got it for me for my birthday!

I usually just start cutting and figure everything out as I go along, but this time I decided that I should probably start with a muslin to make sure it fit. I have to say, muslin sewing was sort of liberating. It was nice to sew with reckless abandon. Sort of. As much as you can ever sew with reckless abandon I guess. Anyhow, while my roommate and I listened to podcasts I tried to piece this thing together. It was little more confusing than I expected, but in the end, it fit!

I think I might just wear it like this. Start a trend you know? Despite difficulty just figuring out the muslin, I’m pretty happy with the fit and I’m ready to start on the final product. But first I need to pick a fabric. I found some great swiss dot at Fabric.com:

But then again, a print might be a lot more fun. And there are so many prints out there to be had, all of these are by Amy Butler:

Decisions, decisions. What fabric would you use? I’m more than willing to let someone else make the decision here. So seriously, what fabric would you use?

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