Posts Tagged ‘summer’

2012 Swim Coverup

June 4th, 2012
5 Comments

We’re back from our week at the beach! We’re slowly recovering from our sunburns and bug bites (boy the bugs are vicious in North Carolina). I think I counted somewhere around 50 bug bites on my body.

The night before we flew out to meet my parents for our vacation, I made a simple swimsuit cover up. I liked the one I made last year, but I wear it more as a top than a swim cover up.

I found this teal striped swim fabric at a JoAnn’s sale last year for something like $5 a yard. A real steal for this kind of jersey, if you ask me. And it’s a stripe. It’s a 2-way stretch, but the grain line runs with the stripes, so horizontal stripes weren’t an option.

I used a simple sheath for the shape of the body and winged it for the neckline. I originally meant for it to be a scoop neck, but it gaped funny until I added the bow detail on the front. I used the fabric as a fold over elastic for the finishing on the neckline and double needles for the stitch. Twin needles have a more finished look than a zig-zag, but allows for some stretching.

I added these teal ceramic beads to the ends for a fun detail. I had them leftover from a craft night I hosted ages ago.

The above was my uniform at the beach. It was really comfortable, stretchy, dried quickly and was the perfect length for walking around or playing in the water.

Our summer is off to a fantastic start with a lot of projects and exciting milestones ahead. How about yours? Do you have any fun plans?

2011 swim coverup • 2010 swim coverup

Style: Indecision

May 11th, 2012
6 Comments

I don’t know if the weather is similar in your neck of the woods, but around here no one knows if it’s spring or fall. I dressed for both. Bright summery colors paired with subdued fall tones is really fun. And different. I like different.

  • scarf: Soel Boutique
  • top: Apricot Lane, c/o Apricot Lane
  • sweater: Mode Boutique
  • belt: thrifted
  • bracelets: gifts from Chris
  • watch: Soft Watch, c/o Soft Watch
  • pants: thrifted + refashioned
  • shoes: TJ Maxx

These photos are so grainy, and the white balance is completely off. I took these photos at 7:30 at 4000ISO. But still, my old camera would never get pictures this nice at such a poor time of day.

Refashioned: High-Low Floral Skirt

May 8th, 2012
11 Comments

Last Thursday, it was high-time I head over to the thrift store to see if there was anything inspiring there. I didn’t find what I was looking for (naturally), but I came across this lovely floral skirt.

The floral pattern and the fabric are fantastic. The length, however, is a bit on the matronly side. That or I wasn’t styling it well enough when I brought it home with me.

I’ve been thinking of trying a high-low hemline for a skirt for some time, and thought this would fit the bill for a refashion. I pulled out my rolled hem foot, some starch and made quick work of the whole thing.

In all the refashion took about an hour. I was sure to go slowly as I rolled the hem. The hem is a 2mm rolled hem, so I had to be extra careful that it wouldn’t go nuts on me. I’m getting pretty good at it, too. Since this was a curved hem, I sprayed and ironed the skirt with heavy starch before hemming. I found this video to be most helpful. I was hoping that I would find a larger rolled hem foot for my sewing machine, but alas, the 5 stores I went to didn’t have anything bigger.

I would be thrilled if any of you had suggestions for where I could find a larger rolled hem foot (5mm or 10mm) for a Babylock.

I don’t own any skirts that have a high-low hemline, but now I’m convinced I need more. I love the extra coverage in the back. I don’t have to worry about baring it all if I’m bending over to pick up Felix. The rolled hem (shoulda posted a detail shot) makes the skirt look like it was bought this way. It looks so professional, in my opinion. I love it!

Outfit Details:

  • top: Ruche
  • belt: thrifted
  • pink bracelet: H&M
  • brown bracelet: handmade
  • skirt: thrifted + refashioned
  • shoes: Payless

Style by Celeste: Stepford Ensemble

May 3rd, 2012
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I won’t be able to attend Utah’s Breathing Space Retreat this year, so I’m sending Celeste in my place. Celeste is my uber-extraordinary intern who helps out behind the scenes with ads and sponsorships. Contact her at info@melissaesplin.com if you’re interested in advertising in this space.

 Hi there! I am so excited to share this post with you. I love Melissa’s outfit posts (she’s so daring with color and patterns) and I thought one relevant way to say hello and talk about the Breathing Space blogger retreat I’m headed to this weekend would be to feature my own.

Friday night at Breathing Space, we’re attending a Stepford Wives dinner. If you haven’t seen it, like myself until two weeks ago, it’s basically about perfect women who run perfect households who are perfect vixens.

So pretty much the opposite of any free-thinking, creative woman (ahem, bloggers) and exactly what one might imagine living in the perfect homes of the Daybreak community, where the retreat is held. I laughed two hours later when I finished the movie at that. Clever retreat organizers.

To fit the bill, I pulled out this little lovely that I bought when I was still in high school and was convinced I could be the next Olivia Newton-John in Grease, before she sold out and got John Travolta-d.

Do I look like I might pull out a fresh batch of cookies? Build a pinecone snowman?

I’ll be Tweeting and covering it via Instagram under the handle @CelesteRosenlof and hashtag #breathingspace.

Follow Breathing Space along on Facebook, too.

Outfit details:

  • necklace: gift from my mother
  • cardigan: Old Navy
  • pin: gift from friend
  • dress: consignment
  • shoes: Dillard’s

P.S. A special thanks to my man Branden for helping me out with photos.

Style: Summer Clothes

April 26th, 2012
4 Comments

I love wearing light-weight skirts during the summer. Truth be told, I don’t currently own a single pair of shorts. I definitely don’t mind it being that way. This outfit was really easy. No make up, just lipstick and glasses.

 

 

 

 

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