Kate Inspired

Sweater with Lace Stripes Tutorial

2012-04-03T08:58:00.000-04:00

Three things I love about early spring fashion - wearing a sweater without a jacket, nautical stripes and lace :)
So a little while ago I made myself a striped sweater with some lace trim I bought at the closing sale of a Fabricland by me for super cheap and an old Zara sweater.
The steps are pretty simple and all you need is a sweater, scissors, lace trim, pins, tape measure, and matching needle and tread.

I made a little slideshow of how you set it up.... that ened up a little big but its still pretty cool

make animated gifs like this at MakeAGif

Step one:

Figure out the spacing with your tape measure and place pins to mark the spots, its probably a good idea to do this on both sides so that the lines are straight.

Step two:

Cut your lace trim to the right lengths, I decided to just do it on the front section because thats all I had enough lace for but all the way around or on the arms could be cute too. :)

Step three:

Hand sew on the lace making sure to keep the stiches on the outside small and hidden in the dark parts of the lace.

And enjoy!

~Be Inspred!~

Nails Nails Nails

2012-02-05T11:53:00.001-05:00

Hello Everybody!

Last you heard from me I was still in Canada, preparing for finals and waiting not so patiently for Christmas break! Now, a couple months later, I am in The Netherlands doing a semester abroad and LOVING it :) Some time next week I will do my first Euro post but for now I have some back log that I've been meaning to post for a long time.

For your consideration, Nail Polish Extravaganza!!

I Love this Insta-dry stuff from Sally Hansen, it has a great brush and it takes the worst part about doing your nails (waiting for them to dry) out of the equation!

Added the silver stripes for some interest.

These are actually stickers that I got at WalMart! Not to bad :P

They didnt last very long, a week tops, but were fun while it lasted.

Purple with a gold overlay, this is actually how my nails are right now :)

Check out the crazy woven walls in my apartment and ignor my horrible cuticles

To get the thin streaky layer of gold over the purple I dabbed it on with my fingertip and smuged it off so the gold was just an overlay

I have a couple more to show you but I'll put them up another day, you know what they say about too much of a good thing :D

~Be Inspired~

Layering for Fall

2011-11-29T19:32:00.001-05:00

This is actually an outfit from back in October (when it was warm enough not to wear stockings) that I took waaay too many photos of and trouble deciding which ones I liked. So like a mature adult I just ignored it for a while. :D

Anyways, here is a great layering outfit that I would wear to the office or a business casual school event.

Me in my kitchen looking really grainy, not sure why

I am wearing:

Jacket Handmade by me brown with a polka dot linning and even though I made it, its too tight in the sleeves

Shirt: Handmade by me, my own pattern One of the first items I drafted myself, the back is actually really cute but you cant see it here.

Dress H&M Its really light and the back is low, great for summer

Belt and necklaces: unfortunately I cant remember :S

Shoes Aldo birthday present from my dad, one of my favourite pairs, such great colours :)

yes I am falling over, the wall is helping me though :P

My messy apartment... please look at my armpit instead

Without the Jacket, still cute!

Sorry for the photo overload!

~Be Inspired~

A Common Question

2011-11-20T14:29:00.001-05:00

Often I have people ask me why I care about "fashion" because I in no way can afford the items I seem to covet from the runway and editorial shoots. On my last post a friend posted a comment that has inspired me to write an open letter of sorts, more of a one shot response, to all those nay-sayers:

Perhaps cars aren't your thing, but a lot of people will faun over the hottest new sports car regardless of whether they will ever be able to afford them, and no one thinks that is weird. Some of us like to imagine a world where we could wear an Elie Saab creation (and have somewhere to wear it ;P), its not so different in that respect.
For me its more than that, the runway really does inspire my clothing choices, even if I cant wear the exact outfit, I can emulate the colour or cut. A video that I've always felt speaks to how I feel, click the link bellow Meryl :D

http://movieclips.com/d8iQn-

So the gist: Its not about the individual item or what you can afford today, because everything is connected. You are part of the fashion world whether you want to be or not. All I did was choose an active role.

~Be Inspired~

Elie Saab Spring 2012 RTW

2011-11-19T16:39:00.001-05:00

I've become such a sucker for Elie Saab's flowing creations, and his Spring Ready to Wear collection is no exception. The colour pallet was beautiful (as always), bellow are my favourites (you may notice a theme) prepare yourself for some major evening gown beauty.

Does this look familiar to anyone? I cant for the life of me figure out where I have seen it before...

All photos via of Style.com

The movement is so awesome!! Love it.

~Be Inspired~

Rope Belt 3 Ways

2011-10-29T17:34:00.002-04:00

I have wanted to make a rope belt and necklace for some time and was more recently inspired by Love Maegan and Style Scrapbook to go ahead with the plan. When the Fabricland near my work was moving and had a huge sale on trims I finally had the resources to follow through. The best part is that this item can be worn three different ways!

Belt:

Skirt: Christian Dior, vintage. Shirt: H&M.

Necklace:

Headband!!

So I used a double figure 8 knot that I learned at summer camp years and years ago which is really great for rock climbing, but you can use any knot you find attractive... or not (ha ha) two ropes hand sewn together would look pretty cute too :D

Here is some of the inspiration I mentioned above:

Love Maegan Rope Necklace DIY

Style Scrapbook modeling a COS necklace

If I do something like this again I think it will be closer to this one, its so cool :)

~Be Inspired~

Same Idea Three Ways

2011-10-20T20:55:00.001-04:00

The Glamourai posted about not having enough time to think of wildly fashionable outfits for every day and how with the same general idea you can look stlyish multiple ways. Here's a peek of her three White Tops, Black Skirts post:

Get the whole post, with the rest of her great outfits and their details here: www.theglamourai.com/

Much more chic then my go to (jeans and a cute tee)

~Be Inspired~

Mint and Sprinkles Nails!

2011-10-17T13:15:00.000-04:00

I love painting my nails, even though they are usually short and my cuticles are crappy. This trend of painting one nail sparkly really grabbed my eye a couple months ago but I didn't have the glitter power until recently.

Inspiration:

via Pinterest

both via Cupcakes and Cashmere

Both via Love Maegan

So here you have it, from my finger tips to your eye balls....

Joe Fresh Mint, Dollarama glitter glue, Lancome topcoat.

~Be Inspired~

Girl at the Rock Show

2011-09-28T22:53:00.000-04:00

Hey all!
I went to a Blink 182 concert this summer with my awesome sister Caitie :D They have been one of my favourite bands for a veeeery long time so it was really awesome to finally see them live. They put on a amazing show and it only rained a teeny tiny bit :P

Here is what I wore!

Top: Handmade by me from an old pattern of my mother's. I really love this top, its sheer in the back so I feel super sexy wearing it :) and the shiny rain pattern of the fabric makes me happy.

Shorts: vintage, altered

Shoes: My sister's :)

This be my fighting face, yah know in case I get caught up in a mosh pit somewhere :P

So all in all great night, one of my favourite summer night out outfits :D

~Be Inspired~

Athens, Greece

2011-09-19T13:06:00.000-04:00

Today is the first of many outfit posts coming from my big trip this summer!! Unfortunately for me my family grew tried of taking pictures of me so I am debating recreating some of the trip outfits back here at home so I can get a good shot of them.

Without further ado .... Dinner in Athens!

I was trying out the idea of a monochromatic outfit that wasn't black or blue. I think it turned out really cute!

The beautiful lobby of our hotel.

All the girls (minus one) I think we are a pretty dashing family

Me and Roy! The sole male on the trip needed some photo love, isn't he dashing?

What am I wearing?

Top, handmade: Cynthia Rowley for Simplicity 2361 C

Skirt, altered: Vintage last seen here

Shoes: TopShop

Belt: H&M

Clutch: Urban Outfitters

~Be Inspired~

Baking - an art form

2011-07-20T12:24:00.000-04:00

Today I discovered a beautiful blog for a creative studio run by a husband and wife duo. Tiger in a Jar made this "recipe" for Beet Cake that I implore you to go check out.

Beauty of Creation

~Be Inspired~

Where the Caravan Camels Roam

2011-06-22T15:58:00.002-04:00

It is a little over a month until I go on a cruise to the Eastern Mediterranean with my family and I am starting to have serious concerns about my ability to pack an appropriate wardrobe. We are going to Greece, Turkey, Israel, Egypt and Italy, which means we are spending lots of time in places where certain attire (read modest) is required. This, coupled with 40 degree weather, is going to make getting dressed every morning very challenging.

So to help me out I am beginning to gather inspiration, which I will share with you here. I am also, to pass time at work, drawing a picture of each item I plan on bringing on a sticky note, so I can lay them all out and imagine combinations. :) I'm cool like that.

Super relaxed and funky

Hello colour!!

Cute! but might be a bit short for some of the churches etc.

Accordion skirt is definitely coming, along with a white and black top :D

Midnight in Paris had some super European outfits

Need to get me a lace top

like seriously

I have a jumpsuit that might make the trip :)

I have a vintage skirt from my mom that looks a lot like this!

Cute dress+Hat

Photos from: Colour Collective, Blue is in Fashion this year, Sterling Style, Frassy, Midnight in Paris (the movie), Because I'm Addicted

That's all for today, be back again soon I hope

~Be Inspired~

Accordion Skirt

2011-06-12T15:59:00.000-04:00

Happy Weekend everybody.

I find that because I sit on the computer all day at work its really hard to come home and do this blog, even if I have the pictures for a post, actually sitting down to write it takes an extra surge of effort that is usually spent snacking instead.

But here we are on the weekend with a fabulous outfit post (if I do say so myself). I was inspired by the pleated maxi skirts I keep seeing around to root through my mother's old dresses to find this gem! I adore it and am so happy shes going to let me alter it from a tank dress into a skirt.

Unfortunately because this is not yet a skirt, I wasn't able to tuck in the shirt and the belt kept sliding up, giving me an almost pregnant look which I'm not a fan of... Other than that it was really fun to have the long flowy fabric in the wind :)

Hope you had a great weekend!

~Be Inspired

Envelope Clutch

2011-06-02T20:00:00.001-04:00

I finally did it! I made the Swellymayde DIY envelope clutch that I posted about here.

I decided to line it! Let me tell you, more effort than it was worth I think, but looks nice :)

You can see both me and my dog are super photogenic at times... NAWT

Mine is made from less stiff vinyl than the inspiration but I quite like floppy the look I get from it.
Still want to add a button, I'll get right on that :P

Here's to finally getting to projects on my "future projects" list! Hip Hip..... Hoorraayyy

~Be Inspired~

I dont like Mondays

2011-05-30T16:41:00.000-04:00

I came across this store online called "i don't like mondays" and they had the most amazing DIY inspiration! I say DIY because all of their stuff is a little out of my price range, so the only way I will ever wear any of it is if I make it with my own two hands. :) Sometimes its so awesome being crafty.

After going to my friend's metal show last weekend I realised I have no black clothing anymore! Since then I have subconsciously been drawn to some of the darker fashion trends. Don't get me wrong, I still love a good pastel or neon, but something about the biker-rock-chic look is really calling to me.

So for your Monday viewing pleasure, all of my (hopefully) future projects:

Cut out shorts - easy peasy

Twisted tube top

Easier said than done, Shredded T

Cool Sheer Panel Button Down

Torn Jeans without the tears

Except I think I would do it with leather!

You see these everywhere (sorta) and I want one! Her necklace is really cute too

A dip-dyed tank dress = cute!

I know it may seem a bit out there but I think its pretty cool

Denim Vest

Its probably easier to just buy these

The shirt and shorts are both really cute.

I kinda want to buy these, they also come in black

Thats all for now!

~Be Inspired~

Back bone slip

2011-05-26T15:31:00.000-04:00

I am a big fan of this shirt:

I was alterted to it through http://www.outsapop.com/, which is a super great blog full of totally do-it-yourselfable finds like this one.

How easy would that be?!

I shall file it under "to dos". This is starting to become a very large file...

This shirt originally came from Pixie Market, even though I can't find it on the site anymore you should still go check out thier stuff, its all really funky and decently priced.

~Be Inspired~

Night at the Theatre

2011-05-25T23:57:00.000-04:00

My lovely father took me and my sister to a play downtown the other day. We saw "Calender Girls" and it was really fun but I have to admit, the movie was quite a bit better. Its hard to make movies into plays, I found that so much depth is lost. There are less characters, only one setting and the lines sound so contrived because of the actors' need to project.If it had been a musical I would be singing a different tune (ha ha).

Regardless it was an enjoyable evening and my outfit was cute!

Dress: H&M (on sale! woot! Strangely tight over the bossom area)

Jacket: I handmade it from an old pattern of my mom's

Shoes: My sister's slightly salt stained but still cute

Bag: Roots via Cost-co

Belt, bangles and necklace: vintage/old enough that I don't know where they came from

My mom and stepmom said I look like Peter Pan in this dress, which I don't get because he wears green tights. Oh well, I like it :)

~Be Inspired~

Quick Fingernail Rescue!

2011-05-25T09:34:00.001-04:00

I know I am getting behind again with my posting, I am just so tired of being on the computer by the time I get home from work. All I want to do is sew and snack. But tomorrow I promise I will sew, snack and post!

For today here is some brilliant advice from Karen @ The Art of Doing Stuff, she seriously isn't afraid to try anything! Including owning backyard chickens, which I admit I have asked my mom to do for years, shes not as keen as I hoped she would be...

So for your manicure emergency: How to mend a broken nail!!

These are the materials you need.
And of course a torn nail.

Head over to The Art of Doing Stuff for the complete How To!

~Be Inspired~

Basic Button Up

2011-05-18T15:59:00.000-04:00

I was catching up on some missed posts from Blue is in fashion this year and saw this collage she made. I love her collages and would wear 75% of those looks in an instant. Simple, chic, summery!

What do you think?!

~Be Inspired

Any day now

2011-05-17T11:21:00.001-04:00

via bananarepiblic.ca

This picture makes me wish I was somewhere far more pleasant than stupid Toronto in this stupid drizzly cold weather.
July 27th could not come fast enough!! That's when I go on my fabulous cruise by the way, I'll tell you more about it later.
Remind me to buy both those men's wardrobes for my dear boyfriend. I think they are way better dressed than the ladies in this shot and he needs all the help he can get to keep up with me! ;)

~Be Inspired~

Quick Bar Night Outfit

2011-05-16T19:23:00.000-04:00

Happy Monday friends!
I know I had a bit of trouble getting myself into work this morning, especially with the nasty weather. Hope it wasn't too bad for all of you.
My housemate from last year just put up some shots from one of our last nights out in Ottawa before coming home for the summer and I thought I could share a cute (and a little amateur-hour) outfit shot with you!

Shirt: J Crew and I love it, it looks like an abstract watercolour, especially up close.

Shoes: super on sale at Urban Planet a couple years ago and are my go to night out shoes because they are so comfy but still high enough to make me feel sexy

Everything else: old enough that I really cant remember where it all came from

I hope to be back with a DIY or two this week!

~Be Inspired~

Temps

2011-05-11T00:09:00.001-04:00

Seeing as it was my first day at my new job as a summer temp I thought a fun feature on fashionable temporary additions would be appropriate.

I first thought of the idea when I saw this article on Cosmopolitan.com

Temporary Lip tattoos are apparently the new "fashion challenge"; who can pull it off?!

I think the pink one is pretty cute but I don't think I can pull it off...

Other more traditional temps:

Nails

High fashion via Sophy Robson

More of a do it yourself option :)

Skin

Love this photo, Chanel has a couple to choose from

Henna is a fun thing to get into with your artsy friends

Yes, that's my hand!

Hair Extensions

I kid :P

Feather extensions! With a tutorial here on how to do it at home

That's all for now folks, have a great Wednesday!!

~Be Inspired~

Outfit Post - Maxi Dress

2011-05-08T18:32:00.004-04:00

As promised I am sharing outfit posts now that its spring and I can actually look cute! I am 5'5" and I went for the maxi dress look, which means ANYONE can do it!!

What I'm wearing:
- Calvin Klein jean jacket (think I got it at Costco actually)
- My sister's H&M sandals (also some random black flats which she decided was not ideal)
- Striped maxi dress from Winners! I love that place
- Necklace from Cuba in 2008

Jane Soper, my brilliant photographer sister, has agreed to help me out this summer with photo shoots! I'm super excited and you should be too!

My sister was doing my photography for me and decided I was too stiff... then things got a little silly.

Those ones at least don't show my stupid faces or crazy hair :P

Thanks for stopping by, maybe I'll have a finished project ready for you tomorrow!

~Be Inspired~

When life gets in the way

2011-05-07T19:47:00.000-04:00

I feel terrible every time I think of the fact I haven't been on here since APRIL! If anyone still cares, here is what has been keeping me away for so long:

- I finished my third year of University, exams and all (woot!!)

- I packed all of my posessions into a minivan (minus a few sad items that didnt make the space limit cut)

- I drove said minivan full of all of my posessions and furniture to Toronto

- Where I convinced my parents it wasnt that much stuff and they could store it for me. (Love you Mom!)

- I finalized my contract for my summer job, which I start on Tuesday

- I went to to the fabric store and bought some great fabric for upcoming projects!

Look at all that!

This will be a dress

Purse

Skirt for work

I am very excited!

~Be Inspired~

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T18:22:00.001-04:00

Happy Easter for those who care and for everyone else happy Spring :)

Yay for those of us with chocolate, my family was nice enough to visit me this weekend!