The Best DIY Manicure .... Sophy Robson Manicure

I do my own manicure and always looking for ways to achieve more professional results. No questions, it take some practice for the best result, but it is not only about the practice. It is important to have the knowledge of how the best professionals in the industry do it. When you know the right technique, it can save a lot of time and aggravation.

I am not talking here about prepping my nails before applying a nail polish. It is the easy part. I am talking about actual painting. This part of the manicure process can be very exciting and disappointing at the same time. Exciting, because all that expectation about a new color.  Disappointing, because it may not look as neat as I wanted it to be.

The best tips on how to do the best nail painting I got from watching Sophy Robson youtube video. Sophy Robson is the most popular London's manicurist who creates amazing manicures for prestigious fashion shows and glossy magazine's photo shoots. After I watched her video, I realized that her technique was quite different than mine, if I can call my home grown effort a technique at all. Leave alone the difference between her final result and mine. After I learned Sophy Robson's technique, I never went back to what I was doing before.

So, here is the video, and if you are observant and ready to try how she does it, you may be surprised on how helpful her tips are and how relatively easy it is to make your manicure time much more enjoyable with results you were looking for. For example, I learned to start applying my nail polish by tapping the brush a couple of times at the base of the nail, which prevents too much of nail polish into the cuticle area. Also, she explained that it is important not to apply too much pressure to the brush, which may cause some pulling of the polish.

Another tricky thing for me was to understand as to how much of the polish I needed for each nail.  I have heard before that it should not be too much of polish on the brush for each nail, but how much is too much? To my surprise, Sophy Robson was taking quite a bit of a polish each time she dipped her brush into the bottle of polish, much more than I did.  Looking at her manicure, it was easy for me to conclude that she was doing it right way, not I. Anyway, I thought this video covers a lot of basics of professional manicure, and if it helped me, it may also be helpful to those of you who want to do it better as well. Let me know what you think! 


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Silk Scarves ... or DIY After Shopping in My Own Closet

 If you like square silk scarves the way I do, you probably have more than one in your closet.  A couple of months ago, in August, I posted one video tutorial on How to Style Scarves Parisian Way  All scarves in the video were pretty large, I think they were about 41" squares and over.  This is exactly why those girls could drape them so well with generous knots in a luxurious non nonchalant way.

I wanted to do the same, went to my closet and pulled some of my scarves.  Then I realized that among a dozen of my beautiful silk squares I had only one scarf that I could work with the way I wanted, because this was the only large 43" square I have.

So, what do I do now? I have a lot of silk scarves, here are  some of them  but they are smaller than I need for the fall season.  I just had to find the way to style them the new way, at least some of them.

I decided to experiment.  Simple logic was telling me that if I have a lot of 34" squares, I can connect two scarves together and make a large scarf.  I just had to find the way to connect them so it looks nice.  I decided to give it a try.

First, I chose two scarves that I thought would look good together.  Then I went to  youtube  and learned how to do invisible seam on silk scarves.  Finally I put two scarves together by connecting them on one side with invisible stitch.  The result was even more than I expected. I LOVED IT.

My two square scarves became pretty much a silk shawl that I can drape anyway I want!  The interesting thing is that as long as color scheme of both scarves complement each other, it works, no matter how different those patterns are on each individual scarf.  Also, I liked that I did not ruin any of my scarves since I did not have to cut them.  If I decide to go back to the original two 34" silk scarves, I can easily remove my hand stitched connecting seam and voila!

After the success with my first two scarves, I found two more that I wanted to put together and I did.  I am happy to share my experimental DIY results with you.

Scarf #1

 Scarf #2

 Two scarves together

 Here is the closer look of my invisible seam, I used burgundy colored silk thread. Can you tell?

Voila!

I liked the result so much that could not stop and kept going...
 
Scarf #3

Scarf #4

One more!

The are many ways to style the scarf when it is in generous size. For this last pictures, I used the variation of one of my favorite style, and tied it  this way

If you will decided to give it a try, the only tip I can offer is to use good quality silk tread. This is what makes the seam disappear, regardless of the thread color.  I used Kimono Silk Thread #100  Japanese silk from   Superior Threads   and could not be more pleased with the result.


See you next Thursday, November 1, 2012!



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Ribbon and Gold Leather Bracelet ... DIY

When I saw this collage showing the gold tubes bracelet designed by french jewelry maker Marion Vidal, I thought that this was genius to use metal tubes and weave in wide ribbon.  It also looked so good on Blake Lively (collage courtesy of  Mode Walk )

I decided to make my own version of the bracelet by using gold colored pieces of the leather (2.5" x 2") and 1" wide grosgrain ribbon.   For the closure I used the same toggle closure I use on all my DIY bracelets.  Look HERE

SO, here is my process:
1. I made 5 "tubes" our of my 2.5"x2" pieces of gold leather using a thread and a needle.  You also can use a metal tubes, if you can find it.  For me it was easier to use the leather and I did not want this bracelet to be heavy.

2. Then I took two pieces of 1" wide ribbon and 24" long each, and started weaving in and out of each "tube"as I show on my diagram, through all five tubes, leaving some length for the closure.

3. Then I adjusted the length of the bracelet to fit my wrist and attached the closure with thread and a needle.  Voila!

See you next Thursday, September 13! Pin It

White Leather Clutch ... DIY

 As you may noticed, the latest fashion shows dominated with everything feminine.  This feminine trend was underlined even more with three elements: the clutch bag, belt and gloves.

Personally, I think that no matter how masculine your outfit is, but as long as you have a clutch bag, you look much more elegant and feminine.

I already talked about white color and its  increasing popularity during fall/winter season.  Especially WHITE ACCESSORIES   which I absolutely love wearing during fall/winter and think it is very chic.

Back in May of this year, I made a picture of my DIY Large Leather Clutch when I styled my silk bead DIY bracelet  Today I will share more pictures of my white leather clutch with red suede liner and my original pattern.

My White Leather Large Clutch became one of my favorite.  This DIY project was not really complicated to do.  Absolutely similar to my LEATHER POUCH DIY project that I already shared with you.  The only difference is that I increased the size of my pattern.  Also, my interfacing (fabric I used to reinforce the shape of the clutch) was much heavier than I used for my leather pouches.  For my large leather clutch I used real suede as my liner, instead of fabric.  I really wanted to have luxurious clutch from inside out, and I could not be happier with the final result. 

 1. Large Leather Clutch  12" 8"x 2.5"

2. Instruments you need: leather, textile liner or suede like I used in this clutch, heavy-weight interfacing, hammer, rivets, kit for making holes in the leather, kit to set rivets, leather glue

3. Pattern for the Large Clutch.  You need to cut 2 pieces from leather, for front and back of the clutch, see measurements on the picture.  Little wholes on the perimeter shows position of the rivets and I have 1" space between my rivets holes.  Note positions of 3 magnets. 

4.  Pattern for the liner (2 pcs).  Cut 2 pcs from the material chose for your liner.  The same pattern I used to cut out 2 pcs from interfacing fabric to glue between the leather and your liner to insure your leather pouch will hold its shape well.

5. Leather strip for the inside of the clutch to cover magnets at the top (2pcs).  I cut this from red leather to blend with my red suede liner.

6. Top, side and bottom views of the clutch so you can see the way I attached all pieces together.

 



Let me know if you were inspired to make your version of leather clutch and if this was helpful.
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Tribal Sweater for Fall/Winter 2012/13 ... History of My DIY

There are two prominent fashion trends for this Fall/Winter 2012/13 season that are very suitable for again popular knits.  This is  Tribal   and  Large Flowers    trends.  I already shared with you my Large Flowers Sweater  that I made a long time ago, so long that it became vintage, and since it made from wool, nothing happened to it and it looks as good as new.   My second example  is this cardigan, that I knitted from wool also a long time ago.  As you can see, it is right on Tribal trend that is so popular this fall, including increasing popularity of chunky knits.

It is true that this kind of DIY knitting projects are very time consuming.  When I first saw this pattern in the magazine, I was not even sure if I can do it.  However, I liked it so much, that I just started doing it, without thinking how long it might take to finish.  I was on the mission, I wanted to have this kind of piece.... and I did it.  My persistence paid off.  I enjoyed this unique cardigan for many years already, and now this kind of tribal pattern is crazy popular again.

Share with me if you have similar projects that stood the test of time!

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Chunky Knits and Flowers for Fall/Winter 2012/13... History of My DIY

I made this sweater lo-o-ong time ago. With the trend of chunky knits and large flowers print this Fal/Winter 2012/13, I will be wearing this oversized sweater a lot,  as soon as the cold front from Canada will push down our temperature close to 40F. 

Many-many years ago, when I found this beautiful flowers pattern in the magazine, I decided to make this wool sweater, no matter what.  Although, I was not sure if I will be able to finish it, because it looked very complicated.  When doing knitting project like that, with colorful pattern, it does require a lot of patience and very time consuming.  However, I did finish that project and now, every time when cold weather season comes, I am very happy to have this TIMELESS piece made by myself.  Soon it will become vintage.  The fact is, such classic elements as flowers, black color, chunky knits - never out of style, really.  Only when it is in style, like this coming fall, much more people will be wearing this combination, and when fashion designers will swith to somethign else, piece like this will be even more unique. 
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Idea for Knitting DIY... Burgundy Sweater

Between  Fall/Winter 2012-2013 trend   on burgundy and leather and my prized possession  burgundy Chanel 2.55 bag you can say that I have burgundy moment this season.  I knew this color is coming back, so I knitted this sweater and now cannot wait for the cooler weather to come when I can wear it.

The reason I called it an "idea for knitting DIY" is because I am not really explaining how to complete this project from the beginning to the end.  However, those who do knit, will know how I did it just by looking at the picture.  I made a design of this sweater with wide collar and really like how it came out.  I decided on emphasizing wide sweater collar even more with additional embellishment - rope I knitted out of very thin lurex yarn.  This is just another idea for upcoming Fall/Winter and endless opportunities in DIY world.   


Back View  
Snake-like design running down the center line is the same knitted lurex rope that I used to embellish my wide sweater collar in the front 

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DIY... Large Leather Pockets

Last year I was frantically looking for the bright orange skirt before going to my tropical vacation in the middle of February.  Believe it or not, the orange color was not as hot as it is this year and I had hard time finding what I was looking for.  Finally, I found this bright orange H&M skirt, but it looked different when I bought it, it had no pockets that you see on my picture.  So, I bought this skirt, absolutely loved the color, but I felt that this skirt was missing some interesting details, it was a little bit boring to my taste at that time.  I decided that I need large pockets on this skirt, simple square large pockets, and then, maybe, it will look the way I like it.  When I started thinking of my material choices for those pockets, any textiles did not look right and I decided to make my pockets out of the red leather I had left form another project.  After I made my decision on the material for the pockets, the rest was easy.  I cut out two large leather squares, positioned them on my skirt the way I want and stitched it on by hand.

It is interesting to watch how large pockets trend has evolved and this season large pockets showing on everything.  This is the second season I have my DIY large red leather pockets orange skirt and still love it.  I loved it so much that I even attached two leather pockets to one of my black cotton cardigan too.  The only difference was that I made my black pockets not square but different shape, simply because the leather scraps I had were shaped this way.  Still loving it.

Can you go wrong with leather pockets?

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DIY... Leather Pouch

Leather pouches are useful accessories.  If you one of those who like to challenge yourself in the next DIY project, this one maybe for you.  I created this design that has minimal number of pattern pieces for easy execution and I made my leather pouches from lamb leather, which is not very thick and can be sewn even with a regular sewing machine.  However, for the different look I used metal rivets to attach pieces of front and back wall together.  I also used glue and interfacing material between the liner and the leather to reinforce the shape of the pouch.

I made my leather pouches in four different sizes, from small to large. Here I will provide my pattern for the medium size pouch, but it is easy to adjust to smaller or larger size.  Easiest way to adjust pattern for different size is to do it in increment of 1" on the perimeter.  For the closure I used one round magnet that I inserted at the top of the pouch, between the main pattern piece of the leather and the leather strip on the inside that I used to make nice finish on the top of my textile liner (pic. 6 and pic. 7 of the final look.)  My pattern for the trim for the textile liner (pic. 5) shows the position of the magnet.

1. Medium Size Leather Pouch 9"x4"x2"

2. Instruments you need: leather. textile liner, medium-weight interfacing, hammer, rivets, kit for making holes in the leather, kit to set rivets, leather glue

3. Pattern for Medium Size pouch.  You need to cut 2 pieces from leather:  Front and Back.  Little wholes show position of the rivets. 

4.  Pattern of the liner (2 pcs).  The same pattern I used to cut out 2 pcs from interfacing fabric to glue between the leather and your liner to insure your leather pouch will hold its shape well. 

5. Leather strip for the inside at the top (2pcs). Note position for the magnet.

6. Top, side and bottom views so you can see the way I attached all pieces together.
 

7.

8.

9.

Let me know if you were inspired to make leather accessories and if this was helpful.

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DIY... Roll Up Case for Cosmetic Brushes

Yesterday I shared with you how I love my cosmetic brushes from  Sonya Kashuk  Today I will share my easy DIY project, the Roll Up case for my cosmetic brushes.

If you have cosmetic brushes, you have to store them somehow, especially when traveling.  I had purchased the case with little slots for each brush.  It was not working really well, because as I was adding new brushes, some of them did not fit allotted space in that case and I had to carry those brushes separately anyway.  After observing the makeup artists, I noticed that while they are working, they keep their brushes pretty much on a rectangle cloth, like a small towel, and then when they are done,  they simply roll up the cloth with brushes, tie it up and ready to go.  I liked that system much better, so here is my DIY version of the roll up case for my cosmetic brushes.   

First, I needed a cloth with some weight to it.  To avoid extra work buying the fabric, then stitching it and finishing the edges, I took an existing small cloth bag.  It happened to be a bag from a leather wallet I bought at  Moda Operandi   Then I pulled out bag's ties, and attached (stitched) one tie at the center of the bottom of the bag, leaving one end of the ribbon longer that another.  That is all.

I absolutely love this case because it is washable, keeps my brushes free of dust and easily accommodate all of my brushes, regardless of the handles size and number of brushes I need to fit in.

Now I can simply spread out all my brushes as I use them, which allows me to find the brush I need quick and easy, and then when I am done, simple roll up and tie get all things together in my neat package.  I even like to tie a pretty bow, because it looks beautiful on my bath counter. 

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