Tag Archives: me and mine

Strawberry Cheesecake

No, I’m not going to write a recipe of a strawberry cheesecake. Not because I don’t want to –I would love to – but because I am horrible in the kitchen. That is, I am basically useless. My talents, as you already know, lie somewhere else. For example, next to the sewing machine… or to a stitching kit… or next to electroencephalography. But today, we won’t be talking about brains, though some people might have gotten the color metaphor. We’ll be talking about stitching and embellishing instead.

 

Well, guys, if you are stressed out I’d highly recommend some knitting or stitching to you. Did you know that monotonous work decreases the stress level? It does! I checked it tw… lots of times! You should really try it. But then again, if stitching or knitting stresses you out, I’d suggest you should really focus on watching the fish. 🙂

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Black and White. Part II

When I don’t feel like brooding over the combinability of my tops and bottom I usually reach for a dress. Or something black-and-white. Whatever the pattern, as long as it’s black-and-white, it’s always a go. I’d put on coloful shoes and scarves and I am good to go.

This spring I extended my black-and-white wardrobe, having sewn several skirts and tops. Today’s post features two patterned skirts and a long-sleeve T-shirt.

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This skirt is very simple. I didn’t even line it as I meant to wear it in summer on an everyday basis. Taking into account the composition of the fabric (cotton-elastane blend) and the cut, it’s also not very likely to ride up. Moreover, I’ve already got several slips, so I decided to go for a linen-free skirt.

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One Dress, Three Looks

Some people hate neon colors and in many cases they are right. When I first sewed this dress, my brother-in-law told me: “Change into something neutral, please, you make my eýes hurt.”
Impolite as it was, it was also to some extent reasonalbe: people should respect other people. Thus, I had to consider some outfits that could be wearable without the assistance of seeing aid .

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I was not really worried about my co-workers, as the lab environment presupposes not the best mood. My colorful dress was thus a happy change and a “shot of sun”. Besides, scientists are pretty strange people (I guess, everybody is familiar with the Big Bang Theory). So, I was only worried about the rare casual occasions without the lab. Now, let’s have a look at the looks (:)) and decide whether they have a right for existence.
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Outfit for a Classical Music Night

Last Friday we went to a philharmonic concert. I promise to review that later but today I will tell you about my outfit for the concert.

It is important to assess the audience beforehand as you don’t want to find yourselves completely overdressed in a crowd of pretty casual people. This is exactly what awaits you here. Nevertheless, you still want to have that flare of going out. A cocktail dress being out of question, I decided to go for some fresh colors and pulled my favorite pair of Joop! pants out of the closet. What followed felt like a brainstorm.

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My Wedding Dress

Long before SATC the movie II, we got married twice. Not like Pamela Anderson repeatedly married her husbands, but first, we got married at the city hall and second (two years later), in a church. I was rather a non-bridal bride back in 2008, wearing a black dress, which is why I decided to be a real bride the second time around and wear something gorgeous. We are talking about me, right? So, buying a dress never seemed to be an option. My mother insisted on having it sewn rather than sewing it myself. “It’s an omen,” she said “to sew your own wedding dress.” Well, I thought that I’d already been married for two years and went for creating it myself. And I was right!
After a couple of weeks brooding over the pattern I came upon this Carolina Herrera dress.

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The whole crochet dress was a little bit too much for me, but a skirt having similar “scales” felt like a right and pretty extraordinary choice. I tried different patterns and materials and finally chose silk organza (6 meters), satin and organza ribbons (about one kilometer) and pearls (no idea, how many). First, I made several samples of a “scale” using simple stitching, embroidering, ribbon stitching. Then, out of several samples I chose the one that looked best and required the minimum of effort (relatively, of course). Finally, I made a sample of the skirt, cut it into “scales” and calculated the time it would take me to make them. Three months. Well, it took me four months to make them. And it was worth it! My husband loved my outfit and was telling EVERYBODY that I made it myself. I will stop talking about it right now. I’ll just show it.
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Two in one. Oh, sorry, three!

I bought some nice mint-colored piqué fabric for a jacket. Two years passed and was still no nice mint-colored piqué jacket in my closet, and there was a trip dawning on me… I improvised and cut a coat. And for the sake of parsominy (of my effort, of course!), I decided to use the same pattern for two more coats. Well, with some alternations, for sure. The sandwich child was already featured in this blog , while the rest is quite a novelty. The mint-colored one is a darling! I love it so much that I am not sure if it survives a year. Ok, it has better survival chances that the skirt, yet I am doing my best to even those up.

By the way, as I bought this fabric for a jacket, it was also enough for a jacket. I improvised again! Now you see a nice mint-colored piqué coat with mint-colored water-proof sleeves and facing.

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My Take on the Sneakers

I tried to stay away from my blogs while finalizing my thesis. Guess what! It’s still far from being finalized.  (an exhausted smiley is banging HER head against the wall here) So, welcome me back among the non-scientific living! It’s Christmas, Baby!

Before I tell you the tales of my Journey to Frankfurt and my birthday, with the Christmas stories to follow, I’ll revisit the warm fall days. My  most favorite fall look always included a pair of sneakers. Not that I have never done it before, but this fall I was completely justified in my habit to pair sneakers and skirts.

The first combi consists of my 2014 favorite neopren skirt, a stepped top (both by tally_zhiv) and a pair of sketchers

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Spiritless Writing

The scientist in me went into seclusion to finish the doctoral thesis and promised to kill everybody who interferes with it. So the artsy guy in me has a free hand until the end of October. So, from now on (until the end of October) you will have to read about completely spiritless things like my dresses, skirts and make up. Don’t get me wrong! I’m not sewing them right now – I am virtually writing non-stop – I’ve sewn A LOT over the years. So, guys, get some popcorn and coke. It’ll take a lot of time.

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