Month: February 2015

Gathe-red

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Gathered Skirt

Full skirt-Enang Ukoh

Hey beautiful people!

So I know I make a lot of skirts but I’m really not sorry. Winter has forced me into a rotating schedule of long sleeves, sweaters and pants. While that’s not all together horrible it gets boring after a while you know. I need to stick it to the weather and expand my skirt collection, I shall overcome!red midi skirt

This time I decided to make this gorgeous gathered skirt and I felt it came out really nice! I was inspired by a skirt my sister has and had hoped to make this a midi skirt but the amount of fabric I had wouldn’t have allowed that happen, nevertheless I am satisfied.

Red skirt- Enang Ukoh-Begin

Making it was relatively easy, I cut out a rectangle 3 times the circumference of my waist (lessons learned from my first midi skirt). After that I set my sewing machine to the largest straight stitch setting and sewed along the edge so I could gather the skirt. After gathering, the rest was simply putting the ends together. I included a zipper which was a little difficult but not horribly so and I finished it off with a little pearl button. Overall I would rate the difficulty a 4/10.

Turtle neck and Skirt- BeginOoo, well this is completely unrelated but I’m really loving the flat twist crown in my hair…Made me feel very princessy 🙂

 

Pictures by Willyverse

Are you woman enough?

Published on by maksu20133 Comments

Womanhood

Processed with VSCOcam with b5 preset

I’ve always found the title “woman” troubling. More so in my teens than now, nevertheless it is a concept I am still negotiating. I’ve always felt more like a girl, a girl has minimal responsibilities, a girl can do so much more than a woman can. A woman is tied to social expectations and must conform or she will be shamed. A girl could conform to social expectations but the most she would get for deviating from the norm is a cautioning word, likely from the women around her.

I simply could not understand why people were so quick to thrust that word “woman” on me, and I was even more confused about why some people were so eager to adopt it. Cotton ball boobs does not a woman make! It must be earned, I felt. I still do really. A thirteen year old no matter how mature she may look or act is a G-I-R-L! Maybe one or two people may differ but for the majority I say girl.

She is a girl because she has likely achieved little. A woman is accomplished and has much to be proud of. A girl does not have the burden of making tough decisions (except of course between which teen pop sensation would grace her wall next). A woman must make many difficult decisions and she does so with grace. A woman carries great responsibility and exudes confidence with every step.

Then of course there’s me, straddling this fence. Not quite a woman but slowly leaving the carefree ways of a girl behind. I’m not entirely sure I’m ready to be a woman though, its far too grand. I like these inbetweenities where I can watch both phases and simply exist outside of the trappings of either.

Now as I am not yet a woman I can not speak from experience on what it means but I have had plenty experience being a girl and maybe I am idealizing womanhood. I certainly blame all the women in my life for setting such high standards, however maybe I just don’t know the struggle. Maybe every woman is just a girl in high heels, playing a part for the world’s applause. Maybe this is what I am wobbling towards, greatly unsure but faking it till I make it.

All is well

Shifty

Published on by maksu2013Leave a comment

Holiday Shift Dress

Shift dress-begin-Enang-Ukoh

Heya!! and *cough* happy new year!

I know that I have been away for more than a minute but I’m back!!! I needed time to re-energize and come back better than ever 🙂 . Anyhow, before the holiday season was really over I had to sneak in one holiday outfit :D. I felt it was the perfect New Year’s party dress but it would really work for everyday life. I fell in love with the colors and the pattern on this fabric at the store and was a little disappointed because it seemed that it was just a sample size. I was also really disappointed because I had been hunting down a fabric like this for a while. I quickly forgot about it and kept looking for other things in the store when my sister surfaces with the roll of fabric. Excited doesn’t begin to describe how I felt! (in my best new york accent) “It really warmed my heart!”

Sheath dress- Enang Ukoh Begin
I just had to do the exposed zipper

 

Anyhow, when I got home I wasted no time cranking this baby out. It took a few days and plenty of adjustments but I’m really happy with my results! My main challenges with this outfit were the darts and the sleeves. I’m yet to master this science of darts so its always trial and error for me. If anyone has a formula for them I would really appreciate that! Then  the sleeves. (oh boy!) I had initially planned to have a regular short sleeve but for whatever reason as I started sewing I changed my mind and made it a cap sleeve. Now this shouldn’t have been a problem except I couldn’t get both sleeves to match. I honestly don’t know why these things happen to me. Anyhow after much fiddling, undoing and redoing, I finally got them to a tolerable resemblance. My excuse? sleeves shouldn’t be twins they should be sisters 😀 (same excuse I use when I mess up my cat eye)

Shift dress-enang Ukoh

I can see my self dressing this up for a semi-formal event or dressing it down for…well something less formal. Also, as I would be entering the workforce soon, is this the kind of dress one would wear to any work related function? I have a few other outfits brewing so expect me to ask this question a couple more times, but I guess I want to make my transition from student to worker as smooth and fashionable as possible.

Pictures by: Willyverse