Month: August 2018

And if not? | Custom infinity dress part 2

Published on by maksu2013Leave a comment

DIY Infinity dress

Hi Guys!

It might be Tuesday but I have not forgotten you. I’m just staying busy and trying to be as productive as possible. Can you believe it’s almost the end of August?! Where did summer go? Technically it’s still summer till I have to break out the cozy sweaters but all these Back to School ads are giving me anxiety even though I’m not going to school this September. In a few short weeks I’ll be 24 which also has me breaking out in stress sweat. I’ll have to unpack that later.

Today, we are here with an update on the infinity dress and – (drumroll please) – we are pretty close to done this week! I have added the lining to the skirt portion and attached this to the top. All that’s left at this point is adding in the zipper, hemming the lining and finishing any raw edges on the inside and of course, a fitting!

The “tails” of this dress still need to be cleaned up

I’m not going to lie, I’m slightly nervous about the fitting. I am very actively trying to banish all self doubt and just be confident that I did this right. It’s like those cooking shows where you’re not allowed to taste as you go. When I sew for myself, I try things on constantly, tweak and adjust as I go. By the time the outfit is complete, I have tried it on at least 4-7 times to make sure everything fits like it should. I’ve mounted this outfit on my mannequin which is set to my client’s measurements but nothing’s quite like trying out the outfit to see how you feel in it you know?

Now this leads me to wonder, is there a time for us to go on faith not feeling? (ooo you better preach gurl!) But seriously, knowing how you feel is very reassuring but what about just trusting that the outcome will be good even if you don’t know how you feel? OR trusting that the outcome will be good even if you feel otherwise? In today’s world we are definitely very heavily directed by how we feel. Everything is a vibe, a gut instinct or in Nina Simone’s words; “Just a feeling”. While I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing, it’s certainly easier than making decisions purely based on faith in an outcome.

Experimenting with a few ways to tie the waist band

Now lets take this one level deeper, do you have faith even in the absence of your expected end? To lay that out in practical terms, let’s imagine I’m waiting on the streetcar on a rainy day. First of all, my feeling would be to stay in my house, under my covers, away from all of damp civilization. My next feeling would be to Uber because the streetcar on a rainy day is particularly putrid. Nonetheless I have faith that the streetcar will come and be my cost effective solution to getting to work (my expected end). However, what if the streetcar never comes. It’s come on other days at other times so I know it exists. I’ve seen other streetcars pass by picking up passengers on the other side of the street so I know the process still works like I expect it to. However, what if my streetcar never comes? Do I still have enough faith to walk out the next morning with the expectation that it will?

Yes, the dress will have a slit, just an incognito slit

I don’t necessarily have the answers to any of these questions; this is just where my mind wandered to today. Wish me luck on the dress fitting! Hopefully she loves it.

Let me know in the comments what’s on your mind today.

A work in progress | Custom infinity dress – part 1

Published on by maksu20132 Comments

Celebrating in the hallway

Hi guys!

My apologies for the missed post last week but I’m back again! Just a quick update, I have finally booked my road test (ahhhh!) I am taking some more driving classes to prepare for the test. Hopefully all goes well and I am certified to drive in about 6 weeks. My first driving lesson didn’t go horribly but it certainly wasn’t great so I have some ways to go.

Learning to drive has definitely been an ordeal for me. I’m still not sure how people get completely comfortable with it. Speaking of things outside my comfort zone, I am also  making a dress for someone other than myself once again!! You might remember the first time I blogged about making a wedding dress, now I’m making a dress for a wedding guest. It’s all come full circle I suppose.

I’ll be making an infinity dress which means she’ll have a few different options on how to wear this dress. The dress is not complete however I wanted to take you all along on the journey with me. I typically post finished products and hardly ever show the process to completion. So far I have made the top portion of the dress which would be the “Infinity” portion. This consists of two strips, 10 inches wide and about 60 inches long. In this case, she wanted to play up the scalloped edges on the beaded lace fabric so I decided to tie it on my mannequin in a way that would showcase this detail. I will keep you updated as I build out the rest of this dress.

Sometimes it feels like, sharing your process is only okay when you know how the story ends. There is vulnerability in sharing the process when you don’t know if everything will be okay. On the one hand things could go flawlessly and you make very few mistakes but on the other hand, things may not work out how you want them to. Then what do you do? I believe you can  still celebrate the process even when it doesn’t work out how you want. This falls neatly in line with my theme for this year which has been about living in the moment. Living in the moment means taking each step in the process like it’s the only one, reveling in the progression if you will.

Celebrating the finished product is great but it often misses much of the drama and emotion that got you there. Perhaps this is why I find occasions like graduations a little underwhelming. You are supposed to celebrate however many years of an education by walking across the stage and smiling. What if smiling doesn’t encapsulate all of the emotion that went into your degree? How do you fit in the smiles, tears, hugs, good grades, bad grades, relationships, breakups, weight gain, successes and failures in a 2 minute walk across the stage? However, if you take the time to appreciate each step and experience in your journey; good or bad, its certainly a more holistic way to celebrate

All of this being said, I will keep you updated when I make the skirt portion of this outfit and any future milestones towards completion.

Another way to tie the top

Let me know in the comments what step in your journey you are celebrating today ❤

 

Mo Money – No problem?

Published on by maksu20131 Comment

Financial education or the lack thereof

Hi guys!

How are you all doing? Week off to a good start? If yes, wiggle your shoulders; if no, celebrate the people who are having a good start, your better days are ahead. Lately I’ve been watching a few channels of people who are getting out of debt and I find it so inspiring. While I’m not in debt (Thank God), I feel so much joy watching other people get financial freedom. However the one common thread I have noticed is that people don’t always get into debt cause they were “irresponsible with their money” contrary to what I believed. I have found that it often starts with an inevitable expense such as school, a medical bill or a lifestyle that you could once afford but no longer can; that snowballs with interest into an intimidating number that gives you anxiety.

I am always concerned about the stunning lack of financial education that I have received. I feel like I’m always a foul step away from doing lasting damage to my finances! It’s such a frustrating feeling because it seems like everything is mapped out till graduation but somebody forgot to mention the financial implications of that process or the life you will be embarking on. Yes you are earning a decent salary and that’s dandy but what next? Also don’t get me started on how taboo it is to talk about! You can’t ask someone in your field openly about how much they earn. We would rather go to Glassdoor -which is a great resource- to get the very same answer. We don’t speak openly about how people got into debt or even just the fact that you may be broke even though you’re working at a “really great job”. We live on credit so we can have a credit score and then proceed to die a slow death on credit because collections calls you religiously every week demanding a price much larger than what you actually spent.

I think talking about money is the next coming of age talk that everyone needs to have. We rightfully made such a big fuss about having the sex talk with pre-teens and adolescents so that they make informed decisions about their bodies and are aware of the changes ahead of them. We really need another “talk” for young adults. We need to demystify finances and speak more openly about our relationship with money and our mistakes. The system is certainly not built to support open communication on financial management but if we all share our lessons then maybe fewer people will feel so alone with the consequences of their financial decisions.

So here are some of my financial questions and if you have answers I’d love to hear them

  1. Why do we file taxes and why do we get money back when we do?
  2. Where can I check my credit score?
  3. Does checking your credit score really hurt your credit score? (This seems counter intuitive but I’ve heard it)
  4. When should you start investing?
  5. Who should you talk to about investing?
  6. What can you invest in?
  7. Has anyone tried WealthSimple? Is it really intuitive? Is it truly “simple” to understand?
  8. What’s the best kind of credit card?
  9. What interest rate is reasonable for a savings account?
  10. How much do you need to save to own a home?
  11. Can you buy a home without a mortgage? If no, what’s the best kind of mortgage? [Best for me in this case would be defined as something that I’m not stuck paying for the rest of my life.]
  12. How do other people manage a budget? I’ve tried Excel but it just felt like a lot of work to maintain.
  13. When/how do you start saving for retirement?
  14. Do I need to set up a pension account?
  15. How do I separate what I’m saving for? Once my emergency fund is set up, what next?

Some helpful resources I’ve found online are

  • The financial diet: They share helpful tips on managing money and are a great launching pad to start having some slightly more informed discussions on money
  • Aja Dang: She is working to pay off her debt right now and is sharing her journey in detail. She also has a budget template available
  • Levo League: This is more career related than directly financial however there are some interesting articles that could help bridge the gap.

I’d love to hear for you. What money questions do you have? Also, if you have answers to anything I asked above please help your girl out 🙂