crafts

DIY: T-shirt Dress

11:09 PM


As promised from a couple posts back, here's my blog post about the striped dress I made, shown here:


I have actually been on the hunt for a striped dress for a while, so when I was in Sew-Low Fabrics the other day (they were having a 30% off clearance sale because they're closing and I couldn't help myself) I decided it was the perfect opportunity for me to finally get that striped dress I had been searching for.

I purchased a yard of the fabric, and I only have a few scraps left over, which I might use to make my roommate a dinosaur stuffed toy.

To make the dress:

I used a t-shirt that I had lying around that was slightly loose on me to make the pattern for the bodice. I had made darts into this pattern piece before, but because I wanted this to look super casual and slouchy, I left it un-darted, which just simplified the sewing process and minimize the stress for matching up the stripes!

After I sewed up the top shoulder pieces, I laid the bodice out so that I could use the arm hole to make the sleeves. This is the first time I've ever made sleeves, and I'd say it was pretty successful! I used a different part of the fabric so the stripes didn't match up, and I can't decide if I like it this way better or if I should have made a bigger effort to match up the stripes and make it look like one almost-seamless piece of fabric. 

For the skirt, I just cut out a big rectangle and gathered it slightly, then sewed it to the end of the bodice. I tried very hard to match up the side seams so that all the stripes match up - this is a running trend, obviously. I'm a little bit OCD about this, if you can't tell.

And it was done! There's only 7 seams to this dress, so it was a super-easy patternless dress.

Here's the full body shot of the dress and me wearing it! I decided to wear it with a belt because the dress overall is pretty loose on me, and I like it when my clothes have a little bit more shape. I will probably at some point wear it without the belt as well (most likely when I have to roll out of bed for an early class in the coming semester!). 




chameleon

Tattoo #2: Lotus Flower!

10:25 PM

This past Saturday, I got myself another tattoo.

I once read a beautiful old Chinese piece of writing about lotus flowers, way back in middle school in Shanghai. It talked about the strength and beauty of the lotus flower, and how it symbolizes surviving and thriving through adversity because of how it grows out of mud. The author believes the lotus flower to be a superior flower to others, and that we should all strive to be like lotus flowers.

For some unknown reason, this piece of writing has always resonated with me. It is one of the few things I was forced to memorize in school that I can still remember. I always found it beautiful and passionate, and while I don't believe in denouncing other flowers to raise the level of the lotus, I think that many of the points the author made were beautiful and valid.

I wanted to get something that could commemorate that.

More importantly, I've now become a senior at MIT and I finally finished the last of my studios - I chose to opt out of the final one because I wanted to take the last two semesters and see what else MIT had to offer (and also because I finally decided to prioritize my mental health). To sum it up, I had some pretty dark times the last year, and I wanted to get something that could commemorate my perseverance through those times where I thought it wouldn't get better.


So here it is! I decided to have it done on the back of my right ankle, because I liked the idea of having the lotus upright and sprouting from the ground, and I wanted a tattoo on the right side of my body to offset my first tattoo on my left wrist. I'm super happy with it! 

Experience wise, I didn't find it significantly more painful than my first, although it was more uncomfortable because it's a bigger tattoo (obviously). However, it stung longer than my wrist tattoo, which didn't hurt at all after it had been finished. Also, the scabbing is itchier than the one from my wrist, but that might also be because it's bigger. 

Now what should I get next?

family

Today's my Mama's 50th Birthday!!!!

8:39 AM

Happy birthday mama!!

For those of you who don't know, my mama's a pretty cool lady who grew up in adversity (Communist Mao China, anyone?) and is now a boss. Like a boss as in she's really awesome, but also literally a boss. She did a bunch of pretty cool things like have her own business in the telecommunications industry, gotten a pretty nice big handful of patents, switched careers for fun, opened a school... you know, things that everyone else's mom does too (not)!

My mama's pretty special. I like her a lot.

So what do you do when you realize your mama's birthday is coming up really soon and you're not in the same country so you can't celebrate with her?

Well. Obviously make a really disgustingly cheesy video about how much I love her. Duh.

Enjoy!



crafts

DIY: Crochet Bag with Tassels

11:47 PM

The other day I stumbled upon this beautiful bag DIY by Persia Lou and I decided I needed it. My friend had just given me two massive spools of cotton yarn that she was trying to get rid of, and I decided that this bag would be the perfect project to start chipping away at that yarn!

I made a few changes to the pattern for my own version: For me, the number and length of tassels were a little too much, so I only made a few short tassels for the bag flap. I also used a gold braided belt that I've had for a long time because I didn't really want to purchase a leather strip and all the supplies to go with it. I lined it with some gray fabric that I had purchased two years ago for a Doctor Who weeping angels project that I never ended up doing (maybe someday it will happen, but for now I've finally used up most of that fabric!).

 For the belt / strap, I ended up being super cheap and lazy - I didn't even bother sewing it! I attached two D-rings (I would've preferred round rings but I couldn't for the life of me find them at Michael's) to the sides of the bag. I then belted the belt, cut it near the buckle (I did this because I wanted the buckle to be intact on the strap), and used E6000 (my trusty all-purpose industrial glue) to wrap the belt around the flat part of the D ring. I then used some extra yarn and wrapped it around the "joints" to secure it further, just in case!

The finished bag! I'm super happy with it :) I added a snap clasp at the front
for extra security but I don't actually use it that much, oops.
close up! I like how you can kind of glimpse the gray under
the white yarn - I think they pair super nicely together!
A close up of the belt and how I joined it to the bag
And here's me looking like a dork with the bag! I also made
the dress I'm wearing - look out for that post soon!
If you like the bag, you should definitely try out the DIY! It was a super easy, super short project - took me about two nights after work, so maybe around 7 hours tops. It's the perfect summer bag, plus now I don't have to go choose between the ridiculous number of semi-identical crochet bags on the market now! This one's homemade and much cheaper ;)


body image

Enough

9:19 PM

Since the last time I blogged, a lot of things have happened. I went home for spring break and cuddled my baby sister. I finally sucked up my pride and went to MIT Mental Health. I stopped eating for a while and survived pretty much solely on nutrition drinks and occasionally mac and cheese from a box. I gained back my appetite. I danced. I survived the semester and my slightly-psychotic-and-abusive studio professor. I completed my last studio of my college career.

I think feeling a little bit inadequate can be helpful sometimes because it drives me to work more and to work harder. I've always wanted to be the best, possibly because the ideal has been so ingrained in me from society and from my parents. But often times wanting to be the best just results in feeling really, really awful - like not beautiful enough and not smart enough and not hardworking enough and just not enough.

During the time I was unable to eat, I - understandably - lost a bunch of weight. I lost weight to the point where a pair of too-small jeans that used to be rub against my hip bones so much that it was painful to wear for more than half a day now fit me perfectly. It was weird - I was panicking that I was losing weight so quickly but some small part of me was almost happy that I might finally be the size I want to be.

I remember distinctly rubbing my elbows at one point and truly being taken aback at how spindly and pointy they felt. For some reason, I have become more aware of the sharp edges on my body. I think my panic over losing weight so quickly has caused me to become more understanding and more accepting of my body.

It's enough.

I am enough.

My legs are enough. I have big thighs and big calves which make it hard to buy skinny jeans and normal boots, but they are enough. They let me explore the city and hike and walk and bike and dance.

My arms are enough. They are skinny and spindly and sharp but they help me be expressive.

My hands are enough. They are tiny but they are talented and steady and they allow me to express my creativity. They're also really good at getting into hard-to-reach nooks and crannies, which is useful when someone drops something and also when I'm building detailed models.

My stomach is enough. I may have a little bit of a belly but it lets me eat lots of yummy food! I think this is something that I've always had trouble accepting - I've always wanted to be skinny, but now I understand that I would never give up my bottomless appetite for something so facetious.

My body is enough.

And I'm also slowly understanding that not just my body, but my mind... it's also enough.

A couple days ago my friend commented to me that I work all the time. I laughed and I said that I do things other than work sometimes! I do side projects like crochet and knit and sew and draw and read and watch tv and sleep. I then realized that I had just included sleep as a fun, not-work thing, and I instantly sobered.

I've realized I need to start thinking in terms of being enough instead of not-enough. I am hardworking enough. I am talented enough. I am good enough. I am beautiful enough.

After all, I'm stuck being me for the rest of my life. Why spend it the rest of it continuing to beat myself up for not being enough?