Colour Theory // Cosy Neutrals

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One of my favourite colours to wear is brown. I never thought I'd say that, but it's true! I love how many shades it comes in, varying from camel to tan to cream. It's such a versatile neutral, and provides the perfect blank canvas to bring in other pops of colour.

We're heading into Fall here - the days are shorter, rainy days are becoming more frequent, and suddenly I'm needing to wear more than one pair of socks at a time. 

I love the elements in this outfit; It's so easy to interpret into many different styles. A cosy knit paired with layers - it's the perfect Fall outfit. And can we talk about those pants? I'm a sucker for wide-leg pants! These have a slouchy vibe to them which just adds to the comfort appeal. 

What do you like to wear on those cooler days that call for comfy clothes?

Style // Snakeskin & Neutral Colours

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Scarf Forever New // Cardigan Cotton On // Top Glassons // Necklace Gift // Maxi Skirt Glassons

I wore this outfit last weekend to the Mosque. I help teach the 5 year olds at Sunday School and in the last class I taught a little boy how to draw a star, and another little girl gave me a flower sticker as a gift. It was a good day!

Neutral colours are my uniform, I've realised. When I first started wearing hijab I would wear lots of bright colours, but lately I've been steering into a simpler colour palette.

My last few clothing purchases have all been items in various shades of brown, soft pinks, pastels, navy blues and greys. What I like so much about neutrals is that they're all interchangeable. Pretty much everything can go together, which works well when you have limited wardrobe space!

What  are some of your favourite colours to wear?

DIY // A Simple Maxi Skirt

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Knit maxi skirts are so easy to make and and so fun to wear! I love how versatile they are and I'm slowly growing my own collection. I made this maxi skirt a few weeks ago and wanted to share the tutorial with you all.

You will need:

  • Basic sewing skills
  • Access to a sewing machine
  • Knit fabric (any length from 1m to 1.5m will give you plenty to work with)
  • Matching thread
  • Elastic (enough to go around your hips comfortably)
  • A tape measure
  • A hand sewing needle, pins, and a safety pin (the larger the better)

Step 1

a) Measure and pin your waistband, folding it over to the wrong side of the fabric. I used a larger piece of elastic, so I went with a 5cm waistband to accommodate it.

b) Sew your waistband, reversing at both ends to secure the thread. 

Step 2

a) Pin your safety pin through one end of the elastic.

b) Using the safety pin, pull the elastic through the waistband.

c) Keep elastic free at both ends of the waistband.

Step 3

Wrapping the fabric around your hips, decide how much excess fabric you want to remove - if you want a fuller skirt then keep most of the fabric, if you want it more slim-fitting then remove a bit more. 

Play around with the fabric, adjusting it along the elastic and see what you like. I like my skirts a bit fuller, so I only cut off 18cm of fabric (I originally started with 150cm).

Step 4

a) Put both ends of the elastic together and sew, reversing for a few stitches at both ends to secure the thread.

b) With the right sides of the fabric together, sew the side seam.

Step 5

a) Turn the edges of the waistband under. Thread a hand sewing needle and slip stitch the waistband seam closed.

b) The waistband will look something like this when it's done.

Step 6

a) Fold a 5cm hem over to the wrong side of the fabric. Tuck 1cm of that fold under, to create a tidy edge. Sew along the top of the hem, following the folded edge.

b) The wrong side of the hem.

c) The right side of the hem.

And you're done! This is somewhat of a lazy DIY - I didn't do any overlocking and I kept it pretty simple. Buy hey, sometimes you don't need to go all out, sometimes simple just works!

Do you have any experience with sewing your own clothes? What do you think of this DIY? I'd love to hear! 

Style // Striped Maxi Skirt

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Scarf Thrifted // Sunglasses Thrifted // Necklace Diva // Blouse Second Hand // Maxi Skirt Handmade // Handbag Strangbags

I made this skirt last weekend, partly out of desperation and partly because there was a fabric sale. I've been living out of a suitcase for two months and counting now, and it's starting to get tricky. The skirt cost me less than $11 to make - I'll post a DIY soon! 

Stripes seem to be such a good neutral - you can make them work with anything. I was tempted to wear it with a floral top, but I though that might hurt my husband's eyes too much. His colour palette in the clothing department is grey with a side of dark blue, and maybe some black thrown in. So I make sure to wear enough colour for the both of us!

I had a half-day on Friday last week, so we went to see the latest Die Hard movie and then walked through town. I'm a huge fan of action movies, and even though it was around Valentine's Day I'd still rather watch John McClane kick some butt than watch something lovey-dovey. Sappy scenes make me squirm.

What about you guys? Do you prefer action or romance flicks?