3 TIPS FOR PERFECT PATTERN MIXING

Pattern mixing is definitely one of my favorite ways to dress -- combining bright or bold or busy patterns make an outfit so fun and interesting. But pattern mixing is successful only if you strike the right balance between the patterns, and that's where it gets a little scary for some people. 

So let's break it down and make it super easy. Three tips for pattern mixing that will make you an expert. 

1. One Small Pattern, One Big Pattern. If both of your patterns are tiny the outfit becomes really busy and hard to look at. If both patterns are big, the outfit can overwhelm your frame. So stick with one of each. Here I've paired the big floral print with a smaller stripe. 

2. Find One Common Color in Your Patterns. To make the outfit cohesive, even if there are crazy patterns going on, your patterns need to have at least one color in common. Both of my patterns here have navy and white, so they pair perfectly together. 

3. Start with Stripes. If you're a beginner pattern mixer, try mixing any pattern with stripes and I promise you it will work. Polka dots, florals, and leopard are also good beginner pattern mixing choices! 

photos by Sara Walk

tee: c/o boden

skirt: c/o boden

boots: nordstrom rack (similar)

bag: c/o lily jade

sunglasses: c/o lulu*s

watch: michael kors (on sale!)

nails: rock the boat by essie

So...think you're brave enough to pattern mix?? 

ALSO! Boden is having a 25% off everything in their store this weekend -- today through Sunday! So go snag yourself something from their amazing collection! Also, get free shipping and returns with code X6K7 or by clicking here. Happy Friday! 

JUST ADD JEANS

I never use real patterns when sewing my clothes, but today I'm making an exception since some of my amazing seamstress friends just came out with a gorgeous new women's top pattern collection. It has four fabulous tops in the collection, and I chose to make the Parisian top since I've been wanting a top with a peter pan collar. I love how it came out. I'd planned on a solid color collar, but when I stumbled upon this polka dot fabric in my stash, I knew it was perfect -- I'm a sucker for pattern mixing, you know, and the combination felt so French to me (and I'm a sucker for anything French too...).

These sewing patterns are so fun, universally flattering, and super easy to make...I busted my whole thing out in under two hours (I'm the worlds slowest sewer, so that's super fast for me). I did take the liberty of omitting the band at the waist (and extending the length of the top) since waistbands aren't super flattering on me, but besides that I followed it exactly and it came together so easily and perfectly!

The Pattern Tour is going on all this week -- follow along on their facebook page and see a bunch of other fabulous seamstresses making pieces from this collection! Also, the pattern collection is currently 40% off, so snag one now and make yourself a few fabulous pieces for spring!

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top: made by me 

(pattern by Pattern Anthology, striped knit c/o Girl Charlee & polka dot cotton from my scrap stash)

jeans: similar

hat: similar

earrings: c/o Jacaranda Designs

bag: c/o sassy steals

flats: similar

ALL ME

Over the last year or so as I've been styling outfits consistently, I occasionally put together an outfit that is just so ME. This feels like one of those outfits. Although it's not my all time favorite outfit, I just feel like the pieces are each very indicative of my style -- chambray, a fun printed skirt, tights, and booties. The only thing missing is some pattern mixing, I think...

On a totally unrelated note, I just recently heard about a website called ShopAtHome. Have you heard of it? It's one of those "cash back when you shop" sites, but my favorite thing about it is that you just sign up for a free account and then when you're shopping online, if you go to a site that ShopAtHome works with (pretty much every website you can think of), a banner pops up at the top of your page and tells you to click to activate your cash back. AND if there is a coupon available, it tells you about that too and you can activate it with one click. It's that simple. The cash back sites I've worked with in the past require you to click to the shopping site through their website, which I pretty much never remembered to do until a split second after I'd submitted my order. Too late. 

Anyway, they're not paying me to say this, I just think it's a super awesome thing, cause getting free money back when you shop is the best, right? But even better, today only Target is having a special 8% cash back online (rather than the normal 2%), and a coupon for $10 off the two Target items I'm wearing! Just click my links below for the "chambray" and "skirt" to activate the coupons (it will probably make you register before the coupons are available, but it's free and just takes a second and then you'll automatically get pop ups about cash back and coupons when you're online shopping in the future!) 

Free money, automatically done for me, and Target. Pretty much my three favorite things ever. 

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chambray: target

skirt: target

tights: c/o we love colors

boots: c/o sole society

bag: c/o oasap

necklace: c/o mindy mae's market

BLACK AND ORANGE

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jacket: choies c/o
tee: made by me (tutorial here)
skirt: target (i sized up and then took in the sides so the length was longer)
bag: oasap c/o
flats: target

Here we are a month later, just posting about my last outfit of Sewing Summit weekend. But day three of Sewing Summit was such a blast. These conferences where like-minded women are able to get together, kid-free, are amazing, and I now understand why women make such an effort to attend them -- you walk away feeling inspired, motivated, and understood. The downside is that between all the fun, learning, and partying, there's not much time for sleeping. My Polo Refashion class was the last class on the last day, so by the time it rolled around I was completely exhausted. Thankfully a bit of nervousness and adrenaline pushed me through.

Everyone came with an oversized polo, and working in a room full of amazing Bernina machines, we refashioned each of them into pretty blouses. Teaching is not really the direction I want to go, but watching these women creating something that they loved and would actually wear was such a thrill.

check out a few of my student's before and afters!

rach of family ever after

kristine 

stephanie of from woo to you

lynn of craft stew

kaylee of frauntie k quilts

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Also, check out my Babble posts for the month!

• Interpreting Holiday Party Dress Codes (Black Tie, Semi-Formal, Business Formal, & Festive Attire)
• Pairing accessories so they compliment, not compete
• Man in the Yellow Hat Costume Tutorial
• 10 Festive Halloween Pieces for the Woman Who Doesn't Like To Dress Up
• My top 5 Go-To Outfits For Fall
• How To Wear A Midi Skirt Without Looking Stumpy
• A Beginner's Guide to Pattern Mixing

ORANGE AND OXBLOOD (& A GIVEAWAY!)

Orange and maroon just automatically go together in my mind. I think it's because Fall leaves in Utah were always this color so the combination just feels so Fall to me. So when I picked out this beautiful dark red jacket, I knew I had to pair it with my orange floral dress. 

Now that I'm thinking about it, this dress and my orange cords are the only orange clothes that I own, so I think they'll have to work overtime this fall since I'm pretty sure this color combo will be on repeat. It's the best I can do to bring on Fall since the palm trees here haven't turned red and orange yet... :)

Also, I've teamed up with White Plum Boutique to give away two awesome prizes -- a $50 gift card to their shop and a pair of their Print Leggings -- for two lucky winners! Enter with the Rafflecopter below!

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dress: tobi

jacket: white plum boutique c/o

heels: kohls

watch: michael kors

belt: kohls, similar

a Rafflecopter giveaway

COOL KID

When I was in middle school, I was the doofus that actually wanted braces and glasses. I had this completely ridiculous perception that they were cool, and I was such a loser because I didn't have either. I actually did have glasses, but since they were only to keep my eyes from getting tired when reading or watching a movie, (and when I did do either of those activities I completely forgot to wear them) they mostly went unworn. FAIL.

I still own a pair of real glasses, but they're not exactly the cutest, and I'm sure the prescription is out of date -- I haven't worn them in years. But just like in middle school, I'm still completely obsessed with glasses, and happily I'm no longer the minority. Even glasses companies are catching on and selling their glasses with non-prescription lenses (mine are from Firmoo...this style is not available anymore, but there are a few similar ones in their wayfarer section, and Bonlook has a few almost identical pairs in their square framed section!)

I know some people that have just popped the lenses out of old frames and worn their fake glasses that way, but I prefer the non-prescription lenses so as to look as legit as possible. I'm totally one of the cool kids now, right? RIGHT?

Also, in the interest of full disclosure, I have braces right now too. They're just the invisible kind. My eleven year old self would be groveling in my presence, I'm sure.

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sweater: sheinside c/o (altered a bit to be more fitted)
jeans: h&m, similar & similar
flats: target
necklace: groopdealz c/o
bag: oasap c/o
watch: michael kors
glasses: firmoo

RAIDING MY SISTER'S CLOSET: MINI MAKEOVER (& TUTORIAL)

Aztec prints is one of those trends that I really like but have a hard time actually committing to. I'm not sure what it is about it, but I have never been able to find an aztec print that I really like, especially on a piece of clothing that I like. But when I found this sweater from Kiki La'Rue, I actually really liked the simple and graphic black and white print and thought I'd give it a go. They sent it to me, but after one second of having it on, I decided it was just too boxy and overwhelming for my figure. 

But since my sisters and I were doing a mini makeover post today, I figured this new sweater was as good as any to put on the chopping block. So with this pin in mind, I took in the sides and hemmed the front at an angle, which I think is a much more flattering cut than the original square lapels. 

Once it's cool enough to actually wear a chunky sweater, I'll be wearing it a ton. One easy fix made a world of difference for me!

^^before^^ 

you can see how overwhelming the sweater is on my frame, and how the boxy cut isn't super flattering

Step 1. Turn your sweater inside out and pin the sides flat. Then sew from the end of the sleeve to the hem of the sweater as shown with the red dashed line. Cut off the seam allowance (cutting notches in the seam allowance at the armpit curve to avoid bunching) and zigzag or serge the raw edge. Repeat on the other side. 

 Step 2. Try on the sweater and determine where you want to cut and mark with a pin on the lapel and the hem. Take the sweater off and carefully cut from one pin to the other in a straight line.

Then take your raw edge and fold over twice and pin in place to create a rolled hem. Sew with a straight line along the rolled hem, securing it in place.

See the difference between the two sides? Repeat on the second side.

And you're done! A much more flatter, less overwhelming sweater with a quick fix!

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sweater: kiki la'rue c/o

tee: old navy

jeans: kohls

necklace: kiki la'rue c/o

boots: forever 21 (similar)

watch: michael kors

Now go check out Janssen and Landen's mini makeovers!

    

BLACK AND WHITE

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jacket: choies c/o
dress: h&m
flats: target
ring: inpink c/o
watch: michael kors
bag: oasap c/o 

Our second day at Sewing Summit was definitely the funnest day. The morning and afternoon were booked up with classes including Creative Journey lectures by Susan Peterson of Freshly Picked (she's a total rockstar and I loved getting to meet her!) and Leanne of Elle Apparel, as well as a seriously fun hand printing class by Miriam of Mad Mim (I carved that pretty little honeycomb stamp below!)

In the evening, after a delicious dinner at Settebello, we used streamers to section off part of the hallway in the Little America Hotel and threw a little baby shower for Miranda. The highlight was definitely Melissa's photo booth. I'll share details about the last day soon!