I made my sister's dress!!

Yes!! Saturday I was super productive and made my sister's maxi dress. When I went to the fabric store on Friday, I forgot to buy a zipper for the dress (of course) so after I cut my fabric and had it all ready to go, I walked to Chinatown to get my zippers. On the way I stopped at Boloco for a Mango Passion Smoothie. It was so delicious and perfect to beat the heat.

I didn't completely finish the dress, it still needs to be hemmed and I need to adjust the zipper a bit and had a hook and eye.

I had so much fun making it and felt so good after I finally finished.

So happy with how it came out! Of course there's a few rough areas, but they'll only improve and go away as my skills improve. But for my first garment, I'm pretty proud of myself. I strayed from the pattern a little bit but I like how it came out.

Two things...

So I want to add some features to my blog. I'm really treating this as an online diary, as well as a documentation of my projects and life.

One . I love Instagram. It's probably my favorite iPhone App. I think I'm going to start doing a weekly Instagram post where I share all my uploads from Insta from the week. This will make me take more pictures and therefore have more pictures for me to look back on and scrapbook.

Two . Since I've gone to college, had limited money, and gotten older, my style has changed with me. Or more so, matured with me. I love that I thrift so often now and that I'm sewing my own clothes. Every season I get rid of more and more of my old high school clothes in trade for nicer and more professional clothes. I think I'm going to start doing a what-I-wore feature. I'm proud of my more money conscience wardrobe and my more rounded style. I'm trading short shorts for longer skirts and more decent dresses. I'm only going on 21, but the clothes in my pass are rarely going to make appearances in my future.

I want to do these things!

I really have been sewing in all of my free time. I guess I'm realizing with work and maintaining our home, I can't move as quickly along as I wanted.

But I have a serious goal! I want to send my sister's package out by the end of the week. That means I have to go to the fabric store and get material for her maxi dress and sew it and also get things for dan and ahhh! But her birthday is July 28th, and it takes packages awhile to get from here to there so it's crunch time. Maybe I could sneak out to Chinatown during lunch this week and go to the fabric store. I have to do this! The dress is the last piece to the package.

But now that I have a better grasp on my schedule and a better concept of the time sewing projects take, I could make more realistic goals for myself. It's all about trial and error, my friends. And I'm not gonna lie, whenever I make goals they do just sit in my head until I get around to them. So this week I'm gettin busy!

Sam's Gift Box

My baby sister's birthday is July 28th. She'll be 19! She'll also be in Hawaii for her birthday. She's not flying back until sometime in August (soso jealous!) but last time she was out there, she sent me a care package. By the time I got it, it was too late for me to make her one and send it out because by the time it got there, she'd be back home. Her boyfriend, Dan, will be receiving some goodies too but those are more up to Benjamin. I'll also probably get some novelty Boston things like postcards and shirts to send to him since he always sends me Hawaii gear. We're both so happy to be out of our small town in New Jersey, we take pride in our new homes.

For the sister gifts!

1. Hidden Treasure Beaded Necklace from Ruche. On sale for 5 bucks. Perfect little accessory for the beach
2. Japanese Cherry Blossoms Mini Journal from Ruche. My mom, sister, and I all have cherry blossom tattoos. We have a few matching ones together. She said during her last trip she wish she kept a journal to go along with photos she took and stuff. So, I picked out this 4 dollar mini journal she could keep in her purse to jot down her adventure when they're traveling to and from place to place. And, instead of reciting what she did the entire trip to everyone who asks, she could just be like, "Hey, read my travel journal!" I think it's a cool little gift.
3. Sister are Friends Forever floral mug from Ruche. I LOVE this. I almost kept it for myself. My sister is a big coffee drinker like I am and loves her big mugs. I also got her into drinking tea (yay, small victory! Benjamin is next) so it's a perfect tea cup. She'll be in Hawaii for over a month so I figured she could have her own mug at Dan's... and if she leaves it there instead of bringing it home, there will always be a little piece of me in Hawaii for when she visits. It'll also be a daily reminder to Dan of the lovely Gordon Sisters :)
4. Nibus Mesh Lined Panel Zip Hoodie from The Hempest. I got this for Sam, on sale, at the Hempest Store on Newbury Street in Boston. Except the one I got her has the colors reversed. Both of our favorite colors is purple, so it was hard to pack that away for her. But since they were on sale, I couldn't resist and got myself one too. Mine is dark green and light green, yay!
5. Wood Wood Printed Ontario Maxi Dress from Urban Outfitters. This I am NOT buying. My sister is 5'9 (3 inches taller than me!) and has super long legs and a beautiful shape. She would look so great in a maxi dress. Except, I want to make one for her! I love UO so much that I browsed their site for inspiration. If I keep up on my sewing lessons and work hard, I think I could make this next weekend or something. So there's a project... I'll of course be documenting the progress and posting a how-to!
6. Pretty Penny Racerback Striped Maxi Dress from Urban Outfitters. I'm not buying this either. Another maxi dress inspiration. I wanted two different styles to expand my skills, as well get some variety just in case one comes out absolutely horrible. They seem simple enough but we'll see how well I handle it.

I'll also of course be throwing in little things here and there like little bows (there's a lesson in the E-Course and Sam's favorite accessory of all time is bows), some of my favorite things, and whatever else I come across that makes me think of my little sister.

I'm excited to send packages back and fourth. Sam and I went from spending every waking second together in the summer to living across the... I don't even know... country? half way across the Pacific? ... from each other. We're 19 months apart. We're Irish Twins. This will help us be connected. We could remind each other that no matter how far, we're sisters, we're best friends, and we'll always be there for each other. Even when she's a couple time zones away (it's a 6 hour time difference... ah!)

Ben's sister, Lauren, also sent us a little thinking-of-you care package. Ben and I wanna put something for her together but we've been lazy. Though I did send her a subscription to Umba Box since I got one for myself. She's all the way in Chicago. Her and I will be able to bond over our monthly homemade goods. She is my ultimate motivation and inspiration... if anyone could be perfect it'd be Lauren. She's always so happy and the most approachable, loveable, energetic, genuine, and caring person that, I swear, you'll ever meet... and her talent, omg! Everything she makes is beautiful. I just love my boyfriend's family and I know they'll be my family one day as well :)