Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Harbour Oxford Capris, Some Sewing To Do, and the Ponytail Trick

Let's get right to my outfit for today so I can get on to the other parts. Harbour Oxford Capris (love these - so summery!!), white bf tissue tee, and Danielle sandals. Fireball necklace and rope rose-gold bracelet. I felt very pastel today.

E had a follow up doctors appointment for some warts on her hand, poor thing. But that gave us an excuse to stay home from the pool today, so I got my laundry room cleaned out and organized. Oh, I've been dying to tackle this project and it looks so nice now. All the nicely, neatly organized shelves... Lots of stuff cleaned out. Hubby needs to go through the baseball hats and golf towels, and then we are 100% done. Yay!

That left me a bit of time for some sewing work this afternoon. Specifically the harbour oxford capris from today and my linen-cotton seaside pants. Both of them fit when I first put them on, but after about an hour (or less), they start slipping and give me saggy butt. Solution - sew a couple of darts in the back waistband so they stay up. (Seriously, you didn't think I was actually going to wear a belt, did you??) And since I plan to wear them with tees, shirts, sweaters untucked, it's a good interim solution. But what I really need to do is to stop trying on the size 10 pants...unless something is really TTS or not vanity-sized, I think I actually need to size down at this point. (Yes, I hear you cheering, Dina.) Although, in my defense, I did purchase the seaside pants back in April, pre-most of the weight loss. The harbour oxfords...well, they fit when I first put them on.

And here's the ponytail trick... I read this in one of the August or September magazines over the past 2 weeks. (August mags at the beach, September mags at the river the following week. We need to have a magazing talk, but I'm not there yet.) Anyway, I can't remember which magazine had it, but it was the Chris McMillan column - to get the messy/full ponytail look - put in a low ponytail, divide in half, and pull on 1 half with each hand. This will tighten up the middle & side pieces but leave the top pieces fuller. I've been trying this out (and did today as well, not sure if you can even tell), and it does work pretty well. I've used it to move the ponytail a little higher up to get a bit more fullness at the top. Have at it and have fun!

Polyvore for today:

17 comments:

Megan said...

Super cute outfit - so calm, serene and summery!

Ponytail thing - I do that (pull on each half) but then usually need to slide my hand back to just under the crown in the middle of my head and pull my hair up a little. This gets a bit more poof over the pony.

Summerilla said...

You are so crafty sewing darts in your pants, I need to learn to sew because I'm so lazy with taking things to the tailors. The apartment in NYC has a dry cleaners/tailors right next to my building so I will have no excuse soon.

Love the outfit, you look fabulous in those pants... yay to losing more weight!!

Poor E, I feel her pain, doctors are no fun.

Anonymous said...

Very comfortable outfit. I love the color of those pants on you.

dinagideon said...

You bet I am cheering you on...size 6 or 8 pants this weekend...

YAY!

I have never had saggy butt, sigh...But I have had saggy shoulder. :)

Poor E...how is her hand feeling?

Oh, I returned the twist dress...I really wanted to buy the primrose garden cardi and they cost about the same, so it was a very EASY decision.

BUY on sale, if you want to try it out...I may even buy on sale (for any future pregnancies) but could NOT justify full price.

See you soon!

Unknown said...

DIY darts. You are good. I'm impressed. I love your outfit, Ms. Chic. :-)

ashley said...

those harbours look great on you! i loove that color! you're very nifty for sewing yourself! as for the ponytail to you cut in half side to side or half up and down? just to clarify because im a little slow on this wednesday morning :)

HeidiG said...

MeggyD - thank you! And yeah, sometimes I do need to do the adjusting to get a little more poof over the pony, too. (isn't it supposed to be and "easy" hairstyle?)

Summerilla - I wish I were better about going to the tailors - and really that would be the right way to do this. If I keep the weight off and still want these pants to work, I may take them to the tailors to get some "real" adjustment done. E is a trooper - and yes, you would understand - but at least this was topical and not yet cutting. :)

Rosa - thank you! I love the color, too - can't wait to wear them with my navy vneck sweater when it cools down.

Dina - saggy shoulder? I think that happened to me when I tried on an XXL men's sweatshirt, lol. E is doing fine, the beetle juice at the ped's doesn't really hurt - but if this and the topical for 2 wks doesn't clear it up, we have to go to the derm - and that's what can sting. Thanks for the advice on the Sat dress - I was just hoping you still had it so I could do an easy try on (you know how much I love your closet).

Gigi - thank you! sewing machine made it easy. but I am the first to admit it is far from professional.

ashley - thank you, and sorry, was writing this last night after some wine, so probably wasn't the clearest - you half it side to side, but then I pull up. Play around with it and you'll figure out what works - all of a sudden you'll go "oh, that's what she meant" - that's what happened to me.

smu_sweetheart said...

Such a great summer outfit. I love the blue capris!

I am going to have to try out the ponytail trick this weekend. Thanks for the tip!

DaniBP said...

I am also impressed you did those darts yourself! I am always schlepping my pants to the tailor, and that's not good because it eats into my shopping budget, hehe!
Thanks for the ponytail tip!

MC said...

Ooh, I've been wanting those pants. You look great!

HeidiG said...

smu_sweetheart - thank you!

DaniBP - well, like I said, a tailor is going to do this MUCH better, but this works for my usual untucked top style. :)

MCC - thank you!

Patina said...

you look comfy and cool. it's the perfect outfit for this hot, humid weather we've been having.
i hope E is doing ok...poor baby

AppGal said...

Cool ponytail trick! Don't think it would work on me, since my hair is shorter these days. Perhaps if I decide to grow it out again, I'll give it a shot.

I, too, need to learn how to sew. Although, on second thought, I can't walk, cut, or draw in a straight line (I used to blame it on being a south paw, but I know better...) I once made an apron in home ec in middle school that I had to promptly fasten with safety pins because I did such a shoddy job :)

Glad to see you back and at it again! Hope you had a nice, relaxing summer at all of your "retreats" :)

SallyO said...

That's the one thing I hate about JCrew pants! They stretch SO much over just a few hours! Sometimes I actually think I've lost about 5 pounds since breakfast, then I realize it's just the JCrew pant-stretching-effect. :(
BTW, the pants look great on you!

HeidiG said...

AppGal - Re: sewing - the machine makes it much easier & quicker than doing it by hand, I confess. And very relaxing summer, thanks, when it wasn't totally crazy. :)

SallyO - thank you! I know the falling down thing is so stinky, esp when I hate to wear belts. What's a girl to do - buy pants that muffin-top us?

ashley said...

lol thanks heidi! i'll try it out tomorrow! and im sure i'll have that ohhhhh moment!

HeidiG said...

ashley - let me know if you actually say "ohhh" out loud like I did. :)