cherry blossom girl

cherry blossom image: harold davis

i may not be the original 'cherry blossom girl' but today i was definitely channeling a bit of that lovely energy & inspiration as i wore my reconstructed cherry blossom knit top and spent the day amongst the flowers. having lived in washington, dc for 8 years, cherry blossom season became a big deal for me, not to mention that it's always made me absolutely giddy to have the trees in full bloom around my birthday. i've been taking full advantage of every sunny day we've had lately to picnic & relax under the blooms as much as i can before they're gone.

as soon as i saw this floral knit top at the thrift store, i knew i'd be able give it a quick makeover to really make it shine. i cut off the sleeves and hemmed them before adding an adorable vintage lace pink heart trim for the sweetest little touch. i paired the green floral top with a lightweight nude/pink pleated skirt, my champagne glitter booties and a few other recent diy's. the lavender velvet detachable collar i made a couple of months back - at the same time as this one and used the same elegant musings tutorial. i chose the rounded pattern this time for a more classic peter pan collar and omitted the ribbons for the option of using different brooches & pins to fasten. the tiny crochet bow was made using the same people webs pattern here - i ended up making a few of these tiny bows in citron, white & baby blue for the spring season and really love incorporating them into my spring outfits!

it'll be thunderstorms here all weekend -  i wonder how many flowers will be left after the showers?!

have a great weekend!

xoxo

☆ emilia ☆

inspiration - paule ka

via: paule ka

as much as i love me a mix of bold bright colors, fun prints, exaggerated silhouettes and basically anything cute or kawaii-inspired, there's an equally large part of me that is in love with classic elegance, vintage sophistication, and the simplicity of timeless designs (like my beloved mod scooter dresses.) 

paule ka, the french ready-to-wear brand, has managed to combine so many of my favorite vintage details in their charming spring/summer 2012 collection while adding a nice mix of modern elements including updated silhouettes, chunky modern hardware and those gorgeous exaggerated cuffs! for me, this collection perfectly blends my favorite mod design elements w/ simple - yet striking - modern details for looks that are both cute & charming while remaining sophisticated, elegant and fashion-forward. i think that's a huge accomplishment and a pretty difficult task to pull off - one that i try to practice as much as possible through mixing & matching my own vintage & modern pieces. i'm particularly drawn to the silhouettes in this collection - vintage inspired but with a slightly modern twist to every shape, which makes all the difference in updating a familiar vintage look. i'm also completely smitten with all the cute hair & accent bows - so adorable!

i put this little mini-collection together while dreaming of a fantasy paris getaway - i made sure to include a diverse assortment of pieces for trips to the museum, lunch on sidewalk cafes, afternoons spent in boutiques & patisseries and romantic evenings out. i'm really loving that formal pink suit and think it would be absolutely perfect for a courthouse wedding. this collection must be pretty dreamy as it's got me daydreaming about all sorts of fantastic scenarios... just lovely!

xoxo

☆ emilia ☆

inspiration - red valentino

images: style.com

red valentino's fall 2012 lookbook is pretty much all a girl could ever ask for - at least one that has always dreamt of fairy tales, faraway places, and magical & extraordinary things. i love the thought of living in an animated world just like the backdrops for this adorable collection. 

i've been a big fan of red valentino's creations each season but am particularly smitten with this collection as it embraces a soft sweetness and a harder gothic darkness with equal weight while featuring a lot of interesting structural & textural elements. there are more than a few details from this collection that i'll be appropriating for my own spring & summer wardrobe - most notably altering a few of my skirts to mini-bubble skirts and adding pom pom fringe to a future pleated skirt design. i'm really loving the modern mini skirt silhouettes, gorgeous knit pieces (so crazy about that first dress) and all the vintage inspired touches throughout.

i'm also incredibly intrigued by that plush outfit as i've been madly attracted to materials like old quilts, vinyl, leatherette & plush teddy bear fabric lately for making pleated skirts but don't have the kind of sewing machine you need to handle those heavy-duty materials. it seems like i'm going to have to look into getting a tougher machine soon that can handle my wild imagination. and, maybe some of my very own hand drawn, snow white-inspired wallpaper as a backdrop for my real-life fairytale!

xoxo

☆ c. emilia ☆

crochet monday

i hope everyone had a great weekend and managed to stay cozy! 

we had a few winter flurries around here and i was so happy to have finished my cowl neck scarf & revised bow headband before the northern wind hit. the charcoal cowl pictured above is my first attempt at a yokoo-inspired chunky cowl. i used hooked & chained's "mammoth cowl" pattern and splurged on a luxurious merino wool yarn blend - 98% merino wool / 2% polyamide. i made a couple of small mistakes at the very beginning but the design of the cowl makes them impossible to see. it was fun learning a new stitch - back post double crochet - and making something that actually took a couple of weeks to complete. what a gratifying feeling!

overall, i'm pretty happy with how it turned out. i was hoping for a much larger, chunkier cowl but i love how incredibly warm and compact this one ended up. next time, i'll make sure to add some length & width to this scarf in addition to using a larger hook (maybe a "Q" or "S" instead of an "L".) the stitches are so darn tight in this cowl there's no room to breathe - i've realized i'm a bit of an uptight crocheter and need to loosen up and relax so my projects turn out the right size! i actively worked on loosening up my stitches with the revised headband, also pictured, and am happy to say things are turning out much nicer. 

you might remember my first bow headband - i used an easy-to-follow people webs tutorial but ended up with a smaller bow than i'd hoped for (probably due to my uptight crocheting again!) for my revised bow headband, i switched yarn type and color and went with bernat satin yarn (100% acrylic) in black & red for a really strong hello kitty effect! i also added five extra stitches to the bow to make it extra big. i wanted the headband to just blend into my hair so that the oversize bow was even more accentuated and over-the-top and hello-kitty-like. i'm super thrilled with how it came out - this winter is going to be so much fun!

xoxo

☆ c. emilia ☆