Dark eyebrows

Dark eyebrows is a beauty on the face .. It adds so much character to the face .. I have light eyebrows and it's been a weak point for me .. So now I m trying out these .. U should too ...if one doesn't suit u try the next.

Castor oil: Castor oil has a very unusual chemical composition which is found in lesser concentrations in other seeds and oils. Gently massage castor oil for 2-3 minutes on each eyebrow and leave it for some time. Wash them after 30 minutes with lukewarm water and a gentle facial cleanser. Repeat the process only once a day for the consecutive days and stop urgently if any irritation occurs.

Coco-lemon: One is concrete and the other is pulpy but the mixture made from coconut oil and lemon peel can surely help regrow your eyebrows. Take 1/4 cup of coconut oil and blend it in a clean container with sliced peel after which inculcate the mixture in a dark place for a fortnight. Take the mixture and dab over your eyebrows daily from a cotton ball right before going to bed. One can use this as long as they wish provided there is no irritation on the skin, and just avoid direct sunlight on eyebrows for 2 hours right after you apply this to fend irritation from citrus.

Aloe-vera: If you have thinning eyebrow hair due to overplucking then you should definitely try the sap from aloe vera leaves on them. Crush aloe vera leaves and gently massage the juice over your eyebrows and let it seep in. The modulation effect of aloe vera helps in skin healing and increasing growth furthermore.

Onions: The sulphur in onion juice can help in faster and denser regrowth of eyebrow hair. Grind an onion and rub the juice below eyebrow skin with help of cotton balls. Make sure you do not wash your eyebrows so that you derive its full benefit.

Fenugreek seeds (Methi): Make a paste by grinding few fenugreek seeds and apply it on the brows just before going to bed or early morning before taking a shower. One can also mix almond oil to make the paste; the properties of almond oil will help moisturise your skin.

Milky way: Milk and milk products are rich in protein and vitamins. Dip a cotton ball in milk and rub it over the eyebrow area at night. Inherited natural properties of milk provide nourishment to the hair roots and make them grow faster.

Oily Skin: (for both men and women)

People who are prone to oily skin most often notice the problem on their faces because the sebaceous glands, (which produce oil) are larger and more concentrated there. Other areas that may show signs of excess oil include the chest, neck and back. Although hormones levels, stress and health issues can cause fluctuations in the amount of oil a person's skin produces, whether you are prone to oily, dry or normal skin is determined by genetics. Since there is no way to prevent genetic predisposition, oily skin can not be prevented. However, there are things that you can do to control the oil.

Here are some steps you can follow:

1.Wash your face twice a day to remove excess oil so it does not clog your pores.
Choose a gentle face soap that cleans your face well without drying out your skin. Do not use a moisturizing soap that adds oils or moisturizers to your face.
Use warm water when washing your face. Hot water may dry out or irritate your face.
Dry your face thoroughly with a soft towel after washing.
Stay away from harsh soaps or facial cleansers designed to dry out skin. The purpose of washing the face is to physically remove oil and dead skin cells from your face and pores. If you choose a soap designed to dry oily skin, choose the mildest one you can find and only use it when needed.

2. Read product packaging and ingredients list and choose only water-based ( oil free products) if you are prone to oily skin.
Avoid oil-based cosmetics, which add oil to your face.
Wash all makeup off before going to bed. Makeup settles into pores and will clog them if it is not completely removed. Never apply additional makeup without first removing the old.
Do not use cold creams, oils or lotions for makeup removal if you have oily skin. These products are designed to moisturize dry skin and may leave a greasy film on the skin, contributing to clogged pores, oil buildup and acne.

3. Watch to see whether your diet corresponds to an increase in oily skin problems. If so, adjust your diet accordingly.
Avoid oily, greasy foods and heated fats which aggravate oily skin conditions. Replace unhealthy fats in your diet with healthy fats found in foods like nuts, seeds, avocados, and lean poultry and other meats.
Studies suggest that iodine may aggravate oily skin conditions.
Cut back on or eliminate fish and iodized salt, especially during outbreaks.
Eat natural foods and fresh fruits and vegetables as much as possible. Some vegetables known to be especially good for the skin include cucumbers, tomatoes and green leafy vegetables, among others.

Tulle Skirt Tutorial

I love that frilly, femine skirts like this are in style - they can be both fun and elegant at once, and can make us feel like little girls again. I never thought I could love a skirt as much as a maxi skirt, but I may be mistaken…

I set out to make a tulle skirt that was easy to make, with an elastic waistband. The trouble is that if you simply stretch the waistband elastic to fit the tulle and lining layers, as with a basic elastic waistband skirt, you’ll end up with a huge poofy skirt, more dress-up-ish than elegant. Pleating the tulle rather than gathering will help the tulle to lie nicer, but then you have to deal with a closure and opening of some sort on the back of the skirt in order to get it on and off.

With this tutorial, I’ll teach you how to combine both methods to get the perfect tulle skirt – it’s easy to make and looks beautiful. The best of both worlds!

Ready to get moving?


*I’ll give the exact tulle measurements that I used for my skirt, but since we’ll be making lots of pleats and gathers, the measurements will probably work for most sizes from small to large. You can of course adjust for a smaller or larger size by adding more or less width of tulle. For the lining and elastic, you’ll want to measure yourself and cut as described below.
Materials:
Tulle - 3.5-4 yards of 108″ wide tulle
Satin for lining – 2 yards (45″ wide)
3″ wide elastic – enough to comfortably fit around your waist plus seam allowance
*Seam allowances are 1/2″.
Directions:
1. We’ll be using the full 108″ of tulle width for the circumference of the skirt. You’ll just need to cut 4 pieces 108″ by the length you’d like. I cut 4 27″x108″ pieces. I’m 5’6″ and this was a perfect below-knee length for me.
2. For the lining, you can cut it the same length as the tulle (I originally cut mine a couple inches longer to be on the safe side), and as wide as your hips plus about 10″.
3. Sew the short sides together of each tulle layer and the lining as well. A serger works great, and if you don’t have a serger, you may want to use a french seam to keep the edges looking nice.

4. Matching up all of the seams and top edges, baste all 4 layers of tulle together. The most taxing part of this tutorial is matching up so much tulle – it’s hard to see when it’s all layered on top of eachother, but be patient and the rest will be a breeze!

5. Now that the tulle is basted into one piece, pleat and pin the top edge until it’s the same width as the lining. I like to continually pin on opposite sides to keep my pleats even. It’ll take some adjusting as you go to get the pleats right, and if they’re not perfect it’s not a huge deal :).

6. Matching top edges (with lining inside of tulle and both right side out), pin and baste the tulle and lining to eachother.


7. Stretch your elastic around your waist and cut a comfortable but snug length (plus 1/2″ for seam allowance). Tulle skirts are usually worn fairly high on the waist so keep that in mind as you measure. Sew the short ends together.

8. Open seam allowance and stitch each side down, 1/4″ from the seam.

9. Use pins to mark half, quarter and eighth marks around top of skirt and around elastic. Making sure elastic waistband seam is in middle back of skirt (you can choose whether to place skirt seams on center back or on one side), pin waistband to skirt, right sides together, at marks. The skirt will of course be larger at this point than the elastic.

10. Stretching the elastic as you go, use a zig zag stitch to join the elastic to the skirt.

11. Remove any basting/pleating stitches that may be visible from the right side.

12. Trim lining hem to same length as tulle or about an inch shorter if needed (it will then be 1-2″ shorter than toole when hemmed). Press bottom raw edge of lining 1/2″ toward wrong side, and 1/2″ toward wrong side again. Stitch in place.
Great job!

Grab your favorite flats and some pretty jewelry…

Inspired Dress Tutorial

Hi everyone! I did it...I finished the "Green cardigan project" I have been working on. All I needed to do was to take a nice picture. Then, guess what... It SNOWED today! So, you need to wait a little bit longer for me to be able to share the tutorial for that project.

In the mean time, I am going to post a tutorial I did for the Knock-off Series at Kojo Design last week.

I love going through Anthropology and JCrew catalogs; there are many designs that inspire me. My recent knock off project is an Anthro inspired necklace. Usually when I see something I love, I will internalize it and when I create something, the finished item is different than the original one. It definitely has my own twist. That is my way of doing a "knock off". Figuring out how to make then go from designing to creating; it is all such a fun process!

Today, I am sharing a dress I created inspired by JCrew. Here is the original;

Golden Raindrop Dress...


Isn't it gorgeous? The name alone is very dreamy, but this dress is also very feminine and stylish… looks like you can float in the wind. It is made out of chiffon... with a price tag of $750.00!

Wow, I just woke up. It is a beautiful dress, but there is no way that I can justify $750.00 on a dress.

Here is what I came up with;




I call it Ivory Sunlight Dress... (If you have a better name feel free to email me :) )

I used 100% cotton; it is textured, very light weight almost like gauze fabric. I found it at Joann's for 6.99/yd. I used my 40% off coupon for three yards of fabric, so my version of the dress cost me about $13.00! Because I wanted to make it for every day wear, cotton is better choice than chiffon for me.

I am so in love with my new spring dress...


I wish I could just take a small vacation to somewhere very peaceful and quiet. Take only a few books and some necessities (that includes one of my favorite cardigans, just in case I get cold)





Ok, I will show you what I did...

{Top part of the dress}

1. I wanted more coverage than the original dress. I used pattern 3152 by Kwiksew for the top portion of the dress. It is very simple to make, you can make the top in no time. The only thing I did was to bring up the neckline a little. I drew a line 1/2" higher. Also, I used a shorter line for this project. You can use any similar pattern to create the top.




{Cutting & Constructing the skirt and dress}

1. Cut the skirt out. Please use the picture as a guide to get a better idea of what I am talking about. I measured the bottom of the top part of the dress, and it measured 18" finished. So, I cut out...


2 pieces of 13" X 18 1/2" of fabric for the top part of the skirt
2 pieces of 13" X 28" of fabric for the middle part of the skirt
2 pieces of 13" X 44"(it was the width of the fabric) for the bottom part of the skirt

There are a few things... I came up with this measurement pretty randomly. I am about 5'3", if you are taller or shorter than I am; obviously you need to make some adjustments.

Another thing, I used my Serger a lot for this project, how you finish up the seams is totally up to you, depending on that, you will need to adjust the seam allowance as well.

2. Mark the middle of the fabrics for the skirts. This will make it easier for you to make the gather equal later on.


3. Gather the fabrics to make the skirt, sew the top part of each piece with the largest stitches with your sewing machine. I sewed two lines, so that it is easier to make more even and prettier gather. Pull both threads to gather the fabric.
Put top and middle parts of the skirt right sides together and sew. Treat the seam with the method of your choice. Press, repeat the process with the middle and bottom part of the skirt. Then, attach the skirt to the top part of the dress in the same way.



4. Measure yourself under your bust and cut 1/4" wide elastic according to the measurement.

Sew the elastic on the seam line where the top of the dress and the skirt meet (inside of the dress). Don't forget to stretch out the elastic as you go.




{Cutting & making the ruffles for the each row}

1. From the top cut (I used my Serger to treat the edges. If you choose to fold the edges to sew straight line, you need wider strips for this).

1- 2" X 44" strip for the first row

Cut enough 3" wide strips to make a 76" long strip for the second row.
Cut enough 4" wide strips to make a 96" long for the third row.
Cut enough 5" wide strips to make a 128" long for the very bottom row.

For the very first strip, you need to create a curvy shape on both sides. Treat the edge all around it.


For the other strips, sew them together to make a big circle, so that the ruffle will go around the skirt. Treat both sides of the seams with the method of your choice.

2. Make ruffles out of them. Use the same method for gathering the fabric as you did to make the skirt.

3. Attach the ruffles on each seam line of the skirt. I sewed about 1/4" into the ruffles.

Make sure that the ends of the very top ruffles will meet in the middle. It is helpful to pin both sides in the middle before you start to sew.



{Making flowers}

1. Cut strips.

Large -- 3 1/2" X 28"
Medium-- 3" X 20"
Small--- 2" X 18"

2. Treat the edges. Zigzag would work, if you are not planning on sewing them to the dress, you can leave the edges raw too.

3. Use the largest stitch setting and sew in the middle of the strips. Pull the thread to gather the fabric. If you are making a large flower shrink the strips to 10”; shrink to 8” for medium strips, and 6” for small strips.



4. Fold the strips in half horizontally, and fold the end of the strip to start sewing. Sew, and roll the fabric as you go along to make the flower.



5. Sew three pearls on the large and medium flowers, one for the small flower.

6. Honestly, I couldn't decide where I wanted to sew the flowers on. I thought about sewing two of them of the sides too. I hand sewed the flowers in the middle for now, but who knows, I might change my mind later.


If you decided to make this dress, I hope you will enjoy it as much I do. :)

Garden Party Dress Pattern

Well, hello everyone!

Fancy a sewing project  this week-end?  How about your very own Garden Party Dress?!   I'm so excited to finally be able to post this pattern!  (Remember versions, 1, 2 and 3?) It's been a super fun project, the only glitch - my printer breaking down at the last minute - but what's life without a little drama?  I hope you all like it as much as I do.

Download the pattern here, and the instructions here

UPDATE:  You can now download a version of this pattern with wider sleeves by clicking here.  I received some feedback that the original sleeves were slightly narrow, so if you would like to work with a larger sleeve please use this version.   In both cases, please see my tutorial on how to customise the sleeves to fit your arms.

Please print on A4 paper and check that your printer is on 100% scale (not scale to fit)

Before you cut your fabric, please read these two tutorials:

1. Customising the sleeves.  The GPD has a very fitted bodice designed with little ease, especially in the sleeves.  You may find these too narrow - it's a good idea to measure the sleeves and adjust them before you cut.
2. Moving the skirt band.  This tutorial shows you how to adjust the location of the skirt band, especially important if you plan to use lace!

Why I love wearing it:

• It's a simple and modern dress, but with a bit of vintage about the silhouette.
• It's an all-in-one outfit.  No cardigan or shawl needed.
• It's versatile and multi season. You can wear it with heels, boots or sandals for a complete look, either casual or dressy.   Sew in a warm wool for cooler days or lightweight cotton with short sleeves for summer.
• It has SIX style options, on the skirt, bodice and sleeves. 

That's why I love it, but why not see for yourself?  I'd be endlessly grateful, if you do sew it, if you could send me a little feedback to designhonig[at]gmail[dot]com.

Starting Monday, I'll walk you through how to tailor the sleeves to your own fit and how to change the location of the skirt band (version 2) and hem band. (As it's an a-line skirt, not a rectangle, you'll have to trace off the new band location and add seam allowances accordingly.)

I've also tried to make the .PDF experience as painless as possible!  Please refer to page 3 of the instructions for details on what you need to print.  

I really hope you enjoy making this and would love to see your versions if you do.

Until Monday, have fun and happy stitching!

Make Mommy Happy 30 Minute Dress

Ok, so have you ever been all psyched to go someplace, like thinking about it for weeks, all planned out what to wear down to the shoes and then…….you live in Alabama and it storms like when Noah built the ark the day before and the temp drops 20° and it is now going to be down right windy/cold on the big day and that outfit that makes you feel super pretty and oh so fashionable will now make you look like you don’t have a brain in your head because you don’t pay attention to the weather as you freeze from the lack of arm/leg coverage and on top of all this you are 7 months preggers and feel like a whale? Really….just me….odd. Anyway this was my dilemma on Friday night leading into Saturday. Nice way to start the weekend huh?!

So as I sat watching the storms roll in on Friday all I could think of is “Great now what am I going to wear tomorrow?” As you know from reading my earlier post I am a HUGE nay, COLOSSAL fan of Alabama Football and this Saturday was the spring football scrimmage game. Trust me people it is an event not to be missed and I had looked forward to it for weeks.

So come Saturday morning the weather was sooooo not cooperative and the cute little non-maternity big giant whale looking dress was not going to work at all. So what is a resourceful Mommy with a serger, an old t-shirt and some red knit to do….make a new dress!!! Woot Woot!!

So here it is the Make Mommy Happy 30 Minute Dress. I knew it had to be super simple because I literally had only an hour to whip something up, so I looked in my closet to see what I could cut into and in true Tim Gunn fashion “Make it work”.

I found this old, stretched out tee I had from my first pregnancy, note the 2007 at the bottom, so we know we won’t be wearing that again. It was ¾ sleeves so that would help with the coldness issue and was white which is one of Bama’s colors. Bonus this is a maternity shirt so it would accommodate the uhhh “girls”.

So I put it on and roughly marked where to cut it off, right below the bust line. So then I took my rotary cutter to it and BAM, I had the top half of a soon-to-be maxi dress.

This next part was the tricky part. I had a big cut of red knit, Bama’s other team color, so I knew I had enough to fit the bump but had never done a maternity anything before. I don’t like the look of most maternity dresses because they all seem to have WAY too much fabric in the front panel for me. My baby belly isn’t that big yet so I don’t need a tent of a dress. Plus I kinda like it to “fit’ and show off the pregger bump.

I knew I wanted it long, to again combat the cold, so I measured down from the edge of the cut t-shirt to ankle length (for me it was 40”), taking into account for seam allowance (ended up being ½”) and cut the fabric to that length.

Then came the fitting the bump part. I knew the easiest/quickest way would be to cut it on the fold rather than sewing 2 panels together. Being short on time I literally held the cut fabric around me, again taking into account for the seam, and pinned it down a couple of inches. I then slid it off and measured what I had pinned. For me it ended up at 41” and with the ½” seam I cut it to 41 ½”.

Remember the other end is the fold

Then I ran waddled to my trusty serger and got to work. I sewed up the skirt first. Simple enough, one seam up the side and it was done.

Then I took the cut off shirt and matched a side seam to the new skirt seam I had just made. The fates must have been smiling on me because the shirt and skirt ended up lining up perfectly, no gathering needed. (I told you the shirt was kind of stretched out). If I were to do this over, which I am totally going to, I would put some gathers in the front to add a bit of fun detail and again show off the bump, but this was about time and ease.

So once I had the shirt pinned to the new skirt, right sides together I went back to the serger and sewed it up into a full dress. As for the bottom hem I left it raw. That is the awesome thing about knit, you never have to finish a hem if you don’t want to.

That was it!! I was done. To dress it up a bit I put on a belt that went with another dress and voilà a new maxi dress in 30 minutes (and a darn cute one if I do say so myself).  When I make this again I will likely do a “waistband” (how funny to think of having a waist this preggers) that ties around back.

It isn’t perfect and the seam joining the skirt to top got a little puckered as I wore it but under the belt no one could see. I actually got a couple of compliments on it and it made me feel cute and super proud of myself and at 7 months pregnant that is worth its weight in gold!

Onesie Dress {Tutorial}

My Sister-in-law is having a girl so I had the perfect chance to sew up a cute little dress!

Since this onesie dress is fast and easy to construct it not only makes a perfect baby shower gift but it is also a great way to utilize those random onesies that don’t quite match anything else.  As an added bonus, the onesie is a built in diaper cover which eliminates the need to make matching bloomers.

For this project you will need:

• Onesie
• Fabric for the skirt
• Coordinating thread
• Buttons, ribbon, or flower to embellish

Measure the width of your onesie and multiply the number by four to determine the width of the skirt fabric.

Measure the finished length of the skirt (from where you want to sew the skirt at the waist to where you want the bottom of the skirt to be) and add 1 1/4″ to determine the length of the skirt fabric.

Cut your skirt fabric based on your math.  For my 0-3 month onesie the width of the onesie was 8.5″ and the finished length of the skirt was 10″ so I cut my fabric 34″ x 11 1/4″.

Along one of the widths of the skirt sew a small zig zag stitch near the edge of the fabric.  This seam will be exposed and the zig zag stitch will help keep the fabric from raveling.  Then along that same edge of fabric sew a basting stitch 1/4″ from the edge.  Be sure not to backstitch or tie off the ends of the threads from your basting stitch.

Now fold the skirt in half with rights sides facing and stitch the two length sides together with a 1/2″ seam.  Then sew a small zig zag stitch near the edge of the fabric on this seam.  Be careful not to get the threads of your basting stitch tangled up, you still need to work with them. (Please ignore the fact that I had already hemmed the skirt in this picture.  I was doing this project late at night I wasn’t thinking straight! :) )

To hem the bottom of the skirt, fold the fabric under 1/4″ and press.

Then fold the hem under 1/2″ and press.

Stitch along the hem close to the first fold.

Now gently pull one of the threads from your basting stitch to gather up the top of your skirt.  Continue to gather the skirt until it is the width of your onesie.

With a disappearing ink fabric pen draw a line across the front and back of the onesie indicating where you want the top of the skirt to be attached.  To help you make a straight line you may want to measure the same length down from under each sleeve.  As you can see, my attempt to eyeball the line the first time didn’t work out.

With the onesie right side out and the skirt wrong side out, slide the skirt over the onesie with the bottom hem up towards the neckline.  Then pin the skirt in place along your line.

Sew along the skirt 1/2″ from the edge.

Pull the skirt down into place and press along the skirt seam.

Now it is time to add some fun embellishments!  I rummaged through my spare buttons and sewed on a few that coordinated with my fabric.  You could add a pretty flower or use ribbon to make a bow or ruffles.  Feel free to go crazy and make your dress super cute.

Now I just have to wait for the sweet little girl to arrive!

how to reduce black heads

A lot of people both boys and girls, men and women have struggled with blackheads at one point or the other in their life and we have to admit that they are not a pretty sight.

All that dirt, oil and sebum that collects and sticks to the pores and hardens, creates blackheads. For most people the blackheads are on the chin, forehead and nose. That's the 'T' zone, that is the oily zone for most people. If regular washing and simple exfoliating is not working, try this simple easy way to get rid of nasty blackheads. Follow these steps:

Directions:
1. First, you will have to remove the dead skin that is keeping the blackheads trapped in the pores. For that, you have to wash your face with an exfoliating face cleaner or face scrub and make circular motions putting pressure on the affected areas the most.
2. Steam your face... Put some water in a pot and bring it to a boil. Take it down and put your face over the steam and be careful not to spill the hot water on yourself. Steam for 10 minutes with a towel over your head to keep the steam in. This will help loosen the blackheads making them easier to remove.
3. Make a mix of 4 tbs of baking soda with 1 cup mineral water. Apply the paste on your face and leave it for 10 minutes. The backing soda will draw all the impurities and bacteria out. Rinse with warm water.

Very important!!!
1. Pay attention not to squeeze blackheads, because this can produce deeper, painful sores, and can sometimes turn into open pores.
2. Do not use your fingernails to pick at blackheads as bacteria from your nails can give u an infection.
3. After a steam and backing soda treatment pat your face down with ice cold rose water or the toner that's meant for your skin type.
4. Always use a good face pack to close the open pores.