Rainy Sunday Afternoon date

After working inside all week I was dissapointed to see the rain because I had wanted to go to the beach. Every time I have a day off it rains. ヽ(　￣д￣;)ノ Of course it had been raining and cloudy almost all weekend so we hadn't got out much. So instead, Patri and I went for a little adventure to the next town over to get out of the house for a bit. I decided to wear just a new cute summer dress and knit cardigan with white sandals.

The first thing we did when we got to town was check out a local comics, gaming and movie rentals shop. We were hoping to find some new manga to read or something but the japanese comics collection was small and I'm not really into any american comics too much. There was lots of books I hadn't heard of before with excellent prices but alas we left empty handed. Next we went to have chinese buffet.

Chicken balls with cherry sauce, beef and broccoli, noodles, Chicken fried rice, Garlic spare ribs, Eggrolls with plum sauce, Shrimp battered and fried, and Chicken wings in Garlic sauce.

We didn't realize that the restaurant had just opened at 4pm and they were just bringing out the buffet dishes, but this worked out for the best because everything was so new hot and fresh. I recommend doing this if your going for buffet, anywhere. I've had buffet when it was dried out from the heat trays and old as heck and it is just so dissapointing. This was my first time dining at this restaurant though and it was very good. I'm not embarassed to say I had a serving of everything with a cup of oolong tea.

Tea is always perfect on a rainy day.

Also, I had wonton soup.

And finished oolong tea with fortune cookies."It is quality rather than quantity that matters. Do a good job." I'll try to keep this in mind.

Our fortunes shown.

Finally we went to check out the swans downtown. There were ducks sleeping all across the lawn. And the swans were swimming in the pond.

 

 

They swam over to us really close. I think they were hoping that we were going to have a treat for them.

So was this little ducky (below image). The swans chased her out of the pond and after she followed us all the way back to our car. I was sad to leave her ｡･ﾟﾟ･(>д<)･ﾟﾟ･｡ way too cute. Anything that follows me I will automatically fall in love and want to take it home. Honestly though, who has a pet duck in their apt. Maybe Joey and Chandler but I've never heard of anyone else lol (...that was a Friends reference in case you didn't quite catch it).

take me home with you and feed me good things?

Anyway, it was starting to rain again so after I shoo'ed her away from the road we were off for home again to get ready for another work week. So until next time, have a good week!

ヾ(＾∇＾)

D.I.Y: Studded Distressed Dip-bleached Shorts

D.I.Y. EDGY DIP-BLEACHED SHORTS

Hello again, I know this comes a little late in the season, but there is still a month or so left of summer to rock these shorts and it's easy to blend shorts into your fall wardrobe. Do it yourself jean shorts are an easy way to get the style you want without breaking your budget. Not to mention that every pair you make will be completely unique.

If you like shorts that stand out, these Dip-bleached shorts will give you the right edgy look you might be craving. 

_________________________________________________________________

THE DIP-BLEACHING PROCESS

You will need:

A pair of gloves, a bucket, any brand of reg. bleach, a clip hanger, scissors and an old pair of jeans, at least an hour of your time and patients.

To start off you need a pair of jeans that you don't care for anymore and you don't mind experimenting with. I had this old pair of Bluenotes Capri jeans from last summer hiding in the back of my closet that I chose to use. I know they were probably only about a $15 price point when I bought them in the first place, so I had no problem using them. I'm sure I got my dollars worth out of them last summer. Also, they had already come with some "distressed" patterns on them. So it worked well with the vision I had for these shorts. Cut your jeans at approx. 2 inches or so away from the your desired length.

Front and back views from the beginning.

This is so you will have the extra fabric to work with during the D.I.Y. process. Bleaching too long can eat away at fabric and distressing takes away from it as well. Better to play it safe with extra fabric then end up with falling apart short-shorts at the end (unless that was what you were going for?).

The next step is to dip-bleach your shorts. The few items you should look for is a clip hanger, a bucket and some sort of rack or place that  you can suspend your shorts from. Keep in mind that it is important to have your shorts suspended straight and at equal length in your bleach. Bleach runs and if your shorts aren't suspended equally at the start, you might end up with a wonky outcome in your dip-dyeing process. I used this common plastic clip hanger.

Because bleach is a strong chemical I chose to do this process outside. If your unable to, I would suggest trying this in your bathroom tub, but with an open window or ceiling fan for ventilation (bleach has strong fumes). After filling the bucket to about an inch deep of pure concentrated bleach, hang shorts with bottom edges IN the bleach.


I used a drying rack to suspend my shorts over the bucket. 

It's important to remember that BLEACH WILL RUN UP THE FABRIC. This is why I only used an inch deep of the stuff. If you fill the bucket with bleach up to the spot where you want your shorts to be bleached IT WILL GO HIGHER. You'll end up with shorts bleached all the way to the top.


As you can see, the bleach has creeped its way up the shorts fairly quickly. They haven't begun to fade the dye out yet.

Leave the shorts in for about a half hour checking every 10 minutes. Remember that bleach can EAT material when left in too long. Since my jeans are a thin stretch denim I recommend no longer than this. If your using a thick regular jean then you may need to go longer.

After 10 minutes in the solution you can see the dye begin to lighten up. :D

20 minutes in.

At the half hour mark I took my shorts out. You couldn't see much difference in the bleaching, but don't worry about that, they are! After the washing you'll see the difference! When removing them from the bleach put them straight into a bucket of water.

Since I did mine outdoors I had a bucket and hose ready.

Get rid of the bleach left over and refill the basin with a half vinegar - half water solution. Vinegar is important because it acts as a stopper to the bleach. It makes the bleach quit turning your shorts and it will prevent any left over bleach from eating any unwanted holes in the fabric or from continuing to degrade the material. Leave them in it for about another 5-10 mins.


Notice that you can see the bleaching now?!

 After this you can simply run your shorts through a cycle in the wash to get all the vinegar/bleach out and have a look at you finished product.


Taa Daa! Tri-colour? What a surprise!

 I found it really interesting that they turned out with the bottom, which spent the ENTIRE time IN the bleach, managed to remain a darker colour than the area where the bleach ran up the fabric. Maybe it has something to do with the quality of dye in the jeans? I don't know but I kind of like that it turned out the way it did.  Also have a look at the bleach that turned pee-yellow while I was bleaching them! WTH?! (◎_◎;)


ode'de urine

And that concludes Part One: The Dip-bleaching Process of my first D.I.Y. shorts project. Check back for part two where I will show you how I distressed, studded and finished these shorts.

________________________________________________________________________

Finally, I just wanted to add that D.I.Y. projects, to me, are like an experimentation. I have a plan and an idea of the outcome I want in my head. But I know I will run into problems along the way. I plan to write about the outcomes completely and give you my best recommendations for your own projects. If you have any questions. Please leave them in the comments below and I will try to help you out. ヾ(＾∇＾)