Summer at Parsons/Crop top amazingness

It's been so long since I've updated! I've been so busy with school and finals and moving out of my apartment at school, out of my house at home, and into a new house an hour away. I'm probably even busier right now because I'm at Parsons in NYC doing the fashion design summer intensive program. Yes, they're filming Project Runway. No, I haven't seen Heidi or Tim (yet!) A bunch of my classmates have, though. I'm jealous. Anyway, the intensive program really is INTENSE. It's funny how the fashion people have been staying up ridiculous hours while people in the other programs get to hang out and party a lot more often. I'm so tired and it's only the second week! As crazy as it is here, I love it. I doubt I'd come back to Parsons for another undergraduate degree after UCI because I would have to pay for it myself, but then again, I love New York and I love design, so why choose to go to a school that isn't as good? I guess we'll see how it goes in a few years. In the meantime, I should decide if design is actually what I want to do. Speaking of design, I'm supposed to be making a mood board right now. I just got back from a nighttime gelato run. By "run", I mean taking 2 subway trains to Greenwich Village to arrive at Cones, which closes at 11 p.m., at 10:59, then hanging out for a bit before coming back my dorm in the financial district. So tired! Time to start on this board and get some sleep for the draping seminar tomorrow!

I need to put up pictures at some point, but here's some written DIY construction for a crop top. I found a scoopneck tee at Forever 21 that's made of surprisingly soft cotton for amazing price of $4.50. I found that the best place to start cutting was about half an inch above the little tag on the inside that tells you what the shirt's made of. Step 1: Buy the shirt in large. (I think this project might only work with this top if you're already a size small, actually.) Turn the shirt inside out and stretch it a bit. Step 2: Find that tag. Step 3: Cut a straight line across the shirt. Step 4: Stretch the shirt again and it'll develop a rolled hem on it's own! I'll probably reinforce the stitching on the sides by hand later on.

American Apparel has a crop top for about $17. I'm thinking about buying it for the mossy green color, but if you want a basic color, just make one from a Forever 21 top. You don't need to cut a more feminine neckline like you would if you started with a basic Hanes tee or something of the sort because it's already built in.