Hair Dye and Fabric

Sometimes things happen on the World Race, such as finding red hair dye at a market in Haunuco, Peru. You buy said hair dye because you have been unable to find any henna to re-dye your blond roots red. A few days later you find yourself sitting on a chair in the kitchen while your teammate dyes your hair. 30 minutes later you have Arial red hair!

So, it's a bit brighter and less natural looking than I was intending, but I love having completely red hair again rather than several inches of blond roots at the top of my head! Man, I was really tired of that blond, so I have no complaints about my new hair color. Also, I hear it will fade a bit as time goes on. Now, hopefully in Africa next month I can actually find henna!

Now, sometimes things happen at home too, such as finding yourself in a little fabric store in the middle of nowhere and bringing home a ton of fabric! Back in December my mom, sister, and I made a day trip to a Mennonite community to go to a specific store. At said store we heard about a little fabric store not far away, so of course we had to check it out! Well, it was a little store filled floor to ceiling with fabric, and I loved it! Most of the fabrics were poly/cotton blends. Typically, I avoid polyester. However, I was heading into 11 months of living out of a backpack (nearly 3 months months down now, 8 left to go!), so I figured that the no-wrinkle aspect of polyester could be a nice thing. Thus, I bought a lot of fabric and spent my last 2 weeks at home turning that fabric into clothing.

The store had a wide selection of no-wrinkle plaid shirting fabrics, and I had a hard time choosing just one to get! I already knew what the plaid would become, if I could ever pick one. After staring at all the pretty plaids for quite a while, I finally picked this one. I loved the blue/green stripes in the plaid!

 
From the beginning, this fabric was set to become a second Gypsophelia Peasant Top, like the one I made over the summer. This pattern is really quick and easy to make, and I have no complaints about the final results. With this shirt I even took the time to match the plaid on the front and back seams (something I typically don't have the patience to do), but I forgot to match the plaid at the shoulders and down the sleeves!

Maybe one day, when I return home to my sewing machine (and my family!) in about 8 months, I'll get good at matching plaid. Imperfect plaid matching and all, however, this shirt is getting plenty of wear on the World Race! It matches my skirts, doesn't wrinkle, and breaths well despite the polyester content. 

Now, red hair dye wasn't the only thing I found in the Market here in Peru, there are also a few really awesome fabric stands! So I think I know where most of my spending money will go this month!

Hasta Luego! If you want to know what I'v been up to in Peru (other than shopping at the market and dyeing my hair) check out my World Race blog!