About 2 weeks postpartum, a makeup/online community brand, Live Tinted, asked if I wanted to share a #tintmonial on their website.  Of course I was happy to be asked! After fashion, makeup and skincare are two things I enjoy.

I did, however, severely underestimate two things: one, that nothing besides maternity tights and a couple tops currently fit me; and two, moving houses with a newborn, toddler, and a new fourth grader was extremely exhausting.

I couldn’t be regular and submit a photo in one of only three outfits I’d been wearing non-stop my entire pregnancy!

I resolved that I would make a skirt, that also fits the Tinted aesthetic! I knew exactly the design and fabric I wanted to use and got lucky and found this beautiful Honor Gold Stretch Velour fabric online at Mood. I purchased the fabric and got to work whenever the kids were sleeping.

The skirt is an elastic waist – which I really need – and an asymmetrical gathered section. I sketched it out and wrote all the pattern measurements per usual on a little notepad. I didn’t even have my pattern paper at my new place so I drafted on the fabric itself.

An elastic waist skirt is quite easy to draft. I wanted the skirt at my natural waist – which was still kind of missing postpartum to be honest! Then I curved the line from my waist measurement to my hip measurement to give the skirt some shape, for both front and back pieces. I added a 1″ seam allowance to the front and back as well. The elastic piece I used for the waistband was the length of my waist plus an inch to overlap the elastic. The stretch velour fabric beautifully created an elastic casing.

The asymmetrical piece was a touch difficult to figure out. Since I didn’t draft the skirt on paper first, I had a little trouble visualizing and cutting the exact measurements. Definitely if you have an asymmetrical design, drafting on pattern paper first is so helpful. I cut 2.5 times the length of the hem for the gathered piece, then cut the hem of the asymmetrical piece after I tried it on and figured out how I wanted the hem of the skirt. The hem is asymmetrical as well, with the left side a bit longer than the right. I did waste a bit of fabric to figure that out!

I made a simple turban to wear with it. This Honor Gold Stretch Velour fabric is better suited to a wrap style turban than a hat style, but I do like how the gathered section matches the gathers on the skirt.

So for the most part, I completed both fairly quickly and waited for the right day to take photos. And waited and waited…literally two months rolled by and I hadn’t been in a place to get dressed and take photos!

The postpartum period is such a rollercoaster of emotions. Mentally, this was an easier time than with my other two kids for one reason – I was less anxious about taking care of baby and readily accepted the late nights and exhaustion. But there are other issues that are challenging. I don’t want to turn this into a whole mom post, but it took a while to get to the point of feeling that I could be in front of a camera smiling again.

The end result is that I’m happy with how the design and photos turned out! I’m also using the Live Tinted Huestick in Rise on my eyes, cheeks and lips, which made the whole look come together beautifully! It matched the Honor Gold Stretch Velour skirt and turban hat I made perfectly.

Let me know if you love this look as much as I do!

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ETA: What I wrote for my Tintmonial:

West Indian – Guyanese. Mamma of 3 kids. 🐺🦄🦁

I’m a fashion enthusiast and makeup and skincare lover.

I discovered fashion magazines around 11 years old and reading them became my outlet to cope with health issues I was going through. I loved trying different looks and buying the recommended makeup products I would read about. Usually though, I found myself confused as to why foundation shades that were labeled ‘medium’ looked pink or gray on me, why a concealer didn’t cover my dark circles or dark spots, or a moisturizer that promised to even my skintone simply didn’t.

As a Guyanese Muslim woman, I felt left out of creative outlets like beauty and fashion.

As the beauty industry has evolved these last few years, I’ve re-discovered my love of trying different makeup and skincare products. It’s so much more enjoyable now that there are more products I can try for my skintone/type.

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Wearing Huestick in Rise on eyes, cheeks, and lips, and as a color corrector.