Romance Shell - Part 1

I seem to start summer projects in the summer and winter projects in the winter.  Well, normally that would make sense, but since it takes me forever to finish a project, I really should do the opposite: Knit a winter item in the summer and a summer item in the winter.  That way it will be done in the correct season for wearing it right away.

 

Alas, I have a summer frilly shell that I have started at the end of summer and I won't be able to really wear it until the spring.  Well, in Florida, the seasons are screwy anyway.  Our "winter" is like 1 week of weather where a jacket is nice for the morning, but not really needed on the way home.  But truly, this shell is a summer item to wear.

 

This project is from Tahki Yarns Intermix pattern booklet.  The pattern is called Romance Ruffle Collar Shell.

Romance by Tahki Yarns

 

When I was looking through the booklet I fell in love with almost everything in there!  That is my downfall, is that I like too many patterns and have a hard time choosing only one.

 

This pattern is knit in a novelty yarn called Ripple (100% Mercerized Cotton) that is thick and thin.  Charming at first, then after awhile, not so much.  I chose to do it in the same color as the model.  I typically try hard not to choose the same color, but the other colors in stock at Brandon Yarn Boutique, I had plenty of garments in those colors.  Vince suggested that I pick a color I would not normally have in my wardrobe.  Okaaaaay......

 

I need 5 balls of the Ripple yarn.  Here is a close-up of the thick and thin characteristic:

Knitting a gauge swatch was a bit of a challenge.  I went down one needle size, so I am using a size 6, rather than a 7. 

I'm starting with one of the front pieces, because my size 6 circs are being used for another project, so until those get miraculously get freed up or I buy another set, I can knit the front panels on straights.

The interesting trait about this yarn is that it knits up with a unique texture; it gives a pebbly look.  The basic pattern is a k8, p8 ribbing, so it even makes that basic pattern interesting.

 

To be totally honest, I really do not like knitting with this thick and thin yarn.  Often the thick portion almost gets stuck when you go to do the next stitch.  So if you leave it, then the stitch is tight, if you "let it go" then the stitch is loose.  Not exactly something that I like, when I am trying really hard to keep gauge.

 

Good luck to me!

T-Shirt Tanks

Happy 4th of July!

I know that the official day of summer already occurred, but the 4th always licks off the summer with a bang!

I have been sitting on this project for a few months.  I promised to work on this for a friend and kept putting it off.  But now, no more excuses!  I have completed this project and think that it was a quick and simple project.

My friend got this idea from Pintrest and I found the source of the project.  It started off as a no sew t-shirt tank project, but I only use fusible webbing for when I'm in a pinch or when a needle is not the most practical way to go.  My machine will make it more durable, so that is what I did.

The project is from the blog Crafter Hours and it is how to make a t-shirt into a tied tank top.

First you take a t-shirt you don't mind cutting up.  But pick one that you would wear to the beach, the pool, hanging around the house or running errands on the weekend.

Cut the neck off straight, then the sleeves and a few strips from the bottom.  I threw away the very bottom edge that has the hemming.  Cut 2 more strips from the bottom.

Then seam  the top cut edges where the neck is big enough to form a casing for the tying strips.

Snip the strips so they are long and thin, not a circle.  Then thread the strips, one in the front and one in the back.  Bunch the fabric up a bit and tie on the shoulders with the strips.  Trim away any excess striping material once you have the ties at a good length.

I left two out of the three shirts I did with the cut raw edge at the bottom.  Once that is done, then you are done!!

Another one:

And one more:

This one I also put a casing at the bottom and threaded another strip so that it can cinch on the side.  This t-shirt was a men's XXL, so I had to take it in at the sides.  I had plenty of room at the bottom to do the cinching.

There you go, go forth and cut up all of your husband's t-shirts so that you can have some chic beach shirts and all-round comfy tees.

Tangerine Tango

Each year the color matching system company, Pantone, announces a "Color of the Year."  This color is used in many industries to shape the upcoming trends in color (home decor and fashion, being a few).  This year, Pantone announce Tangerine Tango as the latest color.

It is a cross between a coral and and orange.  I like it, but not sure how it should fit in my wardrobe.  I went searching last week for a shirt or something that was this color or similar to wear to my work's holiday party.

Our holiday party was this weekend (yes, an after-holiday party) on the Starship Yacht.  It is fairly nice weather in the winter in Florida, but unfortunately, was not the case this weekend.  It was and still is in the 50's.  Yikes!  Cold weather on a boat did not seem good.

Back to shopping: my search was rewarded with a sequined-trimmed tank top.  It has that crumpled look like it was knotted-up and not ironed.

But, as you can see below, the straps were too long.  Not a problem.

 
All I did was fold down the strap in the back were it was connected and resewed it.

I trimmed the excess fabric and I was done.  Pretty easy.  I don't usually let something minor like like persuade me from not buying it.  The only extra thing I needed for it was matching thread, that I bought on sale at Joann's.

With this tank, I also bought a sheer, light turquoise blouse with tangerine colored flowers on it.  Since I figured it may be a bit chilly, I chose the dress pants option rather than the dress or skirt.  I also bought a light turquoise fitted jacket to wear over it.  

I painted my nails to match my tank top with a nail color that I already owned (an old color from Mary Kay called Mango Spice):

 In the end, we all had a great time.  Here is me dancing with a broom:

For some reason, someone grabbed a broom and each person had to dance in the middle of the floor with the broom.  Whatever, I did it, it was hilarious!

Here is me and my sweetie :

The outfit was comfortable, the night's festivities were fun and being with my sweetie completed the night.

Fix It - Ribfest Tank

This weekend in St Pete at Vinoy Park was Ribfest.  I love Ribfest; so much good food.  I recently have been trying a gluten-free diet (no wheat, so like anything made with flour is out) and cutting out carbonated drinks (like beer and soda).  I knew I could not control how the ribmasters make up their BBQ sauce (yes, they may add flour or modified food starch to thicken or use soy sauce which has flour), so I said that I was forgoing the gluten-free and carbonation-free diet for one day. 

That being said, I need a shirt that was not too tight.  My belly gets really bloated when I eat wheat and carbonated drinks, so I wanted to be worry-free on how my belly was looking during Ribfest.

I recently went around to yard sales on a past weekend, and bought this really cute halter top for 50 cents.

Holy Polka Dot, Batman!

Yeah, it's polka dotted but I really liked it.  I liked the flow and the twirly-wrapped straps.  The only thing is that I did not really like that it was a halter top.  I'm constantly picking up the back to make sure it's covering my bra and I have to wear a strapless bra.  Halters are supposed to be cute and fun, why so much hassle to wear one?  

Since the twirly-wrapped straps were really long, I decided to make regular straps out of them and use the extra length to make loops in the back to hold up the back from sagging.

Twirly Loops, Coming  Right Up!

Next, I took the small length I just cut and attached them to the back of the shirt.

Easy-Peasy

Then I threaded the twirly-wrapped straps through the new loops and had Vince make a square knot in the back middle.

Really, That Simple!

Here is a close-up of the loops and knot:

No More Saggy Back

I will model my new shirt:

Project Runway, Here I Come!

Remember I fixed up a few blazers?  Well, I paired my new shirt with one of them to attend Ribfest (It got a bit chilly in the evening):

And Now the Red Carpet...

Let's say I won't be quitting my day job to model. :-)

We enjoyed ourselves so much at Ribfest.  It was a perfect day and the ribs and pulled pork were delicious!  We met some friends there.  Here is a pic of their daughter and I reading a Dora book:

So Cute!

Now for Rib Pictures:

Ravaging a Rib

A few more:

Yum, So Worth It!

The daughter let me borrow her bib so I could finish up without a mess:

I'm Such a Princess When I Eat!

All in all, we had a good time.  Can't wait until Ribfest 2012! 

Fix It - Skirt & Tank

Happy Memorial Day!  I had big crafting plans for this long weekend and I ended up doing none of them!  Hey, everyone needs a do-nothing weekend once and awhile, right?

Alterations are never very high on the sewer's to-do list.  I have a huge pile of to-do's that I never can find the time to fix.  So, since I was lazy this weekend I figure I would look in my cache of pics to see what I have done recently and I found a white denim skirt and a blue tank top.

First the skirt.  I bought this at Goodwill for less than $4.  It is a J.Crew white denim skirt that has a normal waist.  By normal, I mean not the hip-hugging, low-rise style that gives anyone who is a few pounds above their "desired" weight muffin top.  I have my fair share of low-risers, but I was glad that this one is one that I do not have to suck in my tummy to wear comfortably.


White denim, so 90's!

There is actually nothing wrong with this skirt, but since I only paid a few bucks for it, I had no buyer's remorse wanting to make it a bit more chic for the summer.  The bottom hem has a roll to it and I know that I will have to break out the iron every time I wear this.  Not very grab 'n go if you have to take the ironing board out in the morning.  I have frayed the ends of skirts and jeans before, so I was leaning towards that direction, but I did not want a mini either.  The length of this skirt was good as it was, so I decided to unstitch the bottom hem and unfold it.

Carefree, here we come!

The unstitching was a bit tedious, but not too bad.  I took a standard seam ripper and went all the way around the bottom hem of the skirt.  Then I unfolded it, like you see above.  You can also see the the raw ends are already fraying: Perfect.

When you unstitch something, be patient.  You will have to break the thread several times and pull out the tiny lengths with you fingers or tweezers, but you will be rewarded in the end with no rips or holes.

Orts of threads

Once it was unstitched and unfolded, I took it over to the ironing board and ironed it with steam and starch.  I knew the folds were not going to iron out, that is why I went this route rather than lopping off the bottom hem.  This way, it gave the skirt a meant-to-do-that deconstructed look.  Done!


Ta-da, Starch!


Next came the blue tank top.  This is a sale rack, Forever 21 purchase.  The straps were very long, so I had to shorten them.


Soon to be stunted straps

I prefer to alter the backs of items, rather than the fronts, so that you do not see stitching or other imperfections, in case the thread does not exactly match or an otherwise "oops" happens.  I took the same seam ripper and unstitched the back straps. 


Mark where they came from with a pen


I marked where they originally went so I could affix them in the same location.  I pinned it in place and tried it on.  I did this until the straps fit well.  These straps were originally placed at an angle so I wanted to ensure that the same angle was pinned.


Look how long the straps were!


Since the band gong around my chest was elastic, I installed a ballpoint needle on my machine.  I did not bother with a zig-zag because I was not sewing around the circumference, just an inch or so.  The elastic will still be stretchy around the rest of the top.  This is not fabric that will fray much, so I did not finish the edge, after I cut the extra length off.  No one will see it.


Perfect criss-cross angle!


This ensemble was less than $10 and it is very comfy!  Just a little bit of stitching skills and you can decontruct and alter someone else's cast-offs to be unique to you.


Plenty of daylight left to enjoy!


I have worn both of these pieces since I fixed them at the end of March and am truly satisfied with how they came out and how they wear.  This skirt will fray more as I wash it.  I will trim away the excess long threads, but you can keep them there and that will give it an even more casual look.

Try looking in your donation pile of clothes and see if there is something that you can tweak about them that may make them wearable to you again.  It doesn't even have to fit, you can totally cut it up and make a headscarf or a fabric belt.  Or if it has a stain, consider dying it a darker color or try tie-dye. 

Let me know if you try a Fix-It project of your own!  Happy Deconstructing!