Sweater Refashion Review

So I finally took the leap and did a sweater refashion into a cardigan.  I needed a winter weight cardigan for some upcoming events and I had a sweater that I just won't wear that often anymore (never mind that fact that it won't fit over my belly right now!).  It's super soft and a great winter white, so I took the plunge.

This was my tutorial inspiration:

Source: iammommahearmeroar.blogspot.com via Melissa on Pinterest

It seemed easy enough.  I even took the time to take some picture along the way, so here goes!

So, instead of fabric, I used ribbon purchased to match the dress I'm wearing next week to a holiday party (see this post to see the dress and matching necklace I made).

I found the center line of the front of my sweater by folding it in half and placing a pin.  The fact that it is a rib knit made it that much easier.  Measure out the ribbon to be a bit longer than the sweater from neckline to hem.  I actually ended up using an even longer piece than shown here.  My first attempt had stretched the knit a little too much and I ended up with a too short piece of ribbon.  So, don't skimp here!

Ok, take a deep breath and start cutting up that sweater.  For me, this was the hardest part.

Place the ribbon along the edge of the front of the sweater cut line, folding over about an inch of the ribbon over the top of the neckline, and sew.  I used a basting (longest length) stitch which helped reduced the amount of stretch in the sweater.  When you get to the bottom, fold over the remaining bit of ribbon.  This will all be enclosed in the next step, so don't worry about the ends of the ribbon fraying.

Can you see the stitching?  Now, fold over the sweater and ribbon so that both are on the inside of the sweater.  Sew back down on the inside.  I used a thread that matched the sweater so that from the front, you can't even see it.  The second line of stitching is the bottom line shown in the picture below.  Trim all of your threads.

If you want, that's pretty much all you need to do.  You could add some buttons or toggles as the inspirational blogger did for hers.  I wanted something a little dressier, so I attached pieces of ribbons to the inside top corner using an X/box stitch (sorry no picture).  This was actually the too short ribbon I cut first, so nothing was wasted!  I did heat seal the ribbons by waving them near a candle flame.  You could also use fray check if you have some on hand.

Here's the finished product!  Complete with matching necklace! 

I think it shows off my bump quite nicely!

(haha, don't mind the sweatpants in this picture!)

All in all, this was actually pretty easy. 

I might have to go through my closet now and see what I can start refashioning!

Why my husband is awesome!

I know I've said it before, but I couldn't nearly say it enough.  My husband is one of the greatest people on Earth and I am a very lucky girl!  I might have to dedicate a page of my blog to just how great his awesomeness is!

Here's a preview of his latest endeavor:

So, our previous attempts at getting a quality picture for our Christmas card were a complete failure.  Either my eyes were closed, T's eyes were closed, someone wasn't looking at the camera, etc.  Here are some of those outtakes:

So, we planned for our friend Colleen to come take our family picture on Saturday afternoon.  I stressed and stressed over outfits, because unlike the last attempts, these were more posed and less action.  On the morning of the photo shoot, I found the perfect maternity dress that would coordinate with T's dress.  B just had to wear a navy sweater which made him happy because I had strict instructions not to buy him something that he would only wear once.  I showered late that day, so that I would be in the best "shape" for pictures, and got T dressed after her nap so her dress wouldn't be wrinkled.  It was perfect.  While we were waiting for Colleen to arrive, we were all hanging out in the kitchen.  The usual question came along, "What do you want to have for dinner?", to which I replied a couple of options, both of which I would need to start ASAP.  Both were met with not enough enthusiasm for to actually get to work, so whatever we had, it was going to be a quick and easy meal.

After a few minutes, B turns to me and asks, "So, what if I planned a surprise date for us tonight and we're actually going to Dogwood with reservations for 6:00?  Colleen is babysitting."

Seriously?!  Yes, yes YES!!!  This was great for many reasons:
1. We hadn't celebrated our anniversary from October yet
2. I wasn't thinking about it all day and getting anxious about leaving T (I hate missing bedtime)
3. I was already dressed up and ready to go out!  Woohoo!

What a fantastic evening!  We got our family pictures, B and I had a lovely three-course dinner at Dogwood (check out their mission!) and then afterward we took a stroll to see the Miracle on 34th St. Lights in Hamden.  Legend has it that one year, the residents of a block on 34th street entered into a lottery pool and won.  Trying to decide what to do with their winnings, each house invested into an assortment of Christmas lights that each resident would put up each year.  The whole street looks like something of a Hollywood set!  It is even rumored that anyone who moves into the neighborhood has to sign an agreement that they will continue the tradition (that was begun in 1947) and decorate their house each year too.  Whether all of this is true, I can't say, but it certainly adds to the magical spirit of Christmas!  Click here to find out more.

This was my favorite house on the street, complete with a family of robots and the bar scene music from Return of the Jedi playing.  So nerdy, I love it!

Pinterest project reviews

Poor little T was sick today, which meant that I got to stay home with her.  Our morning was fun, filled with decorating for Christmas and playing with "Mummy" and "Daddy" (basically any human like form in plastic, fabric or wood).  Once she went down for her nap though, I was all business!  I've felt lately, like I have a hundred different projects started and none finished.  I was determined to check many of those off my list.  As it happens quite often lately, many of these projects were Pinterest inspired, so I'll give a little review for you!

My inspiration:

Source: youtube.com via Melissa on Pinterest

Source: fingerprintsonthefridge.com via Melissa on Pinterest

My results:

The hardest part of this project was getting the coat hanger untwisted and shaped and keeping the ornaments attached to their caps!  I love how it turned out.  For $15, I bought 50 ornaments from Target that were the perfect amount.  The ribbon I purchased from Michael's for $4.99 and I have plenty left over for other random projects.


The holiday season is upon us.  I've shared previously my woes of trying to find a maternity dress that is appropriate and dressy enough without costing $100+.  Well, I found this dress at Old Navy:

Source: oldnavy.com via Melissa on Pinterest

But seriously, I'm only going to wear it once.  I'll have to figure out how to refashion it afterward!  Anyways, the taupe is kind of a hard color to accesorize or match, so I figured I could make a necklace with ribbon I found (that was the perfect match) and large clunky plastic beads.  My original plan was to thread the ribbon through the beads, but without drilling larger holes, that wasn't going to work.  Then I found this tutorial:

Source: abeautifulmess.typepad.com via Melissa on Pinterest

I wasn't so sure how this would turn out for a dressier look, but I absolutely love it! 
Check it out!

Oh pinterest, how you have come through for me again!  I'm working on a sweater into cardigan refashion complete with step by step pictures.  Hopefully I'll get that uploaded this weekend.

I also hope to check off more project this weekend as B is working and I'll have two naps (Sat and Sun) to get things done!
               

Little update, I wore this necklace out last night.  I just loved the look and feel of it!  Well, Miss T did too and was playing with it while we were waiting for our food at Panera.  I probably should haved used stronger thread (I used two strands of invisible thread) since she snapped it right off and beads went flying everywhere!  Luckily, we retrieved every single bead, so I can remake a stronger 2.0 version of this necklace.

Mash-ups

I'm totally Gleek - how about you?  I look forward to Tuesday night like a little kid looks forward to Christmas!  And by Tuesday night, I mean whatever night after Tuesday we can squeeze in 42 minutes to watch it on the DVR, because who has time for commercials anymore? My favorite episodes are the mash-ups where they take two seemingly unrelated songs and make something better.  I'm always amazed at the creativity of those kids - um, I mean producers.

Anyways, last night we were having a different kind of mash-up in our house.  Dinner time is never fun for little Miss T.  She is a great eater for breakfast and lunch, but dinner has never been her thing.  I've stopped being insulted (kind of) that she won't eat anything I make, no matter how long I've slaved away at the stove (microwave), and that she'd rather eat the raw ingredients including shredded cheese and frozen peas.  I've tried to stay away from the motivation of condiments.  We will not be a household that considers ketchup a vegetable!  However, the inevitable happened and now T has a liking for both ketchup and ranch dressing.  OK, fine, if she'll eat the food dipped, I'll learn how to deal.  Usually, though, she just sucks the condiment off of the bite and dips again.  Total fail.

Last night, T decided to make some new mash-up combinations of food and condiments.  I'm sure we're all familiar with dipping chicken in ketchup or ranch, perhaps even french fries.  Last night, T decided to dip pomegranate seeds into ranch dressing.  Ever try doing this?  It's basically battered in dressing and now so are your fingers because this is work that a fork or a spoon just can't handle.  In doing so, T also discovered that a more efficient condiment delivery system is just to dip your entire hand into that beautiful puddle of flavor.  Why waste time with some bite of food that will just get in the way and cloud the savory taste?  Before I knew it, her hands were completely coated in ranch dressing and she was rubbing them together as if washing with soap! 

Silver lining?   At least the girl has mastered the mechanics of hand washing.  That came in handy as I carried her up to her bath at arms length and plopped her in a tub full of bubbles.  I think I need to hide the ranch dressing now or the girl will be hitting the sauce straight out of the bottle!

p.s. By the way, don't think for a second that the condiment will hide food that you want her to eat.  She was no fool when I tried to dip a bite of zucchini into ranch.  In addition to hand washing, the girl has mastered twisting as far away from the offensive food offer while whining "noooooooo!". sigh.

sigh, December

Anyone else's calendar look like this?

December 2011
Mon	Tues	Wed	Thurs	Fri	Sat	Sun
			1 Work, then stuff	2 Work, then - Whoa!  Open Day! Quick fill it up!	3 Stuff – all day	4 Stuff – all day
5 Work, then stuff	6 Work, then stuff	7 Work, then stuff	8 Work, then stuff	9 Work, then - Whoa!  Open Day! Quick fill it up!	10 Stuff – Morning, afternoon	11 Stuff – all day
12 Work, then stuff	13 Work, then stuff	14 Work, then stuff	15 Work, then stuff	16 Work, then stuff	17 Stuff – all day	18 Stuff – all day
19 Work, then - Whoa!  Open Day! Quick fill it up!	20 Work, then stuff	21 Work, then stuff	22 Work, then stuff	23 Drive 18 hours	24 Stuff – all day	25 Stuff – all day
26 Stuff – all day	27 Whoa!  Open Day! Quick fill it up!	28 Stuff – all day	29 Stuff – all day	30 Stuff – all day	31 Stuff – all day

What is it about December that we need to cram everything in and then some?  sigh, I don't even know when we are going to get our Christmas tree or even do our shopping!  Oh January, I look forward to your serenity and peace!