FO: Ribbon Shawl

Sorry I haven't written anything these past couple days. I've been busy; I just got back from soccer practice. I finished my shawl! And then I realized I needed a shawl pin, so I took a pin back and sewed on a button and some beads. I also used a sparkly barrette to pin it.

Pattern: Light and Lacy Shawl by Kris Percival

Yarn: recycled sweater ribbon yarn I won from a giveaway by sneezerville (her site is awesome!)

Needle used: #9 us circular needle; 29"

Modifications: didn't do a lacy edge, I just did a stretch bind off (knit 2 tog through back loops, slip st back to left needle and repeat). I also stopped increasing at only 151 sts because I'm lazy.

Would I do it again? Probably not. Too many stitches for me!

Hip Hop Pullover: Tunic Tutorial

I have been called many things. Immature: just last night I was rooting myself on to beat my high score in Doodle Jump. I also love to watch pokemon, dragon tales, arthur, kids next door, etc. if it's on. I've been called weird: I once tied my socks to my p.e. pants so I wouldn't lose them (I don't mean to insult anyone who's done that before!). I was making cotton candy mustaches with my sister the other day. However, I've often been called creative, talented, and incredibly gifted--did I mention I am often called these things? (ok, just ignore those last two) The point is that I'm very creative when it comes to going over my mistakes. I'm also good at copying things. Due to laziness (not that I'm lazy or anything), this shirt doesn't exactly give me what I wanted, but with my arm warmers (tutorial here), it still gives me the cool, tough-girl attitude that I'm going for. Inspiration (by jmorco on etsy):

My interpretation:

This shirt makes me want to start showing off my dance moves (that I, unfortunately, don't have). I can imagine this shirt on one of those tough street-dancers from the movies. It's the kind of shirt that makes me feel--dare I say it?--bad.

And I'm lovin' it.

I remember for a field trip, I brought Cheez-its to a play even though I wasn't supposed to, and I told my friend, "I'm so bad, I brought Cheez-its!" She laughed, and so did I, but sadly, in a way, I wasn't exactly kidding. I wish I was wearing this shirt when I had said that: it would have made it ten times worse.

Tutorial

materials: scissors, shirt that you want to model after, sewing machine, drapey, stretchy, jersey fabric (i had about 3/4 yard from the remnant pile in the fabric store); thread. that's about it.

The front and back pieces are the same. Take your nice fitting shirt and lay it out on your fabric. Cut around your shirt, not including the neckhole or the curve of the shoulders on your sleeves. Leave a seam allowance. You basically want a straight edge on the top, so you have 2 t-shaped pieces of fabric. Leave plenty of room under your arms, so you almost have a gusset underneath. See how square the original shirt's underarms are? You want to curve under it. Compare the underarms from this picture to the picture below.

After you cut out both pieces, sew the shoulders, leaving a gap for your head to fit through. I made the gap a little big so it can fall off the shoulder if I want it to. You don't have to cut out a neckhole, because since the fabric's drapey, it gives you a nice curling raw edge that goes around your neck. Then sew up the sides. You're finished! Easy top in about 15 minutes! Make a ton out of different colored jersey. Have fun. :)

Maybe one day I'll actually try again at copying the shirt. But for now, this is good enough for me.

Arm Warmer Tutorial

Right at this very moment, as my sister takes her turn hogging the irresistible, shiny, frightening, bright-white machine, I type this message, as my fingers are hugged with indescribable warmth--you'll have to feel it yourself to believe it.

Materials: fleece/jersey sweatshirt material (I'm using a fleece lined sweatshirt jersey), sewing machine, thread, scissors, measuring tape

Measure around your hand (right above your thumb, around your four fingers and the knuckles), your forearm, and your upper arm. Cut out 2 trapezoids/rectangles with those dimensions--so start off with your hand measurement, widen it to your forearm measurement, and have the bottom of the rectangle finish with your upper arm measurement.

Fold right sides together lengthwise and sew down about 2." Leave a gap for your thumb about 1.5", and then sew up the rest of your arm warmer. Repeat for 2nd side. You can do a zigzag stitch on the top and bottom to prevent raveling. Done! Voila!

With the rest of the material my sister made a dolman sweatshirt w/o cuffs with my tutorial. She later added a bottom band. Have some more tutorials coming up! :) Fabric was very cheap--about 2.50 for 1 and 1/3 yard!

Update

I haven't been writing because I am still waiting to be taken to the fabric store. That will probably happen tomorrow or Sunday. Then I will have new fabric to sew with! Yee! And (maybe) tutorials to show for it--or at least pictures.

WIP--Happy Valentine's Day!

I forgot about Valentine's Day. I didn't even remember until this morning. I got lot's of candy. I have been working on the Light and Lacy Shawl by Kris Percival.

I'm almost done! This weekend I'm (hopefully) going to go to a fabric store, where I plan to buy yards of (cheap) fabric and make a couple of things. Maybe I'll have some tutorials to go along with it.

Things I want to make:

1. Sweatpants

2. Tunic, based off of an etsy seller

3. Racerback tank top

Washer Necklace w/ Small Tutorial

I've been working on some projects. It's kinda hard, considering my mom doesn't want me to do crafts or anything until holidays. But I can't wait that long... So I have to ask permission first. Kind of sad.

So here's a finished project: washer necklace! With wrapped wire and beads.

I saw these on craftster first, and then found a ton of other tutorials. I mixed a bunch together. One thing I don't have, unfortunately, is glaze. To make it all nice and... shiny. So I had to use mod podge instead.

All you have to do is get a washed, trace around it on some newspaper (wrapping paper, etc. At first the newspaper piece I cut out said nice words like chocolate, vanilla, caramel... but then they got cut out when I cut out the middle circle. so the only word visible was the word 'nuts,' and for some reason that just didn't appeal to me as much 'gelato' and 'caramel') and then cut the hole out from the middle. Now glue it on your washer with mod podge. When it's dry, put on several coats of mod podge. When dry, get some wire, wrap it around your washer, and string on 2-5 beads. Done! Add ribbon, yarn, hemp, etc. (I got suede cord from my sister, who got it on a package from Lucky.)

Have fun! :)

WIP: Knitted Shawl

Yay! My giveaway yarn finally got here! The packaging got kind of torn during the mailing process, so the yarn is kind of lint-y, but that's okay. Right now, I am knitting a shawl, the Light and Lacy Shawl from the Knit Knack Kit by Kris Percival. I am also reading the book Chicks with Sticks: It's a Purl Thing, by Elizabeth Lenhard. I've read it before; it's okay. Kind of unrealistic. First of all, Scottie is a fast learner. Her first knitting project: a scarf. Second: poncho. Third: sweater. Sweater!! If I could knit that fast I'd be done with my shawl already. Dang she's fast. I'll post a picture of my shawl, maybe. Off to watch the Super Bowl...

Memory

You know, I just remembered something... You know those radar-mile-per-hour cars? The little white machines that say how fast you're going? The ones that say: You are going __ miles per hour on a little black electronic screen? I think you get the picture. I was trying to find a pic on google, but I guess the term 'machines that say your mph' wasn't specific enough. Anyways, I was at the library with my sister, and as a car sped by, I asked her, "Do you think it would tell me how fast I'm going if I run past it?"

She just shrugged and said, "I don't know, try it."

So I went charging up to that machine at the speed of light, and then I ran back, panting.

"How fast was I?"

My sister laughed hard and said, "I guess you're way too slow, because the machine didn't even blink."

I was hoping it would say at least 4 mph. No such luck.

My mom tried to make me feel better and say I wasn't heavy enough. Good ol' mothers. They do a lot to make you feel good. And then they yell at you right after.

I was laughing too, but I also felt a bit forlorn. "I'm not fast enough," I complained. "I must've looked dumb."

I was hoping they'd argue, but sadly my sister just confirmed it: "You did."

My mom didn't say anything.

Happy February!

Working on some crafts. I want to make several things. Went to Michaels and bought some t-shirts--I want to make a cape. Maybe a tutorial. We'll see. I also want to make some marshmallow lollipops for my friends for Valentine's day--chocolate dipped. Yum.