Opening Day!

Today is Opening Day for the Reds! Yay! It's like the official start of Spring here in Cincinnati :)  To celebrate I'm wearing a bunch of Reds crafts that I've made previously and I resized two t-shirts I got from the Reds Star Wars game last year!

These shirts were an Adult XL. I usually resize Adult L's so the resizing part was a little more than usual! On the t-shirt I moved the shoulder seams in and I made the sleeves skinnier.  On both the shirts I curved in the waist and cut off about 2 inches.  Today I'm wearing the t-shirt version but I bet the tank will get a lot of wear this summer since summers in Cincinnati tend to be very humid. :D

I previously made this headband, necklace and earrings.  The necklace and earrings were super simple to make with some clear red pony beads and baseball beads.  I strung them on white yarn haha.  The earrings are also strung on white yarn and I used paper clips to create the hook part!  The headband was just a knitted piece that I knit to a circle shape and then just duplicate stitched the red thread marks and the sloppy, "Reds" haha :)  I should really consider taking it apart and trying to make it look nicer.

You can see the earrings better in this picture.  Also I'm wearing a Reds Hoodie that I got at Victoria Secret's Pink store. :)

And what opening day would be complete without Cracker Jacks?  I left my house super early just so I could stop at Walgreens and pick up a bag.  That's dedication my friends haha.

I'm still working on making my first dress from a pattern.  It's not going as swimmingly as I had hoped.  I had finished cutting everything out and got the front and back bodice completely sewn with the liner and held it up.  It isn't even funny how much it doesn't fit.  Even with the pattern for a size 12 stating it would fit my bust it definitely did not.  After work today I'll be picking up some tissue paper so I can make my first FBA - full bust adjustment.  Just to reiterate how off this sizing was, this size 12 could only possibly fit maybe a B cup and I'm a DD.  So super off. :(  I still have lots of fabric left so I'm hoping it isn't going to be an issue.  I'll be making a mock top before cutting the fabric though.

*heart*

-Robin

So much crafting!

I have been crafting like crazy!!  In no particular order I have finished a sweater, re-webbed a lawn chair, sewed a skirt and painted shoes!  I'm also in the process of sewing my first dress from a pattern! I'm nervous about the dress, I'm going solo in my adventure.  I usually have my mom nearby to help out but now that I don't live with her I should probably learn to forge ahead on my own. :)

I finished the Miranda.  I liked the pattern but I wouldn't say that I loved it.  It's very possible that I didn't understand the sizing issue that transpired because this sweater is meant to have positive ease and adding like 2 inches to my chest area isn't really flattering.  The pattern is top down and has you do a series of short rows to elongate the back. I thought it was an interesting move the way it was set up.  The problem I had was it seemed that the upper chest, sleeves and back were going to be super large and I was going to have a very large armhole that would show my bra if I lifted my arm.  At some point before the pattern stated I was done and could start on the body (done knitting the arms) I decided I was done knitting the arms.  I was suppose to knit another 12 rows  which would have been ridiculous.  Again, this could have definitely been my error as I should have chosen a size under my measurement.  I ended up also adding in some waist shaping since the garment was going to have positive ease.  When it came time for the pocket I picked up stitches using this method. I just learned this method and I LOVE IT. It really made the pick up line quite invisible on the sweater.  Other knitters had a visible pick up line for their pockets and I was hoping mine would look seamless and it really does. :)  The only other thing to mention is that the fabric under the pocket that was knit in just stockinette tends to be kind of bunchy from the cables above it.  I don't know if something could have prevented that from happening other than not picking up as many stitches as were being worked the the cabling, and then increasing later to accommodate the larger pocket bottom.  I'd knit this top again but in a smaller size.  I also switched from knitting the Large to knitting the Medium after the arm situation. :)

Re-webbing a lawn chair sounds like I fun idea.  It surprisingly wasn't that bad, but did take some muscle! I followed this tutorial!  My chair had the clips so I got lucky and had to replace the webbing the harder way haha.  The removing of the straps wasn't hard as it was simply cutting them off.  Then I taped up the handles after giving them a good wash and spray painted the frame with Rustoleum's 2x spray paint in a chrome gray color.  I got my new webbing from ebay and I have to admit.  The after photo doesn't seem very impressive lol.  I mentioned that to my boyfriend and he said I didn't think lawn chairs really create a wow factor. haha, he might have a point but I might still paint the handles a mint green color to make it a little more wow for me :)

Before!

The handles were gross

This bar was starting to rust which is what lead me to want to spray paint the frames with some rustoleum!

Here they are after!  Like I said, not very impressive looking.  Also I messed up the webbing pattern on the back of the first chair so I did it intentionally on the second chair haha.  Also this webbing was 2.25" and before they were about 2.75"  But I did manage to get the webbing tight enough that they're still fairly comfortable to sit in!

The webbing is a pretty mint green and salmon color :)

Let's talk sewing next!  When spring and summer hit I really start to sew a lot!  I've done two simple t-shirt resizes, a dress recon, and made a skirt from a vintage bedsheet!

 For the t-shirts I simply laid a well fitting (already taken in by me) tshirt on top of these and cut them to the same shape, detaching and re-attached the sleeves to bring in the seams so they weren't off of my shoulders.

I love 90's church dresses!  I found this gem for only a few dollars and just loved the (daisy? dandelion?) print!  It even came with a matching belt!  I hacked off the top and sewed the open button top so it would never open again.  I then created a casing for some elastic for the top, used parts of the sleeves to create straps and shortened the hem!  I can't wait to wear this dress when it gets warmer!

 I'm really obsessed with the idea of making dresses and skirts out of thrifted bedsheets.  These just so happened to be bed sheets from when I was a kid!  They were super faded and very thin and 75% of the fabric isn't really usable.  There happened to be enough length left that must have always been tucked in at the bottom of my bed that could be salvaged.  I laid the fabric out flat and measured out 23" all across the bottom and basically had a very long rectangle after all the cutting was done.  Then I took some plain white fabric I had and did the same thing except I cut it at 22" to create a liner since the salvaged fabric was still a little thin.  Then I sewed those two pieces together, then I sewed the elastic waist band to the fabric and I was done!  It was a really simple maybe half hour project!  Now I just need to go to Disney World and show it off! My favorite part is Robin Hood will always be on my side!  This bedsheet features Alice in Wonderland, Robin Hood, Bambi, Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Huey, Dewey, Louie, and Pluto!

Last but not least in my crafting frenzy, I painted some canvas shoes!!!  I used the advice that I found here.  For the primer I used Gesso that I found in the paint aisle (I was really lost on where to find Painting primer that wasn't at a hardware store)  Then I stenciled on my design with an HB pencil as lightly as I could and I started painting with acrylics!  I had to paint the yellow parts several times to get them that bright but the green and red barely needed a second go if at all.  The black outline is just sharpie and then I used a multi-purpose sealant, again found in the paint aisle at JoAnn's.

I did consider making a Batman and Robin pair but honestly Robin is my favorite.  I didn't want to take the focus away from that!  These shoes also were a gray color and did not start out white.  I couldn't find a pair of white shoes when I was out.  I found these shoes at Target in the boys section.  I wear a women's 7.5/8 so these boys (kids) size 6 worked well.  The size 5 also could have worked but honestly the opening was just a bit too tight but the length was great.  The length on these feel a little silly but the opening was the right size :)

As far as an update from my last post I'm still on the healthier/more active lifestyle and have lost between 11-13 pounds depending on the day :)  I keep plateau-ing but I figure if I keep at it everything will just keep moving along.  Beyond almost all of my clothes fitting (there's still one pair of pants that aren't cooperating!) I've had a good amount of energy.  I'm usually well rested and hydrated which is continuing to keep my skin looking really clear and glow-y.  I might even brave a bikini this summer because quite honestly I feel super confident and like a bad ass.  I mean, why not?

Hoping my next post will be soon and will contain my adventure in sewing a dress from vintage bedsheets following a pattern!!! *Crosses fingers*

*heart*

-Robin

New Year, New Place, New crafts

This year is going to be a great year for me.  It's my last six months of my twenties and come June, BOOM! I'll be flirty thirty.  I've got some great goals lining up too.  My main squeeze and I just bought our first house together and while I found myself purging A LOT of stuff (lots of yarn and fabric, it had to be done) now I get to buy and make a whole new round of stuff!  We've already updated the bathroom and it looks so much better!  Pictures and details later though, this is a goals post.

I know it seems cliche to say that I'm going to lose weight as a resolution but lucky me I started my "become a healthier Robin" journey back on December 19!  I've already found that with increased movement (just walking) and decreased caloric intake (no more bags of chips) I have already lost 6 pounds.  It's hardly been a demanding lifestyle change.  And while I feel that age and weight are only numbers and that they don't defy you, it hurt when my doctor's office labeled me 'obese' because I refuse to believe that I am.  When according to the wack bmi scale I truly am.  But so many great things will come from this.  And already have.  I've increased my sleeping and water intake too and my energy levels are crazy high, and my skin looks great.  So I plan on sharing links and recipes that I'm finding I'm in love with.

I'm assuming with losing the amount I want to lose (about 30 pounds?) that some of my sweaters might become too large.  This makes me a bit sad, but it means that I can start to knit smaller sweaters which will require less yarn and will be cheaper to make! Bwhahaha!  I already have yarn in hand ready to knit Miranda.  I bought it (Berroco Vintage) on a short day trip to Louisville at Sophia's Fine Yarn Shoppe.  If you find yourself in the area, I highly recommend it because it's filled with wonderful yarn!  A great variety :)  I also bought some neon yellow Plymouth yarn to make my dad a hazard hat. haha  He's an electrician and while I'm not sure he'll actually wear it I'm going to love knitting it.  I also visited A Yarn Crossing, a brand new, just opened store in Louisville.  It's smaller than Sophia's but it's loaded with charm and helpful staff. I bought a lovely skein that will become a hat to match my current wip, "How Cold Is It?" mittens.

Another goal that I really hope to accomplish this year - become fluent in French.  I've been learning French for over ten years.  I took two years in high school, loved it, but then went to a vocational school where it wasn't offered.  I've been dipping my toes in here and there but never jumped all in.  I finally broke down and bought Rosetta Stone.  I saw a Groupon that I couldn't pass up, my arm was hardly being twisted haha. I've gotten through the first lesson and I'm almost done with the second.  My review so far?  It's great.  I remembered a few of the words and phrases from before but it's taught me so much more and I already feel like I'm excelling. :)

So I really kinda jumbled this whole post up but to summarize, Goals: Become a healthier weight, Knit more sweaters, hats and gloves, and become fluent in French.  OH and I didn't really mention it but a lot of my walls are blank in my new home so probably getting some great artwork up. :)

Wish me luck!