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
