Cardigan. . .refashion?

It's not really a refashion because it's the same idea, and definitely still a cardigan, but I couldn't figure out what else to call it.

Anyway, I have this gray cardigan:

I bought it about a year-and-a-half ago when the grandpa/boyfriend sweater was popular. I thought I could handle how long it was, but I've worn it only a handful of times since my mom bought it for me.

Soooo big!

Makes me sad :[

But, I have this awesome brown cardigan from the Gap that I absolutely love!

It fits perfectly and is really soft. . .not wool. Whatever it's made of, it's really comfy :] So I used it to change the length of the gray one!

Here's a little tutorial for ya:

First I turned both cardis inside out and buttoned them. The gray one I did in that order, and it was difficult. The brown one I buttoned, then turned inside out. Much easier.

Then I laid the brown one on top of the gray one, with the buttons on the floor. The only thing I wanted to change was the length, so I didn't pay any attention to the sleeves or the difference in width towards the bottom.

It turned out that the length of the ribbing at the bottom of the gray was the reason it was so much longer, so I was able to just cut off the ribbing and reuse it as it was.

The gray sweater has pockets on it that just so happen to be right where I wanted to put the new seam. Boo. But I cut a seam allowance about 3/4 inch away from the bottom of the opening of the pocket.

Then I unbottoned the sweater and turned it right side out to lay flat. I unbottoned the ribbing section and laid it face down on the sweater lining up the seams (and making sure the buttons and buttonholes were on the right side), and pinned it.

See? The buttons are all together! :]

I also pinned the pockets up so that they wouldn't get caught up in the sewing and then not work as pockets anymore.

Then I sewed it up!

You can't see it really well in the picture, but when cutting off the ribbing, I cut halfway through a buttonhole, so I lined up the sewing machine so that the seam would be just above that point.

I tried it on and was happy except for a bulge right where the seam was

Also, I did make sure the buttons were on the right side, but I didn't give them equal spacing. . . Oh well.

So I moved on to. . .

My serger!! I haven't used it on a project since receiving it for my birthday from my parents! They wanted to get me something big since it was my 21st birthday :] At first, I was actually a little disappointed and thought I may not really ever use it, at least not while I'm in college. Now that I actually had a project to use it on, I'm so glad I didn't let myself tell my mom to take it back!

So happy to use my serger! :] Sorry for the whole immodest thing going on in this picture. I was wearing the camisole under the cardigans for pictures and since I was trying it back on every once in a while I didn't bother putting a t-shirt on and off in between.

I didn't take a picture of it, but I loved the little pile of cut off fabric the knife on the serger left behind. It looked like a little pillow or something. Haha.

After serging it, there was still a little bulkiness right where the closures were, so I trimmed off the serged part there at a diagonal to reduce future fraying. That helped a bit.

And here it is!

Much better :] I don't have an iron at school, so I haven't ironed the seam yet, which I know is a vital step to making your sewing projects look less homemade (thanks Dana!), but it'll do for now. You especially can't tell if I button up the cardigan, so maybe I'll just wear it like that until I go home in a week-and-a-half, I suppose.

Sorry for the extreme lack of posts! Today was my one month singleversary, so I've had other things to deal with. Today I was thinking about needing to post something, though, and just the thought of being able to post a tutorial made me so excited to find a project to do! I should feel obligated to post more often, then maybe I'd have lots of cool projects to show ;]

Since I've been gone, I had a comment on this post from someone who I don't know in real life! It was so exciting to have another reader that I posted about it on Facebook :]

How has the first month of the new year been for you? Have you been trying to live up the last 356 days of your life (now we're down to 326!)? 

My favorite troll about the world ending on December 21 of this year:

http://cafewitteveen.wordpress.com/2012/01/03/keanu-asks-all-the-deep-questions/

Whether we're nearing the end times or not, I hope your January has been wonderful! In two days, I'm going to take the lead of Bethany and go all out on Valentine's Day decorations and clothing! For some reason I am pumped up for the month of love, even without a boy to share it with :D

Have you put up any decorations? Are you one of those people who calls it Single's Awareness Day? More about what I've been doing while I was away from the blog next time!

♥L

Jason Mraz

I really don't want to be that blogger who says to much personal stuff and is all self pity all the time, but this is a turning out to be a really difficult season in my life and writing has always helped me sort out my feelings. For some reason, though, I haven't been able to bring myself to write the way I usually do (in a plain composition notebook, addressed to "Mr. Me" and signed "Miss You" based on a book I read in junior high-I Can't Tell You by Hillary Frank). Maybe I don't want to sort them out yet? Soon.

Anyway. . .

I am amazed at how many things in "the media" (ya know, TV, music, movies, etc. I think it's a silly grouping term, but it's the one I know, so I used it) seem so relatable to me now (why does Word trust the word "relatable, but blogger doesn't?). I have already thought about getting back together with David and ending our break before the semester long hiatus even starts, but I know that that is not the right decision. I'm used to being a "we" now, and it's hard to remember what it's like to just be me. I keep reminding myself that I'm the same person I was before, but I still am not doing a very good job of moving forward. I know this was (mostly) my decision and that there were a lot of things I wanted to do with my time away, but now that I have all this time to work on myself, I really don't know where to start alone. So I can't wait for some of my normal school year activities get started again and I have a schedule and other people to help me put the pieces back together and remind me how I wanted to be the better person I've been thinking of. 

Basically none of that has anything to do with this song except that it's new and relatable to me. I am the girl being sung to, though, not the person singing. I am the one who wanted to do some "navigating." It's good to hear Jason was waiting at the end of the journey to hear all about it. I hope I can expect the same from David.

When I look into your eyes
It's like watching the night sky
Or a beautiful sunrise
There's so much they hold
And just like them old stars
I see that you've come so far
To be right where you are
How old is your soul?

I won't give up on us
Even if the skies get rough
I'm giving you all my love
I'm still looking up

And when you're needing your space
To do some navigating
I'll be here patiently waiting
To see what you find

'Cause even the stars they burn
Some even fall to the earth
We've got a lot to learn
God knows we're worth it
No, I won't give up

I don't wanna be someone 
who walks away so easily
I'm here to stay and make 
the difference that I can make
Our differences they do a lot 
to teach us how to use
The tools and gifts we got yeah, 
we got a lot at stake
And in the end, 
you're still my friend 
at least we did intend
For us to work we didn't break, 
we didn't burn
We had to learn 
how to bend 
without the world caving in
I had to learn what I've got, 
and what I'm not
And who I am

I won't give up on us
Even if the skies get rough
I'm giving you all my love
I'm still looking up
Still looking up.

I won't give up on us (no I'm not giving up)
God knows I'm tough enough (I am tough, I am loved)
We've got a lot to learn (we're alive, we are loved)
God knows we're worth it (and we're worth it)

I won't give up on us
Even if the skies get rough
I'm giving you all my love
I'm still looking up


So, it's totally cheesy that I put the words in dark red, but I wanted to make sure you knew that this was me talking and those were the lyrics. I really like this song already and bought it immediately after watching the video the first time. I don't think I've given up on anything at the moment, so maybe these words will be true from my perspective at the end of the semester rather than me being the person they are being sung about.


Thanks Mr. A-Z for the wonderful music. I'm sure there's at least one other person out there who feels like they are on the same side of the situation that I am and that this gives them hope that the person they are venturing away from for now will still be there for them later. I pray he is. I don't think he's the "give up" type :]

-L


P.S. It's still doing that thing where the last couple of paragraphs are triple spaced instead of just double. I seriously need to figure out how to fix that.