a sleeved poncho

As a rule, I usually don't go for the poncho look. But when I saw this pattern on Ravelry, I actually thought it was kinda cute. The sleeves and vine pattern give it a much different look.






This is actually my first knitting project that I didn't modify, at least for the most part. There is one thing with the bobbles that I think I did do wrong, and something funky with the neckline, but that's a whole lot of technical knitting mumbo jumbo, and I won't get into that.


Even though I like the result, I'm actually considering pulling and making a pullover version of it. I can't help but think of how much more convenient it would be like that. But that won't be for a long time.

the size 14 to size 6 shorts

This is a pair of shorts that I resized, once a 14, now my size. Just a pair of shorts from a thrift store.
I took them in on the sides and center back seam, ripping the waistband enough to take it in from the inside, and then top stitching it in place. This is a little tricky, trying to turn it around enough to keep the taking-in even and strait - but it's doable, anyway.

There's a couple of options to where you can take them in - the sides are the simplest place, which is good if you have a pair of pants that are just a couple of inches too big. The biggest problem with this is that if you take them in too much, you'll make the pockets too tight for your hands.

This isn't so good (trust me, I've done it more than once!), so if you need to take it in more, you can slide the back out so that there is a bigger seam allowance in the back than in the front, which you can use to control how much you want to take in without taking too much from the pockets.

Or, you can take in the back seam too. You have to make sure that the new seam has a nice, smooth curve down to the inseam, meeting the old seam before you reach the inseam.

Since my shorts were so much bigger, and I like big pockets, I had to do both the slidy thing a lot and the back seam thing a lot - the end result is shorts that are kinda baggy with wide legs, which I think I like better than if they had been my size to begin with!

The jumper is from the thrift store too, a vintage lambswool sweater for a dollar - It's like my favorite sweater.

skirt refashion

The original skirt was large and very long, and had waist darts for shaping.  All I did was cut it short from the bottom to reuse the hem and added the casing and elastic.  I was pretty stupid and didn't line it, so it rides up with tights.  For summer that's fine, but I wear tights and leggings all the time right now, and a slip would be so nice!  It's one of those things that I really need to make (my mom has a ton of slip fabric) but isn't exciting enough to make instead of a cute top or something.  Oh well, I'll get to it eventually!