FO Umbre Lovre

Although I have had this top finished for a while, it has taken me a while to get some pictures of it on me. I was excited to shoot some this week so I could share the finished project with you. You can purchase the pattern from Holla Knits. You can get just this pattern or subscribe to an amazing set of patterns. Enjoy!

FO Yellow Maxi Dress

I mentioned before that I was following a tutorial that I pinned on my Pinterest page for a maxi dress. The tutorial was written by Katy at Sweet Verbena. It was amazingly simple and the finished pictures she showed were AMAZING to say the least. After deciding I needed a dress for my son's 2nd birthday party, I jumped at the chance to make this dress. I purchased a polyester blend, jersey knit fabric in a very loud yellow.

yellow fabric in the sun

I then followed the step by step process of making this dress. It would have been an even faster creation had I actually started sewing right. Instead of putting the right sides together, I put the wrong sides together. It was torturous ripping out the stitches seeing as I do not own a thread ripper.

before length was cut

I left the length as the tutorial stated and it was extremely long. I was tempted to cut the length to where I wanted it, but didn't. Instead, I followed the directions and washed and dried it first. This was a great idea seeing as it shrunk up a bit.

LOVING IT!

so fun!

my new favorite!

This dress is by far the easiest thing to sew up! The tutorial that Katy drew up was so easy to follow and created such a great dress! You may be seeing more of this dress but in different colors :)

Alterations

After learning to sew, I feel that I look at everything wondering if I can recreate it. I have been doing this with knits for a while now, but I have broadened my curiosity to sewing. I was searching my closet for something to wear to Ryenn's baptism and I couldn't help feeling discouraged. Granted this was for good reason. I seriously could not find anything to wear that still fit. Everything was way too big! I was excited yet not at the same time. I didn't have the time or desire to find a new dress for her baptism in a less than a week (I did mention that I like to wait until the last minute, right?).


25 weeks pregnant with Ryenn, WAY too busy of a print and wearing the black long-sleeve!

I found a few things in my "garage sale/donate" boxes down in my basement that would fit, if altered a bit. Most were maternity items that wouldn't be missed for a while, way too busy in print, or had tears in them. I have this black long sleeve t-shirt that I absolutely love. I haven't been able to bring myself to get rid of it, even after I tore an amazingly huge hole n the elbow. It fit so perfectly!


Notice the hole the ripped in my elbow!

33.5 weeks pregnant and it was still on of my favorites!

Well I combined the extremely busy maternity shirt and my favorite black long-sleeve shirt that I couldn't part with, to make a "dress" for Ryenn's baptism! I cut the sleeves from the long sleeve shirt and cut some of the length from the body of the shirt. I then detached the bottom "skirt" from the maternity shirt and attached it to the black shirt at the waist. I the paired the "dress" I made with a chunky black belt at my natural waist and black leggings. It was a great compromise; something I can wear again, worked for the occasion, and FREE!

The dress! Not the greatest photo of the dress, but you get the idea.

Not just for Paris

In my journey through knitting, I have been privileged to work with great clients and given the opportunity to knit some pretty cool things. Allyson has thrown some pretty great knitting jobs at me fo requests that she has gotten that she is just too busy to do herself. Let's face it, knitting takes a lot of time and when you are coordinating magazines, books, and 2 different websites, you are bound to be busy. Luckily for me, Allyson gets a lot of requests and she asks me to knit some of them up. The first project she threw my way was a request for dog sweaters.

Orange sweater on Otis

I know you may be thinking "how silly to purchase a handknit sweater for a dog" but it happens quite a bit. My good friend, Miki, actually bought a dog sweater for her pitbull who has some sort of disorder where he has trouble keeping warm. It made sense to me and opened my eyes to the fact that it isn't just Paris Hilton dressing their dogs in sweaters.

Charlie

Anyway, so this request for knitted dog sweaters came from a woman in Brooklyn, New York at a boutique called the Brooklyn Farmacy and Soda Fountain. I knit up 4 different sweaters using bright colors and stripes. I made them in a uniform, small size and sent them off.

Striped sweaters for Brooklyn

Gia from Brooklyn was pleased with the results but wanted something that would stand out. She wanted the sweaters to be different from everywhere else, and just stripes were not going to cut it. I then designed 3 more different sweaters. There was one with a Mohawk down the center of the back, one with a single stripe down the center ot the back, and one with a trelis cable pattern.

Mellow Yellow Maxi

I love to spend time on Pinterest! It's like an addiction that I cannot seem to conquer. I have been looking for the perfect maxi dress, but can't find the right color or the right style. It's always one or the other. One day while getting my fix, I stumbled upon a tutorial for a maxi dress. It was perfect!!!

I bought a bright yellow, light jersey material from Joanns and I can't wait to get it done. I also found a maxi skirt DIY that I may just have to make as well. One thing at a time though. Check back soon for the progress made on this dress.

FO Ryenn's Baptism Gown

Beaded neckline

I am notorious for waiting until the last minute to whip things together. However, with Ryenn's baptism gown, I decided to get an early start. This meaning I started the dress 2 days before rather than the night before. I bought white, satin fabric from Hobby Lobby on a quick trip in which I was looking for wooden blocks for a gift.



White Satin

I also bought some pearl and lace edging detail that would accomplish the look I was going for. Of course, I made this dress without a pattern (as I usually do) which was a lot more difficult than usual. Satin is very hard to sew with. My sewing machine kept catching on the fabric and I was unable to achieve the fullness I wanted. It turned out great, but I wanted a fuller skirt.

Traditionally long

I also was kind of a dummy and didn't make the zipper area long enough! This made for some real difficulties getting her in and out of the dang thing. And being a baby, she wasn't very patient or cooperative. Nonetheless, she looked so cute! I got so many compliments on her dress.



Check out the length!!!



Ryenn's Baptism

On Sunday, May 27th, Ryenn joined the Catholic family. In the Catholic religion, we baptize our children to cleanse them from original sin. It also symbolizes the rebirth as a son/daughter of God. It was a very proud moment for this momma. I was so happy to have her baptized. We celebrated Ryenn's day at Saint Luke's University Parish in Allendale with Father Brad, Father Don, the congregation, family and friends. She looked so beautiful.

Happy girl

Anointing her with Sanctum Chrisma

Washing away sin

Announcing the newest member of the Catholic family!

See her cheeks! She was smiling so huge!

After mass, we had lunch at my in-laws. I was very proud to be more "hands-ons" with this party planning. With Nolan's baptism, a lot of things were done for me by my mother-in-law and mother, so I didn't have much to do. This time I was very involved. I planned the menu and my mother-in-law helped with anything I asked of her. We spent Saturday night assembling a lot of the dishes. The funnest was the fruit kabobs, which I found on Pinterest. We had so much good food and great time with our family and friends.

CAKE!

Trifles!

Pinterest Find!

Also a Pinterest Find

1 Corinthians 12:13 “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.”