Saturday, January 1, 2011

A Cardigan Makeover, Resolutions and Wish List

Happy New Year!  May 2011 bring happiness and many blessings to everyone!

You may remember that I purchased a raspberry cardigan from Ann Taylor the other day.  It was a final sale item ($12!) that I wasn't particularly in love with but knew it would be perfect for a DIY idea I had.  I had originally planned on adding chiffon cascading flowers but the color I had didn't match so I used this knit instead.  What do you think?

 Before and After

And what it looks like on.  Sorry about the lighting - it's really not this dark in color.
The necklace is a DIY with freshwater pearls to represent the members of my family.  One pearl each for hubby, me, and my dear son.  :)

Can't have a New Year posting without resolutions and wish list items!

Resolutions:
  1. Spend more quality time with the family DOING something.  We have a tendency to be a relax in front of TV type of family and I'd really like us to bond over more activity type items.
  2. Be more deliberate in my shopping.  Items purchased should either be super deals or something I REALLY want.  No more lukewarm purchases!
  3. More DIY!  Elevate skills from novice to intermediate.
  4. Related to #3, create a garment from draping rather than a pattern.  Just bought a new pinnable dress form to try this and am super excited for its arrival.
  5. Shop in my own closet and try different combinations for new outfits.
Wish List:
Cole Haan Pumps, black
Tall brown boots with a 2"+ heel - these are Frye Sarah boots but I don't need this particular pair
Long black leather gloves, I want it to be long enough to cover 1/2 my forearm - is there a name for this?
Double wrap belt, black
Urban Decay Naked palette, come on Sephora.com and restock!  I'm a huge eyeshadow novice (as in I don't wear any except a nude for base) but I've heard so many good things about this that I really want to try it.
    Any resolutions or wish list items for the new year?

    15 comments:

    1. Happy new year! I love the floral add-on. You made the cardigan so much prettier :D Good luck with your resolutions. : ) I always forget about them after a month or two. Also, I'm eying the Naked Palette as well. D:

      xx The Little Dust Princess

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    2. Wow, that cardigan is now AMAZING. I love it! How much work was it? I am so jealous of your ability to create these unique pieces. :)

      And I think your resolutions are terrific, some of my resolutions are similar. No more lukewarm purchases for me either! And I plan to shop my closet more often and do a lot of purging in the next little while.

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    3. happy new year to you and your family! love the idea with the pearls :) and those flowers are amazing on the cardigan, it totally made the cardigan more interesting. My new years resolution is somewhat less clothing shopping (I know it'll be a boring blogging year for me, hehe) but I do have long gloves on my wishlist too! I hope you find some, then maybe I'll have a clue where to get mine, haha!

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    4. wow you did a great job! well wish you have prosperous 2011 with great moments with family! all the best,=)

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    5. omg, you totally took a simple cardigan and made it fabulous!! i love the flower petals and wish i had your skills to transform my cardigans!

      have a great 2011 and best of luck with your resolutions!

      cuteandlittle.com

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    6. Your cardigan refashion looks 1000x better than the original and looks like you bought it that way. I need to try this but I never have any appropriate fabric lying around for that kind of embellishment.

      As for gloves - opera length go up the arms. Not sure if they are still considered opera gloves when they are leather, but generally that refers to the longer length.

      I am taking a draping class at my local YMCA starting in January. I took pattern drafting but I still don't really get draping, even though I bought a dress form about a month after I learned to sew.

      My own resolutions:
      1.) Figure out how to take photos with the remote on my handheld digital video camera (it also takes stills) so that I can get an OOTD photo every day instead of bothering my fiance to do it once a month.

      2.) Get back to doing yoga twice a week. I used to do it regularly and when I did I never got injured and was able to run. Once I stopped doing yoga I had to stop running b/c of sciatica. I'm primarily a cyclist but my first sport was running and it is so much easier to run in the winter than t ride.

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    7. Love the floral add on! So cute- transforms the whole cardi!!!!

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    8. Happy New Year! I've actually been following your blog for awhile, but I don't think I ever commented. (I love your DIY tutorials btw.)

      You can actually get the Naked Palette from Ulta! That's where I got mine from since I was sick and tired of waiting for Sephora to restock. If you want to order it online, feel free to message me for the link, since I believe it doesn't show up on Ulta's search.

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    9. what a nice transformation of a plain cardigan. did you make the cascading flowers? they look really pretty.

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    10. TLDP - Thank you! I'm really hoping these resolutions stick :) Hope you had a great holiday season!

      Elle - Aww, thanks so much! It was actually rather easy. I cut out pairs of 4-petaled flower shapes - sewed the flowers down the middle - pulled the thread to ruffle the flowers - arranged the flowers down the neckline and hand-stitched them in place. The whole thing took about 45 minutes :) Go us and our no lukewarm purchases resolution!

      Olyvia - Thank you and Happy New Year to you too! I did a google search for long leather gloves and found some but I really want them to be on sale too :D If I find a pair for a good price, I'll be sure to let you know!

      Lia - Thank you for reading and the kind words! I hope you have a wonderful 2011!

      Kileen - You are so sweet! Hope your 2011 is starting out great and will continue throughout the year!

      Kerry - Thank you! I have an ungainly amount of fabric lying around. I keep hitting fabric sales and buying without a project in mind so it just sits around waiting to be used. Thanks for the tip on opera length - I bet this will make finding (and purchasing) much easier!

      I had no idea YMCA offered classes like that! I looked into classes here and the only ones that weren't quilting-related were a part of the fashion design degree at the local university. Good luck with your resolutions! I'm sure #1 will get hammered out quickly. Do you do yoga in a class setting or via a DVD?

      Really Petite - Aww, thank you!

      Pauline - Thanks for following the blog and for the tip on the Naked Palette! I got a Sephora gift card so that was the main reason for wanting to order through them, but if it takes too much longer, I may try the Ulta route instead.

      Ping - Thank you! Yep, the cascading flowers are individual flower shapes that I sewed together and ruffled to make them more 3D :)

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    11. Hi SPG! I love the DIY flower detailing on your cardy. It looks beautiful on you, something I'd definitely wear! Well done.

      Happy New Year my dear. :)

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    12. I love how you say, "oh it was rather easy." and I am sure it was, but the 45 min it took you would take me 2x as long. Again, you are so talented. You should sell these transformations on your Etsy store as well, on top of the jewelry.

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    13. Amazing DIY as usual! This is the perfect color for the cascading ruffles, imo. Kind of reminds me of the bridesmaid dress you showed us awhile back. Great job!

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    14. Hi Jen! Happy New Year to you too! Thank you for the kind words :)

      Aubrey - Oh Aubrey - you are so sweet! I might try that sometime. I can buy a LOFT / AT cardi in XXSP and refashion it for the shop :) Thanks for the idea!

      Cee - Thanks so much! Once I like something, I tend to repeat LOL - ruffles, petals, pearls w/ ribbon, etc :)

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    15. love that you have specific resolutions! good luck with them! love what you did with the cardigan.

      rockoomph.blogspot.com

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    I'm the type of gal who gets giddy when I receive mail - it's no different with comments! I really appreciate the feedback and love hearing from you :)

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