sewing sweaters

At first, I was terrified of sewing sweaters.  It had to be hard, right?  Well the answer is no, not really.  I mean, I did ruin one, but it wasn't as cute as I thought it was at the store anyways.  Probably was fate working in my favor, preventing me from wearing it out in public.  One of my favorite people gave me a green sweater with polka-dots, which fits in perfectly with my recent obsession with mixing prints, but did not fit me perfectly.  It was a bit big for my taste, and the sleeves were ridiculously long.

I wanted to keep the cuff of the sweater, so I created a fold right above the cuff and chopped.

Then I set my machine to very low tension and did a straight stitch to attach the cuff back to the sleeve.  Make sure you don't pull it at all or it will stretch.  Since the sleeve hole is fairly small, I had to sew inside the sleeve.

Then of course, add a zigzag stitch right next to your straight stitch and cut off the extra material.

Because the sleeve was wider where I cut it, plus a little stretching from the sewing, I took it in a little along the inside seam.  Then I took in the armpits, just as I did in this tutorial.  Keep your machine on a very low tension to do the seams here.  I did not cut the extra material out of the armpits here.  It wasn't very much material and, being my first time sewing sweaters, I wasn't sure how it would hold up.

Now it fits perfectly!  I wore it to work.  And then I wore it everywhere else.  I'm a cardigan kind of girl!

This is my power pose.  Ever since I watched Amy Cuddy's TED talk about using your body language to trick your mind into feeling more powerful and calm in high-stress situations, I'm always power posing.  Check it out!  It really works--I do a different pose every time I make a presentation, have an interview, or generally any time I'm stressed.

sometimes i cry at the thrift store

It's true.  Sometimes, when I up to my elbows digging through clothes from lives lived long ago and I find an absolute gem, my eyes get all misty.  Gems come in all shapes and colors. Sometimes it's just a fabric that I really love.  And other times, it's a brand.  Recently, I found a hot pink Girogio Armani blazer.  At. The. Clearance. Center.  I always ask myself--Is this real life??  Somehow, this hot little number managed to not sell at the regular store long enough to get shipped out to the clearance center.  And I got lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time to snap it up!  It's times like these, when all the stars align for me to find the most amazing clothes that seem to just be waiting for me, I shed a little tear.

I have to admit, this jacket was a bit too big when I bought it.  Enough so, that it looked a little frumpy.  And Armani is never meant to look frumpy.  I stayed up for weeks at night thinking about how to go about taking it in.  Instead of counting sheep, I imagined ripping Giorgio seams and piecing the lining back together.  I constantly worried, wondering if I should even try myself.  I struggled, letting this perfectly-pink blazer sit in my closet for over three months.  I found tons of tutorials on how to take in blazers, but it's Armani!  I didn't want to take the risk.

Then I just took it to the tailor.

I could do it.  I know I could.  But oh my goodness I wouldn't have been able to breathe the entire time.  People can't hold their breath for two hours.  And you wouldn't want to be within a mile to hear the litany of cursing.  It was better to send it to the tailor.