Wardrobe Refashion: A few things finished

I had a few WIPs that I finished up this week. I was so excited to have something to post, even if all of the items were totally easy!

I crocheted this baby blanket out of stash yarn my MIL had. I didn't know that we were having a baby boy when I started, but I love the stripes for either sex anyway. The green yarn is a 'shimmer' type of yarn that has the tiniest bit of sparkle, and the white is really more of an off white color. I still have enough yarn left over to knit a baby cap on my handy knitting loom and enough to try my hand at some baby booties.

I made the blanket by doing a simple double crochet. 72 stitches wide and 5 rows per stripe. So simple, I heart double crochet. Simple to do, but looks totally hard.

I also finished two pouch-style baby slings from some fabulous fabric I got at Jo Anns. The fabric is a sweatshirt type material and is fleece lined. I used this page to get some general direction. More specifically, I used the video on that page as a guideline. Easy Peasy.


Because I couldn't decide on a single sling type that I really liked, I decided to make a few different styles, so there will be a few more slings posted in the future :)

I also made something NOT for the baby :)

This scarf was made for my brother's girlfriend. Again, a double crochet and super easy. It's made from some leftover Homestyle yarn from Lion Brand. The yarn was in my grandma's stash and she didn't know what to do with it, so she gave it to me. It was kind of hard to work with, but it turned out cute.

And a close up detail of the stitches...

That's all I have for now. I hope to get a few more things done this week so I have another post. Viva Refashion!!!

I am a Refashionista!

So I finally took the plunge!



I have been following Wardrobe Refashion for at least a year now. I am always in awe of the people who can take an object of clothing and completely change it into something new.

Now I know how to crochet and sew at a beginner level. My great-grandmother and my aunt taught me how to crochet when I was young but both of them are lefties. This makes following patterns a bit difficult because I am right-handed, and I crochet a bit backwards. My grandma bought me a sewing machine about ten years ago, but I am just barely becoming proficient at stitching straight seams :) My lovely Mother-In-Law has the biggest stash of fabric on the planet, and she totally feeds my crafty inclinations. Not to mention it is really nice when I can visit her stash to 'shop' for fabric I need for a project.

After a (very) long time of lurking and following WR, I finally sucked it up and decided to pledge for two months. I HATE shopping because I am very short (4'11") and usually pretty round (about a size 12). The difficulty in finding clothes to fit pregnant me has only become worse. I also have a hard time buying things for the little one and my pregnant self when I know that baby clothing and maternity clothing has such a short shelf life. Although I LOVE some of the things I see in the shops, I can't justify spending money on items that will only be worn a short amount of time. I hate buying stuff that is shoddily made, so my goal will be to make some of my own stuff. This might be made more difficult by the fact that I can't follow a pattern to save my life, I hate pinning, and I don't particularly care to sew anything more complicated than straight seams. Although I have high hopes for my sewing ability, I am also a realist. So we will see how this whole pledge thing goes. :)

And in order to make it OFFICIAL...

I, Crystal, pledge that I shall abstain from the purchase of "new" manufactured items of clothing, for the period of 2 months. I pledge that I shall refashion, renovate, recycle pre-loved items for myself with my own hands in fabric, yarn or other medium for the term of my contract. I pledge that I will share the love and post a photo of my refashioned, renovated, recycled, crafted or created item of clothing on the Wardrobe Refashion blog, so that others may share the joy that thy thriftiness brings! Signed Crystal!