Commitment Day 1: Something Old

Welcome to Day 1 of my 30 Days of Commitment! Find the other 30 Days of Commitment posts here.

As I've said before, this is a personal challenge to see if I can post something every day of November. The rules I've set for myself are:

1. Each Day must be posted between 12 am and 11:59 pm of that day.
2. I am allowed to schedule posts ahead of time.
3. As much as possible, I should not post similar material on consecutive days (eg. if today I post about a crocheting WIP, tomorrow's post should not be, at the very least, yet another crocheting WIP; I should at least switch to a sewing or other crafting WIP)

I hope I'm able to adhere to these rules! I'm already falling behind schedule: I had intended to have a few posts already set up, ready to be posted at a scheduled time. Looks like I flubbed that one!

Today's post is sort of a throwback. Do you remember this vest I made from an old T-shirt?

Pardon the glow. That's what happens when you stand
your camera on a white surface, apparently.

I really did like it at the outset. I have a pretty big wardrobe, but even now, nearly two years after this vest was made, I still don't have many vests. I'm pretty picky about what I do and do not like, and it soon became evident that there was something about this vest that just wasn't cutting it for me. And remember this post about making your clothes work for you? Time to make some changes!

What I've realized is that I tend to like structure. Pretty and flowy is nice, but only to some extent. For example, I always need to wear this vest belted. I can't stand having it loose, because I don't like losing that waist definition. I'm still trying to resist the urge to buy a vest like this, or this, or this, or especially this.

You guys, Flynn Rider's vest. Every time I watch that movie, I want to steal it. I haven't had this much clothing envy of movie character since The Devil Wears Prada.

Back to the point: I like structure! So besides this problem, I also found that the sleeve holes were a bit too wide for my taste, and the whole deal in front was just draping in funky ways, and I wasn't liking having to figure out how to adjust it over my chest.

So I finally hit upon a very simple solution:

From blah, loose, no shape, nothing interesting...

...to yay! Interesting and better shaped for my body.

Voila! Converting into a racerback solved my "huge armholes" problem and my problem with having too much business going on in front by pulling a lot of the fabric to the back. It also created something much more fun (and a little more structured) to look at, now that whatever I'm wearing underneath shows through. There's a short, "did it in Paint" tutorial of what I did after the cut. It's pretty simple stuff.

Before we go there, I'd like to ask you guys something:

I've taken a much greater interest in fashion over that past year or two. My wardrobe has expanded quite a bit, and I've amassed a huge collection of scarves (which you guys will see later this month!). 

There are a lot of "X ways to fold your scarves" tutorials out there, some with awesome novel ways, and others that are...less novel. However, I have never seen this particular method, which I learned from a saleswoman in China.

Would you guys be interested in a tutorial on this? Would you like a photo tutorial? A video tutorial? Both? Please let me know!

All right, back on topic, the tutorial for the racerback vest...

30 Days of Commitment: All Posts

Find all posts here:

Day 1: Something Old

Day 2: Wallet to Purse Tutorial
Day 3: Self-Taught, Self-Motivated
Day 4: Afghans
Day 5: Storage Solutions - Bracelets and Necklaces
Day 6: A Little Jewelry Inspiration
Day 7: Books I Love
No posts Days 8-11
Day 12: Giving In
Day 13: Storage Solutions - Earrings, Rings, and Watches
No posts Days 14-15
Day 16: Basketweave
Day 17: TV Shows I Love
No posts Days 18-26
Day 27: Calling It

Committing

Hi everyone!

As ever, it's been quite a while since the last time I've posted. I'm amazed, despite the radio silence, I've still gained a few followers over the past months, and the number of views of my one video and followers of my Youtube channel just keep rising. Thanks to all of you for being patient and for believing that one day I would come back to this blog!

Also, food for thought, The Stingy Stitcher is already more than two years old! Hooray!

As far as an update on my life, I have begun my second year of medical school. Now that classes are no longer graded pass/fail, and the sheer amount of information has increased by so much, I've tried to put a lot more focus on my studies.

In fact, I've been trying to turn around a lot of things in my life recently. I have to-do lists everywhere reminding me of what I need to do, ranging from remembering to do the dishes to taking care of the handwashing to cleaning out my email inbox. Here is just a sampling of the things I've been trying to address in life:

1. Maintain a budget
2. Daily studying regimen
3. Cooking as often as possible
4. Keeping my room clean (you have no idea how difficult this is for me)
5. Keep crafting!
6. Updating my blog

Aha! Did you catch that? Essentially, as an exercise in responsibility, I am committing to updating this blog every day of November! Woo-hoo! Super-exciting, right?

Obviously, I can't promise every single post will be an in-depth tutorial or some kind of "Ta-da, I finished another project" type of post. Some might just be a collection of photos of my many WIPs, or collections of my inspirations. Some may have nothing to do with crafting at all. The purpose of this is for me to practice a little accountability.

I hope you guys join me in this step toward (maybe) becoming a little more mature, and I hope you enjoy it. I'm around that age when I really need to start acting like an adult. Or at least pretending I am one. ;)

See you soon!

-Annie

A "Humerus" (hahaha) Interlude

Hi all!

Just here to drop in and let you know that I am, in fact, not dead. It's been a blur of finals, moving, travel, and summer interning since I last posted, and I'm still hopping around frantically to complete a billion tasks that need doing.

Anyways, I just finished my first year of medical school with a group of absolutely fantastic people. If you're curious about what the life of a first-year is like, check out the video below, made by my hilarious classmates for our class show.



Hope to be posting with real crafting news soon!

-Annie

News!

I can't believe this! My instructional video for the Forever 21 infinity scarf has over 27,000 views, and my channel has over 200 subscribers! This is pretty modest in the world of YouTube, but it's definitely beyond anything I ever expected! Thank you all so much for your kind words and your interest!

Important thing: the post I've linked above (and here again) is the new MASTER POST for the Forever 21 infinity scarf. If you have any questions, please check there first! If after reading, you still have questions, comment or send me an email, and I will update the post ASAP with my answer.

So I wanted to share the work of a few people who have made use of this pattern, and hopefully it inspires more of you to try making this scarf and adding your own unique touch to it!

First up is Emily of Just Stringing Along. She made four scarves using my pattern as an inspiration, but made a little modification (I LOVE that!): she replaced the treble crochet with a quad crochet, and let me just say, her scarves look ridiculously cozy. Check out her blog post to see all three!

The next two lovely ladies sent me emails with photos. Danette used a lovely, bright yellow for hers:

And Martina did something really pretty: she used different colored yarns (two shades of green). And then she shipped this lovely thing off to her sister as a gift!

Like I said, use these ladies' work as a starting point for your own unique works. I hope to see even more people using this pattern and sharing their results. Your scarves are beautiful, ladies, and thank you for sharing!

Thanks for reading, and I'll be back (relatively) soon with a new post! Ta-ta!

-Annie

Necessary Evils

It seems that all the "important" things in life are always the more difficult and awkward to address.

Backstory: My school is hosting a silent auction, and I was considering making some items to donate. When I they asked for the estimated monetary value, I decided to do a quick search to see how much people are charging for handmade items.

Lo and behold, during my search, I found someone selling a product that, for all intents and purposes, looks exactly like something I've provided a pattern for. Which brings me to the topic of today's post.

I post patterns on this blog because I want people to know how to make the pretty scarves and hats they see online. I value my ability to say, "I could make that," and I want other people to be able to say the same thing when they see easily craftable items being sold for high prices.

As I say in my note (in the left column), you are all perfectly free to sell items you make from my patterns. It's fun to make money doing something you love. However, and this is very important, please provide a link to the pattern you used. I want your customers to have the same freedom you did in using a pattern I provided for free to make something for your own use (whether that be to keep, gift, or sell).

I know this is counterproductive to the seller. And I know the particular pattern in question is simple, and it is not impossible that this seller came up with it on her own. Also, as far as I know, I have no legal clout in this.

However, in the spirit of fair sharing and good faith that I have found are a huge part of the online crafting community, I hope that people will be honest.

Thanks for reading, guys.

-Annie

The New Year begins!

Hello everyone! As always, it's been a long time since I've posted, and yet again this will be more or less a quick in and out to update you guys and say hi. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!

My first order of business is to give you guys a huge thank you! The video I posted on the stitch used in my Forever 21 scarf has over 7000 views, and I have more than 70 people subscribed to my channel after just 1 video! I know that's small potatoes in the YouTube world, but it makes me feel warm inside that people are interested by what I do. Stay tuned, YouTube viewers, as another video is (eventually) forthcoming, although this one is oriented toward fashion rather than crafting. I hope you all will like it!

Also, I wanted to submit some proof to you all that I have actually been crafting during my long silences. So here are a couple of the things that have been occupying my time.

Pictured above, a shirtdress I picked up at the thrift store. It was much longer before and made me look absolutely ridiculous, so I had to hack off several inches, and now it's stylin'! Action shots will come in the future.

At the top is my new tote bag, made using this tutorial. The gray is a suede fabric, and the print is blue and gray with black characters, cranes, and other very Oriental-looking designs.

Below it is a black infinity scarf made using a lacy pattern from the book The Harmony Guide to Crochet Stitches, called the Open Crescent stitch. It's a great book I picked up for just a few bucks from a resale shop. I used Caron Simply Soft Black yarn and a G hook.

The gray is a scarf I made for my boyfriend using the free Lion Brand Thermal Scarf pattern. It's super stretchy and warm, and I might end up making my own in a more colorful yarn. I used Caron Simply Soft Heather Gray and a J hook.

The two turtles I have there are the first of 7 turtles made as presents for some of the friends I've made here at med school. Clearly not as much crocheting got done over break as there should have been. >_>

The black hat is a (possibly) work in progress. I wanted to imitate the hat I wore in the photo below, but I can't figure out knit cables to save my life.

I used another pattern from the crochet stitches book to try to imitate cables, but it doesn't involve post stitches, but puff stitches instead. I say possibly a work in progress because my original intention was to add a brim, but I'm not sure if it's necessary. Also, the ribbing (which was added on using this tutorial) is just a tad tight, enough so that every time I put it on I need to fuss with my hair in order for it to look right. Still, I'd say it's already a pretty rocking success.

It was also made with Caron Simply Soft Black yarn and an H hook.

This white hat was made using the famous Pretty Puffs slouchy hat pattern. I learned a lot from this hat. I was not using the same weight of yarn as she did or the same hook size, so I couldn't be sure that following her pattern exactly would get me the results I wanted. I was using DK weight yarn (sorry, don't remember the brand) and (I believe) a J hook. I ended up only needing to add an extra row of increases to get the hat to fit right, but it took me three tries and lots and lots of frogging to figure that out.

So that's what I've been up to! For 2012, I have so many projects I want to tackle, and I'm really really excited for the new year! Did you guys make any New Year's resolutions? Do you also have a massive list of crafty things to accomplish?

Thanks for sticking around! I will see you next time!

-Annie