Dear Cold Weather, I Miss You.

I’ve been living in Houston going on two years. They have been two LOOONG years and it’s almost summer. Dreadful, dreadful, summer. If you haven’t been here, let me paint a picture for you. Imagine that someone is holding an iron about a foot from your face. On high heat. With the steam setting on. Yes, I do not kid. It gets that hot and humid here. And I mean it’s not like I come from Antarctica, but New Mexico (aka Home) has gorgeous weather. The dry, four seasons, you won’t melt type of weather. Needless to say…. I’m homesick.

Houston weather has got me going to the fridge, opening the door, and not even taking anything out on the daily. That very activity is #1 on my top 3 favorite things to do here. I can say, however, that Houston also has the very best air conditioning I have come across. Every building is a sanctuary from the heat, but will leave you with mini sweat icicles hanging from your eyebrows. It’s cold.

 

I see this and I want s’mores.

 

So in that lies the inspiration for this weeks pin. Check out this cozy number.

I figure if I can’t be in a mountain paradise roasting ‘mallows in this sweater I may as well make it for a day where I am sitting at my computer comfortably freezing indoors. As a plus, it’ll be there for next winter. Winner, winner!

And yes, I see that I can buy this for $13.31. Most ladies are like.. Holy Crap that’s cheap! But when you make your own clothes you control how much you spend (well most of the time) and I will most likely make this for WAYYYY less and have fun in the process. Plus, it takes over a month to get. Ain’t nobody got time for that!

 

 

 

Now let’s talk patterns. For this pinspired look I decided to go with an awesome pattern by Rabbit Rabbit Creations. Their Cowl Neck Sweater pdf pattern was perfect and exactly what I needed.

 

Get the pattern here: http://www.etsy.com/listing/171166164

 

I will spare you photos of the printing, taping, and cutting of the pattern. It’s the worst. So horrible in fact, that I even offered a couple of my friends a part time job being my pattern tapers. They kindly declined. Sad face.

On with my favorite part of the whole making a me-made garment… Fabric Selection. Fabric is a word that embodies everything happy. I could be in the worst mood and a way to turn my frown upside down is to mention Fabric Shopping. My husband knows this and it’s the reason why I’m always happy and have one fat fabric stash!

For this top I chose a soft lightweight navy sweater knit. It’s still Houston that I am living in, so I had choose wisely. I almost cried when I passed the thick sweatshirt fleeces. I did pet them though. Yes.. you read that right. I pet fabric. It’s a common practice of “fabriholics” and I’m sure many of you ladies reading know exactly what I’m talking about! Haha! Though I can’t be too sad about this gorgeous knit because it’s soft, a gorgeous color, and best of all… it was only 49 CENTS a yard!!!! God bless Hancock’s spot the dot clearance section. I took the entire bolt home, washed it, and rolled in it 🙂

A mad case of snuggles occur when fresh fabric comes out of the dryer!  

 

After the fabric snuggles were over I was ready to make something beautiful. So I sat at my cutting table and looked outside at the sky and was happy to see they were gray. I am a weirdo. I happen to LOVE gray, gloomy weather. This sweater was just yearning to be made and I couldn’t have picked a better pin to make this week. I settled in and my sewing goddess self started cutting, clipping, sewing, and serging. It’s quite the stress relief to allow my mind to jump into creativity mode. Before I knew it, the bodice was done! Just check out Gertie being a gal pal and trying it on for me!

The process always blows my mind. I made something out of a bundle of yummy fabric!

 

Final step was adding the cowl. This is the make it or break it part of the top as it’s the focal point and the reason why I love this sweater. I cut my trapezoids and added the pattern piece to bodice. It was the moment of truth… Gertie needed to try it on! If she can’t make it look good then there’s no hope for me!

OMG Gertie!

 

I couldn’t wait to wear this and lucky the weather has kept and picture day was just as rainy and gray as the day before. This is the equivalent of a snow day here in Houston and I will take what I can get! Not only did this sweater come out uber adorable, but it fitted to my body, in a color that I loved, and only cost me $1 and an hour to put together. Talk about a good deal! Geez this post is getting long… I will stop my little fingers from typing any more nonsense and let this gorgeous sweater speak for itself.

Fit is amazing… the cowl is amazing… the sweater is AMAZING!

This helps me miss home only a small fraction less, but it does make me excited to think about wearing this in the future at our family cabin, telling stories and making jokes as the fireplace crackles in the background.

Thanks for reading! Until next time!

XOXO – Myrna

 

 

** Remember if you have a pin to suggest, or want to have some input on what I do next contact me with your suggestions! Or if you have a pinspired look to share send that over too!**