How to make your own knitted handbag

Last year I blogged about Dolce & Gabbana's beautiful knitted handbags, and how I wanted to make my own based on their models and ideas.

Well, I didn't copy any one of the three handbags listed in that post, but I went for something simpler and more appropriate for summer.

I used a similar pattern to one of the D&G bags: a simple 1 knit 1 purl each row, and alternating it to 1 purl 1 knit on the next row. Can't go any simpler than that, but the result is always interesting and cool to the touch.

I made it as long as I felt was enough to double it over. As for how many stitches on a row, it really depends on how thick is the yarn, and for a project like this you want to use thick better than thin yarn. For this bag I used just 30 stitches.

Once I had my rectangular piece of yarn done, I started playing with different shapes... did I want a square bag?

Or maybe a pointy one?

Or an elongated one? 

The elongated one won. :)

Next, I picked an old pillow case to use as the lining of the bag. This yarn bags need a lining, otherwise anything you put in the bag will stretch the yarn.

I cut the pillow case to match the shape of my bag and started sewing all around the sides.

I then folded the rectangle in two, and sewed the sides of the bag together (on the inside out side). 

Here is the bag all sewed up and with the lining inside.

Now I needed a handle. I actually crochet the handle, because I think it's much faster when you need to get a long strip like this. What I did was I started with a chain of many stitches (I don't even remember how many, I just kept checking if it was as long as I wanted it to be), and then worked the chain a few times over with half doubles until it was as wide as I needed it to be.

Lastly, I attached the handle to the bag by sewing the ends of the handle to the sides of the bag. As of right now I haven't decided yet if I want it to have a zipper or just a button to close the opening. 

I realize this is a much simpler bag compared to the Dolce & Gabbana's ones, but it is an easier start for someone new to knitting. And you could still add plenty of your own ideas, for example you could add a few flowers in front, or embroider part of it, anything else that would make this your own project. 

I am still working on another bag, still knitted, and still from Dolce & Gabbana's inspiration, but I need more resources to complete it (plastic handle and leather corners at least), and if I ever finish it, I will share the results with you. 

Happy knitting!  :)

Rumba Giveaway Winners!!!

Here are the 3 lucky winners of a Rumba Time watch:

Courtney

Maria Paray

and

Jewels for Hope

Congratulations!!!  :)

Wedding Planning: The Photographer

yangphoto.com

Yesterday a co-worker brought in her wedding photo album to show us her beautiful pictures. And beautiful they were. But what really caught my attention was the photo album itself. It was like something I've never seen before, big and heavy and with pages thicker than cardboard. The pictures were really printed on the pages and not actual pictures and the cover was also thick but soft to the touch. All in all, it was a really beautiful album.

I didn't want to be rude, but I really wanted to get an idea of the price she had paid for such service.

So I asked her if she had paid more than $4,000. She answered "yes", with an expression that said "and even more than that".

Someone else later on asked her for the price again, and this time she answered "more than $5,000".

I was listening and thinking about my photography budget ($1,000), and wondering if I could ever get anything decent at that price or if I was going to have to increase my numbers. Someone suggested I just get the pictures on a CD for now and maybe have the photo album done at a later time. I actually was thinking that maybe I could work on my own photo album with services like Shutterfly, but I don't believe they have such thick and beautiful albums like this one my co-worker had.

In any case, the first step is finding the right photographer, and booking him/her before it's too late.

I have been looking around and these are the ones that caught my attention:

YANGPHOTO
There is something about Yun Gen Yang photos that I love. He captures every candid moment in a beautiful light. I've actually got in touch with him and tried to work out some kind of a deal, but I am not sure if I will go with him yet. His prices are a bit high for us.

CODY RAISIG
Another photographer whose style appeals to me. I have no idea about their prices.

RADHIKA PHOTOGRAPHY
New York based photographer. Beautiful pictures. No idea how much yet.

LISA HANCOCK
I like Lisa's style and her prices as well. I will probably give her a call one of these days.

LINDSAY TARYN
Another local photographer with a good eye.

And finally three photo studios, even if I would prefer not to go with a studio, since I'm not sure how much control you have over which photographer will show up to take your pictures, but at this point in time, I need to keep my options open.

TRUE LOVE PHOTO, PINILLA STUDIOS and STUDIO BLUE PHOTOGRAPHY

Wanna help me pick?  :)

Rumba Time Giveaway

Here is the cutest, most affordable, adorable watch I've ever seen!

It comes in so many different styles and colors!

Some sparkle! 

And some even glow in the dark!

Starting price? How does $14 sound to you??? 

Or how about "free"? 

Visit www.rumbatime.com and pick your favorite watch out of these models: 

Original

Two-Tone

Link

Tie Dye

VanDam

Post a comment with your favorite model and color by Wednesday March 30th, 2011. I will pick 3 random winners on Thursday, March 31st. US residents only. 

Good Luck! 

RumbaTime watches are available for online purchase at rumbatime.com and shopbop.com and in-stores at Finish Line, PacSun, MetroPark, Lord & Taylor, Sports Authority, and Hallmark.

Finally: it's espadrilles time!

If you are a long time reader of this blog, you know that I love espadrilles, but until now, mainstream fashion has never been "big" on them, for whatever reason. Until now, I said.

Espadrilles are HUGE this Spring/Summer season! Yay! What this means is that I need to buy as many pair as possible and stack them in the closet for the future.

One thing to be careful though, is not to spend too much money on a pair. Espadrilles were never meant to be fancy, expensive shoes, but unfortunately when something becomes fashionable and the big designers get involved, the $800 espadrilles start showing up at your local department store... but it's ok, we know better, and we'll keep looking for the better deals...

Case in point: this Jimmy Choo pair is very pretty, but it costs $650!

But if you look hard enough, you can find a similar pair for a lot less money. This pair is by DKNY and it's $165.

Gold is a fun color for espadrilles, it kind of makes them a little fancier, and I like this pair from Michael Kors, which costs $140.

And this other pair, still from Michael Kors (we all know Michael loves "gold"), which costs $145. 

For something cheaper, check out Nine West, these go for $89!

A classic from Aldo, in a very delicate color, for only $70.

Another classic, from Dolce Vita, priced at $130.

I also like these Coach leather espadrilles, not so much the price, $198.

And these Tory Burch, $175.

And these Nine West, $79.

So how much total is that? Let's see... let me get the calculator... if I buy the ones I like the most... hmm... about $1,000!!! Yikes!

I guess I'll need to pick one or two pair and be happy with those.  ;)

Where to find designer brands on sale

I have been after this pair of Ray-Ban sunglasses since last summer, but I just didn't want to pay the full $179 price tag.

I started looking and waiting for a good deal, only to find out that Ray-Bans don't really go on sale, especially some of their models. So I made peace with the fact that I was going to buy them sometime in April at the full price... but then I got lucky!

About two weeks ago, I received an email from Beyond the Rack listing Ray-Ban as one of the companies on their daily sales. I jumped off my chair and clicked right away on the email, hoping to find the sunglasses I wanted on sale. And I did!  :)

They were listed at $129 which is a price I wouldn't have been able to find anywhere else. And I bought them.

Today I was discussing this exciting sale with a friend of mine and I was surprised to find out that she hadn't heard about Beyond the Rack. Nor about Gilt. Nor about Billion Dollar Babes. And I was very surprised because she is a big fashion lover.

So, in case YOU haven't heard of these websites that sell designer products at a discount, here is a list with my favorite ones. What you do is sign up, and they will send you daily emails showcasing the brands they have on sale for the day.

You never have to buy. Ever.

But if you ever find that one handbag, that one pair of sunglasses, that one particular item you've been hoping to find on sale, then these websites can bring you the best deal you could ever find anywhere else.

Beyond the Rack - Ideeli - Rue La La - Gilt - Billion Dollar Babes

And for all luxurious things for the home: One Kings Lane

Product Review: Sublime Mousse by Healthy Look

My history with hair coloring products goes way back, before I even started coloring my own hair. Yes, I actually started by coloring someone else's hair (which if you ask  me is great, because when I started coloring my hair, I knew exactly what to do)!

I must have been 12 years old and I had this neighbor that was in her late 30s, a music teacher, and I used to hang out with her sometimes, talking about different things, but mainly her "love issues" (an impossible love). Then one day, out of the blue, she asked me if I wanted to color her hair. I've never passed an opportunity on beauty experimenting, so I said yes without hesitation.

I colored her hair without any problems nor mistakes, and it came out great. And for the next couple of years I got stuck with the touch-ups!

But it was a great learning process.

Today, after so many years, coloring my hair comes so natural to me that I can do it with my eyes closed (I don't mind someone at the hair salon doing it for me, but in NY coloring starts at $80!), so when I was given the chance to try a new hair coloring product, I was right on board!

The product is L'Oreal Paris Sublime Mousse by Healthy Look, and the main difference from the old products is that it comes in "mousse" form, which should make the whole coloring process easier than it has been until now.

After trying the product I have to say that I agree:

1. In the old days, messy dripping (from your hands, from your hair) was part of the coloring process, this mousse, instead, stays put, witness the fact that I didn't have to throw away any old towels.

2. No more parting your hair and making sure that you've covered everything. The mousse just spreads itself and reaches every part of your hair with very little effort on your part.

3. Shine! I love that it left my hair very shiny.

4. Not drying. After many instances of coloring my hair I find my hair very staticky for a few days (because I guess the color had stripped away the hair moisture) but after using this coloring mousse I have not noticed any static at all.

Here is my before and after picture (scary color before):

Notice the shine? I used the Light Chestnut Brown shade.

If you would like to give it a try, this link offers a $3.00 coupon and this video explains how to use it.

* FTC Disclosure: A free review sample of this product was provided by L’Oréal Paris via Glam Media

Fashion Disaster: Jerry Garcia called...

... he said even he wouldn't wear this!

I love my new eye makeup!

Last week I went to Sephora to buy an eyebrow pencil, since I've made peace with the fact that a lot of my eyebrow hair is gone and not planning on ever coming back.

At first I picked up a pencil from Benefit and also an eyebrow highlighter, but then the sales girl directed me to this little box that had both an eyebrow and a highlighter paste, plus a pencil and some eye shadows.

I had never tried any of the Benefit eye shadows before now, and holy cow, they are great!

These shadows are the first shadows that stay on my eyes all day long! I go to work, work eight hours, come back home, and at the end of the day, when I go to take my make up off, it still looks flawless. I didn't think this was even possible!

Now, I don't know if all of Benefit's shadows are this good, but the ones in this little package are.

ps. I still haven't tried the eyebrow stuff, I don't know, it always feel like too much work (but I have to get used to the work if I want to have nice eyebrows again).

Wedding Planning: The Wedding Invitations (Final)

First of all, I apologize for being missing for a while, but my father was in the hospital for 3 weeks, and I couldn't sit down and write at all, it just didn't feel right. I couldn't even work on my wedding planning.

He had a few things wrong with him, and went through a couple of surgeries including a heart defibrillator, and things kept looking better and worse each different day.

Today he is home, and I think he has been given another chance to take better care of himself. I hope he does...

So I was finally able to think about my wedding again, and to make some progress:

The restaurant is booked, we have a date, and I've ordered the invitations!  :)

In my previous post about the invitations I had selected a whole bunch. I ended up picking something else, based on some thinking I had been doing:

"The theme of the wedding should be consistent, and that doesn't mean pick a color and use it everywhere, it's more than that. Our wedding is small and intimate, at the beach, and during the day. These are all very important factors that need not to be forgotten when choosing the dress, the food, the cake... and the invitations"

I've read somewhere (and it makes sense) that the invitations should give people an idea about what kind of wedding they are being invited to. A formal, ballroom, fancy wedding needs formal and fancy invitations, so people will know that they need to look their best and possibly bring a very nice present.

My wedding is not formal, and a lot of the invitations from my previous post were a bit on the formal side. So I went looking around one more time, with the idea that I wanted something less formal but definitely elegant, and I found my perfect invitations.

I had already seen these on my first round, and liked them, but I was still hung up on an "all-white" card, but the second time around I had no doubt, I loved these cards.

In order to keep costs down I realized I had to forget about thermography (raised fonts) even though they look beautiful, but then again, we're not formal, just elegant.

Another thing I didn't know was that it's not just the invitations but: the RSVP cards, the DIRECTIONS cards, the RECEPTION cards, the THANK YOU cards. Each of these are sold separately, and there is no way you can get all of them for $200! No way!

So this is what I did:

- I got 20 invitations, and wrote on the invitation the ceremony location (at the beach) and the reception location (at the restaurant in front of the beach). So no need for the reception cards, nor for directions because everybody will know how to get there.

- I got 20 rsvp cards because I felt people might need to have a way to let us know if they are coming or not (I really got these, more than anything, for the few people outside of our family)

- I didn't get thank you cards. I will think about this after the wedding, and probably just buy a package at Hallmark, since they DON'T NEED TO BE THE SAME AS THE INVITATIONS. They don't. Really!

How much did I spend? $96.

I got the cards from Wedding Paper Divas and one thing I've learned from all of my online shopping is this: when you want to buy something from a website, don't buy it right away. First sign up on the site, even create an order, put some stuff in the cart and then leave without buying. Sure enough, most websites will send you an email (some right away, some after a few days) asking you to come back and buy something, and they will include a coupon. I created my card on wedding paper divas, walked away and got an email with $15 off my first order.  :)  But to be fair to them, it looks like they always have some kind of offer going on on their website, which is very nice of them.

I've actually already received my cards, and they look very pretty. The fonts are not raised, but the paper is textured, so it looks very elegant and much better than something I could have printed myself on plain paper.

So, I can check off the invitations, and I have $100 extra to throw back in my budget. Yay.  ;)