Giving a Pullover Sweater a New Purpose

I have a pullover sweater that I really liked and remains in fairly good condition.

I am sporting some mom curves since my son was born and many of my garments don't fit the same anymore. 

I decided to take this pullover and give it a new purpose - a cardigan. 

How did you do that, you ask? Well, I am glad to share with you how I changed a pullover sweater into a cardigan and how you can too.

You will not be able to button the cardigan closed with this method but I rarely button my cardigans anyways. I wear them to keep my arms and shoulders warm.

Steps for the transformation: 

• Find and mark the center line on your sweater. If the sweater is too bulky to mark a line you could always do a hand sewn basting stitch down the middle of the sweater by folding it in half and sewing on the fold.

• Cut two lengths of ribbon or double fold bias tape. The length should be the same length as center front plus an extra 1/4 to 1/2 inch at the top and bottom.

• Now, the scary part. Cut the front of your sweater on the line.

• Clip or pin the ribbon or the open side of the double fold bias tape to the good side of the sweater along the cut edge. 

• Fold in the top and the bottom extended portions of the ribbon/tape.

• Sew 1/8 inch seam allowance from the cut edge.
• Fold the ribbon/tape to the wrong side of the sweater.
• Top stitch about 1/4 inch from the sweater's edge making sure that you secure the ribbon/tape to the sweater.

You can add embellishments to your sweater. You can sew on buttons along both sides of the opening. I added some embroidered details to the collar area.

Embroidery design is Flirty Filigree Neckline from Embroidery Library

And there you have it. A cardigan, formerly known as, a pullover sweater.

Repurposed Jean Jacket

A couple of summers ago, I was helping my neighbour with some upholstery and window covering ideas for their new camper. At the end of the brainstorming session, she hands me a leftover curtain panel and asked me if I could use it. 

I am not one to turn down free fabric and said "for sure I could use it."

I loved the print and based on the weight of the fabric I knew right away that I wanted to make a jacket; a jean jacket style jacket. 

In June 2019, I made a short jean jacket that still fits and I figured I could use the same pattern for this jacket. However, I wanted something a little longer. I altered my jacket pattern by lengthening the pattern pieces by 3 inches and flared out each seam by 1/2 inch so that the jacket would fit over my hips. 

Within a few days I had a new jacket that was made from a drapery panel - not that you would ever know.

Not only was the fabric repurposed but the buttons were as well. I used buttons from the stash of buttons I inherited from my grandmothers. Both my grandmothers used to remove the buttons from garments that were beyond repair before they were thrown in the trash. 

I can't wait to show my neighbour what I did with the fabric she gave me.