A Sweater Re-Fashion Tutorial

I am trying to accomplish some things around here that I've been meaning to get to for so long. Things desperately need to be organized, unused items need to be donated and this bag of sweaters in my closet...they need to be re-purposed. I love each one in that bag, but for whatever reason, they don't look quite right anymore. Let's be honest, they're just old. They're in great shape though, so I thought I would try to freshen them up with fabrics and trims. Give them new life and then see if I like them any better. If not, I will get rid of them. Anyway, I got working on the first one this morning and liked it enough to share what I did.

Here is one of the sweaters. It's a great sweater but needed some jazzing up.

I found an old T-shirt...way past it's prime...and decided to cut it up to make some ruffles and a flower for the sweater.

First, cut straight up the middle of an old sweater. We're going to make a cardigan with this one.

Now, cut the bottom hem off of the t-shirt and then cut a total of five strips out of the shirt. I made each of my strips about an inch and a half wide.

Now, cut open each of the side seams so that you have five really long strips. Take one of the strips and set it aside for the flower (which we will make later). Take two of the remaining strips and sew them together to make one super duper long strip. Take the last two strips and sew them together to make one more super duper long strip. These will be the ruffles.

Okay, time to make the ruffles. Adjust the stitch length on your sewing machine to the longest length. Now sew a straight line right down the middle of one of your super duper long strips. Do it again for the second strip. When you are finished, separate the top thread from the bobbin thread. Now gently pull the top thread as you gently gather the fabric into a ruffle.
Hint...when your ruffle is the length that you want it, tie off the top thread and the bobbin thread on each end so your ruffle doesn't come unravelled

When your ruffle is complete, pin it to one side of your sweater as shown above and then do the same thing for the other side and other ruffle.

Let's move on to the ruffled flower.

Take the one strip you have left and sew another straight line down the length of the strip. Instead of sewing down the middle though, you're going to sew along the edge. Gather this one into a ruffle too. As you can see in the above photo, it's going to be a lot shorter than the other two were.
Now...before you do anything else, reset the stitch length to normal on your sewing machine. Do it now so you don't forget later.

To make the flower, simply roll the ruffle up (just like you would if you were quilling paper) and hand stitch it along the bottom as you go. Stitching it will hold it all together nicely when you're finished.

Here is the flower when it's done.

Now you're all ready to sew the ruffles onto your sweater. After you sew them on, you can either sew on your flower, or use a safety pin to attach it to the sweater. I used a safety pin. This way I have flexibility when wearing it. I can easily take the flower off or leave it on.

Enjoy your new (old) sweater!!

Now go find an old sweater in your closet and see what you can create. It's fun!!

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xo and God Bless,

Kathleen

~~~You must go and check out Ruffles and Stuff~~~

Her blog inspired this little makeover and there is so much more to see over there!!

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Linking up to...

Fabric Fun Thursday

Show and Tell Friday

The DIY Showoff