Wardrobe Refashion

Red Sweater

I 'd first like to thank you all for the compliments on the Forget Me Knot dress! You have confirmed that I got the effect I was striving for: pretty, dreamy and feminine.

Right now, I'm in between large projects. I need to do a few finishing touches on FMK and my SWAP is done. All I need to do for either project is to get the final photos done. Next week, I'm starting a quilt for a customer and another large art garment project. Meanwhile, I wanted to finish up a few projects that I've had in the back of my mind. One of them was doing something with this sweater:

This is my older red cable pullover sweater. As you probably know by know, I love red, and a red cable sweater is a very important piece in my wardrobe. My old one, while still wearable wasn't quite as nice as it used to be. Since I now have a replacement, I decided to do something with the old one. Namely, this:

I am pretty pleased with the result and it wasn't that hard to do. Here's how I did it:

First, I used a another sweater that was shaped the way I wanted as a pattern for the front edge. I thread traced the new edge of the sweater with a contrasting thread color.

Second, I cut off the excess sweater leaving a margin beyond the thread traced line. I then serged the new edges of the sweater right on the thread traced line. This finished the edges so that they wouldn't fray while stitching on the new trim.

Third, I cut a bands for trim out of contrast fabric. The band for this particular sweater is 1.5" wide when finished. I cut twice that amount (3"), plus an additional .5" for the seam allowances (2 x .25") for a total of 3.5". The bands were cut on the bias so that I could shape them to the curve of the front. They were also interfaced to help them keep their shape.

Fourth, after pre-shaping the bands with steam first photo), I attached them to the front edges with a .25" seam (second photo). I then folded the band in half to the wrong side, turned the raw edge under and slipstitched it to the wrong side and finished the top at the neck (third and fourth photos). Essentially, the bands are just a really wide bias binding.


Fifth, I made buttonholes and attached the buttons.

The sleeves were then cut and trimmed in the same manner as the body of the sweater. I think the whole thing cost me about $4.00USD, as I bought only .5 yard of fabric for the bands. The buttons were reclaimed from a old dress that wasn't fit to give away.

There are many other ways of remaking old items other than how I showed you above. A little time and creativity can go a long way in making something old into something "new". So, don't throw those old sweaters and other things out! Reclaim them and give them new life.

Parting Shot: Dress, 1974. Here's a 70's version of the shirt dress, which is is very popular for Spring/Summer '08. This dress buttons up the front, has a self-fabric tie belt, a choice of short or long sleeves with contrast cuffs and a single or double collar, one of which is contrasting. Don't forget to check out the shoes styles shown with the dresses!