Good…. umm… evening!  Yes it is Saturday evening!  I missed posting yesterday due to a little upheaval in our weather.  Lots of insistent wind, a little rain, and some spectacular lightning and thunder.  And no electricity for about 14 hours.  It always amazes me how much you CAN’T do when the electric goes out.   Travis and I had dinner plans – but no hot water for Trav’s shower!  And I didn’t want to leave the girls at home with no electric.  So we headed to my Mom’s to use their shower, electricity (my hair hadn’t been flat ironed) and to leave the kids.  It all worked out.

Before the dinner party the hostess told me she was hoping everyone could wear white or cream.  And I had neither.  Except I did find a creamy white pullover sweater that has been in my closet for over a year and rarely worn.  I just never had anything it worked right with.  So I decided to turn it into a cardigan sweater and wear it with my ruffled dress.

Here’s what I did:

Start with a pull over sweater that you don’t want to wear as a pullover anymore.

Sew a seam down the center of the front of sweater.  Then sew two more seams one on each side of the first seam – approximately 1/2 inch away from the center seam.

Cut along the center stitching.  Try sweater on and see if you like the way it falls on you now that it is technically a cardigan and not a pullover 🙂

I liked the way it hung with the edges simply turned back and stitched down.  But I wanted a bit of bling too.

In my fabric stash I found some white, semi-sheer fabric – leftovers from Little Sister’s Easter Dress.  I tore two strips of it and sewed them together at one end to make on long strip of fabric.  I left the edges raw.

Here is the seam.  I didn’t serge the seam or finish it off at all.

I stated at the center back of the neckline and just bunched the fabric together and pinned it on.

I continued pinning the fabric strip to the neck and front edge of the sweater, twisting the fabric around and around and scrunching it to give it the look I wanted.

When I was finished pinning it in place I machine stitched it in place.

Then I hand stitched the entire length of the fabric, tucking and folding and scrunching till I liked it.  I pretty much covered up the machine stitch I did first by folding the fabric to cover it.  I used little teeny tiny stitches called prickstitches to sew this step.

Then I added a fabric flower pin that my friend Marcy made.  She had a hair clip attached to it, but I removed that and pinned it to my sweater.  And since I pinned it on I can remove it and use it on something else when I want to!

I layered the sweater over my ruffled dress.

And added my aqua belt.

I loved it!  It’s so fun when an idea turns out this good.  A friend (who was also at the dinner party we attended last night) told me her sister has altered pullovers into cardis by putting an industrial metal zipper up the front.  I have 2 more sweaters like this – one black and one navy – I’m gonna try using a zipper on one of them somehow to make it more fun!  It’s also a great idea to look for pullovers while thrifting.  If it fits ok in the arms and neck but is a tad snugger than you like across your chest – turn it into a cardigan!

Coming soon – I won a blogger award and I need to pass it on to 5 other bloggers.  I remember seeing stuff like this way back when I started blogging but I never won one.  Now that I have I need to take the time to choose some blogs with less than 200 followers and pass it on!  Those hours without electric have put me yet another day behind.  Be back soon!

Sew a Fine Seam

 

linking up!