a good reading sweater

A few months ago, I found a super nice pullover type men's sweater at
the thrift store.

Too bad, I didn't take a better picture of it (above top right in the photo).

In a nice rich cocoa brown tweed with soft yarn, I knew this sweater would be perfect for altering into an oversized cardigan sweater for our chilly winter nights.

You know the type of sweater I am talking about. The men's pullover sweater with the tight ribbed neck, unflattering tight ribbed bottom. The sweater we buy the men in our lives because we think they will like them or should have a sweater but the type of sweater that men never wear and then ends up in the thrift store never worn.

I love recycling these sweaters for myself and this one turned out
especially nice.

Here is what I did:
-cut off neck ribbing
-cut off bottom ribbing
-cut the sweater in half from neck to bottom on the front
-round off the center front area by the neck to a more gradual curve
-stitch a fabric binding along both front edges and neckline to give stability to the knit and to keep it from growing when wearing
-hem bottom edge
-cut off sleeves to a length just above the wrist
I like to have my casual sweater sleeves just a bit short, so when I am working in the kitchen or studio and washing my hands the edges are less likely to get wet.
-take in seam on the sleeve so it is less baggy
another thing I found important to do because if I am wearing this sweater while cooking, I don't want it baggy and hanging by an open flame.
-hem sleeve
-I reused the cut off ribbed portion of the sleeve and cut it so I could use it as a pocket on the front. The ribbing on the bottom of the cut off sleeve works perfectly to form the top of the pocket.

- make buttonholes

My favorite part is the pocket on this sweater.

A nice comfy sweater to curl up in on a chilly night.

And it's a cheap project, the buttons are thrifted from a $1.00 bin jacket that was to hideous to wear but the carved bone buttons are worthy of a second life.

tip:
be sure to check for interesting buttons when thrift shopping. Just because a piece of clothing is damaged, horrendous fabric or unbearable, it may have terrific buttons and we all know how expensive good buttons are.

 

Comments

[Marit]

Oh wow... I think I will visit my dad soon as he has a closet of sweaters he never wears... I will give him the 'daughter look' and I bet he cannot resist and give me a sweater like this... my hands itch to make it into a cardigan! Great idea!

[Trish W]

Absolutely love this idea, as I have some of those sweaters of my own that I don't wear (why'd I buy them? Clueless!) A make-over is MUCH preferable to getting rid of them, & then I'd have "new" stuff to wear :-)

A question, if you don't mind: how do you keep the fabric from raveling to bits after you cut it?

[Lorraine]

Very clever - and cute! Thank you for telling us how you did it! I am going to look for a candidate to alter for myself next time I go to my local thrift store.

[Debra]

It's just beautiful! And thank you for the tips, and for the steps to do this myself. I am going to try it!