I have to get to a urology appt in 10 minutes so I am going to post this before I leave and then post the tutorial when I get back. I'm so glad I decided to do embellished knits this month. It's perfect for all of those sweater worthy fall scenes.
This might just be my favorite day yet. I LOVE the way this turned out and am going to wear it often.
You can see the before here. I found it at the Community Aid store for $2.50. It was in the Plus section which BTW is a good place to look for sweaters to embellish. You can use the extra material to make matching pieces like for instance the ruffles on this sweater.
First I cut off all the ribbed knit trim on this oversized sweater then reattached it after I sized the sweater down. When I reattached I ruffled it. I also altered the shape of the front. I also made the felted wool flower pinned to the side. It gives the camel colored sweater a splash of color. See the tutorial later today.
1. Cut the ribbed trim off of the front, collar, cuffs and waist.
2. I then resized the sweater. Tutorial for resizing is coming this weekend. After resizing I cut the front bottom corners to give the sweater a more rounded look.
3. Reattach the ribbed trim but gather it when you sew it back onto the sweater. Since you resized it and changed the shape you should be able to have enough ribbed trim to gather.
4. Resize the cuffs. To do this I simply turned it inside out and pinned close to my arm. Took it off and sewed it where the pins were then cut off the excess sweater material.
5. I then cut the sleeves so that I will have enough room to reattach the cuffs.
6. Turn the cuff right side out and place it inside the sleeve which is wrong side out. Both right sides should be touching. Sew sleeve to cuff.
7. To make the flower, I cut up a felted sweater into various sized flower shapes and stacked them on top of each other. I then cut a long piece of off white felted sweater with pinking shears about 3" long and 3/8" wide.
8. I then cut two leaves out of felted wool sweater and rolled up the pinked piece and glued it all together. I then used a safety pin to attach to sweater.
34 {comments}:
Looks lovely! The cosy knit and the colours seem perfect for Autumn and like they would brighten up a dreary November day.
Holy cow! That's an AMAZING sweater. Totally looking forward to the tute!
Hope your dr. appt. went okay. :)
Wow! Very cool! I love everything about it.
Good luck at doc visit.
wow! wow!! wow!!! now this looks great!!!
seriously? I am in awe of how incredible your stuff always looks! And who is the lucky person always taking such great photos for you?! That seems like the half of the battle I always have the biggest hurtle to jump - finding a photographer, or models, or setting. Your pictures are always amazing!
I'm so glad you decided to do this month as well. This one is one of my favorites so far!
Wow! I LOVE the shrug-like look of that sweater!
Can't wait for you to come back... hope your appointment with the doctor went well!
Everyday I get SO excited to see what you are going to do. You are so creative and you inspire me to be more creative in my designs.
That is a great rehab job. It looks like it was from Anthropologie
Admitted Fabricaholic,
Thank you! In the past Brian has done it. But since August he's been working in Philadelphia and doesn't get home until after dark so I've been taking them of myself with my tripod which is a bummer. I think they look a TON better when I have someone to take them for me.
But thank you for enjoying them! I try to make them look nice:)
how do you prevent the knit from stretching out when you sew it?
Just brilliant! :) I love it! Thanks for keeping us inspired with all those brilliant ideas you have. :)
Quick question - what do you do with the shoulders when the sweater is that much too large - do you have to take the arms off and reattach them? I've tried different things but always end up with a shoulder seam halfway down my arm.
You have a serious knack for seeing potential in the frumpy. Never mind your mad skills at transforming said frumpy to its full potential!
I love the flower- it's a perfect touch.
This is my favourite so far :)
Everything is so very pretty. I am truly insprired. Can you please post how you resize a sweater. I have tried to do one and it failed!
Thanks,
Melanie
amazing! would you do a tutorial for this pretty please? =)
stop! These are TOO cute! and these colors are gorgeous on you. I absolutely love this, it looks like you about it an anthro for $298.00 :)
Can I ask where you get your felt? Do you buy knitwear and then felt it yourself, or do you buy felt?
This is absolutely beautiful!
Seinde,
That's tough one. Sometimes it does stretch if you're working with a cuff or neck hole. But usually to just take things in on the sides I don't get much stretch. This is probably because when you're sewing 'against' the grain of the knit. So I guess my suggestion would be to try and stick to sewing against the grain and if you must sew with the grain try steaming it afterward.
Alexandra,
I go to the thrift store and find either a sweater that someone has accidently shrunk or 100% wool sweater that I can shrink myself. Merino wool works best. But any 100% wool will do. I usually buy a sweater for $2 and get a TON of use out of it. I can't image how much it would be to buy felted wool by the yard. Probably A LOT more. I'd go the thrifting route.
These online felted wool bolts are $20 a yard! Plus shipping I'm sure.
http://www.ericas.com/fabric/woolfeltyardage.htm
Here's a great tutorial on how to felt sweaters:
http://www.craftstylish.com/item/2259/how-to-felt-sweaters
twobutterflies,
I haven't encountered this problem yet but what I would do is cut off the sleeves, then cut off a couple inches off the shoulder and have it taper down to the armpit.
Then resize the bodice to your body by pinning it, taking it off then sewing and trimming. Do the same for the sleeves then sew them back on.
Love this one!
I am just amazed by what you can do! I'm pregnant and in a total sewing mood right now :-) I am excited to know that I could customize a few things for myself! I have a practical question... do you actually go to your community aide store every day?! Or did you stock up on the sweaters when you knew you were doing knits month? ;-)
Kate,
Thank you!
I stock up on Wednesdays. Those are half off days. I just couldn't bring myself to pay full price any other day. It just makes more sense.
love love love!
can't wait to hit the thrift stores!! That looks amazing.
It's beautiful! I loooove long, cozy open-front cardigans. You wear it well.
This is so cute! I'm loving all these sweaters.
This is also one of my favorites. I 'bragged a little' about your awesome Knit Embellishment month on my blog. Thanks for all the inspiration!
Such an inspiring blog, thanks for all these ideas.
I've got question about the sweater materials. From pics some of your sweaters look non-100% wool (more like cotton, or a blend of different materials). How do you cut them and sew them without running into the problem of unraveling (either during the sewing process or afterwards, when it's being used). THANKS!
@სოფოYou would be surprised how well the knit material stays in tact. I've never had a problem with unraveling with any of the sweater material I've used. I do make my stitches a little closer together than with regular quilting fabric but unless the seam is going to be exposed (like along a row of buttons) I haven't had to do anything other than stitch together. If you do have issues with unraveling you can always bind the seams in bias tape or grosgrain ribbon. Hope that helps! Thanks for enjoying the blog!
Thank you! That's encouraging. I just cut up one of my old sweaters to make my daughter a dress. Let's see how it goes.
This turned out so beautiful!
Helen
Blue Eyed Beuaty Blog
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