I don’t know about you guys, but I love cold-weather clothing. This time of year, I never seem to have enough cozy sweaters in my closet. I’ve had this purple cardigan for a couple of years, but I never liked the way the neckline fit and the sleeves were about 3 inches too long.
So what’s a girl to do? Pick up a pair of scissors and fix it!
All I needed for this refashion was a bit of purple tulle and some matching purple thread. I thought I’d be able to get away with pink or blue thread, but only purple would do. Would you believe that this $3 spool was the only thing that kept this refashion from being completely free?
By the way, when did thread get to be so expensive? Seriously? $3? For a disposable product like thread, $3 seems kinda pricey.
Anyway, enough ranting – on to the tutorial!
Step 1: Cut neckline into a V shape. I chose to cut the collar away from the sweater all the way around the neckline.
Step 2: Cut a strip of tulle approximately 4″ wide and fold the strip in half (or use a single-width of ribbon). Fold the strip in pleats and pin each pleat in place along the button hole side of the sweater. I centered the button holes along the width of the tulle.
Step 3: Continue pleating and pinning all the way around the neckline and down the other side of the sweater. When you reach the center of the back of the collar, start pleating the other direction. Stop when you get to the buttons!
My pleats started out facing “down” on the left side of the sweater, so I made sure they continued facing “down” when I got to the right side.
Step 4: Sew the pleats in place using a straight stitch. I sewed the tulle to the sweater far enough away from the buttonholes to prevent it from interfering with the sweater closure.
Step 5: If your sleeves are too long like mine were, take this opportunity to hack them off!
Step 6: Reattach the cuffs to the shortened sleeves by turning the cuffs inside out, pulling them up over the sleeves, pinning them in place, and sewing them on.
Step 7: Trim the excess material and use a zig zag stitch to finish the hem.
If you’re satisfied with the fit, you’re done!
Here’s how my sweater turned out. The shorter sleeves and v-neck are much more comfortable than before, and I love the tulle pleats.
If I could go back and change anything, I would have continued the cut of the v-neck all the way to the edge of the sweater. You can see here how I cut it straight across when I got to the line of button holes instead.
Overall, though, I’m very happy with how this sweater turned out. I can definitely see this piece getting a lot more use in the next few months now that I like the way it fits!
One more before and after! What do you think?
