Get Out of Jail Free Sweater!
YUCK!
All I need is a ball and chain to complete the ensemble.
Let’s see what we can do to make this better.
First, cut off the huge sleeves.
Save them for later.
Next, cut off the extra around the armholes.
Pin down the sides to fit.
Sew along your pin line on both sides of the sweater.
Trim along the seam line.
Pin and sew both shoulders to fit. Trim seams.
Put sleeve on inside out and pin to fit.
Pin to fit and sew both sleeves on the pin line. Trim each seam.
Turn sleeve right side out an place inside armhole, right sides together.
Pin in place, matching bottom and top seams.
Trim away the amount of length you need and save the bottom of the sweater so you’ll still have the nice finishing at the bottom of your sweater.
Next, pin and sew right sides together, matching the stripes.
Press the seam flat and cut press Heat and Bond under the seams to keep the seams flat.
And now you have a nice, new, fitted Spring Sweater.
The Renegade Seamstress 
You are so crafty, you just gave some of my unfortunate looking sweaters new life.
Thanks Penny! I can’t wait to see what you do with your old sweaters!
Haha… That was definitely a “get out of jail free sweater”! Nice transformation =D
Thanks so much for visiting! I checked out your blog and I love it. I’m your newest follower!
Are you cute or what!
that was me~not a stalker!
Oh good, although I did think I might have a secret admirer. 🙂
Beth, I LOVE it! You are a whizz and I would do well to emulate your creativity.
Thank you so much. I hope I can see some of your projects some time!
Beth, I just love watching you work. It’s like watching a bird build itself a house from nothing more than twigs and moss. You take what many of us would one look at and say, “No good” and turn it into something beautiful and usable! The jacket/cardigan turned out beautifully!
You just made my day, Cara. Thanks so much for your encouragement. It really means a lot!
Beth
Beth, this is WOW! The sweater (and you) look great.
Thanks so much, Sandra!
I have a cardigan I knit from alpaca yarn — gorgeous light blue & so soft! Unfortunately, it came out about 10 sizes too big! Think I’ll follow your example. Thanks!
Oh, I’d love to see it when you’re finished!!!!
Wow! What a transformation. The result is so chic – looks great on you.
Awwwww, you’re so sweet. Nice to hear from you. Have a great night!
Holy moly this turned out so great!! It fits you like a glove!
Thanks Tracy! That’s why I am so excited about refashioning. It was so hard for me to find clothes that fit me right. Not only does it save me tons of $$$$ I get to wear things that fit. Thanks for visiting!
OMG! I love the way your striped sweater turned out… So chic and updated for spring. Very nice.
Jeanna
Beth,
I was wondering you wouldn’t mind me re-blogging this tutorial? The tutorial I had prepared today just isn’t quite finished. I so admire your ability to sew and hem — skills, that sadly I doubt I’ll ever be able to do with such finesse and precision — and would love to share your masterpiece with some of my followers. Let me know! If not, I understand 🙂
Happy Tuesday!
I’m flattered that you want to share this. Of course, it’s OK. Anytime!
Wonderful! I will make sure to provide links! Thank you, Beth 🙂
You are very welcome!
Reblogged this on This Little Light and commented:
Happy Tuesday, Friends
I’m keeping it short and sweet tonight. I’m tuckered out and have a bowl of Nilla Wafer frozen yogurt beside me that I must get to it before it melts.
Today’s tutorial comes to you from Beth over at chicenvelopements.wordpress.com. Beth is a woman after my own heart. She finds great steals and deals at thrift stores and turns tired, bland, and lackluster clothes into beautiful accoutrements worthy of being sold in department stores. Not only is abundantly talented, but she is a sweetheart, too. It’s is my honor to feature her work on my blog, and I encourage you to go check out her blog when you have a moment. My hope is to do more features on Tuesdays; not only does is relieve me of needing to have my own crafts prepared on time, but I am in awe of the talent so many of you possess.
So, without further ado, I present to you:
Tutorial Tuesday! Spring Sweater Refashion
Fabulous tutorial! Thanks so much for sharing the details of this refashion…your pictures really helped me understand the steps involved.
What an AMAZING transformation!
AWESOME Remake!
Thanks so much!!!!
So many times I have passed up sweaters because they were dated and oversized–NO more! Great refashion!
I’m so glad you liked it and I hope you’ll be able to try it sometime. So easy!
I need to learn how to sew ASAP. Your blog is so inspiring.
Thanks, Noreen. I love getting other people excited about the things that excite me! Be sure to show me your projects, I’d love to see them!
Pingback: Fashion RE-fashion: Meet Beth Huntington « missmarys
Love the sweater refashion!
Thanks Jen!
I have just the sweater for this – a gift from my Grandmother-in-Law which is far too big, but I don’t want to upset her by throwing away! Perfect! 😀
Oh good, I’m glad this will be helpful. I bet she will appreciate you breathing new life into the sweater. I hope you post pictures, I’d love to see the before and after!
Beth
AWWWW! That is darlin’!! SOOO CUTE!!!! God has certainly given you a talent to make something old and drab, useful again!
Hey, you ought to check out http://www.Make it and Love it.com, you and Ashley are like two peas in a pod! She does lots of refashion, too!
Thanks, I will check it out!
Beth
Love your ideas, so adorable! Don’t the edges fray, though? Do you need to use a certain type of sweater? Or does the seam hold it in place? Anyway, amazing!
Thanks Heather! I really appreciate your nice comments!! As far as the edges go, yes, it does depend on the sweater, some will fray and some won’t. If you’re worried about it fraying, there are several things you can do. One, you can use Fray Check. This is something you can buy at any fabric store and you just apply it to the edges and let it dry. Two, you could put seam binding tape or bias tape on the edges. Three, if you’re lucky enough to have a Serger, it will finish the edges for you. Or, four, you could use a zig zag stitch on your regular machine.
But more often than not, I don’t have to do anything to the edges. Please let me know if there are any other questions you have, I’m happy to answer. 🙂
Beth
Thanks for your quick reply! I really appreciate it. Can’t wait to try some of your incredible ideas!
OH my you did that! I love it! Awesome. You’re so beautiful. Happy Holidays.
Wow, thank you so much, Verra!
Ok…I have a corduroy button-up shirt, too big, that I bought b/c it was the last one left and I loved it. I figured I could resize it to fit me. I’m in the same boat as with this sweater–the sides and the sleeves will need trimmed down. However, I’ve never actually done something this extensive before. In my typical way, I’ve had this shirt for months–think about it, put it down, try it on and do some pinning, put it down, think about it some more, think, think, think, put it down. Now, I’ve seen you take the arms off several projects in order to rework them. BUT….I’m wondering if I could just pin up the sides and down the arm, then make one long stitch to “tighten” the shirt up for me. What do you think? Do I actually have to take the sleeves off to re-do a shirt?
Hi Kelley,
So nice to hear from you. Thank you for your question. Here’s what I would do: I would try making one long seam using a basting stitch first, then try it on and see if it fit properly. If you like the fit, then you can go back and sew with a regular stitch over the top of it. If not, the basting stitch will be easy to take out. Let me know how it works.
Beth
Hello/r/n brilliant post.
Thank you!
I love your blog and am so inspired. My brother just gave ma a men’s cardigan to practice on. I might have missed it in the comments somewhere….but what stitch do you use when sewing sweaters? Thanks for sharing your talent with us.
Hi Melinda, Thanks so much for your encouraging and kinds words. As far as the stitch on the sweaters go, sometimes I use a zig zag stitch so it will stretch and sometimes I use a straight stitch. It really depends on the project. I hope this helps. 🙂