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Monday, January 10, 2011

Men's Sweater to Toddler Cardigan Refashion


So you may have seen a button similar to this image on my sidebar.  It is lovely little thing courtesy of A Beautiful Mess.  Rachel and Elsie are starting a weekly segment called Project ReStyle. So what is Project ReStyle?  You can read their full post here,  but to use their own words, it is "Project Restyle is a just-for-fun creative group focused on ReStyling damaged, unwanted or unusable goods into fresh, beautiful pieces." I love restyling pieces, and I have a heap of unwanted goods that need to be turned into something beautiful. 

You can join in on the fun.  While I'm not sure that I'll be doing restyled projects on a weekly basis, I am going to make an effort to work through that pile that I mentioned earlier.


This men's sweater has been sitting in our basement for some time.  My husband doesn't seem to remember it, and I surely didn't want him wearing it, so I decided to turn it into something sweet for my lil' man.


I'm very fond of cardigans, but Clark didn't have any.  I thought that this sweater could make a decent little cardigan for him.


 I used the same pattern that I created for the Argyle Pull Over that I made in the fall.  I simply modified the pattern pieces, and utilized the built in beauties of the sweater.  I cut the sleeves so that the cuffs were put to their intended use.  I also cut off and saved  the original waistband. It was sewn to the bottom of the bodice pieces, once the seams were sewn.


 I didn't have any ribbed sweater knit, so I just used standard  ribbed knit (unfortunately I didn't have any black or charcoal).

The buttons were plucked off of one of my brother's old suits.  The smartest thing that I did with this cardigan was sew the buttons to the ribbed knit.  No button holes.  I seriously almost attempted sewing button holes through 4 layers of ribbing.  I'm sure that I saved myself lots of button hole frustration, and sweater buttoning frustration for that matter.

I sure do love a little boy in a cardigan. I'm pretty pleased with how the sweater turned out.  In my opinion it was a successful refashion, and it didn't cost me a dime.

One of my goals for this year  is to sew my way through my stash of fabric and old clothing.  You need to get after me if I start showing pictures of new fabrics.  I certainly have enough material to keep me busy for the next few months.

I'll be linking here.

13 comments:

Irēna said...

Looks beautiful!

Jessica at Me Sew Crazy said...

What a cutie! Love it! Made a great cardi!

Unknown said...

So cute! Such a dapper young man you have on your hands.

Unknown said...

So, so cute. Hmmm, what old sweaters do I have lying around? :) I definitely wanna try this out for myself!

Emily said...

Love it! Darling pictures of Clark too. :) So does the cardigan not open in front? (not that it needs to- it looks plenty easy to get on)

Unknown said...

dArlINg AND WITH that bow tie... so cute! THEN again so is the little guy. Great re-fashion job! jen

Harmony said...

I absolutely love this!!
I also have tons of fabric, and piles of "damaged" and "old" things that need to be repurposed. I just, unfortunately, also have to pair these things with new (read: bought from goodwill!) fabrics (usually in the form of sheets, curtains, and table cloths!). I justify this money by knowing that I'm recycling. And still using old things to make new things. :-D

Unknown said...

Very smart-looking refashion! Way to save and improve a sweater Tricia. You have such a little sweetie there and I love the bow tie in combination with his new acquisition too.

Bella @ Bella before and after said...

Oh, Tricia, Clark once again has stolen my heart. How much more of a stud can he be, he looks right out of a fashion magazine, or james bond movie, in that first pic, he he. SOOO cute.

The sweater is fantastic, and I love the red, you choose. What a great idea to just sew the button on, makes me almost want to do that with the other sweaters we have, he he. I HATE when they unbutton the sweater, and then minutes later it is off, this will keep it on, hopefully longer, lol.

Thanks for linking up to **Amaze me AUgust**

Bella :)

AllieMakes! said...

So cute! I'm with ya on the button holes!
Thanks for linking up to Making It With Allie! I can't wait to see what you have for next week!
AllieMakes.Blogspot.com

The Management said...

Just passing by, but I have to say - the thing that makes this cardigan so very sweet IS the red. So glad you didn't have any black!

Edward Facinelli said...

Wow! You did a great job! I'm so amazed that the sweater was restyled into a toddler's cardigan. You're so creative and resourceful. The style looks good on him and the cardigan looks elegant.

mens cardigan said...

So cute! I'm with ya on the button holes!
Thanks for linking up to Making It With Allie!