Monday, November 16, 2009

ruffle sweater refashion tutorial

After I posted about this sweater refashion I got several requests for a tutorial. I have a bit of a fear of tutorials. I am not great at explaining things. I also make things up as I go (a trait I inherited from my mother) and therefore do things different each time which that doesn't lend well to teaching others. But I aim to please so here is my attempt at a tutorial!


All of my refashions seem to be monochromatic. I wanted to do change it up a little this time but I am not sure if I really like this combination (dark brown and a sort of mustard-gold) and i might be getting a little sick of ruffles.

the sweater before-- from my closet.

one yard of chiffon. cut into strips on the bias. to find the bias fold the selvage to meet the cut side. cut along the fold line (solid black arrow) then following the new cut edge cut strips (the dotted arrows). 4 inches wide for this project.

sew your strips together. as you sew, make sure the raw edge of the seams are all on the same side of the strip.

once you have all your strips sew together, fold the strip in half lengthwise (right side in) and sew along the edge with a small seam allowance making a fabric tube.

turn your fabric tube right side out. iron with the seam in the center back.

making the ruffle-- using a basting (long) stitch, 5 on my machine, and the tension set to 9 stitch down the center of your fabric tube.

prepare the sweater-- cut the center front.

using lightweight fusible interfacing, make a interfacing, sweater, interfacing sandwich and fuse.

interfaced edges.

since the interfacing was white and the sweater dark brown i took to extra strips of chiffon about an inch wide. pin and sew over the interfacing.

pin on ruffle. some important details: my fabric tube was 190". after gathering it was 64". to cover the neck and front of the cardy i needed 57".

fold edge of ruffle under and then over the botton edge of the sweater.

sew on ruffle-- staying as close to the gathering stitch as possible.

hand sew on a hook and eye.

done!

cost: sweater $0, chiffon $2.50.
time: maybe two hours (this project is much faster if you choose a sweater that already fits you. unlike my last one!).

17 comments:

Kristen said...

That sweater is so awesome! I love the color combo. Thanks for the instructions, can't wait to try it!

jen said...

I might need you to do this on a sweater for me... It's really cute - I can't believe it's so cheap to make!

Unknown said...

somebody loves ruffles..... :)

I love this tutorial and also love seeing your new body double put to good use. A tutorial I can use! :) yay. Thanks!!

Shanda McKeehan said...

I can't believe you have a fear of tutorials! You always do such a great job with them. I'm trying not to turn green with envy every time I see your dress form! The sweater looks awesome too!

Steph said...

The color combo is great. Maybe it's the change in the weather here lately, but I just can't get enough of mustard yellow.

Thanks for the tutorial. It was particularly helpful to see how you finished the edges of the sweater.

Anonymous said...

Wonderful sweater. I love the mustard ruffle! Not sure if I'm ready for a project like this yet--still slightly intimidated by my new sewing machine. This will be a great one to try for sure :)

Jen @ tatertotsandjello.com said...

Very cute sweater redo! I also love to remake clothes. It's so much fun! I love the yellow ruffles. That is adorable!

XOOX
Jen

MAJ Bryen said...

Thank you so much!!! I appreciate the tutorial

Jenn Bennett said...

OH OH OH I LOVE this! I am totally going to make one for myself.
And I have to mention, I totally spent too much money on a shirt this week. It's something you would see and make make for $3 or something but I would have no idea where to start. Oh to have your ingenuity!

jessie said...

This time I'm going to do it! I WILL get elastic thread tomorrow and attempt the ruffle thing... LOL! BTW - I'm 90% done with my art-gallery wall! One of the boys lost one of the DEKA ends so I have to go back to IKEA tomorrow to buy another.. THEN I will be done! (And I'll take a picture. ;)

Melissa said...

Great job on both of the refashions and the tutorial! I never really thought about making a shirt into a cardigan. It's a fabulous idea.

Kim said...

You rock, Erin! The color combo is fab and your tutorial is very easy to follow. Great pics! Of course, I'm sucked in by it all, but I know it would take me 6 months to do that and it would still not turn out right.

And...there's no such thing as too many ruffles. :)

granma and papa said...

so eri-bear, from your mother? that is quite a compliment because you are AWESOME! Love you.

Andy said...

So cute! I die.

Jess @ Floralshowers Craft Blog said...

I so need to make one of these! Love it!

Anonymous said...

cool!

Rose said...

this is really cool--thank you for posting this. Some of my sweaters have a new future!

Rose in SV

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