WARDROBE REFASHION/ SWEATER TO SKIRT

Here's my latest project, inspired by reading my great books...a Sweater Refashion.
Here's what I did yesterday. I was amazed how quickly the project went, and I'm sure next time I will
be more sure of myself..I was hoping I wouldn't wreck the sweater because I love it so much..on the other hand, I bought it at the V.V. for $5.98., so it wouldn't have been the end of the world if I had ruined it--and you know, with ReFashioning, there's always another creative use for failed projects!
Here are the steps...
. In this technique, the sweater basically gets turned upside-down, so the neckline becomes the hemline, and the ribbed bottom edge becomes the waistband---clever, hey--I wish I'd been the creative soul who thought of this!
1. I pinned a rough line from the bottom of the neckband to each shoulder, front and back (note: I kept the back line higher than the front, because I wanted the skirt to hang a bit lower at the back.
2.--then machine-sewed with a small running stitch to prevent fraying.....
3. I cut BELOW this line from shoulder to shoulder in a slight curve (this is the hemline).
4. Then hung the sweater upside down to see how much sleeve lenth to leave on--the sleeve becomes a ruffle on the sides of the hem..--then chopped off the sleeve.
5. Then cut from shoulder down the top of the sleeve, opening it right up (this is where it got a bit
scarey!).
6. I thought about the best way to stabilise the hem, since my knit was rather stretchy, and decided to use some red lace hem binding along the inside edge. I sewed both edges to the inside of the hem using a small running stitch, and mitred the corners when necessary...since I managed to fing a pretty good match for thread, the seamlines blend in quite well.
7. Now for the waistband. I tried on the skirt inside out and pinned the sides in fron the waistband, tapering down the side seams like a dart. I basted this before sewing the final seam.
8. It was still a bit baggy. My sweater has an eyelet pattern, so I snipped into the eyelet and threaded a ribbon tie through.--looks pretty good!
9. I may add godets to the side openings because the edges look a bit rough..probably some pieces of red lining or red lace I have in my scrap bin....
--Tomorrow I will try it on and post a pic of the finished project.
---TTFN----Marg.l