…along with requisite “wolf” hehehe.
This is the latest in my attempts to make usable things out of things not being used….
I pulled out of my bag of toss-outs this oversized cotton cardigan along with another old Tshirt tossed out by Tim. I’ve struggled with this cardigan… the cheerful warm tomato-red colour is a plus but the boxy shape and massive size has always been a problem. Since day dot, really… I bought it in 2001; my first mail order purchase whilst we were living in the US. I was a mail order newbie, and just assumed naively that a small/medium would probably be my size. When it arrived: well, it was ridiculously big!
Lesson learned! Incidentally, the lesson ultimately learned was “don’t buy mail order, ever”… but that’s a whole other story 😉
Anyhoo I did not think or know at the time how I could go about returning stuff… so it stayed. The armpits hung down below my bust level and I had to wrap it half again around my body and tie a belt over, to keep even halfway warm in it. Stylish, not. It’s basically been in the camping/washing the car and/or the dog in category since new, and then migrated to my re-fashioning bag at least a year ago.
Using my own trusty custom fit Tshirt pattern as a guide; I cut up the cardigan, re-sized the pieces and sewed it all together again: only keeping the shoulder seams of the cardigan intact, since they were already nicely re-inforced. Also I kept the neckline band and the wrist bands untouched and intact, and the lower band is also original although taken in with the side seams. When refashioning something new outa something old, it is a good idea to keep and incorporate into the finished garment as many of the factory finishes as possible; it ends up looking a lot more professional and pulled together. Plus makes it a heckuvalot easier.
I’m slightly obsessed with hoodies lately. Hood = cool, right? Right!
The red Tshirt was getting pretty fragile and the fabric was not going to hold up to anything heavy duty, but since a hood is something that just hangs there decoratively most of the time and is not “worn” very much, so I thought the fabric might hold up to the task.
Now my hood pattern from KwikSew 3667 is drafted to fit a crew neck, and my cardigan has a deep V neck. But it is pretty easy to add on an extra wedge section while cutting out, so the hood will fit onto the V neckline…
I overlocked the lower edge of my hood and simply stitched in the ditch along the outside of the cardigan.
I removed the original buttons off the cardigan (green plastic, which I never really liked either) and sewed in a matching red open-ended zip.
I did have fancy plans to sew on a few decorative pockets cut from the Tshirt also, but after a coupla attempts I had to concede defeat; the Tshirt fabric was really too fragile and they looked muchos hideous. So the cardigan remains pocket-less. 🙁
Yah, so hopefully the hood might hold up for a while yet. We shall see. To be honest, I’m still not head over heels in love with this thing, despite its cool new hood. Y’know how sometimes something just doesn’t push your buttons, even though it ticks all the right boxes? It’s “my” colour, it’s got a hood, it fits nicely (now). It’s got a hood. Did I mention the hood? Hoods are cool. I kinda love the hood.
Well, I guess I’ll look a tad more stylin’ around the campfire than I was before.
I’m counting this one a minor league win.
Details:
Hoodie; my own design, with modified hood from KwikSew 3667, made from an oversized old cardigan and an old tshirt
Tshirt; charcoal and black striped cotton jersey, details here
Skirt; charcoal stretch jersey, details here
Scarf; details here
Tights; voodoo
Shoes; Django and Juliette, from Zomp shoes
























































































