It’s Saturday night, 9:41, and I’m just now rolling in with the regular weekend excitement. I would’ve been posted this morn but I traded blogging for catching up on Downton Abbey (I’m only finishing Season 2 so you daren’t spoil it for me). I’m obsessed and because of it, the rest of this post will be written with an English accent. :)
I spent a small tidbit of alone time at a thrift store recently where I found this sweater for $3:
[at ease soldier]
I’ve been craving some patterned cardigans recently and so I thought this sweater would make a great one with a few snips and stitches. Here it is post-scissors:
[apparently blurry, blinded, and wrinkled are in]
Worst ‘after’ picture ever. I’m really awful at getting my picture taken when we’re talking modeling the clothes I’ve altered. I’m all sorts of awkward and feel really self-centered and all that and I don’t know how to stand and and and… Like I said, all sorts of awkward. I guess I’ll get over it someday…maybe.
So, sweater to cardigan. First, I turned the sweater inside-out, making sure it was nice and flat.
Probably a highly unnecessary picture but just in case you’re in the mood for TMI.
Then I used a measuring tape to find the vertical midline and used a piece of wood. (Don’t judge. We have nary a yardstick.)
…to draw a line down the center.
I cut down the line to give me a new cardigan with a funky collar…
and thought maybe I’d stop there and start a new trend, the buttons were super cool anyway, right? Sadly for me, I’m not the trend-setting type so off went the collar. 
My loyalty lies in v-necks over crews so next I drew a large V (about 10 inches deep) and cut it out.
I’ve never sewn anything sweater-ish before so my amateur skills convinced me to quickly sew a zig-zag stitch along each cut end to prevent any fraying. 
Then, I folded each edge over twice and sewed a straight stitch hem except for around the collar. I cut off the sweater neck keeping it’s hem so all I had to do there was fold the collar edge over once and hem it.
Last, I trimmed several inches off of each sleeve and hemmed their edges the same way, zig-zag, folding twice, and a straight stitch.
I might add some hook and loop closures just in case I want to close my new cardi, which probably won’t happen. I like ‘em dangling open. Some wood buttons might suit it as well. I’ll be sure to give a button down if I decide to decorate more. But, if that day never comes, I’ve got one more sweater-turned-cardi in my stash so stay tuned for more snipping and by golly, have a pleasant weekend! :)
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