Pinterest Project - Thrifted Sweater Redux

I have a ton of Pinterest pins for Fashion Inspiration, so I try to actually use them for inspiration as much as possible!  Here is a project based on Pinterest and using a thrifted sweater.
 

Inspiration photo from Pinterest

I’ve had this photograph pinned on Pinterest for a while now so last weekend I decided to tackle it!  Pinterest isn’t letting me click through to the original source for this photo.

I found a rather simple navy blue sweater at my local Salvation Army.  It’s nothing special, no special materials or anything, but it is very soft, fits well and has a fine knit.  It is also in great shape: no tears, pulls, or stains, it has retained its shape and isn’t too pilly.

Original sweater

I purchased 1 yard of pink ribbon at my go-to fabric store. The sweater was $4.50 and the ribbon was $1.65.  I already had matching thread, so I got a new and very unique sweater for less than $7!

How to:

1. Cut through the neckline and on either side of the shoulder seam to as far down the arm as you want.  Remove the bulky shoulder seam.

Cut a slit at the shoulder

2. Carefully, and without stretching the knit, stay stitch about 1/8 inch from the edge to stabilize it and keep the edge from unraveling while you work. 

Stay stitch the raw edge

3. Cut the ribbon in half so you have two ties.
4. Gently and without stretching the fabric, fold the seam over, laying the ribbon in as you go.  As I got closer to the end of the slit, my seam became less of a fold and more of a roll.  Just be sure to get the raw edge tucked inside the seam.  Also, if your new shoulder slit crosses any seams, be sure to keep them aligned as you fold over the raw edge.

Pinned seam with the ribbon pinned into the seam

5. I decided to hand baste the seam as the raw edge kept wanting to peek out between the pins and the pins were getting bulky.  Basting the edge kept the seam super secure for the machine sewing.
I chose a small stitch, a size 2 on my machine.  I had to advance it by hand to work it over the neck seam. 

Here you can see the hand basting

6. Remove your hand basting and gently press the seam with a warm iron.

7. Finish the seam on the ends of the ribbon.  Fold ¼ inch of the raw edge of the ribbon, press with the iron, then fold and press ¼ inch again.  Unfold and trim the edge to 1/8 inch of the first fold and clip the corners.  Fold the seam again, pin, sew, and press.

Clip the corners of the seam

8. The ribbon needs to be stitched down to the underside of the seam.  Here it is coming out of the finished sweater seam on the wrong side of the sweater, but it needs to lay flat along the seam.  

The ribbon, sewn into the finished seam

 

Pin the ribbon so it lays flat against the seam (wrong side)

9. Use thread to match your sweater in the needle, and thread to match the ribbon in your bobbin.  Pin the ribbon flat along the seam, and stitch right on top of your first seam.  With the threads matching your sweater and ribbon, this seam will blend. 

Sew the ribbon flat to the seam

10. Press gently with a warm iron and voila!

Finished sweater

Love the bare shoulder peeking out!

I also removed the sweater’s original and kinda ugly tag from the back of the neckline.  The machine care instructions are in the side seam and those I kept.

I think this would also be pretty with a longer slit down the arm, and lace inset into the slit up to the shoulder bow.  This would be a great solution to a sweater that fits in the body, but the arms are too slim.  Hmmmm…going to have to find another thrift store sweater now!!

Loving it with my new pale pink pumps!!