Men's v-neck sweater -> Distressed Cardigan Tutorial

[AnnaReilly]

I just finished this cardigan:

(I had to tweak the colors in photoshop so you could see the details.)

This is what it looked like originally:


1. I sewed a line (using a really short stitch length) about 3 inches in from the cuffs, hem and neckline and two lines about 6 inches apart down the middle.
2. I cut up the middle (making a cardigan out of a pull-over), cut off the cuffs, hem and neckline.
3. Using a seam ripper I shredded the egdes into 3/4" to 1" strips stopping at the lines I had sewn in step 1.
4. I put the sweater on inside out and pinned the arms and sides to give it a more fitted shape and then sewed along my pin lines:

(The little white dots are my pin-heads.) I also sewed a tight zig-zag stitch along the arms and sides before cutting off the excess material since it's a more crucial seam than the seams to stop the fraying.
5. I added a little clasp to the front. (I originally wanted it to be worn loose but because the original sweater was so huge on me it falls off my shoulders without it being clasped in the front.)
6. I've been throwing it in with every load of laundry to get the edges more frayed and they are getting there, but it's still sort of in-progress.

I was inspired by the sweater Sarah McLachlan is wearing here: http://www.rollingstone.com/photos/bigphoto.asp?gid=8283&s=1&e=5&seq=4&cf=381

My egdes didn't get quite as frayed as the sweater she's wearing but I don't know if I could get the egdes like that without the sweater really being *made* with that intention in mind.

[wealhtheow]

AWESOME PROJECT! Truly inspiring -- I'm going to give it a whirl this wknd. :-)

[artzyfartzy]

Wow! i agree, very inspiring! this looks like fun! I love your sweater!!!!!

[scandibird]

Just... WOW!!!

Everything else I'm making at the mo is now being put on hold, I'm doing this!!!
Thanks for posting!
 

[raine]

That looks great! Did you felt the sweater before you cut it, or was it already unintentionally felted from being washed in the past?

[AnnaReilly]

That looks great! Did you felt the sweater before you cut it, or was it already unintentionally felted from being washed in the past?

It's not really felted... It's some kind of a synthetic material (cut off the tag so I'm not sure what exactly) so it can be washed and dryed. And it's pretty tightly knit so a looser knit would fray more than mine. I think a looser knit sweater with a feltable material would be even better.

Thanks for the compliments! It was a pretty fun project although ripping the edges took awhile. It would have gone faster if I'd used scissors instead of a seam ripper, but I wanted more distressed, frayed edges.

[susank]

This is fabulous!  So often I pass by misshapen and ill-fitting sweaters at the thriftstore because restructuring a knitted garment via sewing seems as scary as trying to mix oil and water.  Thanks Anna!

--susan.

[neerajax]

hello....

thanks for replying to my post re: reconstructed sweaters.....this looks gorgeous! I'm very impressed. I take it the combination of the first row of tight stitches, plus the zigzag stich, was enough to keep it from unraveling?

--N

[AnnaReilly]

I take it the combination of the first row of tight stitches, plus the zigzag stich, was enough to keep it from unraveling?

I only did the zig-zag on the new seams I made along the arms and sides (since that was a more crucial area) and just did one row of the tiny stitches on all the rest. The edges haven't frayed any further than that one row of stitches so that seems to be enough to hold it all together although those areas don't get a lot of stress (aside from the washing machine) so I don't know if that would have been enough on the side and arm seams.

[cheesedip]

That is the hotness. It suddenly becomes so clear: I need one of these NOW. Going out to find cheap blokes jumper.