adorable alpine sweaters
i made these fun and festive alpine inspired sweaters from two plain old pullovers i bought at the thrift store. one was a pink boucle crew neck and the other was a green v-neck heathered with blue and yellow specks.
this is what they looked like before…not very exciting…
here’s how you can do it yourself! first i cut up the center and finished the raw edge with grosgrain ribbon in the inside. this will keep the sweater from unraveling and stretching out in the front. i chose polkadot ribbon because it’s more fun than plain ribbon!
then i sewed on lots of super cute woven trim and ric rac! the green one i chose to apply the trim mostly on the upper part like a bib, and the pink one i ran a few rows of trim all the way up the front and around the neck.
then i sewed 3 buttons on each side and a chain loop to fasten them with. i think this is my favorite detail and really gives it that alpine-y feeling!
i hope you try it yourself and send me pictures!
November 20th, 2007 at 6:42 am
Wow, they’re adoreable!
We’re moving right now, but as soon as we get settled I’m going to dig out my trim stash and try one of these. The heart clasps are fantastic. And where did you find such fancy ric rac?
Thanks so much for the project idea!
November 20th, 2007 at 8:03 am
Oh I love these! I was just thinking about taking some old sweaters to consignment but now I know exactly I’ll do with them. Thanks for the inspiration!!
November 20th, 2007 at 5:52 pm
I have a sweater vest waiting for a very similar fate. Those look great!
November 20th, 2007 at 6:37 pm
thanks! i found the ric rac downtown on closeout (i wish i bought more!), but i know wrights makes it too. they call it embroidered ric rac or feather stitch ric rac.
November 21st, 2007 at 6:33 am
this is fantastic!
November 24th, 2007 at 7:06 am
Hannah! These are adorable. I wish I knew how to sew so I could make one.
And congrats on making it into Debbie Stoller’s Xmas wish list in Bust. Woohoo!
November 27th, 2007 at 12:51 am
Too cute! Great idea Hannah!
November 30th, 2007 at 9:49 pm
Super genius. I really love how you created the button chain loops as well.
December 7th, 2007 at 8:54 pm
Went to Solvang today, to explore trim possibilities. They still have some stuff from W. Germany, with aged handwritten price tags marked in pencil, denoting “cotton.” The Sunny Fields will never disappoint one in search of Nordic pewter clasps or lacing clasps. Today yielded pewter buttons
pre set with chains already attached. Hannah’s project ROCKS! Anyway, another good use for sweaters is making the arms into baby pants, or felting them and creating ” “helmets” or “earflap hats” to embellish, also for the wee set.
December 19th, 2007 at 8:59 pm
Wow! I’m inspired! Argh– just what I need– another project– maybe we can live in a tent in the yard and devote the house to my projects… At least I have time… I’m off next week from the day job! :)
January 3rd, 2008 at 12:25 am
I love these! I have loads of cute trim and buttons that I’m always “saving for a special occasion”, but really, I just don’t know what to do with them. I also have this amazing old “I love ferrets” sweater that my husband found on ebay—it’s too big for me, but would make a good cardigan! Yay! One question though, please tell me more specifically how you finished the center cut…thanks! great blog–always a treat to read.
January 3rd, 2008 at 1:25 am
These sweaters are so freakin’ adorable! You are a genius.
January 3rd, 2008 at 2:00 pm
here’s a crude drawing of how to finish the center cut…i hope it helps!
click on it to see a larger version…
April 29th, 2008 at 3:15 am
These are so cute. I need to get grandma to make one for each of my kids!
June 27th, 2008 at 11:41 am
I just have to say these are the coolest sweaters I’ve ever seen!! And to think you just created them from thrift store sweaters!! I’m in love:) I am going to make one of my own and I will send a pic!
May 24th, 2009 at 7:59 am
Hi, I just found you via “Angry Chicken”. I always love the web sites and blogs that she recommends, and I have not been disappointed with you!!! I love, love, love the screen printed clothing. I’ve refashioned two sweaters and they’ve turned out ok… but my question to you is how do you sew the trim without stretching the snot out of the sweater? The second sweater I did turned out okay, but the first not so good. It was originally a turtle neck and in cutting off the neck and adding trim to keep it from fraying, it stretched out. Yuck.
May 24th, 2009 at 12:02 pm
thanks julie! i lay the sweater flat and pin the trim on about every 2 inches. it helps if you loosen the pressure on the presser foot quite a bit.