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Hello! I'm Suzannah, a serious DIYer and mom of two little ones. Follow along with my DIY fixer upper house renovations, sewing and crafty projects, real food recipes, and de-stressing goals.
I believe you can love your home just the way it is, AND have the power to design and make big changes to make it better.
I'm also the author of DIY Wardrobe Makeovers!

Cardigan makeover

I don't know about you, but I've been totally loving Kathleen at Grosgrain's sweater makeovers this month.  So many pretty ones!  I love how she uses cut pieces of sweater to make leaf shapes and applies them.  I remade a sweater I had sitting around, from Old Navy, that I bought because of the color and shape--it was too big, so I planned to take it in.  I did the same thing I did with my print sweater-to-cardigan transformation, where I took a big seam up the center back to nip it in.  Although on this one, I also took in the side seams!

With the extra from the center back, I made leaf shapes and sewed them on the front!  I sewed down the centers of them to look like veins... and it's a green sweater, so it works well, I think!
Now there's a center back seam, but the sweater already had vertical trim on it!  It doesn't bother me.
P.S. Yes, I just cut my bangs!!

Have you done any sweater makeovers this winter??

14 comments

  1. Love this one, the seam fits great with the lines of the sweater and the leaves on the front are well placed. Nice work!

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  2. Love it! Your bangs look cute too! I always cut my bangs and regret it because I look 12 lol.

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  3. very cute. i love the bangs- they really suit you!

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  4. How do you sew on knitted stuff without it freaking out on you? I tried turning a sweater into a cardigan, and even used different material to add a trim/binding, but it ended up all weird shaped and wobbly. Any tricks for sewing on things with stretch?

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  5. Anonymous11/21/2010

    PS: You should go for red, your hair&face are just calling red.

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  6. I love the green, love the leaves--you always inspire me! Thanks for posting this.

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  7. Cute sweater! I really like the leaves.

    How do you sew sweater fabric without it stretching out? Every time I try it, I really mess it up because the seam is all stretched out.

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  8. Thanks!!
    I know what some of you mean about the risk of sweaters stretching out when you sew them. Sweaters are knit rather than woven so they easily stretch and bounce back, except when you put (woven) stitches through them that can keep them at their stretched-out state. As you sew, you be the boss of the sweater instead of the machine. Don't let the feed dogs dominate and take over. Go slowly, and feed the sweater through carefully with both hands. That should help!

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  9. aww that is really cute i love the leaves on it.

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  10. Cute, I love this! I need to learn how to do this

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  11. Man! I don't know how you have the guts to do all the things you do! I would be so afraid of ruining stuff! You're amazing! Keep up the great work and keep sharing your amazingness...maybe one day I will get the guts to try and change something up a little bit!

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  12. Well I have been thinking of making some pillows for our couch from some old wool sweaters that I have been collecting and I think this winter it just might finally get accomplished thanks to your inspiration.

    A note about sewing on sweater knits: 1- try stabilizing the area by spray basting tissue paper underneath. 2-Lighten up the pressure on your presser foot if possible. 3-For sewing around the shapes you could also try free motion stitching where the feed dogs are not engaged at all.

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  13. I'm working on a new cardigan makeover right now - turning an old, thick cotton turtleneck into a cardigan with a lace edging and a pair of pockets for keeping at my office in case it gets chilly. I'm excited to get it finished!

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  14. I like it! Especially that it's a little understated - that the leaves are the same color and material as the sweater. I saw you on Grosgrain today and decided to browse around your blog!

    I've also been super inspired by Kathleen's sweaters. But not brave enough to do one for myself, I've made a few for my daughters:
    http://junebugworld.blogspot.com/2010/12/rainbow-sweaters.html

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