Reuse & Upcycle: Simple Sweater Makeover

As promised, here is my first 2015 project. In case you haven't read my previous post, 2015 is going to be the year of no clutter in our house, so obviously I had to start with a little reuse and upcycle.

Sometime last year I bought this sweater on clearance:

It was packaged so I didn't try it on at the store, just bought the smallest size they had, which usually fits. When I got home and tried it on, I found it was too big. The sleeves were too long and it came down almost to mid-thigh. But since my kids had ripped open the package and it hadn't been too expensive anyway, I did not bother to return it. I wore it once with black leggings and then it was forgotten in the back of the closet.

While going through my clothes, I found it again and decided that either I did something to turn it into a wearable item, or it had to go.

After some brainstorming, I picked up my scissors and started to cut the sleeves. I had nothing to loose, since I was going to get rid of it anyway otherwise. So I cut, folded over to create a casing and inserted an elastic for close fitting sleeves.

Then I folded over the middle of the sweater at the waist, again to create a casing, and inserted an elastic as well. Because I was focused on getting it ready, I did not take pictures of the process, although it was really quite simple. The greatest difficulty in these projects is sewing with knits, which can be tricky.

This is the end result:

I did not take a picture of me wearing the sweater before, but this is what it looks like on me now:

(sorry, I guess I'm not very good with selfies...)

Anyway, now I have a sweater I can easily wear instead of another thing cluttering my closet. And I'm hard at work on more of these projects. Reduce, reuse and recycle. Here's to a great 2015!

Enjoy,