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Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Polo to Cardi Refashion

Remember last week I mentioned that one of our awesome readers emailed us a bunch of pictures of cardigans and vests she had seen at a department store?  She didn’t love the prices and asked if we could help her out.  I’ve got another department store knock-off for you.

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Here is a picture of one of the cardigans she emailed us:

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Sorry it’s so small.  It’s basically a 1/2 sleeved cardigan with a braided trim around the neck and down the front.  Super cute.  I didn’t have a shirt with that sleeve length, so I just used one I had.  It as actually a polo shirt.

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Start off by cutting straight up the shirt, and cut off the collar.

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Serge or zig-zag around the raw edges you just cut.

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Cut several long one inch strips from a tee shirt, knit fabric, or use a roll of knit ribbing.  That’s what I did.  I sure hope The Queen (my MIL) didn’t want this roll of ribbing back.  I have used tons of it, and I’ve still got more ideas for it.  Can you believe it?!  I took her son AND her roll of ribbing.  Tsk, tsk.

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I cut three strips that were about 6 1/2 feet long.

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If you use strips from tee shirts or knit fabric, sew them together so they’re about 6 1/2 feet long each.  It depends on what size your shirt is.  It always a good idea to cut/sew everything longer than you think you’ll need.  It is a lot easier to trim something than to miraculously make it longer.

I sewed  the top of my three strips together.  I left my strips under the presser foot of my sewing machine (with the needle down) to hold it into place.  Then I braided.  And braided. And braided.  I ended up with one l-o-n-g braid.

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Disregard the toys on the floor and the cartoons on the TV.  I live in a real world, with real boys, real toys, and very real messes.  I sure love it!  Good times.

Sew the end of your braid closed.

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Pin the braid to the cardigan up the front, around the neck, and down the other side.  Tuck the braid ends under the hem of the cardigan.

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Sew the braid into place 1/8 of an inch from the inside of the braid, then 1/8 of an inch from the outside of the braid so that you have two seams near the outside edges of the braid.

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Here’s a close-up of the stitching:

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…and there’s my take on the cardigan.  I love how it turned out.

I’ve got one more that I’m working on:

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…and I’ll get the tutorial up for that next week.

Now for a bit of randomness.  I got new glasses.  Monkey broke my frames, and I loved them.  They were my fave.  I couldn’t find any that were similar, so I chose these.

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Are they okay?  I don’t know how I feel about them yet.  I mostly wear my contacts, but I usually only make it until about 8:00 p.m. before my eyes are begging for mercy.  You know how it is. 

So do they work for me, or not?!  I can’t decide. 

I’ll see you again tomorrow.  Ash isn’t feeling well.  No fun.  Get feeling better, Ash! 

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2 comments:

  1. Super cute! I have an old polo that I grew out of, and was wondering what to do with - this'll be a great weekend project. :D
    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  2. amazing tutorial to recycle polo shirt, i will also do this with my sport tek st650 Polo shirt when it get old

    ReplyDelete

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