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Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Ruched Sleeve Cardigan

Yesterday was a rough day.  I spent the day at the dentist.  Deege (my six year old) needed to have some teeth pulled to make room for his erupting permanent teeth.  It was a bloody mess, and I spent the rest of the day cleaning up his vomit.  The anesthesia didn’t agree with his stomach.  Poor little man.

On our way home from the dentist, I stopped at the post office to pick up the mail.  I was so surprised when I found a package addressed to me from Marilyn from The Artsy Girl Connection.

Here’s what was in my cute little package:

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  This sweet little gift was an unexpected surprise, and it totally made my day!!  It was the perfect pick-me-up for my rough day.  Thanks a bunch, Marilyn!!

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ruched sleeve cardigan (29)

Remember these department store knock offs?!

polo shirt to cardigan refashion (2)no sew vest (14.5)no sew vest from a tee shirt (18)_thumb

One of our readers emailed us some pictures of tops she had seen at a department store and asked if we could show her how to make her own.  Here is the last cardigan and the last tutorial:

viewerSorry it’s so small.  I don’t know how to make it bigger without making it super blurry.  Moving right along…this cardigan is kinda drapey with ruched sleeves.  It was awesomely easy to make.  This is how I did it.

ruched sleeve cardigan (1)

I started off with a big men’s v neck tee shirt from the clearance rack.  Sorry about the pictures.  I started this after all the kidlets went to bed, and there wasn’t any natural light to work with.

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Sweet price, right?!

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Cut straight up the center of the tee shirt.

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Hem the ribbing on the neck, and along the hem.

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I only sewed in about an inch, and let the raw edge on the knit curl in.

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Take your sleeve and stitch a basting stitch right up the center of the sleeve to the shoulder seam.  I did it in orange thread so I’d be able to see it better when it was time to remove it.

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Pull on your thread to make your sleeve gather.

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Stitch it into place with matching thread on the sewing machine.  Remove your basting stitch

I thought the sleeve needed more of a gather and some stretch, so I shirred one seam with elastic thread up each sleeve for more shape. 

Do you know how to shirr?  You need elastic thread (wound by hand without stretching) in your bobbin. 

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Thread the bobbin into the machine the way you normally would.

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Set your machine on a straight stitch, but lengthen it a bit.

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Start sewing and watch your fabric shirr!  Good times!  I just did the one stitch on the shoulder seams and down the sleeve.

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Much better.  This is what it looks like on the inside:

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The cardigan still didn’t have a feminine enough shape, so I took some strips of black knit fabric and stretched them into ties…

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…and knotted the ends.  Sorry for the blurry picture.  

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I positioned the ties where I wanted them on the outside of the cardigan; flipped it inside out and pinned the ties into place.

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I took in the side seams and gave them a more girlish figure.  When I did that, I sewed the ties into place.  Make sense?  No?  Well, then.  I’ll draw it out for you.

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Turn your cardigan right side out and admire your handiwork.

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Fabulous.  You can wear this cardigan with the ties tied around the front like a belt, or tied in the back.  I liked it best tied in the back with a long sleeved shirt under the cardigan. 

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…and a close up of the ruched sleeves…

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Oh Hubby.  Sometimes that guy likes to drive me crazy.  He made the bed with the back  of the quilt facing up just to see if I would change it around.  I left it that way, even though it made me cringe every time I saw it.  I wasn’t going to lose this little battle!! It was like sleeping under a bar code.  Ugh.  The Hubsters is a stinker.  And I love him.

Just in case you were wondering, here is what really happened when I was modeling the cardigan:

ruched sleeve cardigan (23.5)

Oh goodness.  I sure love that little Monkey!  :)

signature nat

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6 comments:

  1. Yaaaye.. I am reallye xcited you received it.. Woohoo.. So happy you liked the contents.. : )) THANK YOU SO MUCH for participating again.. T'was a lot of fun to pack it all together.. Wishing you a very lovely week.. xoxo.. ~Marilyn

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  2. Nat, you look great!! I love this post, thanks for sharing! Your tutorials & ideas are GREAT!!

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  3. That is an awesome tutorial. Thanks for sharing. I'm glad I found your blog. I'm a new GFC and LF follower. I would love if you stopped by and followed back. Hope to see you soon, Lori

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  4. Wohooo..I am your 100th follower..completing your century now :) haha
    Thanks for visiting me & following me..I like new bloggers & I enjoy following newbies..
    Lots of Love ~

    Have fun!

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  5. Cute! I love ruched sleeves!

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  6. I love Refashions. I am going to make one from a white shirt.
    Would love to have link this up at Sunday Round UP!
    3 blogs = 1 party
    xx
    Heather
    http://www.heatherlyloves.com/2012/03/sunday-round-up-1_8663.html

    ReplyDelete

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