Thursday, December 1, 2011

Mohair Sweater Refashion - Before


Before

This thrifted sweater is made of lovely stuff - 70% mohair, 30% nylon.  It's a beautiful colour.  But it's gigantic on me, albeit labelled as a medium.

And the details of it are hideous.  (As is this picture of me.  Yikes!)

The body is reverse stockinette stitch, which I do not care for. (The smooth jersey face is hidden and the purl bumps are on the outside.)

The collar, cuffs and lower edge each end in a length of (right-side out) stockinette stitch, which forms a curl, and then a short length of ribbing to cinch the garment in.  Yick.

I considered trying to unravel the sweater but in order to ensure that this turns into something wearable in my lifetime, I have pretty much decided to take it apart and treat it as fabric.

I'd love to turn the sweater into this top from the November, 2011 Burda Magazine.  There is not enough of it, big though it is, to cut the two fronts Burda asks for.  Though, maybe, I could cut a partial inner front?   Hmmmmm.

Any other ideas?
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5 comments:

  1. KathyDecember 1, 2011 at 8:33 PM

    hmm, maybe a simple drape-neck top. Like the vogue dress everyone was making this summer but as a top?

    btw I just made that burda top and I love it! Going to make several more so I highly recommend it.

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  2. ParisGrrlDecember 2, 2011 at 4:21 PM

    I love a challenge...if that were mine, I'd make darts in the shoulders to bring the shoulder seams in, take it in at the sides without removing the original stitching, cut a significant chunk off around the bottom to turn into a removable infinity cowl neck, and hem the bottom and sleeves as needed. Looking forward to seeing what you decide to do with it.

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  3. HenDecember 3, 2011 at 8:21 AM

    You could give the sweater a V-neck and then use what you cut away at the bottom to make a shawl collar that is continued as "ties", which may have to end at the side seam. Look at the third technical drawing here:
    http://hensweblog.blogspot.com/2007/12/storyboard-swap-2008.html

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  4. JeanDecember 3, 2011 at 9:39 AM

    Great idea to treat the sweater as a fabric and refashion into the Burda top. Wonder if you can trim here and there and still get the general design of the top using the amount of fabric you have? Can't wait to see what you decide. By the way, I love how your lacy scarf turned out in your previous post -- wonderful pattern and color!

    ReplyDelete
  5. CorneliaDecember 3, 2011 at 5:19 PM

    If you can't find a coordinating fabric for the second front piece, knit your own in a similar yarn. One piece couldn't take that long, and would give you a little creative freedom, not to mention upcycle cred.

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