My New, Old Sweater

Today I was going through items in my closet that I don't wear anymore.  I have a huge bag of things to donate.  There was one sweater though that I didn't necessarily want to get rid of, but I never wear it.  I decided to make a few changes to it this morning so that it's wearable for me.

I got this sweater near the end of 2006 at a Betsey Johnson sample sale while I was an intern on the design team there.  I was actually given a lot of items for free because I helped out with the sale.  A few of them were not necessarily my style to begin with (although most were amazing).  I believe I wore this sweater twice in the last four years.  There were just a few things about it that were not "me" so I didn't feel comfortable wearing it.

The gathering at the neckline was pretty, but I didn't like the satin drawcord or the buttons covered in the same fabric. A few of the buttons had fallen off anyway.  It was a sample so they were not stitched on very well to begin with.  The neckline and sleeves were finished with a knit rick rack that had tiny sequins stitched into it.  I pretty much just don't wear sequins.  I don't love the color either as I hardly wear pink so I thought if it wasn't so monochrome I might enjoy it more.

I started out by cutting off the rick rack and the sequins.  It was perfect actually as it was originally constructed as a finished rib and the rick rack was stitched on around the edge with a blanket stitch.  All I had to do was cut off the rick rack and pull out the blanket stitch.  I didn't have to finish anything or mend the rib edges.

I've seen a few sweaters recently that had mismatched buttons and I really loved the idea so I decided to try that concept out here.  It also was the best solution for me as I didn't have a set of 12 matching buttons.

The most time consuming task was sewing a new drawcord.  I used a cotton material with a light floral pattern.  Drawcords are easy to make, but they take time because it involves a lot of tiny folds, ironing, and a careful steady hand to sew a straight line on the edge.

The changes were simple and pretty quick, but overall they made a big difference.  I'm excited to wear my new, old sweater!
-Kira