Refashioning a Sweater

 Hello Readers. Sometimes there are cute men's sweaters at the thrift store. (Or in your man's closet!) Men's sizes can obviously be larger and longer in the body and sleeves. It can be difficult to find the right fit. But sewing lets you change that. You can make the sweater fit you! And you can add fun details too!

Before and after.

This sweater was a little too large and it was very long in the sleeves. I really liked the yellow color so I wanted to make it fit. 

I wanted shorter sleeves and a shorter sweater. I also wanted to keep the cuffs and ribbed waistband. They make the sweater look nicely finished. I just needed a sewing machine and a zigzag stitch to do that. 

I sewed the sleeves and the body of the sweater at the new lengths I wanted and then I cut off the extra material. 

If you want to make the sweater more narrow you can also sew new side seams to make the sweater fit better. I used a zigzag stitch along the sides of the body and sleeves. You can change the size of the sweater to fit as you want. Removing more fabric will make he sweater smaller.

 

After I made the new side seams I wanted, I cut the extra material off. 

 

 Now that my sweater fits I can add some fun details like pockets, patches and anything fun. This is an optional step. I have had this piece of needle work for ages. It was in a bunch of fabric I bought at a yard sale. I folded all the edges under so it would look smooth and clean when I sewed it on. 

 

My new pocket is cute and it will be so useful! You can't have too many pockets.

 

Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. 

*Year End Note From Chickie- I like this shade of yellow so I wear this often.