How to Make a Lounge Set

Tools and materials:

• Oversized sweater
• Shorts
• Ruler
• Fabric marker
• Scissors
• Safety pin
• Elastic
• Needle and thread or sewing machine

Cut the sweater in half

We’re going to start off by cutting the sweater in half. The top part will be the new cropped sweater and the bottom part we’re going to make into the shorts. I measured 38cm down from the top of the sweater, marked it at that point, and then cut. Your measurement will depend on your height as well as the length of the sweater that you’re working with.

Cut the shorts

Before making the shorts, cut off the elastic panel from the bottom of the sweater. Then take a pair of shorts, fold them in half, place them on top of the material and cut around them. You need to do this twice, once for the front and once for the back of the shorts.

Sew the shorts together

Put both pieces on top of the other, pin them together, and sew along the sides. Proceed to pin the crotch and sew it together. Once done, turn the shorts inside out so that the sewing is on the inside.

Add the elastic

Sew the elastic panel back together and then sew it to the shorts, but leave an opening of about an inch. To make sure that they fit nice and snug, take a piece of elastic and attach a safety pin to one end of it, then thread it through the opening and all the way around the waistband. Once done, sew the two sides of the elastic together and then sew the opening closed. Finish off the bottom of the shorts with a zigzag stitch.

Finish off the sweater

You also want to make the bottom of the top elasticated to give it a gathered together effect. Pin some elastic to the inside of the sweater about a few centimeters away from the edge. Sew it in place and then turn up the rest of the material around it and sew that down to conceal the elastic.

Here is my final creation. I love how I took one garment and then made two pieces from it! By looking at the finished product, you wouldn’t be able to tell that it initially started off as one piece. I really like how the loose fit of the sweater contrasts with the tight shorts, and I know that I’m going to get a lot of wear out of this two-piece!