2 Super Cute Ideas for Refashioning an Old Sweater
In this tutorial, I’m going to refashion a sweater by thrift-flipping it into a DIY sweater vest and a ruffled top.
What is thrift flipping?
Thrift flipping is turning a piece in your wardrobe that you don’t like so much, or that doesn’t fit you as well anymore, and turning it into something new and improved that you can wear!
I’m going to show you two different DIYS (+ one bonus DIY idea), so you can start thrift-flipping all of your old sweaters. Let’s get started!
Tools and materials:
- Sweater
- Scissors
- Sewing machine
No-sew sweater vest
1. Remove the sleeves
To transform this into a rather versatile vest, all we’re going to do is chop off the sleeves and leave the thick sleeve seam behind.
That’s it! I styled this DIY sweater vest over top of my upcycled bed sheet tiered dress.
If you want to make this a totally no-waste, no-sew project, you can fold in the copped top of the sleeves to create a pair of very cute leg warmers!
Instead, I’m going to fancy up my vest a bit in the next tutorial by adding ruffles around the sleeves.
Ruffled top
1. Cut out the inside seam of the sleeve
Turn a sleeve inside out, and chop out the thick, underarm sleeve seam.
2. Cut the sleeve in half
Fold the sleeve in half, right sides facing, as evenly as possible, and ensure the cuffs are lined up.
Then, cut the sleeve in half along the fold. You can trim the edges if it isn’t perfectly even.
3. Sew the top
Stitch the tops of the sleeve together.
It should look like this open.
4. Ruffle one end of the sleeve
You can do this in two ways. First, you can simply fold the edge over and do a tight, wide zig-zag stitch, stretching as you sew.
As you stretch and sew, it will gather the fabric up into a nice, ruffled edge.
The second way is to use a rolled hem foot so you don’t have to fold it over yourself as the rolled hem foot will do it for you.
5. Cut out the side seams of the vest
To attach the sleeves to the armhole, chop out the side seams so you can attach the new sleeves in a nice, straight line.
Only the collar and the shoulder seams should be left sewn together.
6. Sew the ruffled sleeve to the vest
With the right sides facing up, place one of the ruffled sleeves together so it’s lined up with the shoulder seam.
All of the raw edges should be lined up together. Sew together.
7. Sew everything together
Fold everything together with the right sides facing and make sure everything is nicely tucked in.
Sew all the way down to the bottom hem to close up the side seams.
Here’s the finished ruffled top! This is so much cooler than that plain, boring, sleeved sweater, don’t you think?
Refashion sweater ideas
Let me know down below if you’re going to make one of these because, as you saw, it’s super easy to do!
For more DIY content, check out my post on How to DIY a Cozy Granny Square Scarf.
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Comments
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So awesome! It’s fun to look at! Great style✌🏻
Honestly, couldn’t see it that well because of the hair. But, what I did see, was cute. Would like to see more of the front.