How to upcycle sweaters…
Upcycling sweaters…Part 4
Arms of the black ribbed dress. These will be cut up the seam. 
Cutting up the seams of the gray sweater. 
Instead of circular inset seams, this one has arm seams that run diagonally up to the collar. 
Cutting up the diagnonal to the collar.
After sewing together the arms from the black sleeves and grey sleeves, I’ve positioned the waistband piece over the bottom portion formed from the sleeves. Now I will cut the bottom portion to match the diagonal edge of the waistband piece.
The final design. There was enough leftover scraps and a skeleton of the turquoise sweater to design a matching sweater. I think some black beading added along the diagonal design on the turquoise portion of the skirt would be neat, and perhaps a black ruffle along the skirts hem will frame the outfit. I still need to add fasteners for the sweater - black toggle beads with a loop to fasten?
Some tips and tricks.
Check local thrift and good will stores for deals on gently used sweaters. But do yourself and your customers a favor. Don’t bring home any unwelcome guests. Ask them to tie the back shut, and put them in the trunk of your car. Immediately take the sweaters right to the washer, and wash them in hot water and dry them on the hottest setting for at least 20 minutes. I dry them until they are completely dry. This shrinks some of the sweaters, and wool becomes felted, but I can feel confident I haven’t brought critters into my home, nor am I selling anything filled with critters.
Cut the sweaters apart, and don’t actually serge any edges until you have the pieces the size you need. When I first started upcycling, I would serge the sweaters apart to deconstruct thinking I was saving time. Nine times out of ten, the serged edge I created when taking the sweaters apart, ended up being cut away so I was really wasting thread and needles. It is much easier to cut the pieces apart at the seams, and then serge the seams together once you’ve cut your pieces.
Sweater fabric is very forgiving. If you err, simply reserge the edge you need.
I welcome comments, suggestions and even questions. Many times sellers are very secretive about their process, where they buy supplies, and get defensive when someone asks a question. While I might be a little flattered and also offended if you outright copy one of my designs, I certainly won’t get offended if you ask me a question about how upcycling with sweaters!
