Sweater re-vamp

Ever since I saw this tutorial over on Grosgrain for turning a sweater into a cardigan, I've been wanting to try it. I have a weakness for cardigans. So one day in Target, I happened upon this baby in the clearance section:

It was an XXL maternity top (not exactly my size), but I liked the potential. It's long and had a nice gathering at the wasteline, which I thought would work well as a cardy.

So I followed the tutorial and measured up the middle:

Then cut (eeek — scary moment!):

Then all you do is pin the raw edge on both sides inside a piece of double-fold bias tape:

And stitch up the middle of the tape.

Be sure to fold the tape towards the inside of the sweater, unless you want it as decoration, I guess. :)

And this is what I originally got:

Not bad, especially from the front. But after wearing it a couple of times, Matt and I both agreed it really wasn't very flattering. The empire waist looked funny with nothing to hold it together, and the back was really unflattering (fashion note: covering an ample-size bottom with a large swath of white knit fabric does not make for a flattering rear view).

So I moved on to Plan B. It clearly needed to be shortened to avoid the fabric-covering-butt issue, so I decided to try the same bias tape trick on the bottom of the sweater.

Originally I was going to cut off the bottom cuff and try to re-attach it higher, but the seams didn't line up, so I just cut the fabric off about 3 inches higher, applied the bias tape as before, and stitched right along. Tah dah!

 Oh, and I added buttons.

 I LOVE these buttons. They're wood, and the textured design is too cute.

I stitched a little piece of elastic on the inside of the sweater, then sewed a button on top on the outside. Then, I sewed a matching button on the other side of the sweater.

Why, you might be asking, did she use teal thread to sew on the elastic? Because, I might answer, I forgot to do this step at first, and by the time I remembered, I'd already moved on to hemming my teal bridesmaid's dress and didn't feel like re-threading the machine for a tiny piece of elastic. Plus, it's covered by the button, right? Right.

Great tutorial, highly recommend.