Sweater Dress

The other day my husband was cleaning out his side of the closet, and i noticed in the goodwill pile a sweater that I have always loved, but he, unfortunately, has not.  It's a nice sweater and i couldnt bear to see it go just yet.  So i thought of those men's dress shirt turned little girl sun dress and got inspired!  I grabbed a dress of my oldest daughter, who is 5, and laid it overtop of the sweater and started snipping away. I didn’t take a before picture it all happened so fast but here is the after, It was so easy! 

Here's what i did:

I left as many original seams as i could, to make is fast.  Luckily on this sweater the neck was really small so i left it alone.  Laying it out, i just snipped down eitherside of the neckline, allowing a couple of inches on either side for shoulder width and seam allowance and starting at the top i cut down cutting off sleeves and all and went at a slight angle to create an A-line shape. I did the same thing on the other side, and then folded the dress in half to make sure it was symmetrical, trimming what i needed to, to make both sides the same.  

Next, i took the sleeves that i cut off, and with my daughters arm measurement in  mind, cut the sleeves sleeves  shorter cutting on the side of the sleeve that was once connected to the sweater originally, this way i could keep the nice woven hem that was already at the wrists.  I also snipped down the sleeve lengthwise, to make the sleeves a bit skinnier. 

Now, i was ready to sew.  I pinned the sleeves back to the dress starting at the shoulder seam to make sure i had it even, and i sewed the top of each sleeve on leaving the dress sides and undersides of the sleeves all open.  At this point, when i hold the dress up right side out, i will see i only need two long stitches to finish it up, one on either side of the dress, going from the hem or the wrist, up the sleeve, under the arm and down the dress to the bottom hem. 

Finally, turn the dress inside out, and sew on either side from wrist to hem to close up the sides and arms of the dress.    After i was done i took some of the left over scraps and made a few flowers for the neckline by sewing the ends of one strip of fabric together and laying it flat on the sweater to make a circle.  I hand stitched it down and sewed a button in the middle of each one. 

Happy Sewing!!