Refashion #13: Two-Button Cardigan

I've had this turtleneck for awhile now. It's a beautiful brown color. It's terribly soft. I never wear it. The turtleneck is too high and it's a bit boxy and shapeless, and somehow the proportions never work with any of my skirts.


What I do not have much of, however, are cardigans. I've seen the sweater-to-cardigan look numerous times on WR, but I didn't just want to leave the edges raw or flip them under, since the original sweater is quite fitted as it is. This is probably why I often let my WR membership lapse -- I'm such a picky refashioner and consequently make much additional work for myself through detailing, that if I had to rely on thrifting and refashioning alone I wouldn't make it through all 4 Bostonian seasons. Or so I tell myself.

Anyways. It finally dawned on me that if I could use bias tape to finish off the raw edges, I might just have a cardigan that I liked.



I picked up 1/3 yard of fabric from the homespun section of Joann's, made my own bias tape, put on the sweater and marked the areas I wanted to chop, took a giant breath, and cut. Boy did I feel like I was living dangerously! And I will say that this is not the original look that I was going for. Note to self: if you're wearing a sweater with negative ease, don't expect V-neck lines to stay the same once you cut that baby open!

But luckily, I am not one who shies away from slightly off-beat or quirky. In fact, that's what I'm all about. I think I may actually even like this version better than what I'd originally planned. The buttons are attached to snaps, and if I get really, really nitpicky I may go back and move the bottom button 1/8" so that it lies perfectly flat, and add another hidden snap to hold everything in place better. But I like to think of this as version One Point Oh, i.e. good enough to wear out in public. OPO. Kris and I are trying to become better friends with OPO. Because TPO may never come into existance, but I kind of want to wear my cardigan now.