Not Your Grandmother's Cardigan

But it looks like it is, and that's all that's important, right??


I saw a cardigan like this in a book the other day (I couldn't remember the title to save my life), and I've been thinking about it ever since. I just love the old, granny-inspired clothing I've seen lately and Anthro and Mod Cloth, and places like that!

I used this old long-sleeved cardigan that I've had forever, and a couple of vintage handkerchiefs. (I have a whole basket full of those to use up!)


First, I cut off the cuffs, and some of the sleeves....


Sewed a strait stitch, set to the longest length, around the (now shorter) sleeves, and pulled one thread to gather, until they matched the width of the cuff.


Then I turned the cuffs inside out, and slipped one over each sleeve, with the unfinished edges together, and right sides facing each other. And sewed them on with a zig-zag stitch.


This is what they looked like afterward!


On to the fun part; I pinned the handkerchiefs on where I wanted them....


Then trimmed the rest of the handkerchief off, leaving an inch of excess hanging off the edge of the sweater neckline.


I folded the excess over twice, and pinned it to the back of the cardigan neckline. (you can remove the pins in front now)


Then I sewed the handkerchief onto the neckline with a strait stitch.


I removed the buttons with a seam ripper, and replaced them with colorful ones that I had on hand! (to do this on your machine, simply sew them on with a zig-zag stitch, adjusting the stitch length first to make sure the needle goes in both holes cleanly.)

And done!
Granny would be so proud :o)
This cardigan made me feel so springy, that I brought out my polka-dotted skirt, and a basket of flowers to take pictures with! We've had such a mild winter here in the great northwest, that I'm even starting to see little patches of green sprout in my backyard! How heavenly!





If you look closely, you can see that (as usual) my daughter's shoes are on the wrong feet. It lends such an elegance to the photo, don't you think? :o)


Comments

  1. lovely... I pray my god to be such a mum like you....ı love yor blog....!!! Full of love.intimate.
    I'm from turkey,following your blog so often

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  2. Could you be an cuter!!? Love the cardigan. :)

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  3. so creative and beautiful. What a great idea!

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  4. wow, I love this! beautiful refashion :)

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  5. My goodness you are so talented. I must try this project. And the photos - great shots. I hope someday you get a book deal on refashioning clothes - you deserve it for all you give to craft bloggers. Thank you for great ideas and great tutorials.

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  6. What a great project! And my LO always puts her mary janes on the wrong feet too lol :)

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  7. So the cardigan is cute, yes, but the pictures of you and your little one? Beyond beautiful!

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  8. Adorable! You're right...the "granny" look is in and I love it!

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  9. Darling...absolutely adorable! and your cardigan is sweet too :) xx

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  10. Another great project! Your pictures are too cute! Does your husband take your pictures or do you use fairy magic to set up the camera and run into place ;o)
    Kendra
    http://domesticprincessintraining.blogspot.com

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  11. I absolutely love this! You are so creative! I am definitely going to bookmark this and try it!! Thank you for sharing!!

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  12. Gorgeous sweater-if I hadn't seen the pictures I would have thought you bought it that way. You have the best ideas. My daughter's shoes are always on the wrong feet-I'm not battling over that if she wants to put them on :)

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  13. I love it, completely adorable!! Thanks for sharing that super easy idea. <3

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  14. I am speechless - that is just gorgeous. I love girly things and you are so good at creating them!!

    Lindsay

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  15. SO cute!

    -FringeGirl

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  16. that is so pretty! And such great photos! (Both the quality and the subject!) :) So glad I found your blog! :)

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  17. A clue... I've been wondering which state you live in as your photos are always outdoors and everything is white here in wisconsin for several months. You gave a clue, the northwest and the patch of green which made me think maybe you do get snow, but then the photos show it isn't so. I'd say your patch of green is pretty large!
    -- Shivering in Wisconsin!

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  18. It's beautiful and could definitely pass for anthro.

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  19. So cute and you look darling. My daughter can't seem to get her shoes on the right foot either. Isn't funny how we take such "skills" for granted?

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  20. The cardigan turned out so cute. Love it!

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  21. Hallo Disney,
    thank you for this Post, it's very fine, great Idea!!

    Liebe Grüße von Traudi

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  22. I love this (I'm totally obsessed with granny-chic)! I'm new to sewing...like my mom's coming over today to literally get my new sewing machine out of the box because new things intimidate me. Fingers crossed I don't chicken out! I can't wait till I can be this creative!

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  23. I love your blog! All of the cute things you make for your little girl makes me wish I had a girl to go try them out on (I have 4 awesome boys!).
    So cute how her shoes are on the wrong feet! :o)

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  24. Disney!

    Once again, you did it!!! You make the most beautiful things...I just love it!!!

    Mags

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  25. What a Beautiful idea! Great revamp!

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  26. So sweet-what a great new look, especially love how you re-did the sleeves! I'm always too scared to touch sweaters but you made it look easy!
    BTW, My daughter does the same thing with her shoes ALL the time too :)

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  27. That is darling! I think I need to look at my sweater collection and get crack-a-lackin!

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  28. thanks for the great instruction I'm a new sewer I think I could even do it

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  29. Great job! I'm always afraid that I'll totally ruin a garment if I try something like that... maybe I should step out of my comfort zone a little :)

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  30. I love the mis-matched buttons! The whole project is so pretty.

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  31. so cute! love the cardigan and purple, its my favorite. :o)

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  32. Great refashion! I love the photoshoot!:):)

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  33. I love the stuff you come up with or fine tune. You're so creative. This is going to be my next project, cause you make it look so easy.
    Also, I know I'm way behind on the posts, but I was looking at the scrunched belt one and noticed that you were wanting a wider belt... and I'm not sure if anyone commented this, or if it's even possible, cause I don't sew much, but what if you sewed two pieces of elastic together to make the belt wider. Would that work?

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  34. You just left me the SWEETEST comment that completely made my day, and I thank you for it:). I just started my blog this last month, and I've felt a discouraged trying to find out how to get more people to my blog:). You are so sweet, thank you!

    I also love your blog. Your pictures are so cute!

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  35. Oh my gosh--you are awesome. I just saw your sidebar. You rock. Enough said:). Have a fabulous day!

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  36. Great idea making the long sleeves short! I'm going to have to try that out!
    Who takes your pictures for your photoshoots? I love your photo styling!!!

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  37. Love this sweater! I just went to Anthro for my birthday and I actually bought a scrunch belt just like the one you made. Also I wanted you to see these

    http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_kqDK-y2YxI0/S3GhtefNMFI/AAAAAAAAAag/VtHQeFF79B4

    I thought of you when I made them!

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  38. Sorry that link didn't work. lets try this again.

    http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=40388458

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  39. How pretty! I love the idea of changing it from long sleeves to short ones. You're so creative!

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  40. I love cardigans and can't really justify adding more than the 7 I already own. Making new short-sleeve cardigans with added buttons, though, now that's a reason to go to the 50% off sale at Goodwill this Saturday! Thank you!

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  41. You did a great job on the cardigan. The accent is beautiful and it stood out.

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  42. I've never thought of using a handkerchief to add to clothing. Thanks for the great idea!

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  43. So very cute--I just posted my first refashion and wanted you to know I have been inspired by your wonderful creations!

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  44. Genius! I'm SO going to do that....

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  45. My 3 year old can't seem to get her shoes on the right feet either. Now we just say that the shoes have a "special feature"... they can be worn on either foot. :)

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  46. Disney, you are so smart and creative. I will be trying that soon.

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  47. SOOOO pretty!!! I love the handkerchief collar!

    I linked to your tutorial at Craft Gossip Sewing:
    http://sewing.craftgossip.com/tutorial-vintage-inspired-cardigan-refashion/2010/02/10/

    --Anne

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  48. so creative very nice and thank you for sharing.

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  49. Another fabulous tutorial!! I wish I had time to try all of your cute ideas. Thank you for taking the time to mkae such a great bog and sharing tutorials with us. Loving your pictures as well.

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  50. Hi, I love your blog- great tutorials and very inspiring.
    I love that your daughter had her shoes on the wrong feet- it brought me back to when my son was a toddler and I used to put his shoes on the wrong feet all the time! Poor kid! He actually walks fine now, though. So, no worries! ;0)Aly

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  51. I love this! I have really been thinking far too much lately about how much I would have to have a short sleeved sweater since I have so many long sleeved cardigans. This is perfect! And it looks so easy! I will for sure be trying this soon.

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  52. Totally adorable and inspiring like always!!!

    btw- mine also wear their shoes on the wrong side, even my almost 4 year old. lol

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  53. I love the vintagy feel to it!

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  54. You are a genius. I have a hankie from my grandmother that I adore and haven't known what to do with!

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  55. That's funny about the shoes being on the wrong feet. My daughter does that all of the time!

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  56. Honestly, I thought you took the pictures from a catalogue! Beautiful pictures, beautiful cardigan. When I read grandmother cardigan, I thought it was going to look mumsy. But you made it look great. Love the buttons.

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  57. This is just what I needed to see. I love your blog, your projects are lovely. I have a stack of hankies I bought at the flea market last fall, and some sweaters waiting to be rescued. Thanks for sharing! BTW-You and your precious daughter take such beautiful pictures. Enjoy every minute of this time.

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  58. Love the cardigan. You are soo adorable as well.

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  59. You have the most amazing ideas. This is great. Now to find a pretty handkerchief! :)

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  60. What a great idea!
    Did you use elastic thread for the sleeves? In the past when I've sewn stretchy knits using normal thread doesn't work, as it doesn't give at all.

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  61. This is just lovely! And I adore your pictures! If you are interested, you can link this up at my Thursday carnival called Make it, Wear it. This would be perfect!

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  62. that's the cutest handkerchief too! great project.

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  63. This is a fabulous little reconstruction! I love it!

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  64. Love this cardigan! You are very talented!

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  65. How would you turn the hankie into a dickey if you wanted to be able to use the collar with other sweaters, any thoughts? LOVE this and I appreciate tip for adjusting sleeve length on sweater.

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  66. So. awesome! Thanks for the inspiration - I really want to try this!

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  67. A lovely cardigan. I really appreciate with your creative idea. It's so beautiful and cute. Good luck with your creative ideas. Thanks.

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  68. I love it!! It's great! I love how you added the colorful buttons!

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  69. I love this, Disney! I tried the sleeve-shortening method last night, and I'll be posting it on my blog tomorrow.

    Keep being so amazing! :)

    Felicity, at {Simple Elegance}

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  70. It's really beautiful. So creative and unique! Love it!

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