I likey the cashmere. A lot. It’s soft. It’s lightweight. It keeps me snuggle-ly warm. Unfortunately styles change and I don’t feel pretty in some of my older sweaters, but I can’t ditch a friend that has taken care of me so well. Soooo, last Friday I tried to give new life to an old sweater friend. I’m sure someone with mad sewing skills could rock this project. This is the first buttonhole I’ve ever made so that would not be me.
At first I thought I would unravel the sweater and re-use the yarn to knit a scarf. Um, apparently that’s not how cashmere sweaters work. The yarn is itty-bitty. They must have elves making these things.
I cut two 6″ bands from the body of the sweater.
- I opened up one side of each band
- Pinned the two pieces together
- Sewed around the perimeter with my sewing machine (straight stitch first, then again with a zig-zag so it wouldn’t unravel). I left an opening on one end to turn the scarf right side out.
- Tried it around my neck to gauge placement of buttonhole
- Eyeballed a buttonhole size and stitched the buttonhole
I did a zig-zag top stitch on the ends to finish it off.
For someone who was winging it, I think it turned out ok. I will definitely wear it this winter.
The whole project took less than an hour and cashmere sweaters can be had for cheap (less than $10!) on eBay. Look for sweaters in pretty colors but ugly styles. Don’t forget to check out the mens’ sweaters too (more “fabric” to work with).
BONUS: Did you know that you can wash cashmere in the washing machine? It’s true. Wash it in cold on delicate. Lay flat to dry. There’s just no down side to this stuff.
I am very impressed! I think it is great and looks very nice on you! Especially that color!
I second the colour! The scarf is awesome – I’ve heard of a lot of uses for old sweaters but would never have thought scarf.. Fantastic result!
(I once sewed eight buttons overtop of eight snaps to give the illusion of a button-down shirt and avoid doing button holes. So I am very impressed with your buttonhole!)
You winged that good!
I love having a sweater around my neck every day in the winter when I’m in my studio. So comfy!!
Nice Job Whitney!!
Hi, this is interesting reading, few weeks back I published something like this on my blog, but your article is much better.