Back with another repurposed sweater!

I'm just going to show part of the upcycle for this sweater today because starting tomorrow it is going to be STEAMPUNK MAD HATTER week.  More on that tomorrow!  For now, here is the sweater I am upcycling/recycling/repurposing:

I got this sweater a few years ago and have lost a bit of weight since then so it just looks sloppy now but it is still in good shape and I am a bit of a nerd who still likes the argyle effect.  The back is plain gray and that gave me an idea since I have another sweater just like this in solid black.  I'm going to show the cuts I made on this sweater since the black did not show up as well.

 

Here are the cuts I made:

The sleeves will be used for fingerless gloves (both the black and gray) and the top 1/3 will be used for another project (both the black and gray).  The bottom 2/3 of each sweater will be made into a skirt, one for me and one for my daughter.  

Supplies:

Sewing machine

Thread

Elastic (for the waist)

Embellishments

This was so easy and took about fifteen minutes. All you do is make a casing for your elastic by folding over the top and stitching all the way around but for 2" that needs to be left open for feeding the elastic through.  Make sure your elastic is long enough to be comfortable for your waist and feed it through (I like to use a safety pin in the end of the elastic piece).  Feed the elastic through the now formed waistline, stitch the ends together and then stitch the 2" opening closed.  

I opted to use some scrap fabric I had to make a white cotton ruffle around the bottom of mine to add a little funk to it.  

How I made the trim:

1) Cut two 5" wide pieces 1 1/2 times the width of the skirt.

2) Stitch the pieces together end to end

3) Stitch a narrow hem to give a finished look

4) Baste the top of the strip to allow for gathering

Stitch the gathered trim to the bottom of the skirt by placing the basted top beneath the finished bottom of the sweater so that it will lay flat.  I finished it off by stitching the ends of the trim together.  Here is the finished product:

It makes a cute skirt!  I am going to add some different embellishments to my daughter's skirt and will post hers when I complete it.  But again, this week is going to be STEAMPUNK MAD HATTER week on Kharmic Chaos!!!