DIY Sweater Recon: How to turn a large knit sweater into a smaller one

From Oversized, Thrifted Cardigan to Fitted Sweater in 30 Minutes ( and how to fix a snag on a knit top) 

I couldn't resist when I saw this beautiful, light-weight knit cardigan at the second hand store for $8.  I mean it's made out of 58% SILK and 42% cotton!!  How luxurious is that?  How would I ever be able to afford a knit silk cardi otherwise?? 

But here's the problem, this sweater was HUGE on me, and it had a big long snag on the back.  So here's how I reconn'd it in about 30 minutes to turn it into a sleek fitted cardigan.  

Thrift store shopping is a great way to save some money, as well as being eco-friendly as you bypass the pollution that goes into the production and shipping of new clothing.  But sometimes there are little hurdles to overcome, like snags and sizes that don't fit right.  

So the first hurdle was to deal with the giant snag on the back: 

 

Yep.  It was that huge.  It's always important when you're shopping in thrift stores to check for snags, stains, holes, etc.  From there you can decide if it's still fixable and worth buying.  Luckily, my mother taught me years ago how to fix snags in knit sweaters, so I knew I could deal with it.  

So how do you deal with a snagged knit sweater? 

Step 1: Ok, first ask for a discount before you buy!  If you can't fix it perfectly, at least you haven't paid full price.  Ask nicely, of course, this helps .  I.e. "I really like this sweater, but I noticed this big snag in the back.  Is there any way you can maybe knock a bit off the price?  I'd really appreciate it."  (Insert slightly embarrassed yet hopeful look here)   

Seriously, 9.5 out of 10 times this will get you a discount.  In this case they gave me 10% off, so I got this sweater for just over $7!

Wanna know how good of a deal I got?  Check out the tag:

Silk and cotton Chico's sweaters go for about $150, I looked it up on their website.  So I knocked off about $143 from the price tag! 

STEP #2 of snag fixing:  There are a couple of things you can do.  

a) If it's just a small snag that won't cause the rest of the knit to unravel, you can simply use a needle or something long and narrow (pen tip, chopstick end, etc) and push the thread through to the inside of the sweater.  

b) If the snag is long and the thread has pulled the fabric and caused it to bunch, as in this case, try to gently draw the fabric away from the snag, so that it will draw some of the pulled thread back into the knit and ease some of the bunching. 

Then, you'll want to sort of weave the pulled thread into the knit, and in particular, to weave it around any holes there might be to try and help keep the sweater from unraveling.  You can do this again by alternating poking the thread through the back and front of the fabric, as in the case of a small snag, or you can actually thread the yarn through a large eyed needle and use that to weave it in so it's inconspicuous.

If you're familiar with knitting or crocheting, think of it as the same as weaving in the cut ends of yarn.

Now how to go from larger to smaller sweater?

STEP 1: TAKING MEASUREMENTS

Ok, there are a couple of ways you can go about this. First: Turn your large sweater inside out and lay it out flat. 


a) Take a sweater or top that is the size you like, then lay it over top of your oversized sweater and pin to mark where you want to trim.  I used a slightly larger, bulky sweater, since I wanted my new cardi to be loose and comfy, and able to wear over other long sleeved tops. 

Make sure the top sweater is centered over the large one, so that you take off the same amount of fabric on both sides.  Match the tops of the shoulders together on the top and bottom sweater.  Measuring from the edge of the top sweater to the edge of the bottom sweater all around will help ensure you trim evenly.  Like this:

See the measuring tape on the bottom of the photo?  That's about 2.5 inches from the edge of the white sweater to the edge of the brown.  I made sure it was the same length on the opposite side to make sure my sweater was placed evenly.  

If you do it this way, you can be done measuring here and skip down to STEP 2 for sewing up the sides and trimming excess.   

OR: 

b) Take a sweater that is the size you want and use it as a measuring guide.  You'll want to take 5 measurements.  On the front of the sweater you're using as a guide measure:

     i) Chest: under the arm pits from left side to right (i.e. in my sweater guide the chest was 18.5" across)

     ii) Waist: the narrowest part of your waist (in the sweater guide mine was 18")

     iii) Hips: depending on the length of your cardi you'll want to take the measurement of your upper hip where the cardi rests (mine was 19.25)

    iv) You'll want TWO arm measurements.  One on the top of the arm, near the shoulder (mine was 7")  and one near the wrist (4")

This is me measuring my sweater guide and writing the measurements on a sticky pad: 

OR:

c) IF YOU DON'T HAVE A SWEATER GUIDE: You can take your own measurements in all the same places as above, then divide by 2 (i.e. if your waist is 28" around, divide by two to get 14").
 NOTE: You'll want to add a couple of inches to your measurements if you want this to be loose fit.  For example, 1/2 my chest measurement would be 17", but to be looser, I cut it to 19" (or 38" in total). 

Once you have your measurements there's a tiny bit of math to do:

You're going to measure your big sweater in the same 5 places as above.

Then you're going to subtract the measurements of your sweater guide (or your own measurements) from the measurements of your new sweater.

Then you're going to want to divide the remainder by 2.

Here's an example of the equation using the hips:

Big sweater (25") - ideal size (19.5") = 5.5" THEN 5.5" / 2 = 2.25"

Repeat for the other 4 measurements.  

Now you're going to measure this far in from the seams of your big sweater all around.  Mark with pins as you go. 

For example, below I have measured in 2.25" in the hips on either side, 2" for the waist, 1.75" for the chest, and 2" along the length of the arms.

To be extra careful, because this was silk and lovely, I actually used ALL THREE METHODS!  You know what they say, measure twice, cut once.  I measured three times and it was worth it!  

STEP 2: SEW YOUR TOP! 

Now you can sew up where you've pinned, using a serger or regular machine.  If you're nervous and want to test this first, baste first and try your sweater on to check if you need to adjust. 

For sergers: 
A serger is ideal for this, as it will give the inside a more professional look and will save you the work of cutting.  Serge all along your pinned edges.  I found I needed a very low tension (like #1 or 2) for my upper and lower threads.  Be careful NOT to pull your top at all, or else it will ruffle.

For regular sewing machines:
Use a regular straight stitch to sew along where you've pinned.  Then, trim the excess fabric about 1/4 - 1/2" from the seam.  Finish with a zigzag stitch to keep the knit from unraveling.

And voila!  A $150, fitted silk knit sweater for $7 and some change!

Let's recap.  I went from this: 

To this:

In 30 minutes!  (Including the time it took to thread the serger)

I love being able to do this because I rarely find great things in my size in the thrift stores, and the larger sizes often have way better selection!  

What about you?  Have you ever re-sized or upcycled a thrift find?  I'd love to hear about it, so please leave a comment or a link if you have projects to share!!

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This post was shared on the following great linky parties: Waste Not Want Not Wednesday,  Mostly Homemade Monday, Natural Living Monday, Motivation Monday, The Weekly Creative, Tasteful Tuesday, Hearth and Soul, Wildcrafting Wednesday, Inspire Me Wednesday, We Did It! Wednesday, Fabulously Frugal Thursday, Simple Lives Thursday, Farm Girl Blog Fest,