DIY: Scarf, Meet Cardigan

Confession: There is now not one single solitary sweater in my closet that has not been DIY'ed by me. Yes, seriously. Between the felting and the scarf-izing, I'm all about the Leave No Sweater Behind. I'd say I have a prob but that's just statin' the obvious.

Howevers, if we're gonna point fingers, this is all Anthropologie's fault. 

Case in point: their version of a Scarf-igan now on the clearance rack for the low low price of $49 (originally $98, whah?!). I'm sorry, but Anthro, Chico's called. They want their sweater back. Love the concept, not the execution. So I decided to take matters into my own hands and make a version of my own.

I dug around in my closet and found this rarely worn, thrifted Target sweater. In my scarf stash, I had a more difficult time deciding which to choose. While many of them looked like they'd work, I hated the idea of hacking into (and possibly ruining) a beautiful vintage scarf. I settled on one that was slightly hole-y and stained. I figured I couldn't possibly do any more damage to it.

A part of the scarf I wanted to incorporate was the border. So after cutting the scarf in half, I laid it out on the sweater and tried to pretend I knew what I was doing.

After pinning the edge of the scarf next to the buttons and bottom edge, I cut the scarf with a 1/2" edge at the side seam of the sweater. Then I proceeded to stick more pins in my sweater than a voodoo doll.

Then I cut the scarf 1/2" beyond the shoulder seam of the sweater. If you'll scroll back up to that Anthro sweater and look closely, you'll notice two things: where the bottom of the scarf meets the ribbed bottom of the sweater, it is not sewn and their scarf does not meet the shoulder seam. 

Lemme address the first thing: that not-sewn-down-bottom thing. This actually makes sense as it gives the scarf some room to move. You see, the sweater, being a knit, it going to stretch more than a scarf that's made of a woven material. So when I was sewing, I did the same thing. I began by stitching the edge next to the buttons first, sewed the side sweater seam second (say that 10 times fast), did the armhole and the shoulder seam. And left the bottom open.

Now let's pause for a moment and chat about that second thing: that weird scarf-not-meeting-the-shoulder-seam business. I mean, that sweater's $49 on sale. Make the scarf fit the sweater. It ain't that hard.

Says the person who did this. Like, ewww! What happened?! Okay, lemme back up a little. Cuz maybe there is something to that gathering biz-natch. Even though I allowed myself 1/2" surplus of scarf-age, it seems I needed more as it shrunk up as I was stitching. Can you tell I'm Southern? "Shrunk up" is most definitely in the Southern Webster's Dictionary. Check it.

My solution? Add some trim and call it a day. I just happened to have the most perfect vintage flowery bits that covered my boo-boo. And, I gotta tell ya, I actually love it more with the trim.

Outfit details: While I didn't buy the Anthro skirt, everything else I'm wearing is from there! skirt: Anthro, gift from a friend; shoes: Anthro, $9, what?! Das right. Shoppin' Anthro like a boss.

Now, if you recall, this isn't my first time to the Just Scarfin' Around dance. Oh no. Check out my first scarfigan, my beautiful blarf (that's scarf into blouse) and this here skankie (if you guessed skirt made of hankies then you're like a genius). 

By the way, you mighta noticed I took a break from my weekly What I Wore. Last week was a rough one so I thought I'd just put it behind me. I knew you'd understand. Chat with you soon!