Upcycled Freeform Cashmere and Wool Sweaters

I made a few sweaters last Winter and Spring, but somehow I forgot to blog about them, and now it's June. This post is totally seasonally inappropriate, unless you live in Australia. So, as you read this, pretend that you're Australian. I promise, it'll be worth it.

Sweater No. 13 Dusty Rose
This was a custom order for a friend who does a lot of needle crafts.  I wanted to make it especially detailed for her because I knew she would appreciate the effort.  So I covered the front of the hood with folded roses made from cashmere sweaters. 

Here's a close up of the roses before I added the buttons. To make the roses, I used classic "folded ribbon rose" techniques but with strips of sweaters instead of regular ribbon.

Sweater No. 14 Periwinkle
This was my first adventure in free-form sweater sewing. It's is all cashmere, mostly hand dyed.

I like the way the black seams make it look like stained glass. 

Sweater No. 15 Black Berry
This was my second adventure into free-form sweater sewing.

I found that I could use the leftover scraps to make the hood.  I really love the way the lines and colors on this piece worked out.

This Black Berry Sweater is mostly cashmere, mostly hand dyed.

Here's a close up of the bobble at the end of the hood.

Sweater No. 16 Kelp Queen
I made this piece for myself... because... LIME GREEN!!!!

I had to dye almost all of the sweaters to get enough lime green.  Here's a photo of the hood before it was a hood.

When I first showed this photo, my friends said it looks like a landscape painting, like one by Wayne Thiebaud or this:
http://www.annadillon.com/tor.html
 

Sweater No. 17 Hot Pink, etc.
This was a custom piece for a good friend of mine, pure cashmere. She likes hot pink.  A lot. It's more purple than blue, as the photo suggests

Here's what the hood looked like before it was a hood.

Okay, that was way too much of a blacklog of projects.  I need to start blogging more.  Note to self.  Anyway, as always, thanks for looking.

Learning from Alabama Chanin - Red Hearts on Gray Tunic Top

I bought a couple books last summer at the local Barnes & Nobles.  When I sat myself down in the crafts section, as I like to do from time to time, I found two books by Natalie Chanin on hand sewing clothing.  One is titled, "Alabama Studio Sewing + Design: A guide to Hand-Sewing and Alabama Chanin Wardrobe." The newer book is "Alabama Studio Sewing Patterns: A Guide to Customizing a Hand Stitched Alabama Chanin Wardrobe."

This is the back of a tunic top.

Now that I've had the books for a full year, I've gotten a chance to read them thoroughly as well as make a few pieces from them, including the one in this blog post. This fitted tunic top is a slightly altered version of the pattern in the books.  It is upcycled from 3 different t-shirts. The stitching is in black and red with four "random ruffles" running down the front.

Front

 Shoulder close up

Here are some close up shots that show the detailed hand stitching. The seams are all sewn twice for strength and style.  It has inside felled seams where I sewed the light gray to the dark gray. Because I upcycled from other shirts, I had to patch together the fabric to make this top.  So there are more seams inside the dark and light areas. Outside felled seams connect the dark gray to itself, and the light gray is patched together using outside open seams with feather top-stitching. By the time I got the front and back cut out, there wasn't enough fabric left to make the binding, so I cut into a third shirt, the red one.  The red binding is attached with a stretchy stitch, called Cretin stitch, to keep the arm holes and neck line stretchy. Since I had so much red fabric left over, I thought I'd add some applique, and hearts seemed like the obvious choice.

As is characteristic of Chanin's style, the bottom edge is left unstitched. Also, characteristic of her style are the hand appliqued bits attached with running stitch and an unfinished cut edge.

One important tip that is omitted from the books is that you have to ease the binding anywhere you use it.  This means that the binding is a bit shorter than the edges it binds.  If you don't ease, you will find that the arm holes and neckline gape in an unattractive way. (Ask me how I know.) Figuring out how much to ease the binding is a bit of an art, but I find that I use as much ease as I can without creating ripples. Even a tiny bit of ripple is okay.  I found that it's better to slightly over do it than to slightly under do it, especially since these tops tend to be fitted, which leads me to another observation...

I think the pattern sizing in this book is too small.  I've found that anything I make from these books in a large size tends to be a tight on me, and I'm 5'5" and 130 pounds. I am a US Size 8 or maybe 10. In fact, according to the designs I've made from these books, I'm consistently an "extra large," which bothers me a bit since I'm not a particularly large woman.

Other than that, I really love the designs and techniques in these books. If you like hand stitching and making clothing, I totally recommend these books to you. I love the combo of soft jersey and fancy stitching.  The clothing I have produced is both beautiful and comfortable, and I'm offering much of what I make for sale, including the top in this blog post.  I made a couple more tops that I still need to photograph.  So expect more from me soon.

Thanks for looking. 

Upcycled Sweater No. 12 Brown Purple Hoodie Cardigan with Zipper

Here's my newest hoodie cardigan, made from wool and cashmere. That ribbed blue fabric at the cuffs, pockets and framing the hood is delectable soft and thick cashmere. I like using the best cashmere at the points where the sweater touches the skin.

I kept this sweater for myself because it fits like a glove and I wear these colors a lot. Since I'm trying to make a living off of my art, I try to sell almost everything I make, but sometimes I give in and keep something because I know I'll wear it to pieces.  This is one of those somethings.

 Thanks for looking.

Sweater Hoodie Pullover No. 11 Beach Sun Rain Wind Sand

My first completed project of 2016: this pullover sweater hoodie is mostly wool with a touch of cashmere. That's me... Hi, happy new year!

It all started with a crazy striped yellow, blue, tan and white sweater of thick, soft lambs wool. It was a really nice quality wool, thick and still soft, and it had a lot of usable fabric. I cut it apart and stitched the patches back together with a bunch of other sweaters to make this wearable, cozy piece of art. The focus is the long patch pocket on the front that I embellished with symbols of the beach: sun, water, and wind. I used a variety of hand stitching techniques including applique (raindrops), reverse-applique (sun), embroidery (sun) and couching (sun and wind).

The cut is a tunic dress that drapes slightly longer on the sides and back. It has a roomy hood that isn't so big that it will fall over your eyes when you wear it. When the hood is down, it forms a large wide collar that frames your face and keeps your shoulders warm. The sleeve ends are finished with soft, cozy cashmere is bright aqua.

The hood has a single brass and metal button. The picture button is large and antique (c. 1890) with birds, flowers, and trees on it. It's one of the nicest buttons in my collection, but I decided to let it go because the birds added something special to the beach theme of the piece.

The colors are an assortment of beach colors including sand, golden yellow, pale blue, gray, and bright aqua. The seams are bright aqua.

The seams and hems are professionally sewn with four polyester threads on my serger sewing machine. Some of the finer detailing, I first edged on my serger and then stitched by hand with aqua wool yarn. The hand stitching adds visual interest and gives me more control when assembling the pieces so that everything sits as I like. The hand stitching is on the sleeve hems, the pouch pocket and the inside of the collar. This sweater very well made, comfortable and warm.

Size: Medium. Laid flat, the bust measures 20", waist 18.5", hip 21". I am modeling this piece in the photos, and I'm 5'5", US size 8-10.

This work was inspired by the amazing sweater coats of Katwise, with help from her tutorials. Find her on Etsy here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/katwise
The inspiration for the combining the needlecraft techniques on the pocket came from Alabama Chanin. and her books. 

Sweater Hoodie Dress Upcycled Wool Cashmere Rose Cable

Off my cutting mat is this sweater hoodie tunic dress of mostly wool with a touch of cashmere.

The focus of this piece is the cabled, multi-color wool sweater from my closet that I loved but rarely wore. It's a bit scratchy, and the neckline was so high that I could only wear it with a turtleneck shirt. I haven't worn a turtleneck since I left Wisconsin in 2001.  Thus, that sweater sat lonely in my closet waiting for a more useful life. Last week, I decided to upcycle it into something new, cut it apart, and stitch the patches back together with a bunch of other sweaters to make something wearable and wonderful, a cozy piece of art to keep you warm.

I always loved the design of that sweater, but I hated the neckline.  So, I redesigned the neckline to keep the scratchiness off your neck. To do this, I binded the neckline (and the sleeve ends) with soft cashmere in forest green. I used this same cashmere to line the pouch pocket in the front to keep hands cozy and warm. Yup, the pocket is super soft inside.

The cut is a tunic dress that drapes slightly longer on the sides. It has a roomy hood that is still functional.  It isn't so big that it will fall over your eyes when you wear it. When the hood is down, it forms a large wide collar, a large cowl neck, which frames your face and keeps your shoulders warm.

I hand dyed the pretty burgundy sweater on the torso with wool dyes. It is soft fluffy lamb's wool.  The other colors include dark pink, gray, navy, blue, brown, olive, and a touch of golden yellow. The seams are dark pink. 

Most of the seams and hems are professionally sewn with four polyester threads on my serger sewing machine. Some of the finer detailing, I first edged on my serger and then I stitched by hand with pink wool yarn. The hand stitching adds visual interest and gives me more control when assembling the pieces to keep the wonkiness to a minimum, especially around the hands and face. You can see the hand stitching on the sleeve hems, the pouch pocket and the inside of the collar. This sweater very well made, comfortable and warm. It is number 10 in my ongoing series of upcycled sweaters.

This work was inspired by the amazing sweater coats of Katwise, with help from her tutorials. Find her on Etsy here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/katwise

Upcycled Sweater Hoodies No. 7 8 and 9

Here are some photos of my latest hoodie cardigans made from felted wool and cashmere sweaters.  I wash the sweaters in hot water and dry them in the dryer to make them felt.  Then I cut them up and sew the pieces together on my serger sewing machine with some stitching done on my regular sewing machine because a serger doesn't do everything.  First is Sweater Number 7.  My great accomplishment on this piece was the front placket with buttons.  The placket is two layers, so it lies flat and is quite functional.  I'm quite pleased with this design, and I'm now using this placket on all of my cardigans. Of course, I used this as an excuse to splurge on vintage buttons.  I love buttons, and I was tickled to have a reason to buy more of them.  Sweater Number 7 is in marsala burgundy, hot pink, gray and brown, size medium with woven leather buttons.  It has two pockets and is super snuggly.

This is a photo of some of the pieces before I assembled them, mostly wool with a bit of cashmere.

This is some detail on a matching cotton skirt that you can see peeking out of the bottom.

I made Sweater Number 7 as a commission for a friend, not realizing that she's actually much broader than I am.  Although it fits me perfectly, sadly, it's too small for her.  Before we found that it doesn't fit her, she asked me to cut off the point of the hood.  Here you can see the difference that a pointed hood makes versus a rounded hood.  I thought I was in completely in love with pointed hoods until I cut off the point.  Now, I think I actually might prefer the rounded hood.  One thing I wasn't expecting when I cut off the point is how much it changes the shape of the collar around the neckline.  The very first sweater hoodie I made, I kept for myself, and it has a pointed hood.  I find the point kind of gets in the way.  I think from now on, I'll make most of my hoodies with rounded hoods.

 

Sweater Number 8 is in aqua blues, size small.  This one is quite elvish with a pointed hood and a long pointed pocket. It's about two-thirds wool and one third cashmere with green vintage plastic buttons.

Sweater Number 9 is in purple, blue, gray and olive, size medium.  It has a stripe up the back in purples and a pocket on the front. It's mostly wool with a bit of cashmere and vintage purple plastic buttons. 

These pieces are all for sale at Isabella Boutique in downtown Sunnyvale, CA.  Many of the techniques I used I learned from the ever-talented Katwise.  Thanks for looking.

Patchwork Sweaters and Skirts

I've been sewing sweaters and skirts lately.  They say make what you like.  So I made this cardigan hoodie in blues and grays, all upcycled from felted wool sweaters, mostly merino.  This sweater is SOLD.

Here's a purple pullover sweater I made for my sister because purple is her favorite color.  She asked for a V neck, so I made her a V neck.  I've never made a V neck before, but she's happy. So that's all that matters.  It's made from mostly cashmere with some wool.  I hand dyed the two brightest purple fabrics because there just aren't enough purple cashmere sweaters made for my needs.  Both of these sweaters were inspired by the work of Katwise.

I decided that I really REALLY like the scrappy patchwork look in clothing.  When I wear patchwork clothing made from lots of different fabrics, I feel happy, like a well-loved rag doll.  Here is a blue skirt that looks cute with the blue sweater above.  It has a bunch of different fabrics from my quilting cotton collection and a double ruffle trim. 

I made the waistband have a secret tie on the inside.  It's mostly elastic, but with the tie, you can get the waistline just the right length for a perfectly comfortable fit. 

Here is a green skirt, all in cotton with an elastic waist.  These skirts are for sale at Isabella Boutique in downtown Sunnyvale, CA.   The design of both of these skirts was inspired by the work of Obsequies.

This is a close up of the green and gray ruffled hem.  It looks like yellow, but it's really chartreuse. Limy lime green, my favorite color.

I'm about to release a new tutorial soon.  I haven't released a new tutorial in a while because I've been working on one tutorial for about two months. I took the first step photo in October. It's a sequel to Slugs in Love, including a bunch of Cellini spiral variations and techniques. I have taken a few breaks from this project, like when I was beading some older designs (in Marsala), and doing the sewing shown above. 

Now this tutorial is almost done.  There is light at the end of the tunnel! It looks like it's going to be 26 pages with around 130 photos and illustrations, definitely making it one of the longest beading tutorials I've ever written. I was very tempted to break it into two separate tutorials, limiting each to one main project with a variation or two.  But I made 8 different designs all using the same techniques, and I can imagine at least as many more.  So I'm keeping it whole.  By keeping it whole, I found that I could teach a bunch of different techniques that work together. That way, you beaders can combine the techniques to make your own designs for pendants, bracelets and beaded beads. I'm calling it "Snail Shells and Twisty Bits." I really hope you gals will find it worth the wait.  Thanks for looking.

Mostly Cashmere Mostly Purple Tunic Sweater Dress

I put away my beads for a bit so I could do some sewing.  This tunic sweater is mostly purple, and mostly cashmere (with a bit of wool, which is mostly merino).

Oh so soft! The fabrics are super stretchy and did I mention that they're super soft? The tunic is semi fitted through the bodice and drapes slightly longer in the back than in the front.



I hand dyed two of the sweaters with wool dyes to get those bright purples. The accent colors include deep blue, olive green, deep forest green and brown. The seams are medium leaf green.

All seams and hems are professionally sewn with four polyester threads on my serger sewing machine. This is very well made, comfortable and warm.

Size: Medium, 38" bust measured flat, and stretchy. This sweater is SOLD. Thanks for looking.

This tunic was inspired by the sweater coats of Katwise, with help from her sewing tutorials, which are amazing, by the way.