Wednesday 16 February 2011

Sewing Stuff To A Jumper - a tutorial

I thought I'd do a quick sort of tutorial thingy on prettifying a jumper (that's sweater in Americanese) with vintage doilies, because it's really fun, and everyone likes prettier jumpers. It's very straightforward, obvious stuff really, you just need a bit of time. And: a sweater , a doilie or two, thread, needle, pins, scissors, a button. You know, the usual.
Mine's got a polo neck which I'm cutting off...
Fold over twice and pin the neck. Hand stitch round twice to be sure - I'm handstitching because with my rather basic sewing machine skills it would just stretch and distort the neck.
Now choose where to put your doilie. I've got a big one, which I've cut in half, and am positioning the two halves like a peter pan collar. You could also use a little one, like the ones in the first pictures, as sort of epaulettes on the shoulders, that's fun too. Fold the loose edge of your doilie over and pin.
Stitch round the raw edge in an appropriately-coloured thread, once to get in place and then again to make sure you've secured any fraying bits. Be gentle, take your time. Pour a glass of wine, do it in front of the telly... Now perhaps add a button! Go crazy, it's your jumper.
You'll have to handwash it, or use the 'delicates' cycle on your washing machine if you trust it. The doilie may sometimes need a gentle iron on a lowish heat to get it in shape again.

Alternatively, you could just purchase this very one, which will be appearing in the shop shortly!

8 comments:

that kate said...

Looks beautiful !

angie said...

friend! i love it!
you are too damn clever.

Jazzy E (Hivenn) said...

This is such a good tutorial! Thanks lovely . x hivennn

Labuta Handmade said...

It's very beautiful. Thank you for the idea.

Louise said...

Thanks everyone! I'd love to see pictures if you have a go. All sorts of stuff could be done! x

Pomme-pomme said...

ahhhhh, so pretty!

Ena said...

Oh it's so adorable! Thanks for dropping by my blog. Your blog is so inspirational and I love it! I also love the way you take your pictures and your illustrations are just so LOVELY!

*Ena*

felice said...

It's lovely. That's my favorite style!! I would love to have one in my closet.