So I couldn't help myself and when cardigans went on sale at New York and Co a few months ago I bought two - a dusty pink and a black one. I'm not going to lie, the pink one is SOOOOO boring. It must have looked far more exciting under the store lights or something because once I got it home I decided that I was never ever going to wear it. Here's a few photos of me in my PJs :)
Not only is the color a little blah but the length is just now what I'm looking for right now. I bought this 1/2 yard of super soft jersey knit in a different shade of greyish-pink in hopes that it would contrast enough without being even more drab. Win! Originally I was going to cut the hem off the cardigan, add a 10" wide gathered strip of the jersey and sew the hem back to the bottom of the jersey. This would in some way hide the fact that I just added 1/2 yard a fabric to the garment. Yeah...maybe not.
Lately I'm obsessed with ruffles and other girly things that I had avoided for the first 14 years of my life. So I decided I would add a series of flounces to the bottom for a cute ruffle effect.
To create the flounce pieces I started with a rectangle. This rectangle is 1/2 the length of the cardigan hem (in this case it was 36" long). Only measure 1/2, this piece will be cut on the fold. Then draw vertical lines every 2 inches or so (I went a little crooked at first. don't eyeball it). Next slash those lines from one end almost to the other, creating a little hinge at the top. Lay some sheets of paper under the slashes and tape the pieces 1/2 inch apart at the end. The piece will make a curved accordion shape.
I wanted the ruffles to be shorter in the back and longer in the front/sides. The longest ruffles is 4" at center back and 7" at front. I wanted the middle ruffle to have a little more oomph so I added even more slashes to it.
Pin all the pieces with the narrowest end at the fold and cut 1 each. I cut mine all out with my rotary cutter to get a nice smooth edge that I wouldn't have to hem or straighten.
Line up the tops of each piece and pin. I had to pin every 2" of so since this knit was so slinky. Baste as close to the edge as possible. Pin the top of the flounce to the hem of the cardigan, right sides up. I did a zigzag stitch across the hem seam.
Sooo....my mom tells me I need to look at the camera and smile more in my photos...Here's a modeling session for you. Be nice!
Sleepy Wally!
