DIY Knitted Sweater Fixer Upper – Guest post from Melanie

by Dominique

Hello fellow crafters!

I’m Melanie, owner and CEO of Curious Little Bird, and today I’m going to talk to you about turning a beloved sweater with holes into a sweater that will continue to keep you warm for years!

I’m sure some of you out there have a knitted sweater you really love, but just can’t bare to cut up and use in a different way, right? I know there are ways a plenty on the web for turning that beloved sweater into mittens, or leg warmers, but my idea is even better.

At first my initial thought was to felt the sweater in the wash in hot water, and then transform it into a monster, but I found that the felting actually made it more comfy, and warmer, and I just couldn’t cut it up. My sweater was coming apart in the cuffs where I always rest my hands on the desk, and in the elbows. The holes have gotten so big that darning them is no longer an option

NOTE! Do NOT felt your sweater before you do this tutorial. Felting it will make it shrink big time, and unless you plan on making a sweater for your cat, dog, or baby, leave it as is. (I only felted my sweater because I thought I was going to cut it up initially, and it was so big that felting it only made it fit better). .

This hole is as big as an average sized apple, shrunk a bit during the felting

You can see here how I tried to save my cuffs before I fixed it.

I didn’t have a second knitted sweater to use for sleeves, so I took an ill fitting, thick cotton 3/4 sleeve shirt I was going to use for fabric. It wasn’t the same colour, but the colour of the shirt and sweater were both rich, deep hues that went nicely together. The shirt I used had nice, thick cuffs that would be perfect for my project.
I really like these two colours together because I like original, funky pieces of clothing that nobody else is wearing.

Step 1
I cut the cuffs off of my knitted sweater, right above the holes. I then cut two ovals out of the main body of my shirt to use as elbow patches. I pinned them to the sweater, and then took part of my sewing machine apart so I could use the free arm of the sewing machine. Basically we’re not working flat. Once I did one elbow patch, I moved on to the second.

Step 2
Once I finished the elbow patches, I put on my knitted sweater to determine the length of sleeves I’d need from my purple shirt to make my new sleeves. I wanted to make sure they’d be long enough. I like sleeves that cover a portion of my hands, because I have really long arms. I went ahead a cut the sleeves off my shirt. Just to be safe, I cut the sleeves from the shirt all the way to the armpit. The sleeves on this shirt were only 1/2 length, so I want to make sure I have long enough sleeves in the end. I turned the cut shirt sleeves inside out, fed the shirt sleeve over top of the sweater so the sweater is inside (but still right side out), lined up the cut edges, pinned them together, and sewed the seams together. I did that for both sleeves. You can serge here if you prefer. I don’t have a serger, so I used a simple straight stitch. Once you flip the shirt sleeve over, you have a nice edge, and the sewn edge is inside where it should be.

Once you’ve done that, you’re done! Your sweater is now brand spanking new, and is ready to be worn and enjoyed!