fitzfabulous

Little lilac cardigan from the Salvy is the right color for spring and the right kind of soft. But the “Before” was too big and awful.

Screamed out for a refit; big sleeves made me think about trying a leg of mutton experiment on them. I think it worked; See what you think.

1. FIX BODICE Pin bodice, fit until right, then baste and sew. Neatly trim edges. Finish as you like, or leave them alone (Most knits won’t unravel).

2. DEAL WITH SLEEVES Cut sleeves off by slicing through shoulder seam, or by trimming all the way off. See where armholes fall - they’ll need to start right on the top of the shoulder for the puff to pouf up. I had to take a good inch off the top of the armhole. Now gather the top of the sleeve by sewing a long running stitch about 2 inches on either side of the top center, and pulling the underthreads.

3. SEW SLEEVES BACK ON Pin sleeve bottom to armhole bottom, right sides together. Pin sleeve top center to armhole top center. Gather the big part of the sleeve until it fits in the armhole. Pin well, baste, fit, stitch.**

** Here’s a little trick to make the sleeves puff up more.

Make a booster out of the edges.

Take the edges you cut off, and fold the short edge under. Sew with a wide zigzag. Fold that whole thing over and sew again. Trim. Take that little rectangle of stiff fabric and pin it into the gathered part of the sleeve seam so it pokes the pouf up. Sew it into the seam allowance, close to the sleeve seam.

4. MAKE THE LEG OF MUTTON (optional) If you like puffy long sleeves, stop. If you want to try the leg, lay the sweater flat and smooth it out. Figure out how long you want the pouf to be, and cut straight across sleeve at that point.

I did about 7 inches. Use one sleeve to measure the other sleeve.

Flip the bottom part inside out and sew a straight seam up from the cuff up to straighten out the lower sleeve.

Pin the top sleeve to the bottom sleeve at the underseam seams, right sides facing. Pin at the top centers, too. Gather the upper sleeve to it fits the lower sleeve, pin well, fit, baste and stitch.

Atta girl!

Thrift outings last weekend (fitz)fabulous, indeed. Black cords w stovepipe legs. Tuxedo-style wool slacks. Faux wrap sweaters. Cardigans in cotton and silk/cashmere. Bandolino peep-toe pumps (w wooden heels). Love the Salvy! Love dressing myself without shopping retail!

Key items up on the eBay, including this little beauty of a Minnie Mouse sweater.

Next on the list, um, to list:

This pink knit summer romper.

This pink bobble sweater.

This red dress.

These gray Wrangler jeans.

This Sears sweater.

But ever since eBay changed its fee schedule, I’m unimpressed with them. Wondering if anyone has other recommendations for selling excess vintage clothing? Etsy perhaps? Other thoughts?

Beautiful chocolate cashmere sweater with Banana R. label, thrifted at Chicago’s best Salvy for $.90. Special mister declared it too girly for him. I’m cuter than shapeless brown, so I declared it too frumpy for me. However, the lovely cashmere and dark color were gorgeous and worth salvaging. So I decided to alter the heck out of it until I liked the way it fit. Once I had it pinned, I was confused about what to do with the sleeves, since the shoulders were too broad for me. It was my mister who came up with the solution — flip the sleeves so the kimono style contrasts with the fitted bodice.

Here I am, wearing the Before, inside out.

But before you flip it inside out and pin it up, carefully cut the shoulder seam holding on the sleeves.

Then carefully cut off the ribbed cuffs.

Now put on the sweater body inside out and pin it up to fit as you like. I started with my waist measurement and pretty much drew straight lines up to the sleeve line and down to the bottom. I wanted a snug fit. Baste your chalk lines, try the thing back on and then sew. Serge, or use a long narrow zig zag so you don’t pucker the stretch knit. Worst case, slide a strip of newspaper under the seam to prevent the fabric from stretching, the tear it right off after sewing.

**With sweaters, try to sew before cutting any fabric; the knit is less likely to unravel. Once you like the fit, trim away the seam allowance. Finish the edges as you like; I did a wider zig zag close to the original allowance.

Grab ahold of one excised sleeve. Matching the existing seams and right sides facing each other, pin the skinny end of the sleeve to the armhole. Gently stretch the sleeve to fit if necessary. Baste, fit and sew it. Trim the allowances as above.

Trim the bottom edge of the sleeve , fold or roll it under, and sew as unobtrusively as you can to hem it fast. I made facings from the bits I chopped off while tightening the bodice — trimmed off the existing seam and sliced each bit down the middle so I had a 1-1.5″ strip. Guess you could also use pretty ribbon or something to face the edges.

Two strips faced the side seams, and the cut off edges became a facing for the flat edge that nearly covers my hand.

Oi! Cute cashmere with the kind of sass that’ll go anywhere.

Still thinking about scooping out the neck… someday.