I was attracted to this particular thrift store sweater because of my aforementioned love for faux fur, and was lucky enough to find the rest of the piece composed of a soft, warm, pretty gray knit. Except… it was huge!
I originally thought I would unravel it for the yarn. Then I had the vague idea that I would chop it up and sew it into cape form. Capes are the ultimate fashion fantasy piece, evoking class, luxury, and heaps of mystery – while still being extremely accessible. Everyone, from the dorkiest Dungeons & Dragons fan (guilty) to the glossiest models in French Vogue, can enjoy them.
But when I finally started stripping the seams, I came to a few conclusions:
1. It was very nearly a cape already anyway, because it was so big.
2. The knit fabric had a lovely drape – too much chopping and resewing would ruin this.
I decided to leave the front two panels unattached, to allow an arm escape route. Deciding that the zipper was too heavy and modern, I stripped that away (leaving two convenient knit zipper backing pieces attached at the top to be repurposed as a neck closure tie – I love it when things are easy.)
Many spare moments were spent deciding how to fill the gaps between the arm pieces and the back panel. I even started to crochet an insert, but quickly abandoned that project – the drape was all-important and must not be disturbed. Even an openwork insert would be too bulky. This is where my remnant-hoarding habits paid off – I had less than a yard of tribal print polar fleece tucked away that was weirdly perfect.
After that fabric was added to the picture, figuring out the rest was a dream. I blanket-stitched the bottom edges in pewter cotton thread, then crocheted in a delicate edging to tie things together, and added a toggle fastening for extra security.
Because I can’t NOT crochet things.
The fiber content tag had been cut from this piece before I bought it, so I’ll never know exactly what it’s made of. My best guess is that it’s a wool/synthetic blend with 5-15% angora content. It’s a fuzzy dreams-cape now, whatever it’s composed of.
-MF
from diy « WordPress.com Tag Feed http://ift.tt/1FThFAk
from jammco.us and http://ift.tt/1COg4GQ
No comments:
Post a Comment