How to Make a Shrunken Wool Sweater Into a Children's Dress
It is frustrating to open up the washer or dryer and find a favorite sweater that has been shrunk. There are ways to stretch shrunken sweaters back to their original size, but they don't always work and the sweaters sometimes don't look wearable after they have been stretched. One alternative is to turn your shrunken sweater into a beautiful and unique dress for a child.
Things You'll Need
- Shrunken sweater
- Child's sweater
- Child's dress
- Pins
- Scissors
- Sewing machine
Instructions
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1
Turn the shrunken sweater inside out and lay it out on a flat surface. Place the child's sweater over the shrunken sweater. Line up the shoulders and top edges of the arms and pin it in place. Pin the bottom edges of the arms, but don't try to line them up.
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2
Lay the dress over the two sweaters. Pin down the sides of the dress. If the child's sweater sticks out from under the skirt, tuck it in and pin it behind the dress.
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3
Sew a straight seam next to the lines of pins under the sweater arms and down the skirt. Remove the pins and set the child's sweater and dress aside.
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4
Cut away the excess shrunken sweater. Cut along the seams that you just sewed, leaving a 1/2 inch allowance.
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5
Sew a zigzag stitch down each of the 1/2-inch allowances that you left when you cut the excess. This gives the seams extra security.
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Tips & Warnings
If the sleeves are too long, roll them up and sew buttons to them.
Exercise caution when using a sewing machine.
Be sure to remove all the pins before trying it on the child.
References
- Photo Credit BananaStock/BananaStock/Getty Images
