sweater to cardigan

i have this sweater which i used to think i loved, then i saw a picture of myself with it on. . . . . so, why did no one tell me that it was not right for me?  so bland, and the length was wrong for me~ just accentuated the eternal post-baby pooch. see, isn't it yucky?!

well, i'm not crazy about it that way so i decided to change it up a bit.  turn it into a cardigan, but since i don't like things to be too simple, i thought i would go for that off-center thing that is kinda popular right now.  started with the center of the bottom and headed diagonally up to the collar. 

 i'm not gonna lie~ it was a bit nerve wracking to be chopping at a seemingly good sweater, but alas~ i made it through.  but then i needed a way to bind the edges~ and not just the simple fold over technique~ i need color!!!  and just my luck~ i had a few strips from a jelly roll laying around.  i pressed the edges down and started pinning to the cut edge of the sweater.

when i got to the top it didn't fit quite right because the collar edge was scooped and the fabric edging was squared off.  See --->

 but no worries because that corner is easily tucked into the fabric binding. 

pin everything in place.

now here is where ya gotta pause and think about how to fasten the cardigan.  do ya even want to fasten it?  if not, then sew this sucker and call it a day, but i decided that i wanted something 'more'.  buttons came to mind so i stitched up 2 straps which needed to be tucked into that binding before it was sewed shut. see --->

now~ if everything is pinned nicely, ya should be able to just run that through the machine and it'll turn out beautifully.  take a swig of beer and get to it ;)
now here is the deal~ the jelly roll strips were not quite long enough for the sweater so there was an issue at the bottom hemline.

see? a bit short ~ but no worries~ use some of that button strap material to corner off the bottom.  while you have that second print out ya might as well stitch up some squares to attach as button platforms.  sew those babies on where the button straps end on the chest/shoulder area of the sweater.

there ya have it, something a wee bit different, (and hopefully better) than the old boring and ill fitting sweater.