How to upcycle a cardigan

Lace trims and appliques

My other half spends a LOT of time up north. Sigh! Whenever he comes home, he brings me a mega stash of fashion magazines.  He came home day before yesterday. It’s mid winter in the northern hemisphere and mid summer where we are, below the equator. Creates a bit of a style lag.

A common theme running through the magazines is lace. Predominantly black lace. I decided to put a summer spin on the lace theme and sew a pair of matching lace appliques onto a lightweight off-white cardigan.

I’m showing my mini collection of lace collars and trimmings that I have amassed. The reason for this, is so you can see the potential these items have for myriad transformations. I’m thinking how to bring lace into my current wardrobe.

Toward the top of the pic is a a pair of appliques that could be used on sleeve cuffs or a shirt collar. Maybe even made into a collar a la the Louis Vuitton gold collar that was so hot last season. THAT collar caused a million shirt collars to be hacked off and worn as a stand alone collar. Maybe save the shirt and make a lace collar instead?

In the middle is a silver thread and lace trim that could be a headband, or a belt? Maybe cut out a single flower and make a brooch, shoe decoration or statement earrings?

At the bottom of the picture is a V shaped applique that could be added to the neckline of a sweater or made into a bib necklace.

A pair of lace appliques

It occurred to me to dye the appliques and do a  pop of colour on my cardi. However, I was a little nervous the colour might run during laundering. It is a light coloured cardigan.

While it’s probably easier to glue the lace to a cardi, I don’t believe that glue will withstand laundering and my views on dry cleaning mean it was a no-brainer to sew the applique.

These two links say it all – washing suede and washing vs dry cleaning. Hey, sewing is not THAT hard. It only takes a little longer. The how-to for this transformation is as follows.

You need –
1 x pair of symmetrical design lace appliques
1 x needle and thread in matching colour to lace
1 x  cardigan

Lace on cardigan

To make –
Stitch the appliques symmetrically onto your cardi. That’s it!
The only advice I can give is to try and use small stitches so your sewing is almost invisible.

For an older post showing how I added brocade to a cardigan follow this link – brocade embellished cardigan.

Don’t forget to share your style ideas on the Greenie Dresses for Less facebook page. And for more DIY fashion ideas visit the Greenie Galleries at the top of this page.

Back next week.

Greenie.