CRAFT: Lace Back Sweater Refashion

I have some boring clothes. I blame it on my tendency to hoard clothes for so long that they go out of style, then come back in style again years later. It works out for me sometimes, but others not so much. Remember the whole vest and t-shirt fad? During that time, I bought a couple of vests that are really cute (and not cheap), but now they've been hanging unworn in my closet for the past few years. I'm still waiting for some sort of "vest trend" to return. I may be waiting awhile on that one.

Other times, I finally convince myself to give clothes away to Goodwill, only to find a few short months later that a new trend has started and I could have either refashioned, or simply just worn that exact piece of clothing again. I'm still in mourning over a favorite pair of burnt orange pants. On second thought, maybe I did the world a favor by giving those away. Only time will tell.

At least I can say I'm not wasteful though. I love new opportunities to jazz up my existing clothing. This lace back sweater refashion is a great example of that! I'm sure we all have plain, boring sweaters that could use a face lift - and all you need is a little lace.

SUPPLIES: sweater, lace (1/4 yard should do it - check the remnant pile of your local fabric store), disappearing ink marker, scissors, sewing machine and supplies.

ONE: first you'll need to make your pattern. Fold your sweater in half and lay it on some paper. Trace around your sweater using a 1/4-1/2 inch seam allowance. How big you want your lace bodice to be is up to you. I made mine go from the shoulders to an inch or two above the bottom curve of the arm hole. Note: you'll be keeping the existing neckline on your sweater, so take that into account when making your bodice.
TWO: cut out your pattern and place it on top of your shirt to make sure it's accurate. If not, just draft another!
THREE: fold your lace with the right sides together and place your pattern on the fold. Trace around it with disappearing ink marker. Cut out.
FOUR: your lace bodice should look something like this now.
FIVE: turn your sweater inside out and place your lace bodice on the back of your shirt. Trace around it using chalk or a disappearing ink marker. You could use your pattern you just made to do this instead.
SIX: use scissors to cut just the back of your sweater out, making sure to keep the existing neckline of your sweater.
SEVEN: pin the edges of your lace bodice to your sweater and neckline, making sure the right side of your lace will be facing the outside of your sweater.
EIGHT: turn your sweater right side out and press.

Pretty great, right? I have a bunch of other sweaters that I can't wait to try this method on!

Note: I found that the neckline on my sweater sagged a little because of the heaviness of the sweater compared to the lace. It's not bad and it doesn't really bother me, but if you want to play it safe you could always cut out the back entirely (including the neckline) and hem the lace, or go for a lighter weight shirt.

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