Upcycled Sweater Dress Tutorial

Alright. So, I didn't take a before picture of this sweater. I know! So so so not cool. I cruised around the internet trying to find something comparable.

This is similar...

Source: Bonanza

Although you can see that the one above has a row of buttons on the front. And no hoodie. And, well, of course....it's brown.  Ok. This is as good as I could fine.  Moving on...

When I spotted it on the thrift store rack, it was love. I decided to make it into a dress for my wee girl. But I wasn't sure what to do about the big neckline which swamped her little shoulders.

Well, I started by taking it in on the sides and the sleeves all in one go. And also putting in a new seam along the shoulders from the neck to sleeve.  (First I turned it inside out and then pinned it where I wanted the new seams....and... let's hope I first tried it on her to see where I wanted the new seams to go....but I can't really remember.... I actually made this last year and when I finished it, it was too big on her and looked funny. I chalked it up to a Craft Fail. But then Zoe found it a few days ago, slipped it on and I realized it fit and looked good! Yay!)

So, I serged it from the sleeves to the hem and also from the neck to sleeves (is this making any sense?) and tried it on her. (I probably had to take it in a bit more on the sides....)

And then I pondered about that neckline. What to do...what to do?

Hmmmm, what about some darts? Yes. darts. I put one in each side. The Nordic design disguises them rather nicely, I think.

This looks a bit like the outline of a body at a murder scene. Poor sweater....

Can you see the new seam line and dart?

No clue what a dart is? Or maybe you're picturing some yellow foam Nerf darts and wondering how I put those into the sweater dress?  Well, let me help you out. Go check out this Dart Tutorial for more info.

This is a another pic of the new seam and dart, but from the inside.

And there you go. Ridiculously easy. 

A woman's sweater to little girl's sweater dress.  

Comfy.

Cozy.

And super cute.