Refashion: Toddler Sweater to Women Beanie and Mittens

I'm very much into making winter accessories right now. This festive Toddler sweater was given to my daughter last year but she refused to wear it. And now it's too small for her.

I was going to donate it to my local Thrift Store but then I thought it might make a good beanie for me. It was quite an easy project. I put the sweater on my head and pinned it up, cut it to size and then serged the edges.

I thought the 2 little pockets on the sweater might make a nice feature for my beanie. But they do look a little bulky. So I cut off much of the pockets and serged the edges shut.

So now I have a cute sparkly beanie to wear with my dark somber winter coats! Yay!

Now back to the remnants of the toddler sweater. I just couldn't let all the scarps go to waste. So I cut up the sweater, created my own mitten pattern:

I didn't actually have enough sweater material for the entire mitten. So I went through my scraps box and found some bronze faux leather remnants for part of the palm of the mitten. And this is how it turned out:

New Scarf and Hat pour Moi - McCall's 5541

Plaid seems to be really in this season! Actually plaid is in every Fall/Winter anyway. I have lots of wool blend plaid in my fabric stash. I found this red/black plaid that really appealed to me. I thought it would be good to make some hat and scarf to add some colour to my boring winter wardrobe.

The scarf is just a length of the fabric - easy peasy! I serged the sides and fringed the top and the bottom.

The hat is based on an old favourite pattern - McCall's 5541. I like this particular pattern because the Large size has a circumference of 23.5". Lots of hat patterns only have 23" for the Large. I have a big noggin so this half inch is very important. I used the red/black plaid for the top and black wool flannel for the band. I actually doubled the width of the band because I wanted to make sure that they cover my ears well in the frigid Canadian winters! To embellish the hat a bit more, I made 2 fabric covered buttons with the red/black plaid remnants. I think it just jazz up the hat a little.

I don't think I'll wear the hat and scarf at the same time - it may be too matchy matchy for me. I am itching to make more hats, scarves and other cold weather accessories with my fabric stash!

MyPatternReview for McCall's 5541 is here.

MAGAM November project completed! Another Sweater Dress - Butterick 5247

My MAGAM November project is done! Yay! I used the tried and true Butterick 5147 knit dress pattern and made this Festive Sweater Dress really quickly.

I used size 12 because I used a more stretchy knit than the pattern calls for (the pattern calls for Moderate Stretch Knits). I had to narrow the arm holes and the waist quite a bit to get the right shape for me. So I probably would have been better off using a size 10.

I actually made the mistake of cutting the pattern at the tunic length instead of the dress length. Oh well! It will look fine with leggings and jeggings and skinny pants.

I love this pattern. It is easy and quick to sew and very versatile. Highly recommended! I debated whether I wanted to add some my own design elements into the dress but I think I'll just add my DIY jewelry, belts, etc to the dress instead.

I was too lazy to put on leggings for this photo but will definitely be wearing leggings/jeggings with this dress/tunic.

My review on PatternReview.com is here.

UPDATE: 2014.11.20 -
I wore this dress the day after I made it with a long sleeves t-shirt and jeggings. This was how it looked as a tunic:

It's funny that the same garment looks so different as a tunic than a dress!

MAGAM November project: A Festive Sweater Dress! Butterick 5247

I have been addicted to Sweater Dresses for the cooler months for a few years now. Their benefits are almost endless: they look slightly dressy, versatile for all occasions, warm my poor thighs, go with all my skinny jeans/pants, jeggings, leggings, easy all in one dressing (no need to think too hard), etc. So for the November Make A Garment A Month Challenge, I'm making another sweater dress with stash fabrics and stash pattern.

I'm choosing Butterick 5247 because it's a tried and true pattern for me. I have this gorgeous burgundy wool blend sweater knit in my stash for a while. I think it will be perfect for a sweater dress. It's a nice, festive colour that I can easily wear for the holidays too. Now I need to figure out how to embellish this dress to make it more special!