Shirt to Cardigan

You wouldn't know it is the 1st of September here.  It's darn right cold at night.  I'm not ready to pull out sweaters, coats and gloves or for summer to end.  I don't like seeing fall in the stores, it just doesn't seem like it's time for it yet.  So I must find it somewhere inside to handle the cold weather sneaking in on my life.  On Sunday we were in bit of a shock because our high was only 67, I had to dig through a lot of clothes to find a cardigan for my little girl to wear because we don't have winter or fall clothes out yet.

I came up with this little ditty for next time we need a cardigan...

Using a long sleeve t-shirt I cut down the middle and cut the hem off the bottom and the sleeves.  I also cut a little way up on the sleeve to make it more a 3/4 sleeve length.

To make a clean edge on the front I finished the edge with a serger and folded it over and stitched.

Using the cut off hem, I opened it up and cut it in half.  This gave me a little over an inch of fabric in strips.  I sewed the strips together, basted and gathered.  Starting at one side of the collar I pinned the ruffle to the shirt, pinning down the front around the bottom and back up the other side.

Sew the pinned ruffle on with a slight zig-zag.  This really helps when sewing knits. Remember to remove pins as you sew--I couldn't believe this didn't break my needle when I hit it.

The sleeves also have a ruffle on the ends, made from an extra white t-shirt I had on hand.

I'm going to be doing some more of these in different colors.  My little girl loves this, especially how soft it is.  For those of you who have little ones who don't like the feel of sweaters this is an easy option for a cardigan.