I have this oversized mustard sweatshirt that has long been deemed unacceptable for wearing in public. The ends of the ties are frayed, there’s a hole in the shoulder seam that I can’t be bothered to sew back up, and there’s a centrally located coffee stain that refuses to leave no matter how many chemicals I soak it in. But despite its flaws, the hoodie has always been a loyal, comfortable, reliable, and warm companion - and I just wasn’t ready to replace it as my favorite piece of lounge-wear.
I’ve often seen crocheted borders on quilted baby blankets worked into a blanket stitch seam or frilly lace edgings lining pillow cases, and I’ve wondered if such a technique could be applied to a store bought garment as a means to knit sleeves onto a plain t-shirt or add an oversized chunky cowl neckline to that boring v-neck sweater Grandma sent me for Christmas last year.
Perhaps before I go any further, there is something you should know about me... a small confession I’m almost embarrassed to admit. Ok, hear goes:
Hi my name is Brittany, and I’m a project knitter.
You’ve probably heard the term “project knitter” versus “process knitter.” Though all crafters are in some ways both, a process knitter appreciates the act of knitting itself. They enjoy challenging themselves with involved patterns and time consuming pieces. They often give their creations away as lovingly handmade gifts.
Project knitters, on the other hand, dive into a project primarily because they want to wear that sweater in the magazine, not necessarily because it looks like fun to knit. They rarely give their finished pieces away.
I am of the latter school-of-thought. I learned to knit as a fashion-conscious teen because I wanted to make one-of-a-kind scarves and accessories that matched those I envisioned. I knit and crochet almost exclusively for myself, I never follow a pattern as written, and while working on a project I like to imagine what dress I will wear under my new cardigan when it’s finished. I have bought shoes specifically to match my crocheted legwarmers. I have asked my stylist to cut my hair in such a way that it flatters my shawl-collared pullover. For me, knitting is a race to the finish line rather than a way to pass the time. I am about as project oriented a crafter as one can be.
So when I see that cozy favorite yet unacceptable-for-public-display sweatshirt hanging in my closet, I wonder if I can use my knitting powers to bring it from the edge of death back to health; give it the neckline I always wished it had; reinvent it into something I can wear to school without self-imposed shame. After all, that’s why I took up the needles in the first place... to make things exactly the way I want them.
I cut the neckline and hood off the sweatshirt, worked a blanket stitch seam around the opening, and then picked up stitches into the seam so that I could knit a ribbed collar right onto the fabric. I reinvented a zip-front hoodie in the same way with a crocheted collar and shell stitch edging. The technique is fun to do, makes for a quick project, and results in a unique garment that has the visual appeal of a handmade piece and retains all the comfy warmth of a store bought sweatshirt. If you want to try reinventing a recycled sweatshirt for yourself, here is what you gotta do:
You will need:
Sharp fabric scissors
Embroidery needle with a large eye for yarn
Long circular needle or comparable size crochet hook for your yarn
Ruler
Pencil or chalk
When choosing a garment for reinventification, consider that you want a fabric that will not heavily fray or unravel when cut. Most sweatshirts should be made of such a material that will not come apart when you cut into them. Denim garments and most cotton blend t-shirts will probably work with this technique nicely as well, though I haven’t attempted to work with those kinds of fabrics yet. I have dreams of knitting and/or crocheting lace ruffle layers around the bottom of a denim mini skirt in the future.
I recommend marking the garment with a pencil or chalk before cutting into it. I didn’t carefully measure my intended neckline with a ruler or anything. I just eyeballed it, but I did redo my marks until I could step back and the opening looked even on both sides of the neckline. Consider that your opening will become a bit larger (a half inch all the way around, to be precise) after the blanket stitch seam when marking and cutting your garment. You can control the shape the neckline will be on your finished piece by marking and cutting accordingly.
If you’re not highly adept at sewing (I’m not), I recommend picking up that pencil or chalk again and drawing a line around your entire neck opening a half inch away from the newly cut edge (use a ruler). This will mark precisely where you will fold the fabric to the wrong side of the sweatshirt when working the blanket stitch hem. I didn’t find it necessary to pin my hem down when seaming the edge, but you can pin it in place before working the blanket stitching if you like.
Fold the hem to the inside of the sweatshirt at the line you made. With yarn and embroidery needle, work a blanket stitch seam along the entire edge of the opening continuing to fold the fabric to the inside at the line as you go. Space your stitches as evenly apart as you can.
With a long circular needle pick up stitches around the entire hem by inserting the needle tip under the horizontal bands created by the blanket stitch seam. Or if you’re crocheting a collar onto your sweatshirt, single crochet into each horizontal band of the blanket stitch seam.
Consider if the stitch pattern you intend to use for the new collar requires a certain multiple of stitches. Once you’ve picked up stitches or worked a row of single crochet into the entire blanket stitch seam, you can increase or decrease accordingly on next row to reach the correct multiple of stitches (I recommend increasing rather than decreasing if you have to manipulate the total number of stitches). For example, my ribbed collar on the yellow sample is worked in a knit one, purl one ribbing which requires an even number of stitches. Therefore, I had to work one increase on the next row to make the total number of stitches an even number.
On my knit pullover I wanted an overlapping shawl collar, so I picked up stitches around the entire opening and knit a full round, I worked in 1x1 ribbing to the four inch horizontal part of the front of the neckline in the middle of my pullover. I bound off all of the stitches across this opening, then continued working back and forth in rows in 1x1 ribbing until my collar measured four inches in depth (the same width as that horizonal opening at the bottom on my neckline). I seamed each bottom edge of the collar into the bind off edge of the front of the pullover overlapping one side over the other. Made a couple of crochet chain button loops and blocked the collar lightly with a spray bottle.
My crocheted cardigan resulted from cutting the full zipper off of a hooded sweatshirt and seaming the entire front edges and neck opening beginnging in the left-front corner. I then worked the two front edges seperately starting at the bottom of the sweatshirt and stopping at the neckline crocheting one row of shell stitch along each front edge. Then, I crocheted ribbing around the neckline and finished it off with that same shell stitch edging. Made a button loop with a crochet chain and lightly blocked the collar and front edgings.
Now I wear that yellow hoodie over cute print dresses while lunching rather than over a sports bra while jogging. I hope you find reinventing old store bought garments with your crafting powers as gratifying as I do. If you create something amazing, I would LOVE to see it. You can email me photos at brittany@tangledness.com or post them on Ravelry.
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Original design by Brittany Tyler
Brittany is always inventing new uses for knitting and crochet. You can check out more of her original designs on Knitpicks, Tangled, and Ravelry.