Deep Purple

I bought this cardigan because I liked the colour, it didn’t look worn at all, and it was only £1, from a charity shop of course.

Its from the M&S ‘classic’ range, the one that normally attracts pensioners,  a chenille knit 56% viscose, 24% polyamide 20% acrylic, made in China.

The main feature apart from the striking colour, is a deep flouncy rib frill all the way around every edge.

Not sure what the overall plan was I started by removing the frill from the cuff, cutting it in half and sewing it back on as a normal rib cuff. The wide cuff frill would be awkward to live with so it was an easy decision to remove it. The sewing was hand done using some purple wool I already had.

I have seen knitwear refashions and have often wondered how the unravelling that accompanies cutting into knitted items is coped with.  My cuffs certainly started unravelling and I sewed around the cut edges to try and stem it.

There was still too much flounce but I didn’t want to totally eliminate the main feature of the cardi  so the next plan was to remove the central flounce where a button border would be and replace it with, a fake button border, but leave the flounce around the neckline and hem.  This would convert the cardi into a jumper and reduce the size a little.

I made my fake button border from denim and ribbon.  This is how it looked before I actually sewed it together and onto the cardi.

There wasn’t much choice about the bottom hem because  the edge was curved not straight and I would have been left with something odd shaped if I’d removed all of the flounce.

The denim insert/fake button border closed up the opening and  added some contrast colours, but I have to admit it is a bit stiff and bulky.  This was aggravated by having to use a lining fabric on the underside to enable the machine foot to move over folded and cut knitwear.

Here’s the finished garment. I sewed up the open edges of the top and bottom frill.

Its very soft and comfy and great for throwing on in the house. The low neckline is a bit of an issue, it was difficult to picture with the frill attached how the shaping would turn out once it was removed.