Frugal Friday- Little Wife's Guide To: Making a Cardigan

My husband had to go get the exhaust fixed on the truck this evening, so that meant I was home alone. What to do... what to do....

Upgrade a too-big shirt into a cardigan, of course!

I love Goodwill- specifically, our Goodwill. It's got some really great stuff- high quality, gently used, and now just waiting to be loved by someone new. Goodwill is an awesome place to save money on clothes. Even if something's not exactly what you're looking for, $4.00 for a shirt isn't bad, even if you have to do some tweaking!

I got this great gray long-sleeved shirt at Goodwill the other day- it was so soft! But I already have a lot of long-sleeved shirts... I was really looking for a gray cardigan. Here's how I turned my long-sleeved shirt into the cardigan I was looking for!

 Here's the shirt. First, I washed it and dried it (like, 5 days ago, but I never put it away... hee.)

 Next, I measured the width of the shirt and marked the middle. I measured about 5 times- the shirt narrows at the waist and widens at the bottom (most shirts will!) so to make sure my line was straight, I made sure the measure a lot.

Then I cut the shirt at my measurements, so it opens at the front. Like 'dis!

Then, I cuffed the edges so they were folded 1/4 inch towards the outside edges, and then folded them under. This way, my edge won't fray. I pinned up the edges. And, since my husband wasn't home, I took the pinning downstairs and watched a little "Last American Cowboy."

Then I used a zig-zag stitch to sew up the edges. At this point, I got hungry, so I went and had a cookie for supper. No husband to feed, you know.

The finished sewn edge looks like this... and then I removed the pins... cookie still in hand.

I decided to add buttons to my cardigan next. I've never made a buttonhole in my life, so the buttons are just decorative.

Zeke's grandma was the one who saved these buttons. After she died, at the age of 98, I was given her sewing basket and all her odds and ends. She must have saved years of buttons- most with little scraps of fabric attached. I wonder who wore the blue shirt these buttons were once a part of... probably grandma herself.

Anyway, I found four of these buttons, and put the bottom button 6 inches from the bottom of the cardigan, and then a button every three inches from there up.

And voila! Shirt becomes a cardigan!