A long, long time ago, I traveled to England with a school trip organized by my aunt, who taught English literature at a high school in the Chicago suburbs. We did day trips out to see various literary sights, but also got to spend quite a bit of time exploring London. I still have an item that I bought on that trip- a bright purple cable knit sweater.
It was the 80’s, so the style was drop-shoulder and oversized. I hadn’t worn it in years, but held onto it for primarily nostalgic reasons. But it was 100% wool- and I always thought that perhaps I could remodel it and give it a second act.
I don’t have a picture of the sweater right-side-out before the project began- but you can get an idea of the general shape from the reverse side
The issues I wanted to remedy- sleeves too short and wide, folded collar too tight, bottom hem ribbing too tight. I decided that I would remove the sleeves, rework the collar into a more relaxed crewneck, and reknit the bottom ribbing to give it a drapey finish.
I soon realized that the disassembly and reclaiming of the yarn for re-knitting was going to be complicated by the sweater’s construction.
All of the pieces had raw edges, sewn and serged. The only bit that was knit in the round was the collar, which I was able to remove in one piece and reclaim as a continuous length of yarn
Thankfully the new collar and sleeve finishing I had in mind wouldn’t take as much yarn as the doubled ribbing did.
I went with a 1×1 ribbing, and just secured the raw edges behind with whip stitching in a single strand of the garment yarn. Here’s a look at the inside of the armhole.
I was able to get it all pretty well secured and tidy, so I’m calling that a win. 🙂
The last bit was the bottom edge. I had to cut off the ribbing in order to unravel it. And the yarn came off in about 1.5 yard lengths. So, while I had plenty to re-knit with, it was chock full of ends. I was able to reknit most of the front using the remaining yarn from the original collar. But in the back side I had to make due with the shorter lengths. I overlapped the lengths at transition points in order to save myself some weaving in later on, and decided that a split hem would finish the new look nicely.
And with that, the 80’s London sweater, is now back in business as a slipover vest! To complete the 80’s London vibe, enjoy this classic from the Housemartins. You’re welcome 🙂
How fun! I am glad you were able to repurpose this sweater.
thanks Donna- Been thinking about it for a long time. Glad to have finally tackled it!