A Sweatshirt Refashion

It's finally that time of year when people back home get to replace their coats and snow boots with sweatshirts and flip-flops (except, of course, for the days when we have random giant spring snowstorms).  It's also the time of year when I tend to pull out last year's spring wardrobe and feel a little bit uninspired by my old clothes.

So that's why I decided to do a sweatshirt redesign today that's super easy and effective.  All it took was a purple ribbon to breathe new life into an old staple.

To do this to your own sweatshirt, you'll need the following:
-  3 or 4 feet of satin ribbon
-  scissors
-  a safety pin
-  a lighter

Here I am, rocking my sweatshirt pre-ribbon...

I happen to love this sweatshirt because it's super cozy and because it was a Christmas present.  I also thought it would be the perfect canvas for this project because it's a solid color and, therefore, a blank canvas for the colorful ribbons.

That certainly doesn't mean you have to use a sweatshirt that's only one color for your version of this project, though.  The more creative you get with your color combos, the more fun you could have with this.

Here are the directions:

1.  Pull the old string out of your sweatshirt.

2.  Attach a safety pin to the end of the ribbon and insert it into the hole that you pulled the old string out of.

3.  Urge the safety pin to travel all the way through the edge of the hood until it reaches the hole on the other side.  The easiest way to do this is to scrunch up the edge of the hood (as shown above) then pinch the safety pin and un-scrunch the edge, thus moving the pin a couple of inches along the edge.  Repeat that process until it makes it all the way across the hood.

4.  Pull the ribbon out of the second hole.  You'll now officially have a ribbon where the original string used to be.

5.  Remove the safety pin from the ribbon and tie a knot where you would like each side of the ribbon to end.

6.  Cut off the excess ribbon.  Use a lighter to melt the edges of the ribbon that you just cut; it'll keep the ribbon from fraying.

Oh, and did I mention that this whole process takes less than 5 minutes and costs less than 5 dollars?  Seriously.  The only thing I had to purchase was my ribbon which cost $1 at the dollar store.  I already had the scissors and the safety pin and I borrowed the lighter from a friend. Pretty sweet, right?

Happy refashioning!
xoxo
Laura

Knit Bow Tie

Lately I've been really interested in mixed media knitting, a.k.a. knitting with other materials in addition to yarn, so I decided to incorporate some ribbons into this big, fun bow tie that I made.

Here's the what you'll need if you want to make one too:
Less than 1 skein of worsted weight yarn
US Size 7 knitting needles
Less than 1 spool of 1/4 inch ribbon
2 hooks
Tapestry needle
Scissors
Glue

Abbreviations used in this pattern:
k2tog = knit 2 stitches together (decrease stitch)
yo = yarn over (increase stitch)

Pattern for the bow:
Cast on 15 stitches
Row 1: k2tog, yo, knit 3, k2tog, yo, knit 1, yo, k2tog, knit 3, yo, k2tog
Row 2: purl
Repeat rows 1 and 2 until your work is 11.5 inches long.
Bind off

Your work should now have 4 rows of holes in it, like the second picture in this post.  Thread a ribbon along each of those 4 rows, in and out of each hole until your work looks like the picture below.

Now cut the ends of the ribbons so they are about 2 inches long. Fold the ends over the edge of the knitting and glue them down on the back side of your work, as pictured below.

Once the glue dries, seam the two edges of the knitting together (where you just glued the ends), forming a loop with the knit stitches facing out.

For the neck band:
Cast on 5 stitches
Row 1: knit
Repeat row 1 until you have a strip of garter stitch that is about 16 inches long (or the circumference of the neck you're making the bow tie for, if you know it).
Bind off

For the center of the bow:
Cast on 8 stitches
Row 1: knit
Row 2: purl
Repeat rows 1 and 2 until you have a strip of stockinette stitch that is 4.5 inches long.
Bind off

Finishing:
Lay the big loop flat on a tables with the seam in the center.
Lay the neck band on top of the loop.
Wrap the center strip for the bow around the big loop and the neck band and sew it all together using matching yarn and your tapestry needle. It should now look like a bow tie!

To finish it off, sew two hooks onto one end of the neck band so that the new owner of this bow tie can hook the back of the neck together anywhere along the knitting that he would like.  This will make it fit just right even if you made the neck band a little too long.

Here's Justin modeling his new look:

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to leave them in the comments section!
xoxo
Laura

p.s. This bow tie is what I was knitting in this post.  Did you guess correctly?