Changing Seasons: Mashing & Upcycling

Changing Seasons: Mashing & Upcycling

It's that time of the year again! A new season waits for us and with it a new wardrobe, especially if you have kids! They grow up so fast… It's hard to keep up with them!

Autumn is around the corner here, so I'm starting to go through all the clothes.
With three kids plus my husband and myself... I try to recycle /upcycle as much as I can. Today I grabbed a sweatshirt that my older son doesn't wear anymore and decided to transform it so it becomes wearable for my little girl. 

I wanted to use the sleeves, cuffs and bottom rib knit from the sweater, but the size was completely different, so I cut… a lot!!...



As I started to look at the sweater, I began to think that ruffles would look really good, so I grabbed the Be Creative Hoodie for kids and started to trace the pattern. However, the pattern calls for a horizontal bodice division and I didn't want to add my ruffles that way because I used woven to make them. If I sewed them horizontally, I could be diminishing the sweater fabric stretch…

What to do then???
I taped the pattern bodice as one piece, marked where I would like the ruffle to be, drew a vertical line from shoulder to bottom and then... off to cut everything… But… I wasn't happy yet! 



What now?

Well… Besides the adjustments made to sew the rufles and sizing down from a 14 (RTW) to a 6 , I also changed the neckline. The Be Creative Hoodie is a great pattern. It was exactly what I was looking for with the righ amount of ease and great fit... but it calls for either a hood or a cowl and I didn't want either of them, so another pattern came to action: the Sitting Pretty top for kids.

After tracing everything I wanted from the Be Creative, I put the Sitting Pretty bodice underneath my see through paper and also traced it. Finished cutting everything and started to sew. 


What to sew first?

  • Make the rufles - I cut them twice the length of the bodice, hemmed one of the longer sides and sewed them to the front of the main bodice;
  • Attach the vertical piece that has the armcye;
  • Sew shoulders;
  • Attach sleeves;
  • Prepare and sew neckline, cuffs and bottom.

I also top stitched the rufles and serged all the pieces as I was sewing.


This was the final result. A cute sports tunic in french terry with ruffles that made my girl smile. I tried it on her, but it still is ver hot here, so by the time I got my camera, she had already undressed… Oh, well… Mission accomplished!

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(Written by: Dora Serrano)