Hi friends! Sonia here today to show you how I turned the Chapman Cardigan into a duster! I’ve seen that dusters vary a lot in length, so for this example, my cardigan ended up being about knee length. This of course will depend on your height and how much you choose to add it to the pattern!
Of course I had found an inspiration photo on Pinterest that I wanted to re-create, so I made a number of alterations to the pattern to achieve the look I was going for, that extended beyond just making it longer. Feel free to add as many or as few of these alterations as you like!
Here is a quick overview of the alterations I made, and I’ll go into more detail below this list.
Adjustments:
- Size up for more ease - 1 size
- Lengthen front and back 4”
- Widen Neck/Front band 2”, Lengthen 4” to match length we added to bodices
- Lengthen Sleeve 1.5”
- Lengthen bottom band 1” to match 2” added to front band
- Adjust placement of pocket
1. I decided to size up for a bit more ease to get a slouchy look like the inspiration photo. I size up one size given that my fabric is fairly light weight, so sizing up more than that would have made it a bit too droopy. If you’re using a thicker fabric, you can certainly size up more! (The fabric I used is a really fun leopard rib knit from Olgas closet, which can be found here and the ivory ribbing I used can be found here)
2. Based on my estimation of length, I added 4 inches to the front and back bodice.
3. This does change the length of the bands, so we also add 4 inches to the length of the neck band. Do note that all of the band pieces are cut on the fold, so it is correct that we are adding 4 inches which then turns into 8 inches on the fold, as it needs to lengthen on both the front left and the front right side. I also added 2 inches to the width of the neck band, to make the band wider. This does turn into 1 inch once the neck band is folded in half.
Looking through tester photos, I could tell the sleeves land right at the wrist, so I added 1.5 inches at the lengthen/short line to get a bit more length and a little bit of pooling at the wrist.
!!!!! I don’t have a picture for this step because I forgot to do it and had to go back and cut a new waistband 🤣 but, our last pattern alteration is that we add 1” to the length of the waist band piece, to equal the width we added to the neckband (2”, which is 1” on the fold).
The other two details are minor alterations I made to the construction of the pattern, which include adding clear elastic to the seam at the shoulder to help support the additional weight of the added length, and moving the pocket. I waited until my cardigan was assembled to add the pocket, so that I could try it on and see where I wanted the pocket placement.
Hope you love this hack as much as I do, and have fun with making alterations to your patterns! There are so many possibilities, and the Chapman Cardigan is a great basic to make your own. Feel free to check out more of my sews on insta at @MamasCraftRoom and happy sewing!
