First of all I picked out a pattern that I decided is how I want the sweater/jacket to look when it is finished. I chose a Simplicity pattern, because they are suppose to be pretty straight forward and easy to follow.
I think I am going to add a hood on this, the only option it does have at the moment is a collar. Ok now I got my tools together to trace the pattern, because I intend on making many of these if it comes out the way that I want it to look, and the pattern runs from size 3 to size 8. If I was to cut out only one size I would not be able to reuse the pattern again to cut out another size. The solution to that is to trace the pattern, which adds about an hour worth of work, but saves you money in the long run. So for tools I used regular standard kitchen parchment paper, a medium point permanent marker and a metal ruler that wont slide when using it. You open up your pattern sheets out on a large table and unroll a large enough piece of parchment paper to trace on. (Note: sometimes because parchment paper is made to me non-stick, you really need to rub the tape down good to hold it over the pattern) If you need a larger piece then tape two pieces together. Once you have all your pieces traced, make sure that you include the information that is also printed on the pattern pieces, such as the pattern number, maker, and size you are using. Parchment paper is pretty sturdy and can hold up to be reused a few times at least, so even though this seems like a tedious step it is worth it in the long run. Here is what your pattern pieces will look like...
Now take a pair of scissors (not your fabric cutting scissors, cutting paper with them will dull them) and carefully cut out around your pattern so that you can still see the traced line when you are finished. On all of the triangle markings that are on the inside of the lines, those are intended to be transferred to be sticking out from the pattern when it is cut so that you can use them to match up fabric pieces that need to sew together. Next I picked out some sweaters to use. I first felted them all in the washer by washing them in hot water with a little bit of detergent. You have to keep checking and try to take out the excess fuzz that comes off during the agitation stage of the wash. Do not let it spin out, let the water drain, start to spin a little and stop the washer, and then try to wring as much water out by hand, with out distorting the shape of the sweater. This part is kind of fun to see how they shrink. I usually throw them right in the dryer, unless I have time on my hands I do let them hang out to dry also. you want to cut the sweater pieces open along all the seams, including arms, neck holes, and side seams. In my case my sweater pieces were not big enough to use for one pattern piece so I had sew two pieces together and then lay out my pattern on top. I used my regular sewing machine to do this with a type of overlock stitch. Now here is the bummer part. I went crazy stitching all of these pieces together to make one big piece of fabric to cut out my pattern pieces. Went to go start straight stitching my pieces together and my sewing machine died. What a drag! Apparently the motor died, and the repairman recommended buying a new one and then repairing that one as a back up, because it was going to cost me 75 to repair it. So I had a yard sale on Saturday and made enough money to go and get a steal at Wal-Mart. The machine was regularly 149, and it ended up only costing me 130, so I was soooo happy with that, AND it comes with 80+ stitches, which is about 50 more than my other machine.
So that is where I am right now. I hand basted the seams together while waiting to get my machine, out of curiosity of how it would end up looking so now I just need to finish stitching it together and I will post a pic of the finished creation.... I cant wait!
