Sweater Makeover

Hello everyone!  It has been a few days since I have written anything, and I really wanted to link up to Kate’s linky party about fall crafts.  I feel like I have been talking about pumpkins a lot, so why stop now…it is October, right?

First I should give credit where credit is due.  A few weeks ago I was perusing Amanda’s weekend bloggy reading and I came across Andrea who made these  sweater Jack-o-lanterns (check them out here):

I thought they were so cute I wanted to make my own, so I was off to a thrift store where I found a lovely orange sweater…

(brace yourself for a lot of photos )

It was only $2.99!

I searched our house and found a whole bunch of random buttons; needle and thread; floss; and twine…

I started by cutting off the sleeves…

Stitching up the bottom of the pumpkin (which was the top of the sleeve)…

Next, I laid out some face options with the buttons…

Then I sewed the buttons on with black floss, and cut the top half of the sleeve off.  I filled the bottom of the pumpkin with popcorn kernels (you can use anything that will make it heavy on the bottom) and the rest with fiber fill…

I didn’t want the yarn to unravel so I painted the edges with clear nail polish.

I turned the edges in…

And gathered the top with twine to make the pumpkin stems…

I did this with the remaining portion of the sleeve and with the other arm, so I was able to make 4 total…

This one is probably my favorite, but they all make me smile:

I ended up using three of them on my mantel and I gave the fourth to my mom.

After all this pumpkin fun, I  was left with a sweet sweater vest…

What do you think, can I wear this to work?  Maybe the orange will look good with my dark hair, lol.

I did something much better than wear the vest to work, but I think I should share that another day…I don’t want to overload you on photos of a $3 sweater (if I haven’t already).

Check out more fall crafts at Centsational Girl…

Have a great night and please come back!