When I was given this sweater by a friend, I was tempted to leave it as-is. I mean, it was so soft and comfy cozy!
But when I saw this dress by BCBGMAXAZRIA, my plans changed!
I can’t wait for spring refashions, but with temps still dipping into the 30s at night, I’m afraid they’re just not practical yet. :/
A sweater dress it shall be!
My biggest challenge with this sweater was that it wasn’t long enough to make into a dress without adding fabric to the bottom.
I decided to take a chance that after I took in the sides I’d have enough leftover fabric to repurpose for the bottom of the dress.
With my fingers crossed (which made the whole process much more difficult), I got to pinning!
I did this for each side, then I chopped off a bit of the sleeves to get the 3/4 look of my inspiration piece.
I ran each side through my machine.
The first time I used a straight stitch, then with a zigzag to try to prevent unraveling/fraying.
When I was done, I started the finicky business of trimming the leftover scraps.
I made sure to save as much of the fabric as possible while still having enough to make my dress a decent length.
You can see the original serged side seam in the above pic. My plan was to use that to sort of mimic the layered look of Max’s dress (It’s a reach…I know!).
I pinned the trimmed scraps to the bottom of my dress…stretching them slightly so they’d make it all the way across each side.
Next, I sewed them to the bottom of the original sweater using a zigzag stitch riiiiight on the very edge.
(once again…to keep it from unraveling)
After I stitched the panel to each side, I sewed the sides together.
But was about the raw edges on the sleeves?
All that was left to do was give the raw edges a little tug so they’d do this:
I have several sweaters with edges like this that somehow manage to not fray, so I’m not too worried about using the same look myself. 🙂
Well…what do you think of my new sweater dress?
I had a red sash that matched my dress already, so I didn’t end up having to harvest the material from the sleeves (which would have totally worked).
I’m really happy with this refashion because there’s so little waste involved!
I wore my sweet frock to The Kraken where I enjoyed sampling a bit of their enormous selection of tasty brews!
I spent my evening hanging out with these guys:
and this guy:
I really enjoy doing these wannabes! I hope you guys are getting inspired to make your own copycats too! 🙂
Original Cost: $378
Copycat Cost: Free!
Savings: $378!
Cheers!
I love this so much!!!
BTW, your hair looks great longer 🙂
Love it! This one looks tidy and cute. Thanks, I’m inspired!
You amaze me. Between last night and this morning, I’ve spent a couple of hours just reading your posts. But when I saw this one, I HAD to comment. I’m just blown away by what you did to that sweater!!!!! It looks amazing!
Wow, this one was absolutely fantastic, I love it!
This is definitely one of my favourites! Thank you for all the inspiration!
okay, i’ve been scrolling through your blog like a mad woman after someone linked it in the comments of my latest post and this has GOT to be my favorite so far! are you kidding me?! look at you go, bravo!
Hey girrrl. I’ve never commented before, although I’ve been reading for a bit, and I love the majority of the items you refashion, but this one really hit a good spot. You are such an imaginative creature. Looking at the sweater and the copycat I thought it was a reach, like a level on Mario World when I was a kid, thinking “seeeriouslyyy? how the?” and then you do it and you get a sweet rush of satisfaction.
Keep it real lemon peel. I love your shit!
Also, I love that you went to see Of Montreal! They are positively passionfruit! One of my fave bands, and on-stage performances 🙂
Thanks for being you!
I agree with everyone who says that yours is way better than the original………..so, so, so cute!
Yours is WAY cuter than the original!
This is in my top five of your refashions! I ❤ it!!!!
I saw that dress and loved it, too. But I think I like yours even better. I’m still new to sewing and haven’t tried out my skills on knits – something to work towards!!
Ahhhh! Super fresh!
Fabulous! Your hair looks great too
I think this is your best ‘refashion’ ever. Love it!
This is great! Love the detailed work, shows off your skills! 🙂
wow!! I love this dress!! Fantastic work!!
I think I like yours better than the original! Been reading your blog for awhile now. You make me want to re-learn how to sew!
This is an awesome refashion! Great job. =)
Love it!
This might be my favorite refashion yet! Keep up the good work.
Love this!! Thank you for inspiring me (and I’m sure many others!) to really start refashioning. I’ve always enjoyed sewing, but repurposing is so much more fun to me than patterns. Its great to give new life to something! 🙂
I love it! I think this is my favourite re-fashion yet!
Girl, you are DA BOMB!!! Okay, I’m on a weight loss journey, and about halfway thru. I’ve been donating all my clothes that are too big- altho I really LOVED some of tghem. THEN a couple of months ago- I discovered your blog….a fellow South Carolina girl too!!(Greenville Area), and now I’m not getting rid of ANYTHING!!! I’m watching with GREAT interest your re-fashions and learning how to apply the things you do to my wardrobe!!! You are my new best friend blogger!!! LOVE LOVE LOVE this refashion particularly!!! <3
My favorite so far! Now off to thrifting so find a big sweater! Love your creativity, thanks for the inspiration and sharing.
This dress is rocking the house. If someone told me that the dress started out as an oversized sweater, I wouldn’t believe it. I also can’t believe that you had enough material left to make a dress – that’s amazing! Although I like the original dress and would wear it, your dress has a more modern vibe to it.
You are simply amazing! I love reading your blogs!
You know, a couple of weeks ago I read through your entire blog. Yes, the entire thing. And in like, a day which doesn’t seem like that big of a deal but it totally was. And I just needed to tell you that you have inspired me so much. I always wanted to refashion. I always went to thrift shops with the intent of getting something to refashion, but it just never worked out. Until I found this blog. Now I feel like I can do just about anything with a good print or awesome fabric. I have already refashioned a TON of things, dresses especially. And I plan to donate all of my old wardrobe that just doesn’t fit my personality any more. You are great, and thanks for giving me the motivation to be great also.
I love this! And red looks great on you with your dark hair! 🙂
I love all your refashions, but this one has GOT to be one of my faves!! Freakin’ fabulous!!!
Really, really nice. Looks very good on you. I like how you’re showing us where your inspiration for certain details comes from, too. I have NO ideas of my own so it’s nice to learn some ways to find them!
You got talent!!!!!
Super, super cute! I was a little nervous for the outcome when you added to the bottom, but it looks great!
definitely one of my faves to date! it looks really smart!
This is GREAT!!!!. My Favorite so far. You amaze me.
My favorite by far!
Definitely a keeper! Great job.
This looks amazing! I’ve been following your refashions but this has got to be my fav! So awesome!
One of my favorite refashes!!!!! I love this!!!
This has to be one if my favorites too!
You are too too much! Your eye, your skill, your courage! OK, you’re not risking much money, but I’m just so impressed!
This is one of my favorites! Way to go!
I know I’ve said it before, but ohwell, too bad: I’m pretty sure this is my fav refash so far!!! It looks AWESOME.
Amazing! I just started following your blog. I love it and what you do with clothes. I bet you never wear the same thing twice!
Thank you! I’ll tell ya what…you’re kinda right! I wear a few things a lot, but I usually donate my creations back out into the world after a couple of wears. 🙂
Definitely a fave!! Love the way it turned out!!
That turned out great! Thanks for inspiring me!
Excellent! One of my most favorite you’ve done.
That is amazing! Your so good with that sewing machine!
Lauren
livinginaboxx
Love that!!!!!
I couldn’t believe how wonderful this refashion turned out – AMAZING!!!!! This is definitely my very favorite of all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I think I’ve used up my quota of exclamation points but I’m totally blown away!)
Totally amazing!
Downright awesome. You look absolutely gorgeous and I’m pondering whether to buy a bloody sewing machine altogether now.
You and your dress simply look gorgeous ! Bravo for the refash, this is amazing what you’ve done with this sweater. I have an orange one, soft and cosy that I’ve planned to refashion too, I may be fully inspired by your dress (which is a million times much better than the original)
And by the way, I love your haircut and the black background.
Carry on !
I follow your blog on a regular basis, but this is the first time I’ve been compelled to comment. This is by far my favorite Refashion to date. Amazing!
This one is my new favorite!
This is one of my favorites for refashions you’ve done! It looks so good on you!!! Rock it!
Wow, that turned out great! Do you keep the wannabe pieces or donate those too? Do you own a serger? That would have helped with the fraying issue, you can even do rolled hems on them. I love treading your posts you keep me inspired, keep up the good work!
Looks great. One of my favorites too
Best refash yet!!
That is awesome! I love the look at the bottom, and I’m so impressed by how you made it work!
My fav refashion so far. You rock!!
I’ve liked a lot of your other refashions and thought they were so neat how you did it. HOWEVER, this one I LOVE!!! OMG!
Really nice, love the colour!
This is way cuter than the original! The neck is nicer, and I love the fit. I think this is one of your best.
I completely agree — amazing refashion! I much prefer a refashion that takes it beyond just cutting and fitting. In this refashion you added a design element that made it cuter than the original inspiration piece. By the way, your hairstyle is super cute!
Wow – that looks amazing! Am knitting a jumper at the moment and am purposely doing those rolled hems as I think they look lovely.
one of your best. Another hint for turtleneck type sweaters is to undo the seam on the turtle neck and let it fall open giving it a new look(I do this because I don’t like confining necks).
This is my favorite refashion ever! I love the finished dress, I might like it even better than the 378 one!
As usual, a GREAT JOB, Jillian!!!! I think this may be one of my favorites!!!!
Very Nice, it lookss very lux!! You simply amaze me with the items you create, very talented indeed! As always, looking forward to seeing what you do next.
Super cute!
That’s an incredible piece of work! A lot of refashioning I see is little more than cutting off a few inches at the bottom and adding a belt – THIS was remaking artistry! GOOD JOB!!!!!
Your sweater dress is adorable! I have been reading your blog for several weeks now, and you have inspired me to give refashioning a try. My only experience to date is sewing throw pillows, cushions and duvet covers, so this will be a new adventure. As you recommended, I got the Singer dress form, which I will be assembling today. Wish me luck.
Love it! But I have to admit sweaters scare me:/ so many I would love to alter but the fray thing freaks me out. Thanks for explaining how to avoid it! Love your blog I’m obsessed
Love it! One of my favorites that you’ve done so far:) your so talented!!
I love the way it turned out!
Wannabe Wednesday makes me wanna have skills like Jillian!
WOW!!! That turned out SO GREAT!! Nice job!!
I don’t always leave you a comment but I always check in to see what you are up to. You are amazing, my friend….simply amazing! I LOVE yours better than the original! Wish you could make ME over!;>) Diana
That Is Awesome!!
This one turned out way cute! Hope you keep this one- you look like a million bucks in it.