“Measure Twice, Cut Once”

So, I know Measure Twice, Cut Once is the sensible way to do things, and that was our mantra when my husband and I laid Pergo flooring, but…………………….sometimes I go more along the lines of Wing It, Cut Once, Swear Many Times, Cut Again!

I’ve been on the lookout for a cardigan at Goodwill – I wanted to cut the sleeves short, and try this really cool look

http://www.creatinglaura.com/2013/05/no-sew-t-shirt-bow-sleeves.html

I am trying to do more second-hand shopping, but hadn’t found anything suitably fitted in good condition….so I ended up buying one at Target. (If it’s an excuse, I was killing time waiting for a prescription for my very sick husband).

It was on clearance for $6.88, so not too much of an investment if it doesn’t turn out as planned (like that’s ever happened, eh?).

I probably should have waited until the weekend to work on it, but I started hacking into it late on a Wednesday night. It was too tricky to unpick the sleeve head – the stitching was tiny. So, out came the scissors. I didn’t measure how much to open up the seam, and I didn’t pull up the photo on Creating Laura (oh dear, here’s the Wing It/Cut It part of the operation).

I cut some length off the sleeves and tried it on, scrunching it to simulate the middle of the bow – disaster! (Swear Many Times). I was tempted to chop off a big chunk of the sleeve head and try again, but decided not to. Since I had my scissors in hand, (Cut Again) I cut a slit down the middle of the sleeve, and used strips to edge the slit, making it a kind of keyhole feature – I prefer the word “feature” to “botch-up” 🙂

I overlocked the sleeves and armholes together again, and stitched the ribbed cuffs back on inside out so I could wear them folded them up.

Once again, an unplanned result, but at no great expense!