Refashion Sunday - the Double Edition

Ever since I made a skirt out of an old sweater, I have been meaning to make another one.  I was waiting for just the perfect sweater to come my way when my mom showed up with this extra large beauty...

 

Even though I meant to make a skirt, that is not the first thing I thought of when I first saw those beautiful stripes....  but I digress.  Let's make a skirt in a couple easy steps:

  

1 - Cut the sweater just under the arms

2 - Trim a bit off the upper part of the sides, where the sweater starts widening for sleeves.

3 - Create a waist.  I used a wide elastic, about 1 3/4" wide, and a piece of stretch jersey about 4 1/2" folded to cover the elastic.

4 - Attach the waist to the skirt using a stretch stitch  (no picture) and... Voilà!  Skirt!

 

So, what to do with the arms of the sweater?  Leg warmers? Not exactly.  the sleeves screamed "Leggings" for my favourite girl!
 
1 - I used a pair of leggings that more or less fit her (yes, they have holes and she'd still be wearing them if I had not stolen them from the laundry pile).

2 - I used the leggings as a pattern, just making them a little longer.  I am lucky the sleeve was just wide enough to accommodate the crotch where it is much wider. 

3 - I had to add a separate waist, made of the same jersey as my skirt (would have been too thick anyway), with a narrower elastic inside.  There was a lot of sewing and unpicking because I forgot to use a stretch stitch, which I think is essential in a fitted garment like this, and the frustration lead to no pictures being taken of that step.

In the end, it was all worth it:

A matching set - the first - and maybe the last - matching clothes for mom and daughter...

 

As much as I love her cute little face, I decided not to share pictures of my family in this forum, but I assure you there is a lot of cuteness going on:

 So here is the before and after transformation:

From to big sweater to matching skirt and leggings!

I am counting this refashion as a double success!