Saturday, April 14, 2007

Recycled Yarn Baby Dress

I have made a wonderful discovery near my house. A thrift store that is frequently less expensive than Goodwill and which almost always has some silk and cashmere sweaters.

When I first discovered this gem I only bought a few sweaters, and my first attempt at recycling was a pink cashmere cardigan. I bungled one of the sleeves a bit and the seams on the front pieces were so worn that it wasn't worth splicing the thread at the end of each row. Even at that I ended up with a ball of laceweight (the original weight) and fingering/dk weight (3-ply).

I have a sketchbook where I try to write down any idea I have for a design. When I get to a point where I have the yarn and inclination to go through with it I'll write down details of sizing and parts of the pattern there too. Once I had this cashmere yarn wound up I was leafing through the book and found where I had sketched out a little baby dress, with ruffly skirt and butterfly sleeves. Perfect!

I didn't really want to design out the body and I got lucky enough to find a baby singlet pattern in the right gauge. Thank you, Just Jussi! I left out the ribbing parts and did a picot trim at the neckline and added lace on the sleeves and bottom.

With flash, the left sleeve is folded to show the lace part:
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Without flash:
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Hehe, now I just need a girl baby (there's no way I'm giving this one away - it was a lot more annoying to make than I was expecting!)

2 comments:

f. pea said...

Fabulous! You should post the pattern......

Lystessa said...

Initially I had planned to offer the pattern, but this thing was a pain! Also it incorporates someone else's pattern.

But mostly I wouldn't wish this kind of aggravation on anyone.