We probably all have old sweaters lying around in our wardrobes. Sometimes it's hard to part with old things - even though they haven't been worn for a long time. Do you have an old sweater that you don't wear anymore but can't quite part with? Then give it a second life! Turn your old sweater into a jacket. We'll tell you how to do it quickly and easily here.
You'll probably feel the same way: you have countless clothes in your closet and want to clear them out. Donating your excess clothes so that others can enjoy them is one option. But there are certainly one or two items that you find hard to part with. If you've found something among all your clothes that you actually want to keep, then think about upcycling. Upcycling involves using old clothes and making new ones out of them. And it doesn't even involve a lot of work. For example, you can turn an old sweater into a cardigan in no time at all.
Thanks to upcycling, you can breathe a second life into your old clothes. In our DIY blog, for example, you'll find out how to make a DIY denim skirt yourself or spice up a black dress.
If you want to turn an old sweater into a new piece of clothing, it's not as difficult as it first seems. All you have to do is cut a little, turn on your sewing machine and sew in a zipper. And the whole thing is super quick! To turn your sweater into either a cardigan or a jacket, you need:
- tape measure
- scissors
- matching color thread
- needle or sewing machine
- pins
- textile chalk or a marker
- matching zipper
Let's get started! To turn a sweater into a jacket, just follow these step-by-step instructions:
- First, you need to prepare: It's best to iron your sweater again to turn it into a jacket. This will make the fabric nice and smooth and easier to work with.
- Now turn your sweater inside out and fold it in the middle. Now take a piece of textile chalk or a marker, draw along the fold and mark it.
- Snip snap: Now take a pair of scissors and cut along your mark. Tip: To avoid putting too much strain on the fabric and fibers, you can iron an interfacing onto the sweater beforehand. This makes cutting easier and protects the fabric from fraying when you turn a sweater into a jacket. If you don't want to sew a closed jacket, but want to turn your sweater into a cardigan, you can stop here. Fold the two halves inwards and sew over them once so that the ends don't fray.
- Now turn the sweater right side out again and open the cut sides. Now take the zipper, open it too and place it on the cut sides of your sweater. To prevent the fastener from slipping while sewing, attach both halves to the sweater with pins.
- To sew on the zipper, place the sweater under the sewing machine. It's best to check whether your sewing machine has an extra zipper foot. This should make it much easier. Choose a zigzag stitch and sew the zipper onto the fabric of the sweater. Make sure that the teeth of the fastener don't get in the way of the needle and get caught.
- Done! Check that the zipper closes well and that everything is secure. And now you've turned a sweater into a jacket!
Tip: This trick works particularly well with hoodies. Just remember that you have to sew the pocket on the stomach separately so that your clothes don't fall out later. But this way you can make a nice jacket out of old hoodies.