Sweater with straps

You may recall this sweater from last year, when it was new to me and I sang the virtues of its comfortable length and appealing pastel sheen. I've worn it a few times since then, but I found that it was rarely my first choice—being put off by the oversized asymmetrical collar. Or is it a cowl? Half-cowl? Whatever it is, it didn't work for me.

It had the usual problem of making my big shoulders look bigger, it would never lie flat where it folded, and it added an uncomfortable layer of bulk that tended to get bunched up under coats, to my great annoyance. It had to go.

I experimented, as best I could without rashly snipping it off, to reshape it in various configurations, but at last I decided the only thing to do was just remove it entirely.

Cutting off cowls is fast becoming my specialty, but I tried a new technique this time.

My first attempt at finishing the neckline saw me sewing it under with a long continuous hem. Of course, as always happens to me with stretch material, this resulted in the neckline becoming stretched-out and wavy. I removed all my stitchery and tried again, this time just tacking down the collar every few inches.

Once I was satisfied with the lay of things, I gingerly cut off the rest of the cowl. No matter how many times I cut up my clothing, I am always terrified by this part, because it means you can never go back!

Fortunately, everything looked fine, but I discovered I needed to tack down the fabric in more places. I ended up with a stitch approximately every inch.

The sweater was done (at least, done enough to wear, although it's questionable whether it would stand up to washing, as I hadn't bothered to finish the cut-off edge).

But when I wore it, I was mildly irritated to see that the neckline was so wide, my bra straps were on full display.

I could do a number of things to mitigate this – constantly push the straps out onto my shoulders all day, or wear a strapless bra – but since my vision for this sweater was something I could throw on and go to work without having to worry about things like my bra, I decided to add decorative straps to the sweater, which would cover up my bra.

Fortunately, I had a lot of cowl left over!

I folded over one edge of it by about an inch and a half, stitched down the edges, and turned it inside-out so it formed a tube shape.

Then I did the same again, to make a second strap.

After a bunch of finicky fittings and readjustments, I had decided on the perfect placement and length for my straps.

Using the same technique as I had to form the neckline, I now tacked down each strap in four places.

Here's how it now looks on the inside!

...And the outside!

I stayed up an hour past my bedtime to finish this project, so I could wear it the very next day. It's still in the 50's outside here in Maryland, but it looks like spring temperatures might finally arrive this weekend, so I wanted to make sure I could wear this heavy sweater before it gets warm. I succeeded!

For a grey and rainy Thursday, I proudly wore my new DIY sweater with my new DIY haircut (and that's a whole 'nother story still in progress!), brown skinny jeans, and pink booties.