Make your own J.Crew Inspired Cardigan

This is my first tutorial! I have been wanting to do one forever, and I hope to add more, but these things take time to put together. I hope you understand these directions, and if you don't, feel free to ask me about them.

I love J.Crew, but most of the time (unless I hit the discount store back home) I can not afford their beautiful styles. I decided to make my own J.Crew inspired cardigan.

Step 1:
Cut a knit material into strips. The knit part is important because you will not be hemming the sides of these strips and you do not want them to ravel. The material I am using is the bottom of a t-shirt that I never wore.

Step 2:

In order to get a nice long ruffle, you will want to sew two of the strips together to create a very long strip of material.

Step 3:

Tighten the tension as high as it will go and increase the length of your stitch as long as it will go (this will create the ruffly effect). Then stitch a straight line right down the middle of your strip.

Step 4:

Make sure your ruffle is ruffled. If it isn't, double check your tension and stitch lengths.

Step 5:

Get your cardigan. You can either buy a new one and since they are really in style this fall you can probably find a really cute one just about anywhere. Mine was a Forever 21 cardigan that I wore in college. Starting with the back of the neck, pin the middle of the ruffle around the neckline and down each side.

Step 6:

Re-adjust your stitch length and tension and sew the ruffle onto your sweater. Try to follow the stitch line from the ruffle and make sure to match your thread to your ruffle color so that everything looks nice and neat.

Step 7:

Voila! A handmade, J.Crew inspired cardigan.

Since I already had the old t-shirt and cardigan, this costs me $0. A pretty cheap, "new" sweater!

Once you start ruffling, it will be hard to stop! You can also do this to t-shirts, tanks and your kids clothes to give them an update. Perfect for covering holes and stains too :) Infact, this cardigan had a hole on the back at the neckline that I covered up. Sneaky Sneaky. And if you try this- please please please send me a pic!