Valentina cardigan

About a month later than intended, the Valentina cardigan is finally finished. A friend was donated a cardigan by a relative, and not to put too fine a point on it, it was designed to drape and flatter the stout, matronly bosom – not my friend’s lithe frame. I tucked it in my bag and went off with the promise to transform it.

Now I’ve been up close and personal, I totally see why my friend was attracted by the delicate colour. Cor. Hope she agrees it’s more wearable since I spent a couple of hours, knuckling down to

• shorten the sleeves by 3″ with handrolled hems
• cut 3″ off the bottom (more handrolled hems) and
• fashion a wee corsage or three from the leftover.

It’s in the post, as they say. x

The corsages I made up as I went along. Made from the leftover sleeves edges, the turned hem gives them a nice finished edge. All you need to do is

::: overlock the raw edge to make a long wedge

::: secure the small edge with a couple of hand stitches

::: sew a running stitch along approx 2″

::: gather up the running stitch, wrapping it round the centre of the bud, then secure with a couple of hand stitches

::: repeat until you run out of wedge and secure the end with a few hand stitches.

::: Without cutting the thread, hold the flower in place, squidge (or you can smoosh, either works) it around until it makes the right kind of shape, and then using a running stitch between, sew it down in about six different spots so it keeps its shape.

:: When you’re happy with its look, finish off with a few small stitches.  And a knot if you prefer the belt and braces approach. It works nicely when you use the square finished edge to stick out in a leaf styley. Like the one in the middle below.

And as the french say, eh voilar!