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Monday, November 24, 2014

My Thanksgiving sweater: dressing up a plain sweater with too long sleeves



(sorry for the poor-quality photo -- taken with an ipad)

I have this off-white, ribbed, cotton turtleneck sweater that I got a fabulous deal on, a while back. It fits great in the shoulders, I like the length and body fit. But . . . I don't like having to turn up sleeves on my sweaters. Extra long sleeves seem to be "in". And, turning them up makes me feel like I'm back in 4th grade, wearing my sister's hand-me-downs.

In looking through my closet, I came across another sweater that I love, love, love. It's a short-sleeved sweater, with turned up cuff on the short sleeves. The "cuff" is secured with a single rhinestone button. This gave me an idea.

I poured through my button box, hoping to find matching pearl buttons. Unfortunately, no matches.

So, with coupons in hand, my daughters came with me to the fabric store. We looked through all the pearl buttons and found some with "brass" trim that we thought would look nice. And, as both my daughters and I had our own coupons, I could use two 60% off coupons, to buy 2 cards of these buttons (2 buttons per card). The buttons cost a "whopping" $1.60!

Once home, I turned up the cuff to the right length, then sewed two buttons to each cuff, on the outside of the wrist.

*One thing to note, when adding "fancy" buttons, the back of the button card will say whether the buttons can be laundered, or need dry-cleaning.

Anyways, this is my Thanksgiving sweater. I'll be wearing this on Thursday for our family dinner.


About those mailer coupons for craft and fabric stores -- all three of my us, my daughters and myself, are on their mailing list. So, when coupons come out, we each get a set. And when the 3 of us are hitting the fabric or craft store, together, we can swap coupons. (Well, actually, I'll give a couple of dollars to one daughter for her to purchase my item with her coupon, and vice versa.) When my daughters are no longer 3-some-ing to the fabric/craft store with me, I'll probably sign my hubby up for the mailers/coupons. I'm sure he'll REALLY enjoy an afternoon at the fabric store, waiting in line at the cutting table, etc, so that I can use all of the coupons allowed for our household!! ;-)


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17 comments:

  1. The picture isn't coming up for me ... but I admire your creative problem-solving spirit! Happy early Thanksgiving.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Kris,
      hmmm, I wonder why the photo isn't showing up for you. It's working on 2 of our devices. Hmmm.
      Happy Thanksgiving to you, too! Lot's to do, isn't there?!

      Delete
    2. Hi Lili! Sorry, I was off being productive ... the sweater is showing up here on your blog for me and it looks great. I love pearl-anything. So classy.

      Yes, lots to do--as usual, we are going to Illinois and celebrating Christmas as well as T-giving, so that's keeping me busy ... but it's a "good" busy!

      Delete
    3. Hi Kris -- oh the nerve of you, being productive in your own life! LOL!!

      It sounds like a wonderful holiday for you and your family. Enjoy every moment! And now I've got to get back to my own productivity.

      Delete
  2. I'm not seeing the photo, either! You've got me curious....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ruthie (and Kris), can you go to my facebook page -- link in the left-hand sidebar. I've just posted a photo of the sweater there, if you'd like to see it. I'll keep trying to get the photo up here, as well.

      Delete
    2. Ruthie -- can you try viewing again, and let me know if the photo can be seen now? Thanks!

      Delete
  3. Your photo showed up for me, both on your blog and on your Facebook page. Great idea to not only fix the length of the sleeves to but also embellish the sweater. And you're so lucky to have multiple coupons! You'll look fabulous in your "new" sweater on Thanksgiving Day!
    Jayne

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for letting me know, Jayne! And thanks for the compliment, as well! Have a great day!

      Delete
  4. I didn't have any problem seeing the very classy sweater. I have long arms so I never feel the need to turn up cuffs. Sometimes I wish that I had some to turn down.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi live and learn,
      so that's why my sleeves are always so long -- different folks, different arm lengths! My mom complained of the same thing, that sleeves sometimes weren't long enough.
      I think the problem with the photo display is fixed. Thanks for the feedback.

      Delete
  5. Are you talking about JoAnn Fabrics by any chance? If so, they have the most liberal coupon policy of any craft store. They will take multiple coupons at one time. I get an email from them virtually every day and print off the coupons as I need them. They have different codes each time they arrive in an email which is why I can use more than one at a time. I've accumulated so many that I've stood at the check-out and handed them to others when it was obvious I wouldn't be using them before they expired.

    I have 3 coupons for 60% off and 3 for 40% off that expire today and I'll be heading out to JoAnn's before the day is over!

    Love your sweater! So pretty. I am always getting such great ideas from you. Almost every long sleeved garment is too long for me! LOL

    Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Linda,
      thanks for the heads-up on Jo-Ann's coupons. I'll definitely be using as many as I can. My mental rule with fabric stores is not to buy anything without a really great sale or a coupon. Thanks, again!

      Delete

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