Inside: Check out these fun ways to refashion a sweater to create kids clothes. So many amazing sweater upcycle ideas to create kids outfits from adult sweaters.
**updated 2/2022**
Oh my goodness, can I just say first I love these two goofballs… but boy do they drive me batty when I’m trying to take photos. My husband went through his sweaters at the beginning of the season and gave me two sweaters… In the original post I had a cool argyle one and a grey one and this year I had two more.
Today I’m going to share how I refashion a sweater for kids clothes. Also fabulous about this refashion project is that I used a bunch of free patterns for my outfits… used sweaters + free patterns = SCORE!
How to refashion a sweater
I’m all about refashioning and upcycling and when I was able to refashion a sweater for kids clothes it made me very happy. Below is the video I made to go with this post. It will walk you through creating a sweater dress. If you don’t see the video – disable your ad blocker or try a different browser.
Check out these amazing sweater pants!! So comfy!! Rose loves them and has worn them several times since I made them last week. The only bad thing about these pants is I can’t make them in my size {ha!} you can only make them as long as a sleeve, which means babies and toddlers only.
As you will see here in my update, I was able to squeeze out a larger size pants this time by using a bit of the shoulder as well. Rose doesn’t like these as much as she did the original version, but she did wear them to gymnastics today. Look how much she has grown.
I love how sharp this sweater looks! My goal was to be able to leave the original sleeve cuffs, but I did add a waistband and neckband. I usually like to leave the original waist, but will show you below why I didn’t in this particular sweater refashion..
This blue dress is one of my new ways to refashion a sweater for kids. I was able to create a little tunic dress with my free raglan pattern and this pretty blue sweater that my husband gave up this year.
How to upcycle sweaters –
So whether making a stylish sweater or comfy pants using an old/thrifted adult sweater can have great results… Let’s talk about the details…
What you need>>>> Sweaters… sweaters you can refashion… sweaters you can cut up… Have a sweater with a hole? Use the rest of it to make something fabulous!! I had 2 XL sweaters from my husband and I made 3 garments… 1 pair of pants, 1 dress tunic and 1 child’s sweater… AND I used free patterns for all of them, so this is a great budget project. The bigger the kids you are sewing for the larger adult sweaters you need or you will need to use more of the sweater fabric.
How to reuse a sweater
ok… here are the details for creating different style kids clothing.
For a tunic I used the color-blocked tunic pattern {free}! You can grab that pattern here… I just used the front/back piece and laid it on top of the sweater. Cut, then flip the pattern and cut the other side. I cut both layers of the sweater at the same time. Keep the original hem!
I used a colorful cotton knit as the neck and arm bindings. You can check out the video below for more details on that. The bottom of this tunic is the original sweater edge.
OK, second are the pants.. You are limited by the length and width of the sweater arm for the pants size. This were a 2t from my MESH PANTS free pattern and they took the whole arm… bigger sweater arms, bigger pants… I need to troll the thrift stores! Use the original cuff for the sweater pants. Grab some Cotton Lycra and elastic for the waist.
I also used the kids legging pattern for the larger sizes in brown. Just as the grey pair above, the front and back were cut identical. SO… for this pair I cut the front 1″ lower at the front before putting on the waistband. Otherwise I kept the original hem. I did cut a bit into the shoulder to make the legs longer.
For the tunic/dress you can see how I cut up the original sweater. It was also the first time I reused the sweater knit neckband. I used the free kids raglan top – shortened – for this tunic.
To reuse the original neckband I cut it off with a seam allowance. I was then able to sew on the sweater part, and not the neckband when I put it back on the tunic. I did shorten to fit the new neck.
For the child’s sweater I usually like to retain the original waistband and cuffs, but with this sweater I REALLY wanted the argyle pattern to stay.. As you you can see in the photo I couldn’t really have both… SO I chose the pattern, not the band. I used the FREE BOYS T-SHIRT pattern for the sweater.
Here is how I laid out the shirt front/back piece. Cut one side, then flip the pattern and cut the other side.
Remember to go back and cut the neckline of the front piece slightly lower.
For the sweater sleeve, use the original cuff for the sleeve end and cut the rest of the sleeve from the sleeve of the sweater. Then cut a neckband and bottom cuff and put it together like a shirt. See the video for more help with all this…
Other refashion/upcyle projects I’ve worked on…
Cucicucicoo: Eco Sewing and Crafting says
I love sweater refashions! Great job! 🙂 Lisa
shelley says
This is really a great idea! Wish I’d seen it when my kids were younger. Thanks for sharing at Over the Moon.
Donella says
What a frugal idea! I wish I had the sewing skills to pull it off… Looks like that talent skipped over me. 🙂