From Granny Sweater to Adorable Dress: A Perfect Christmas Weekend DIY

Listen, I know that you think this is a dorky granny sweater. I know that you see it and you’re like, “OMG- that is a horrifying Geriatric sweater from hell! It looks like a doll obsessed 4 year and a Midwest granny got together a designed it! This sweater represents all of the bad things about the 80’s and none of the good!” I get it, I get it…it’s ugly,and not even in that novel ugly christmas sweater tis the season sort of way, it’s just…well the photo says it all…

But, if you step inside of my mind for a second, we can give this sweater a chance. First of all, lets not hate on Granny fashion- there is all sorts of cool appliqué action happening with Granny styles that frankly, we all could learn from. Second of all- lets not hate on little kid fashion either- the little ones are mad creative and a lots of that cutesy, doll-vibes stuff is actually cool AF. Third of all- let’s just admire my pre- makeover styling of this Gem, complete with some foxy old tennis shoes. Fourth of all since Christmas week in Nashville is going to be in the 50’s-70’s I was super thrilled to turn this baby into an adorable little sweater dress with all of the comfy White Christmas vibes it could possibly have. The remake was super easy and I loooove how it turned out.

thrifting — started at the bottom now we…?

Sweater Dress DIY — First, I cut off those sleeves!

sewing tutorial — ThenI cut off the sleeve edges. (I was hoping to use them somehow- but they weren’t needed)

Sweater dress make-over — …leaving me with four total pieces

sewing — …and then pinned them together and sewed them

thrifted fashion — Then ironed everything, especially since the zig-zag on sweater material causes it to ruffle somewhat.

thrifted style — Once this was all done- I cut the extra fabric to match the size of the bottom of the sweater and sewed the final seam.

I have some vintage lace from my Grandmother which I decided to use to give a final touch and added length to the bottom.

upcycle — The next step was to finish the sleeves- I turned these under and pinned them in place.

Then I was done! My next step was to take her out in nature and have some fun with photos. As a side note- I took all the below photos using a self timer and my iPhone. I started to run out of light with some- but before the sun set- I was able to play with focus by draping some plants around the lens. I’m so happy that I can create this effect with an iPhone and can’t wait to try out more of this style of shooting.