How to Make Something New From an Upside-Down Cardigan Sweater

Use a measuring tape to measure your body for a perfect fit. Measure the circumference of your waist, divide this in half and call it measurement A. Measure the circumference of the widest part of your hips, divide it in half and call it measurement B. Measure the distance from your waist to the widest part of your hips and call that measurement C. Measure from your hips to the length where you want the hem of the skirt and call that measurement D.

Turn the cardigan sweater inside out and upside down. Lay it flat on a table so that the row of buttons is centered on the top of the cardigan and the bottom hem of the cardigan is at the top.

Measure across the hem of the cardigan a distance that is the same width as measurement A. Center this measurement across the button line so that it will form the new waistline of the skirt. Use your fabric marking pen to mark either end of your new waistband measurement.

Measure the length of measurement C down the button line of the sweater and make another mark. Use this mark to become the center of your hip line. Draw a horizontal line at this point with your fabric marking pen and ruler, making the line the same width as measurement B.

Start at your hip line and the length of measurement D down the button row of the sweater. Make another mark there using your fabric pen, and draw a straight line with your ruler to cut horizontally across the sweater at this point. This is the bottom hem line of the skirt.

Use your fabric marking pen to trace the basic outline of your skirt shape. Start at the waist on one side, curve the line out toward the hip line, and then straight down from there to the hem line. Repeat this on the opposite side.

Use scissors to cut just outside the line you drew in step six. Position your cut line approximately 1/4 of an inch outside the drawn line on the sides, and 1/2 inch on the bottom. Use straight pins to hold together the two sides of the cardigan -- the back and front -- after cutting.

Use your sewing machine to sew a straight seam up the sides of the sweater to form the sides of the skirt. Sew right along the drawn line using a straight stitch, and go back over the edging of the seams with a zigzag stitch to stabilize the seams.

Fold up the bottom hem of the skirt by 1/2 of an inch toward the inside or wrong side of the sweater. Use pins to hold it in place, and then sew all around the hem using a straight stitch. Stop and start your sewing on either side of the button row so you can still undo the buttons if you wish.

Remove all of the pins from the sweater, turn it right side out and pull it on. Undo some of the buttons at the hem to make a slit if you desire. Wear the skirt with the buttons up the front or back center.