Little Girl's Jumper

All right everybody! This is my first tutorial, so tell me if its any good! ^_^

I made this darling (if I do say so myself) jumper out of a hideous sweater that my mother bought at DI. I will admit, its not *that* bad, but it was too busy for its size. I figured if it were smaller it would look much less chaotic.

To make this you will need a sweater, two large, cute buttons, and the general sewing necessities, like thread, scissors, machine, etc.

So, lets begin! Firstly, grab your sweater. Make sure it is long enough to reach the knees of your little one from below the collar, since you'll be cutting the collar and original shoulder seams off.

Cut off the sleeves just behind the seam and straight across the shoulders under the collar, like so. Save the sleeves. You can also save the collar portion for later, if you want.

Now, making sure that it is big enough to go around your little one, sew up the side seams to make a tube and cut off the excess. Leave at least a half inch of fabric by the seam. After you have your tube, go ahead and hem the top so it doesn't unravel. This is the body of the jumper.

Out of the sleeves you set aside cut two rectangles 10" x 4 1/2". These will be the shoulder straps. Fold these in half with the wrong side facing OUT! Sew them into little tubes as well, hemming one side. When you do that, be sure not to fold it over too much or the shoulder straps won't be long enough! I only folded over 1/2". Of course, you could also just cut a longer strip to begin with. ;)

Choose which side of the body you want to be the back and attach the unhemmed ends of the shoulder straps to it. They should be about 2 inches from the side seam of the body.

Now, grab those buttons and use them to attach the other end of the shoulder straps to front of the body. Sew them on nice and secure. So cute!

Now it's all finished! You can add extra features, too. Use the leftovers to make pockets, or use the ribbing from the sleeves and collar to make rosettes.

This can be worn with a long-sleeved tee and leggings or tights.

I also made a little hair clippie out of one the ribbing rosettes!

Thanks for looking at this tutorial! Tell me what you think and leave a comment.

^_^