Turn a Pretty Shawl Into a Really Pretty Sweater

I thought I would wear it more than I did... but I guess I'm not a shawl person! Got a lot of mileage out of the cute, ruffled sweater, though. It's a simple operation with about three seams, and I'll show you the steps.

Warning - my camera did not get along with the shawl...all the pix are blurry! But look at them small and you'll get the idea.

I twist-tied a yardstick to a hanger so the fabric could hang flatter and I could match up the edges.

First, do a little math. I measured the width of the shawl, subtracted the width of my hips, and divided by two. This became the length of the panel I would remove from either side.

You can do this with the shawl hanging up. It doesn't have to be perfect on the first side; just try to get a nice shape, leaving the width of the arms to your taste.

Use some sort of large zig-zag stich; it's a sweater and you want some stretch. Next, cut out the panel.

Lay down the cut-out panel on the other side, and trace along the outline so you will have two matching sides. Repeat steps 3-4 with pins, sewing, and cutting. The sweater is now complete!

Look at that nice ruffle! I sewed the four cut-out edges together to make two very long ruffles.

I wrapped the pieces around and tried some different things, but didn't love them. So I cut the long pieces within one inch of the ruffle, and sewed the ruffles edge to edge to make a nice long belt.