12 Days to Go: $1 Remake

Oct 4, 2012 | 38 Comments

OK, this sweater was a no brainer when I snagged it at a garage sale.  It’s H&M, a thicker black knit, and was virtually brand new because the tag was still hanging from it.  The only issue…

New Dress A Day - DIY - Ripped H&M Sweater

Day 13 – Before (That’s my “seriously?” face.)

…a BIG snag leaving half the sleeve open!!

I’m a novice knitter, but the beauty of this piece was that the unraveling happened right on the seam!  It just looked way worse than it was, and I knew that an easy hand stitch would make this look brand new.

New Dress A Day - DIY - Ripped H&M Sweater - Dangling Threads!

Danglers!!

I started by turning the piece inside out…

New Dress A Day - DIY - Ripped H&M Sweater - Opened Sleeve!

Opened Sleeve!

…threaded a needle and started to hand stitch both edges together.  I sat on the couch, caught up on The Mindy Project, and sewed my piece back together!!

New Dress A Day - DIY - Ripped H&M Sweater - Hand Stitchin'

Hand Stitchin’

Literally within fifteen minutes, my sweater was looking like I just grabbed it off of the rack!

New Dress A Day - DIY - Ripped H&M Sweater - Sewn!

My sleeve is all sewn up!!!

It was too hot to actually wear this piece out and about today, however I’ve been seeing so many amazing fall/Halloween/rustic themed magazine issues/blog posts/store displays that I wanted to get just a little taste.

New Dress A Day - DIY - Ripped H&M Sweater - Like Brand New!

Like Brand New!

I was contemplating heading over to Starbucks for my first seasonal Pumpkin Spice Latte, however the 89 degree weather stopped me from thinking about any beverage without ice.

New Dress A Day - DIY - Ripped H&M Sweater - Just like new!

Just like new!

I waited until the evening to try on my piece and for just a moment it felt like fall with a slight breeze coming through my windows!!  I’m looking forward to some ankle boots, a little dress, and this topper in about a month when LA finally cools down!

In all · Dollar Dress Remakes
  • Tasmanian Minimalist

    Clever girl !

    • newdressaday

      Thank you TM!! xo

  • Sue

    Nice save. :)

  • kissem37

    Yay for the pumpkin spice latte! I had my first (and second) last week ;) That sweater is cute- I love finding super cheap scores with tiny, easily fixed flaws.

  • Carole G.

    Impressive! Really good reminder about how easy it is to do a repair like this. By the way, I just got a bunch of things from a thrift store, and am now searching my soul to see if I have the guts to send you before & after pictures. Time will tell, but at any rate, I’m excited about what I got and about making the pieces wearable at work.

    • newdressaday

      Oh goodness, would love to see Carole!! Do it when you feel comfortable though :) So proud!!

  • ms. mary

    Very cute, laid-back look :) Also, I love those glasses! (as I write peeping out from my own tortie-shelled frames)

  • jenjenjenni86

    Love this! And I love The Mindy Project! :)

    • newdressaday

      It’s the cutest thing ever. I share her silly, rom-com, girly, boy-crazy mind!!

  • Sarah_H.

    Great work on the sweater. A good thing to know how easy it can be to fix something. I’ll bet lots of people reading this are getting ideas here.

  • Diana

    LOVE finding easy fixes like that!

    • newdressaday

      Yes! Me too – I was SO shocked when I found it, thinking to myself “why are you getting rid of this!”. I totally won!

  • http://twitter.com/jodywallace Jody Wallace

    I’m glad you didn’t cut the sleeves off :) .

  • diane2809

    I love easy fixes like this! What a great save! I live in Alabama and am also waiting eagerly for cooler weather…

  • Jasanna

    I was going to ask if you can sew a sweater on a sewing machine or not…I’ve seen so many big/baggy ones I’ve wanted to repurpose!!

    • http://www.facebook.com/barbara.mccay Barbara McCay

      Jasanna, you *can*, but if you are not used to working with knitted fabric, your best bet is to hand sew with a linen thread.

      • Jasanna

        Ok thanks :)

    • newdressaday

      I hand stitched because the knit was so large. You definitely can, like Barbara mentioned, but I think the hand stitching works better :)

      • Jasanna

        Good to know. I’m totally going to try both ways. I wasn’t sure if it *had* to be knitted or not. So I’ll experiment sometime. Yours turned out good. What thread did you use?

      • Kylie

        HI! So glad you had this post (and found that sweater-yay! congrats, and beautiful fix!), as I have 2 sweaters that need the same repair. When you refer to “hand stitch”, are you referring to a regular old needle stitch or something like knitting? The knit of my sweaters is also large. THANK YOU! :D

        • Chelsea

          You can also get a yarn needle (the kind with a bigger eye -it also helps to use some scotch tape on the end to get it flat and stiff for easy threading) and sew them back up with the very yarn that’s unraveling! And I’ve resized several more tightly knit sweaters from an XL to and XS with machine sewing.

          • Kylie

            thanks a bunch!

  • http://foryourtastebudsonly.blogspot.com/ Roxanne

    Glad you didn’t “do” anything with it! You just fixed it! Yeah!

  • Keenzi

    Simple save but I can see that piece being a staple this fall–score! It is definitely fall here in the northeast and I wasn’t quite ready for it, even though I love fall, so am a weeee bit jealous of your Cali weather right now… : )

  • champagneforyourbrain

    You can get the Pumpkin Spice latte as a frappuccino. Love the sweater!

    • newdressaday

      Wait, question…does it work as a frappuccino? I’ve always been afraid of trying because I’ll be disappointed! Would love your opinion!!

      • http://www.facebook.com/veejer Veronica Nunez

        I’ve had it as a frapuccino. Yummy!

      • http://www.facebook.com/michelleblanz Michelle Blondin Blanz

        It may actually be better as a frap but I do live in FL where the weather is seldom hot drink worthy. Love the blog BTW!

  • Natasha Venzke

    You’re waiting for it to get colder and I’m waiting for it to get warmer :) It’s supposed to be spring in South Africa, but the last two weeks have been freezing in my area. I love rain and warm clothes, but I’m ready to wear my summer clothes again.

    • newdressaday

      Let’s trade Natasha!! xx

  • Jacqueline in Atlanta

    cute sweater, cute glasses

  • Jeanie K

    Where did you get those awesome eyeglass frames???

  • Julie

    Really fun and cute sweater. I have some huge thrift store find sweaters. Gonna dig them out and play with them. Thanks for the inspiration–as always.

  • Linda Miller

    Love the hip glasses!! Um Marissa..what’s with the weird “farmer foot” tan on your left foot!!?? haha

  • Christine

    Good save! On another note, I’m trying to decide if you’re a bad influence or not… I brought a perfectly good, new dress home from Macy’s yesterday and changed it into a tube top from a halter top. I just… loved the fabric but couldn’t make the top work on me the way it was. Dangerous ideas, man. Because that was a $38 dress, even though it was on sale! Fortunately, it turned out great.

  • Gerlinde

    blame me for the ‘farmers foot’: I was teasing her recently about her ‘chalky cheese-sticks’ hence above might be ‘the improvement’ ;-)

  • Goldie

    do you check your emails from here? ive emailed twice! in dire need of saving a dress! <3

  • Stephanie

    I’ve totally gotten iced Pumpkin Spice lattes… it CAN be done! =) Hehehe