I'm a SWEATER GIRL a cool little Tutorial

Here's a QUICK n' EASY TUTORIAL on how I made  
NO SEW 

FAUX KNIT SWEATERS, CAPS and BLANKETS

and you can too!

The list of materials: 
1) Printed Christmas Ribbon which I recently purchased from Michaels Craft Store
2) Fabric HI-TAC glue from Walmart
3) one piece of thin paper covered florist wire 
and 

4) tiny pom poms (optional)

This is the glue I used 
It's clear and smells a bit like Model Airplane glue. 
It dries super fast and works great on Polyester fabrics 
because it GRABS & holds tight! 

The printed ribbon I'm working with
is 2.5 inches (6.3 cm) wide.
It's 50/50 polyester & cotton and is
wired on both sides.

 

I cut the pattern from the ribbon into
3 identical sections

I cut the wire off on both sides of the ribbon
on all 3 sections

SAVE THE SCRAP WIRE! 

Decide on the direction of your pattern, then

fold a tiny hem at the bottom of each sweater piece 

Glue the fold using the Hi-Tak glue
I used a metal needle tool to apply the glue because it's easy to rub off the metal when it dries
but you could also use a toothpick. 

Press the hems down
then put the 2 pieces together with printed sides
 facing in towards each other

 Fold the 2 pieces in half 

Trim off aprox. 3/8 inch ( 1cm)
and from the body cut out a shallow curve for the armhole. 

Your sweater should look like this▲
don't worry if the back piece slightly wider than the front.

take the front section
fold and cut out the neck line of the sweater
so it looks like the photo below.

Make the neckhole a little bigger than what I've shown because the hole will "shrink" once the front is glued to the back piece.

I also made a smaller, shallower cut for the neck on the
 back piece of the sweater section.

The next step is to add some glue to the top of the shoulder sections on the printed side of the front piece of the sweater,
then press it to the printed side of the back piece of the sweater

The photo above▲shows the edges of the 2 pieces of fabric
glued together at the shoulders.

I folded the shoulder tabs over like a hem then glued them down  so they would lie flat against the back section of the sweater

as shown below

This is what it should look like when you open the sweater up.
Finger press the shoulders sections again
to make certain they're secured.
The printed sides should now be facing outwards.


On the back piece 
fold a narrow side hem inwards 
as shown below.

Glue is applied TO THE TOP surface of the side fold. 

ALINE the patterns then
press the front of the sweater into the glue
of the side seam

Repeat on the opposite side of the sweater

To make the sleeves
take the 3rd cut section of ribbon and fold it in half lengthwise
and cut the piece in half on the fold line.

fold a hem for the cuff in the sleeves and glue down

Wrap the sleeve around a paint brush handle
and apply glue to the top of one edge and press the other side down onto it
then slide the arm off of the form.

Repeat the same process for the second sleeve.  

they should look like this▲

cut a shallow curve out at the top of the sleeve
then add glue Around the Top & Cut armhole EDGES
of the PRINTED SIDE

Slide the sleeve into the armhole of the body of the sweater and press it down, making sure that the body of the sweater contacts ALL the glue around the armhole of the sleeve.

Repeat for the second sleeve. 

Take a section of the scrap cloth covered wire and bend it to the same shape as your neckline.

Add a thin bead of glue to the sweater and
press the cloth covered wire into place

measure off 2 lengths of thin
PAPER COVERED florist wire
cut them a little shorter than the length of the sleeves

Apply glue to the wire and slide it inside the sleeve

Use the end of a paintbrush to press the wire down inside each sleeve.
When the glued wire has set,
you can easily bend and shape your sleeve 
AND
If you want the body of the sweater to drape more naturally you can insert 2 more cut sections of glued wire to each of the side seams inside the sweater.

the Sweater's DONE!

next up is the
NO SEW HAT

Cut a narrow section from the same Christmas ribbon

Trim off both ends of the wired sides 

GLUE a long length of the scrap cloth covered wire
to the printed side of the raw edge of the cap

Press it down 

wrap the fabric over your finger and add glue to the top edge
of one end, and press the other end into place to form a cylinder.

Add a line of glue
 INSIDE
the top of the cap

 gather it together with your fingers and press the fabric together until it sticks.

add more glue as nessessary 

as the glue begins to set, 
Pinch the top to shape it

It should look like this when done. ▲

glue a pom pom to the centre of the cap  

AND YOU'RE DONE! 

The entire process takes about 30 mins. +/- 
AND  Using any of the leftover scrap ribbon with the wires still attached to the sides,
you can fold into mini blankets 


Hope you all enjoyed this faux sweater 
mini quickie
because
this winter

 it's cool to stay warm!👍🏾

elizabeth