Sweater with Removable Leather Details

Here it is! My completed sweater with leather details- and not just any leather details, removable leather details! Though it has been a long process, I'm so happy with the outcome.

Inspired by this trend, I have created a mood board on Pinterest dedicated to collecting like images, but there were a couple of aspirational pieces in particular swirling around in my head during this refashion.

My most recent post showed how I made the collar. And though the collar was the most complex piece to this puzzle, I won't describe the rest was as simple...

This blue-green sweater is a thrifted find, which began several sizes too big for me. I loved the over-sized length, but ultimately needed to rid the frump.

Following the tailoring principles laid out so clearly in a tutorial by Australian blogger, jltfk, I took in the shoulders, arms, and body. (The shape would have shown better in photos on me rather than a hanger.)

Measuring the length from the end of the sweater cuff to my wrist, the width around my arm, plus room to hem, I cut rectangles for cuffs from an old pair of leather pants. (If I were going to do this over again, I'd cut these larger, rather than just the exact measurements required. A bit more wiggle room would have been nice.)

For each cuff, using a leather needle, I machine sewed a hem on one long side.

Folding in half width-wise, right sides facing, I sewed again, leaving as slim of an allowance as possible...

then turned each cuff right side out.

At 5 points along the outside, raw edge of each cuff, I hand sewed snap faces.

Inside the cuffs of sweater, I carefully matched up and sewed in the counter parts.

By stitching between layers of the sweater knit, instead of going all the way through, the snaps are invisible from the outside.








(Most of this was done on a day off, while watching a marathon of Project Runway All Stars.)








The removable aspect of these details is important to me because I really want to be able to wear and launder this sweater easily. I am NOT a fan of dry/leather cleaning. It's expensive, it requires time and extra errand running, it's no good for the environment, and I just always wonder- is it even clean? In my brain, the chemicals probably do me more harm than any germs, dirt, or microbes would. Like I said, not a fan. Hence, with removable pieces, this problem is solved in a snap! Now I can take off the cuffs and collar, spot clean them as needed, wash the sweater on a delicate cycle, and lie flat to dry. Done.

A sophisticated garment was my goal and I think I achieved that to the best of my ability. I can genuinely say that I am proud of my work.