I love my faux leather + anything else combos, so this little refashion was bound to happen sooner or later. I got the idea when I saw someone wearing a similar jumper (I assume shop bought) last year and I was sure I can make one myself.
I had this acrylic jumper knocking about in my wardrobe and it was just shouting at me!
This took less than an hour to unpick and put back together, thanks to the speedy ways of the overlocker.
You will need the jumper you want to refashion and 2 pieces of faux leather of about 20 cm x 30 cm, depending how long you want the sleeves to be, plus the overlock threaded in the right colour. You will need the regular sewing machine for a bit of topstitching.
Step 1: Carefully unpick the original seam between the sleeve and jumper. You want to just remove the original thread, without nipping any of the threads of the jumper.
Step 2: Unpick the side seams of one of the sleeves, to use as pattern for the new sleeves.
Step 3: Trace the outline of the sleeve on the back of the faux leather, folder in half, right side to right side. Pay attention to place the pattern in such a way that the stretch is perpendicular to the grain line, not parallel. I made that mistake the first time around and the stretch went down the arm, not over the circumference and it was very uncomfortable.
Step 4: Sew up the new sleeves’ seams. You can do a flat sleeve insertion, in which case skip this bit. I don’t mind doing a regular set-in sleeve insertion, so I joined the sleeves now.
Step 5: insert the sleeve. Make sure to notch the head of the sleeve to match with the shoulder seam. There is no need to ease the sleeves, as they should match perfectly. If not, both the jumper and faux leather are stretchy, so you can pull to stretch as required.
Step 6: turn and hem the sleeve edge. No need to overlock, as it won’t unravel, just turn about 0.5 cms inwards and top stitch.
And voila, a nice new fashionable jumper!