Expand Your Wardrobe Without Spending A Cent!

Time to address one of those annoying little things in life. It's one of those things that once you do it, you wonder why you never thought of it before.

Today we're talking sweaters.

Not how itchy some can be.

Not how soft some can be.

We're talking how some of the softest can be the most annoying because  THE BUTTONS GAPE!

Picture this - you put on a sweater on a cold crisp day. It's cuddly, it's comfy. You button it up, and suddenly it looks like it has shrunk or you have (horrors!) grown bigger. Why? Because the buttons gape.

This immediately makes you feel the size of a house, even if you wear a size 2. Which I don't. So imagine how I feel!

I put up with this for years, taking sweaters out of the drawer, putting them on, only to put them back in when they just didn't look or feel right because of button gapege. Is that even a word? It should be. I was left with a dawer full of sweaters that I never wore. And I'm supposed to be organized.

You know what I mean. Instead of the placket (that's the front of the sweater where the buttons are) lying flat, it pulls around the buttons so what should have been flat and smooth now looks likes scallops. Not a flattering look on anyone.

One day it dawned on me. Since sweaters are stretchy, I could just sew them shut! It would still be easy to put on, almost easier since there are no longer any buttons to fuss with. Now I could just slide it over my head.

I pulled out a seldom worn sweater, and tried it. It worked perfectly! I used my moms old Singer machine, but you could also do it by hand. No sewing skill is really required. A few stitches, and your wardrobe suddenly expands. What was once your nemesis sweater becomes your favorite.

Sew comfy now....get it? Sew instead of so?

That's what happened with this pink one. Loved the pattern, didn't love the way it looked. A few minutes with the machine - and perfect! See, you can't even tell in the pic, but it's sewed shut! Now it's as comfy as a T shirt! And I don't have to fuss with it all day. A winning solution.

I also discovered that the sweaters I had that weren't supposed to be buttoned, open cardigans, looked and felt better, not to mention were warmer, when I sewed them shut and put on some decorative buttons.

This used to hang open - adding pounds to me and not very warm.

Easy fix, and NOW I WEAR THEM!

Try it on an old sweater that you never wear. See if it doesn't give new meaning to the word recycle. It's like going shopping in your closet!

One quick tip for storing sweaters - roll them, don't fold them. I just finished a series of organizing videos on eHow - and one just happens to be on rolling sweaters. See it here. Let me know what you think. I'm not comfy yet watching myself on video, so I haven't actually watched the whole thing. What does that say about me? I'm soooooo not going there.

This will make sense once you watch the video.

All of the other videos are listed there also. Try the one about organizing kids toy - its a life saver! Not to mention a living room saver!

That's it for today - I'm off to try the same idea on a shirt. The one I'm wearing right now because it's bugging me. I'll let you know how it works out.........

update: It worked ! The shirt has a bit of stretch in it, so it's easy to pull over my head. I actually feel like I stand up straighter knowing that my shirt isn't going to gape. A success!

be organized!

evelyn

PS- Don't forget - I wrote a book, 30 Days To An Organized Home, with lots more ideas like these. Click over on the picture on the right to get a free sample!