Summer shrug

Summer shrug (front)
Originally uploaded by sassycrafter

This fun summer shrug will be featured in the July issue of The Satellite and is a great way to chase away the chills when you're strolling through the frozen section of the grocery store or heading to the movies. It's made from an oversized, open-weave sweater that I scored at a thrift store.

If you'd like to make your own shrug, here's what to do.

1. Start by cutting the sleeves off of an old sweater. The trick is to cut outside the seamline so that the sleeves won't unravel.
2. Then take a contrasting yarn and whipstitch around the raw edge of each sleeve. I also added a gathered section of yarn that runs from my elbow to the cuff, because I wanted to have a three-quarter sleeve.
3. Finally, use a piece of yarn to lace the two sleeves together. You may have to put on the shrug a few times and adjust the tightness or looseness of the lacing in order to get it so that everything feels okay.

In this picture, you can tell that the lacing is still a little loose. In retrospect, I guess you could use elasticized cord for a more forgiving fit.

The shrug was inspired by two different projects from Stefanie Girard's new book Sweater Surgery. It's a fun book filled with great repurposing projects, including several by me. (Yes, that was a shameless plug. Sorry--I'm still so excited to be in a book!)