Sleeves, Shoulders and Shrugs

Sydney's temperature is cooling down, so this week I've been looking for ways creative ways to keep warm. I'm quite a fan of the shrug, bolero, even just a long sleeve, but I still want to wear my nice fitted singlet tops. I love to layer and still show some skin so I've been chopping tops off and re-using the bottom in creative ways.

---

Once you've done the cutting it's a good idea to overlock or zigzag the edge of the material. Stretch won't fray but it will stretch out of shape if you don't finish it. Once this is done you can play around with add-ons. I found this beautiful beaded necklace in The Salvos store. I've stitched it onto shoulder pads and now they can be added onto many outfits.

---

The next top to tackle is adding a cowel neck. I thought it was a waste to chop the bottom off and throw it out, so I chopped it off  and stitched the excess back on, around the neck.

*Tip: When cutting around the top, think about the shape that will be most flattering to you. I find that just above the bust is good for the front, then curve the line around so that in the back it drops to just below the bra line.

Before stitching on the remainder, cut it off straight so you have a band of fabric that's about 30cm wide. I sectioned the band into quarters, and the neck into quarters and pinned it on evenly before it was stitched in place.

Top number three is a cropped hoodie. My mum gave me this cosy Puma jumper. I wanted to try something different with it so I used draping as a way to crop it and I think it looks quite nice. It has a great shape in the back, there was no cutting required, and the front pocket is still functional

---

So there are three methods of cropping while keeping your arms warm this Winter. If you have other cropped creations we'd love to see. Post them on the Facebook page and share away!