There is a dress from the seventies that still hangs whole. Part of it has become a jacket.
The details in this jacket come from a 70s dress that belonged to the mother of my best friend, Trude. I inherited it.
The usual thing when you remake an old garment is that the old garment disappears. You cut it up, and then it no longer exists.
That is not what happened here. The dress is still alive. Only the bottom tier was taken — and it became pocket lining and piped details on the jacket.
Piping is the narrow, sharp edge around a pocket or an opening. It is small, it takes time, and it is the first thing the eye stops at when the rest of the garment is calm. Nobody can see that it is sewn from the fabric of a fifty-year-old dress — but the person wearing the jacket knows.
The pocket lining is even more hidden. It is not visible a single time the garment is worn. Still, it is the part I am happiest about, because that is where your hand ends up.
The rest is knitting: puff sleeves, a fitted waist, wool on 7 mm needles. Marked beginner plus.
If you want to do the same, you don't need to inherit anything. A shirt you no longer wear will do — it is the contrast between knitting and woven fabric that does it, not the age of the fabric.
On taking care of something old
An old treasure doesn't need to lie in a box to be preserved. It can be used again.
A dress that hangs untouched for fifty years is preserved as fabric. A dress you borrow one tier from is preserved as a story — someone asks where that edge comes from, and then it is told again. The dress still hangs whole in the wardrobe, and at the same time it walks around on a jacket.
If you have something like this at home — a garment left by someone, a fabric you can't bring yourself to cut — this is the way. Take little. Take the part no one will see is missing. Then you have both: the garment that was, and the garment that is.
Beginner plus · 7 mm needles · wool · puff sleeves and redesign details
See the pattern → · More coats and jackets
I hope you like the jacket, and feel free to show me your own variation of it with your unique treasure.
Did you know …
Piping is a narrow strip of fabric sewn into a seam or along an outer edge. It is mostly used as reinforcement or as decoration, for example on pockets and buttonholes.
Source: Store norske leksikon – piping
Sources: Store norske leksikon – piping.
Anne-Turid <3