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Carefree with added Button

December 22, 2015

I’ve seen a lot of draped front cardigans with the big wooden buttons on Pinterest and in the Boutiques…and of course I thought, “I can do that!” So the Carefree Cardigan Big Button Modification was born!

carefree cardigan add big button tutorial

The Carefree Cardigan is perfect for the look.

carefree cardigan patterns for pirates drape front cardigan tutorial

I choose the neckband only option, cuffed long sleeve, and choose to leave the front and bottom raw.

I’ve been making a ton of Carefrees after Baby Girl made her arrival… it is such a nice baby wearing cardigan that I feel cute in and can wrap us both up in when it’s windy or cold.  I can also use it nursing her so easily without worrying about bringing another cover or getting anything on or ready when she’s ready to nurse! So, I thought I’d make TWO buttonhole placements… one for normal wear that just pulls the cardigan closed at the neckline… and a second for when I’m wearing Baby Girl and need the neckline open much more.

carefree-cardigan-button2carefree-cardigan-button1I sewed up my entire cardigan exactly as normal. Then tried it on both with Baby Girl on me and without and marked where I would like the cardigan to close.  Of course, Little Guy had to come photobomb a few shots ;).

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I placed my button down a bit away from my neck, because I happen to be one of those people who can’t stand anything tight up against their neck (you will never see a turtle neck from this designer ;)).

carefree cardigan patterns for pirates drape front cardigan tutorial

So now I needed to create the buttonholes, which is a bit different then usual because I wanted the GIANT buttons that are so popular right now and my sewing machine can’t fit a button near that big on my automatic buttonhole foot.  SOOOO, I made my own buttonhole with 2 different size zigzag stitches.

First I marked my button placement and how big I need the buttonhole to be.

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Then I sewed a very narrow rectangle that would be my buttonhole.  I turned my zigzag length down very low to 1, so that it was a tight stitch.

For the top and bottom of my rectangle I used a wide 5 zigzag and for the sides I used a narrow 2.  I simple freehanded it.

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I used matching navy thread, so I knew if it wasn’t exactly perfect that no one would be able to see.  Actually, the thread matched so close it was REALLY difficult to get a picture of the buttonhole!

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Then I used my seam ripper to very carefully rip a line inside the narrow rectangle/buttonhole.

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I created a second buttonhole for my baby wearing, looser option.

Wa-lah! Now I have a great on trend cardigan that was quick and easy that I can button up with or without Baby Girl! 🙂

carefree cardigan patterns for pirates drape front cardigan tutorialcarefree cardigan patterns for pirates drape front cardigan tutorial

 

 

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Filed Under: Pattern Hacks 7 Comments

Comments

  1. Donna Leng says

    December 22, 2015 at 5:11 pm

    This is fab Judy, thanks for sharing!

    Reply
    • patternsforpirates says

      January 1, 2016 at 8:22 pm

      Thank you! 🙂

      Reply
  2. Katie Maurer says

    August 11, 2017 at 1:38 pm

    Is this the fully banded option or just the neckband? Thanks!

    Reply
    • patternsforpirates says

      August 13, 2017 at 9:06 pm

      Neckband only option here.

      Reply
  3. Paula says

    January 7, 2021 at 3:15 pm

    I’m making this as a gift for my daughter who lives out of state. Can you please give me a general idea of where the button should go. She is nursing and this would be perfect. I’m making a size large.
    Thank you so very much.
    Paula

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. P4P Cardi Week :: Grandpa + Cpt. Mack Ribbon Tie Closure says:
    January 23, 2017 at 9:54 am

    […] option on your machine you can certainly use a zigzag stitch to create one yourself. Follow along Judy’s Carefree Cardigan Button blog post to see how she likes to create a buttonhole in that circumstance. Once the buttonhole is […]

    Reply
  2. P4P Cardi Week :: Carefree Cardigan Fringe Hack says:
    January 24, 2017 at 10:12 am

    […] 7: Following Judy’s lead in her Carefree Cardigan Button blog tutorial, I chose to add a button to mine to finish off the look. To do this I put on my […]

    Reply

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