Three Winter RTW Hacks

Spring is just around the corner, so I felt like I better get this post about winter RTW hacks written now.

Here's a few RTW garments that needed some tweaking....

RTW Hack #1: Target Sweater

This sweater fits great from all angles (Front, Back, and even fits my side view sway back perfectly).
But, the placement of that closure is tragic (connect the dots?).

I got out my seam ripper and removed the front closure, but that meant the sweater had no way to stay closed.
Then I added a square snap (from Botani during PR Day 2014), which wound up being a bit heavy so I added a lightweight supporting snap too.


Now it is perfect! I even had a coworker, who rarely comments on my clothing, stop and say that it is a great sweater.


RTW Hack #2:  Consignment Shop sweater
The front is ok (though I'm not sure a boxy shape is good for me, but it is good for layering)


What I was more concerned about was the bow on the back. A little too girlish for the office. (Though, if I'm wearing it under a blazer, who is going to see??  Oh, right, when it gets too warm in the office and I have to take off my jacket.)

So I got out my seam ripper and de-bowed:


Sure, now it's plain but it's no longer cutesy.

RTW Hack #3: The super soft but oddly shaped sweater.
I think you can see what the problem with this one was.

I thought, "Oh, I'll just hack it off and hem it".

Who knew this fabric enjoys growing and growing and growing?
I had to add darts to reign in the growth.

It was also impossible to hem by machine without looking terrible, so I wound up hemming by hand

For something that I thought would take under 60 minutes, it took hours.

And I haven't been able to wear it yet because of the cold.  But it will enjoy wearing it later this spring!

This is what was left over from Hacks #1 and #2:

The label was from the white sweater.    Did you know, there's a short story on that label.

Time elapsed:
RTW Hack #1:  20 minutes
RTW Hack #2;  5 minutes
RTW Hack #3:  Hours and hours.........

Conclusion
I did all those hacks back in January.
I have worn the gray sweater MANY times since then (definite winner).
I wore the white sweater maybe 2 or 3 times.
Have not worn the last hack, yet.


The last snowfall for this winter fell on Thursday (I'm sure of it!!).
  Friday morning looked like the above winter wonderland.  That's where I take my outdoor pix in summer.
 
The scene this morning.  The squirrel says "be well!"

So, have you hacked any of your RTW pieces lately?