As Seen on TV: ‘Parenthood’

We’re back with a remake from another one of our favorite TV shows! Last time, we made a replica of the pearl necklace from “2 Broke Girls” and today it’s all about “Parenthood”. The movie version is a classic (vintage Keanu) and the TV show is a big ball of happy/weepy/awesome/frustrating/family relationshippyness.

J’adore the family Braverman. They live in Berkeley (too cool), Adam and Crosby own a recording studio called the Luncheonette (seriously too cool), and Amber is engaged to hunky Luke Cafferty (OK, total FNL reference). They’re the TV family that I would totally want to be a part of. With Julia home from work now, her former buttoned up lawyer gear has now turned into chilled out button downs and cardigans. I immediately knew that I wanted to make this sweater once I saw it on her!

I had an almost identical grey sweater in my collection – aside from some thicker ribbing – but this sweater is something that can be snagged anywhere from Old Navy or Target, to a local thrift store. (Sidenote – this is a project that can work for pretty much any sweater that you might have in your closet.)

Here’s a rundown of the supplies you’ll need:

1. Fabric Glue (this is an option if you don’t use #3, Stitch Witchery)

2. Needle and thread (grab a color that matches the selected ribbon)

3. Stitch Witchery (this is how I made this sweater, however using fabric glue or a sewing machine works fab too!)

4. 7/8″ Ribbon (trim for everywhere except the cuffs and bottom edging)

5. 1 1/2″ Ribbon (trim for the cuffs and bottom edging)

The first step is to add ribbon (7/8″) around the inner, V-neck portion of the sweater. Stitch Witchery is the route I’m taking to adhere the ribbon to the sweater. In a nutshell, SW is a fusible bonding web material that with heat (and a little bit of steam from an iron) sticks fabrics together. I placed the Stitch Witchery down, added the ribbon on top of it, placed a wet rag on top of both layers, and then pressed everything down for a few seconds.

Post-pressing, my ribbon was in place. Stick, stack, stuck!

I repeated the previous step with the trim of the pockets…

…and the trim of the cuffs. To match the thicker stripe on the cuffs of the original piece, I used the 1 1/2″ ribbon here.

Same goes for the trim around the bottom of the sweater. The previous Stitch Witchery/iron down operation was repeated with the 1 1/2″ ribbon to line the bottom edge.

With the ribbon in place, the next step was adjusting the buttonholes. Because the ribbon was covering them up, they needed to be reopened. I took a pair of scissors and snipped slits in the ribbon from the underside of the sweater to open them back up for business.

To avoid ribbon fraying in these buttonholes, I took the matching thread and needle…

…and created finished buttonholes using an overcast stitch. (Feel free to skip this step and use clear nail polish or Fray Check to stop any unraveling as well.) To make an overcast stitch, I began from the underside of the buttonhole and pulled the needle through (1), and then brought the needle back down on a slant through the buttonhole (2). Next I brought the needle back through the underside of the fabric again (3) and then repeated these three steps until the buttonhole was completely finished (4).

My new cardi is complete!

Julia and I have matching ensembles.

Her version is by Boden but if you want to get your DIY on, this is the alternative that you can make with things that might already be hanging in your closet! Have I hit Braverman status yet? If not, I’m totally voting Kristina for mayor if that sweetens the deal?

Stay tuned for more As Seen On TV posts!