Easy Cable Knit Skirt – A wardrobe refashion

Make a chunky cable knit skirt from an unwanted sweater. It’s as easy as adding a waistband and you’ll have a new skirt perfect for the cooler seasons, with no knitting required.

Make a Cable Knit Skirt DIY

Do you like cable knits? I do. I love the chunky texture of the cables, and the way they automatically evoke the feeling of ‘cozy’.

I’m not a knitter but appreciate the skill involved in making all the patterns and designs, so sometimes I wonder why knitters spend so much effort making such labour intensive projects with less than pleasant yarns?

The sweater I’ve refashioned here was once a sad, shapeless and unloved acrylic sack, passed onto me by a family friend who no longer had a need for it.

She knew that I like to felt knitwear, so thought it would be useful for one of my projects. Because acrylic doesn’t felt, this sweater has sat around in my sewing room waiting to be remade into something wearable.

Now that the weather is cooling down in Melbourne, it was the perfect opportunity to refashion the sweater into an Easy Cable Knit Skirt.

Both easy to make and easy to wear, I’ll be sewing up a few more before the season is up.

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How to make a cable knit skirt – No knitting required!

cable knit sweater before-after

You Will Need:

  • A cable knit sweater
  • An old ribbed t-shirt/top or ribbed fabric
  • 1″ wide elastic (length = waist measurement)
  • Overlocker/serger recommended (or sewing machine)
  • General sewing supplies (scissors, thread, pins)

Tip: I’ve actually used two unwanted garments in this refashion. I have a little pile of damaged clothing (not worthy of donating) that I set aside for things like trims and ribbing, that way I don’t need to go to the fabric store for a few inches of fabric.

How to:

Cutting

1. Cut the bottom half of the cable knit sweater off just under the arms. Be careful not to pull or stretch whilst handling as stitches may unravel.

2. For waist band I have used an unwanted woolen ribbed top. Cut the waist band off then cut a 4″ wide band from the body. (If you are using ribbed fabric, cut a long rectangle 4″ wide and the length slightly longer than your waist measurement. Sew ends together.)

3. Measure the elastic around your waist, and sew ends together.

Cable knit skirt steps cutting

Sewing
4. Fold the waistband fabric in half, sandwich the elastic in between the waistband, then with right side of cable knit facing out, slip waistband and elastic over so all the raw edges are aligned.

5. Pin waistband in place.

6. Overlock/serge edge. Go slowly being careful to remove pins as you go, and feed the bulky knit through evenly. I recommend using 2 needles (4 threads) if you have it.

Sew a cable knit skirt steps www.mypoppet.com.au

All done!

The serged seam has stretch and holds the knit stitches securely to prevent unraveling.

Tip: If you don’t have a serger, try a narrow, medium length zig zag stitch on your sewing machine.

cable knit skirt closeup

Mustard Cable knit skirt DIY

This skirt is so comfy, I can see myself wearing it all winter over leggings and tights, and it totally solves my ‘what to throw on for school drop off’ dilema.

See how happy I am that I am no longer tempted to wear leggings as pants, I’m jumping for joy! Yay!

skirt animation

9 Comments

  • monica says:

    That is nice and simple, and it looks super duper snugly!

  • Nadya says:

    It is fine for hause clothes/

  • Kasey @ https://mylifeonthedivide.blogspot.com/ says:

    I love this! I think I am going to make it. This is perfect for the spring weather

  • Chantal Vandenberg says:

    Very clever!!! Love this idea – the skirt turned out great!!!

  • Deb Baker says:

    I love this idea – I have a similar cable-knit jumper that has been hanging around in my cupboard for a good decade. I now know what I can do with it. btw I adore your fabulous home – thank you so much for posting pics for us to have a sticky beak.

  • thisblogisnotforyou says:

    Super cute! I love it. I’ve seen these skirts at Primark and was thinking about how to make them myself. Thanks!

  • FashionistaAisha says:

    Thank you soo much for this post. I had been shopping around for a knit mini skirt and couldn’t find one. The ones that I did find were all over $100 bucks! So i figured i could make one for cheaper. That’s when i saw this post. I bought a $3 dollar sweater from the thrift store, then reconstructed it as my final project for my clothing construction class. My professor loved it!
    Instead of cutting it straight across, i cut off the sleeves so i could have more fabric. Then i took it in on the sides so it would be a little tighter. I made it into a high waisted mini skirt, in a green khaki color. I used an elastic band as well. It is sooo cute, and it beats paying a hundred bucks! Thanks for inspiring me and now i have a skirt i’ve been wanting so bad, but even better because i made it myself. I can’t wait to get a sewing machine so i can do more and more projects. You rock!

  • Jet says:

    Awesome done, and such a great and smart idea!!!
    Like it.
    thank you for the sharing and the tute

  • Dee says:

    Really great project mypoppet. Im on it!

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